Recommendations on Standards for the Design of Medical Diagnostic Equipment for Adults with Disabilities, Advisory Committee Final Report

5.1.1 Transfer Surface Height Adjustability Recommendation for M301 and M302

The Committee recommends adjustable height in small, virtually continuous increments.

Rationale for final recommendation

The Committee agreed that adjustability greatly increases the overall accessibility of equipment for all persons. Adjustable height MDE, such as exam tables, imaging tables and chairs, will make it possible to position the transfer surface near the height of the seat of the mobility device. For some, independent transfers are only possible when there is minimal or no change in vertical height between the seat of the mobility device and the transfer surface. People may prefer or, in some cases, require, transfer to a slightly lower surface moving the transfer surface lower than the seat of the mobility device; then adjusting the transfer surface to above the seat for the return transfer.

The Committee sought information on the range of seat heights of persons using mobility devices for this recommendation. The research documented a wider range in the seat heights of mobility devices than existed in the past. The Wheeled Mobility Anthropometry Project found a range of occupied seat heights from 16.3 inches to 23.9 inches for manual wheelchair users;16.2 inches to 28.9 inches for power wheelchair users; and 18.8 inches to 25.3 inches for scooter users. In determining these heights, project researchers measured the seat heights from underneath the buttocks at the center of the occupied seats, a spot likely to be lower than the front of the seat where a person transfers.^FF Some Committee members pointed out that this likely made the seat height measurements lower than the actual spot from where a person actually transfers. The adjustability of medical diagnostic equipment will facilitate transfers for all types of patient populations by providing the ability to “pair” the transfer surface of diagnostic equipment at or near the height of the mobility device. People who use wheelchairs, most of which have no adjustability, will directly benefit from medical diagnostic equipment that moves up or down; as will people who use scooters, some of which have height adjustable seats that swivel to assist with alignment for transfers. Persons who are older, have stability/balance issues, and use a walker or cane, will also benefit from adjustability of the equipment when getting on and off the equipment. Industry experts noted that adjustability is readily available in many existing products. Both electronic and manual pump chairs have the ability to stop at any position and are not limited to set points within the range. Thus, the committee adopted a standard of adjustability in small, virtually infinite increments.

Figure 5.1.1 Adjustable Height Medical Table/Chair
(SOURCE: Midmark Corporation)

The Committee recognized that some types of imaging equipment do not allow adjustability with today’s technology. Specific types of imaging equipment, DXA and some x-ray systems, have the imaging hardware below the table underneath the patient. Imaging industry members acknowledged, as new technologies develop, future generations of equipment might find a way to incorporate adjustability. In the meantime, industry proposed creating a System Accessibility Configuration to provide a means to achieve accessibility where equipment’s current design is limited or achieving accessibility is not technically feasible despite best efforts to redesign imaging equipment (see Section 7).