Disability News -- ScienceDaily

• Researchers patent technology for smart seat cushion, adaptable prosthetics

  Researchers have patented a smart seat cushion that uses changes in air pressure to redistribute body weight and help prevent the painful ulcers caused by sitting for long periods of time in a wheelchair. The same technology can be used to create prosthetic liners that adapt their shape to accommodate changes in body volume.

• Epidural stimulation leads to recovery of cardiovascular function in spinal-cord-injured

  Four research participants with chronic, complete cervical spinal cord injury, persistent low resting blood pressure and blood pressure decrease when sitting up experienced improvements in blood pressure and heart rate regulation during and after spinal cord epidural stimulation (scES).

• Sugar pills relieve pain for chronic pain patients

  Someday doctors may prescribe sugar pills for certain chronic pain patients based on their brain anatomy and psychology. And the pills will reduce their pain as effectively as any powerful drug on the market, according to new research. Scientists have shown they can reliably predict which chronic pain patients will respond to a sugar placebo pill based on the patients' brain anatomy and psychological characteristics.