Wheelchair Cooling Backpad

The Need:

Sometimes wheelchair users have issues where they get too hot. Staying in the seated position in a wheelchair causes heat to build up in the lumbar support area. This causes discomfort and unfortunately for many wheelchair users they cannot move or get up out of the chair to relieve the discomfort. This unfortunately causes these patients to be prone to overheating. We will create a cushion or pad that sits behind the users back that contains a line of silicon tubing that pumps cool water throughout the pad.

The Solution:

We created a cooling cushion that employs the use of water cooled using a Peltier. A Peltier utilizes the phenomenon of thermoelectric cooling to transfer heat from one side of the device to the other side. It is a solid-state heat pump that works off the consumption of electric power. By having the Peltier module be external and only cool water circulating through the pad, the effect will be much greater. We used standard batteries as a power source and regulate the voltage through a DC-DC converter in order to satisfy the needs of the Peltier. We have the silicone tubing snake back and forth along the cool side of the Peltier in order to cool the water. Using a small pump that is powered using a 9 volts battery, the cooled water is circulated through the cushion and provide a cooling effect on the back of the user.