Person:
Sprigle,
Stephen
Sprigle,
Stephen
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Organizational Unit
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ORCID
0000-0003-0462-0138
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ItemInvestigation of the Lifespan for Wheelchair Cushions used on a Daily Basis(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008) Rivard, David M. ; Sprigle, Stephen ; Linden, MaureenWheelchair cushions function to mediate seating pressures and provide postural stability. For the majority of cushions used on average 12 hours daily, the cover and interior components degrade at varying rates while performance for their intended purposes diminishes resulting in an increased risk for skin health deterioration and inadequate postural support. While age and use are determinants of cushion degradation, additional factors or combinations of factors contribute to rate of wear. At present there is no validated metric whereby clinicians and users may asses cushion condition and replacement of a potentially worn cushion. A multiple phase collaborative research project conducted at the Shepherd Center is currently testing the functionality and degradation of wheel chair cushions. Preliminary visual assessments indicate that some cushions are used inadequately while others responded to postural deformities. Loaded contour depth analysis revealed that age and cushion construction alone are not significant predictors. A supplementary benefit from this study is the documentation of critical factors to cushion wear and failure; whereby, clinicians and users can be educated on proper care and preventative measures to reduce wear; whereby, optimizing health benefits for the user and possibly increasing the lifespan of the cushion.
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ItemMultispectral Image Analysis of Bruise Age(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2007) Sprigle, Stephen ; Yi, Dingrong ; Caspall, Jayme ; Linden, Maureen ; Kong, LinghuaThe detection and aging of bruises is important within clinical and forensic environments. Traditionally, visual and photographic assessment of bruise color is used to determine age, but this qualitative technique has been shown to be inaccurate and unreliable. Spectroscopy and multi-spectral imaging have demonstrated objectivity in identifying age-dependent features. However these devices are not well suited for clinical environments. The purpose of this study was to develop a technique to spectrally-age bruises that minimizes the filtering and hardware requirements while achieving acceptable accuracy. This approach will then be incorporated into a handheld, point-of-care technology that is clinically-viable and affordable. Sixteen bruises from elder residents of a long term care facility were imaged over time. A multi-spectral system collected images at 11 wavelengths ranging between 370-970 nm that corresponded to skin and blood chromophores. Normalized bruise reflectance (NBR)- defined as the ratio of optical reflectance coefficient of bruised skin over that of normal skin- was calculated for all bruises at all wavelengths. The smallest mean NBR, regardless of bruise age, was found at wavelength between 555 & 577nm suggesting that contrast in bruises are from the hemoglobin chromophores, and that they linger for a long duration. A contrast metric, based on the NBR at 460nm and 650nm, was found to be sensitive to age and requires further investigation. Overall, the study identified four key wavelengths that have promise to characterize bruise age. However, the high variability across bruises complicates the development of a handheld detection system until additional data is available.
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ItemMethodology to Measure the Adjustability of Skin Protection Features of Wheelchair Cushions(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2007) Linden, Maureen ; Sprigle, Stephen