Abstract: Apparatus for suspending the calf and foot of a patient recumbent on a bed to relieve pressure on the thigh of the patient includes a leg lift unit in the form of a rigid, trough-like posterior shell shaped to engage under the patient's calf and foot. A bail having opposite ends is connected to the side walls of the shell so that the bail loops above the shell and a support frame extends up and over the bed. A cord hanging from the frame is releasably connected to the bail. By appropriately adjusting the position of the frame, the patient's calf may be subjected to the necessary amount of lift and/or tension to minimize localized pressure on the patient's thigh and buttock areas and to relieve compression forces on the patient's spinal column.

Abstract: A seat includes a seating platform having a front, a back, opposite sides and a base for supporting the platform above a support surface so that a person can sit on the platform with feet engaging the support surface. A pair of mirror-image thigh restrainers are mounted to the platform at the opposite sides thereof, the restrainers being movable in opposite directions between upright positions wherein they curve toward one another above the platform so that they can engage over the thighs of a person sitting on the platform and a stowed position wherein the thigh restrainers extend down below the platform.

Abstract: A suspension harness/body jacket arrangement adapted for medical applications is disclosed. The harness arrangement suspends all or part of the body weight of a patient with respect to a wheelchair's fixed seat, a bed or the floor. The body jacket is seatless, and fabricated from a mesh or fish net material which elongates and grips the patient more snugly depending upon the tension applied thereto by suspension springs. In the case of incapacitated patients confined to the wheelchair, the arrangement may be used to substantially reduce the pressure applied to the patient's buttocks, thus preventing the development of pressure sores.

Abstract: Optimum lumbar alignment is achieved and maintained in a human subject through forced contraction of the subject's psoas major muscles while in a seated position. A flexible thigh strap attached to a seat or chair in which the subject seats restrains the anterior portions of the subject's thighs proximate the subject's knees from upward movement. The human subject forces his thighs upwardly against the strap and forces the balls of his feet downwardly against the ground or floor on which the seat or chair is supported. This causes the subject's psoas major muscles to flex and produces a flattening of his/her lumbar spine which assists in relieving chronic backache.