CRT Technology Showcase
Zing Portable: Standing Here, There, Everywhere
Altimate Medical has introduced
a pediatric stander
with a wide range of clinical
benefits in a compact, easy-to-transport
footprint.
After a pandemic year marked
by isolation and exclusion, everything
about the Zing Portable says
inclusion.
Standing & Positioning
Right on Time
While the Zing Portable will immediately
turn heads because of its
transport-friendly design, make no
mistake: This is a full-featured stander.
“A big must-have was abduction,”
said Nancy Perlich, Funding & Reimbursement, Altimate Medical.
“Studies have shown that the earlier
you get children standing, the
less likely they are to have issues
with improper musculoskeletal
development as they grow/age.
So part of the design was based
around uncompromised standing in
abduction.
“Another big want was to have
the stander do both prone and
supine [positioning] — but as simply
as possible, without compromising
proper positioning. We felt two
separate uppers — prone- and
supine-specific trays with upperbody
supports — met the criteria.
As a result, changing between
supine and prone is two knobs: one
to change the upper-body support
and tray, and one knob to reverse
the footplate.”
The Zing Portable is designed
for young children from infancy
to 3 years and up to 36" tall. It has
a weight capacity of 36 lbs., and
has no minimum height or weight
requirement.
“There is greater window of opportunity
standing kids young to help
achieve musculoskeletal hip development,”
said Perlich. “Starting at
about 9 months old, typically developing
children start to pull to stand,
cruise furniture, and walk, all of
which helps to develop the acetabulum
of the hip. Studies support the
need for ongoing hip surveillance
in children with cerebral palsy (CP).
Surveillance programs enable early
identification of hips at risk and allow
for conservative preventive treatment
of positioning the hip in extension
and abduction in a weight-bearing
position, which may result in lower
incidence of dislocation and pain in
children with CP.
“If this window is missed, the
need for surgical hip intervention
increases; this is especially true for
children with GMFCS [Gross Motor
Function Classification System] levels
IV and V.”
So while early-intervention
standing perhaps gets less press
than general early-intervention
mobility, there are many reasons to
encourage on-time standing.
“In addition to the range of
motion and hip-alignment benefits,
standing has been shown to improve
strength and motor skills in children,”
said Perlich. Getting kids up standing
— those who are unable to stand like
their peers — will benefit by strengthening
their body for the best functional
outcome. In early intervention,
this can be the primary goal: to
improve strength and gross motor
mobility, with many kids only needing
the assistance of a stander shorter
term to help them develop motor skills
faster. We know that movement and
exploration help build cognitive
skills, and standing gives the child a
different position and visual field to
learn from their environment while
building their strength.”
Nearly Flat-Folding Tripod
The challenge for Easystand engineers:
Build robust positioning
capabilities into a stander that sets a
new bar for easy transportability. The
premise: Real-world portability can
be key to how often a child can use
the stander and how well the family
will adhere to standing recommendations
from their therapist.
The Zing Portable’s tripod-style
design features three foldable legs
to achieve nearly flat folding. The
stander weighs less than 20 lbs. and
includes a carrying handle. That
handle, plus the Zing Portable’s
balanced weight design, makes the
stander easy to lift and transport.
“From the mechanical design
standpoint, ‘folding and lightweight’
was a big departure from our
more traditional lineup of standing equipment,” said Perlich. “We sensed this need for professionals
involved in standing programs, where travel and
visiting between facilities and homes can be the rule
rather than the exception.”
For young clients, Zing’s true portability can mean the
difference between standing regularly or not.
“Parents and other single-user scenarios will also
greatly benefit from this portability, enabling patient and
caregiver to easily transition between locations,” Perlich
said. “There are also not many pieces of equipment that
move well up and down stairs or to the ‘bonus’ rooms in
multi-level homes, and the Zing Portable does this with
ease. Its ability to fold and tuck away is such a huge
deal for families in small housing. This removes the I don’t
have enough room for another piece of equipment from
the ‘con’ column.”
Standing Where the Action Is
“We also knew that most therapy for children ages 0 to
3 was done outside the clinic, in the home, and that
therapists would be more likely to start standing earlier
if they had a product that was easy to transport, adjust
and use,” Perlich noted. From a family’s perspective, a
stander that is portable and easy to use is more likely to
see action, even when the family is traveling.
“Portability expands where and when the caregiver
can stand the child,” Perlich said. “The Zing Portable can
be brought along on trips and outings unlike any other
stander. It can be brought along while visiting relatives,
on vacations, trips to the park, any myriad of possible
places to stand. Parents can also take it to and from a
day program or daycare a few days a week. No longer
is standing relegated to one room or level of the house.
The design helps the stander fit into a family’s life rather
than trying to fit standing into theirs.”
Imagine an annual vacation to the family cabin in
the mountains. Imagine a toddler standing in the Zing
Portable beside a campfire while eating s’mores. Or
standing in the Zing Portable during movie night with the
cousins. And standing in the kitchen to help Nana make
her famous sugar cookies. Ultimately, the Zing Portable’s
greatest feature might be how seamlessly it fits standing
into the many environments of a child’s life.
This article originally appeared in the May/Jun 2021 issue of Mobility Management.