Support cushion liners comprising artificial muscles

A support cushion liner comprising:

• a liner body comprising a cavity disposed between an outer layer and an inner layer;
• a plurality of pressure sensors disposed in the cavity of the liner body;
• and
• a plurality of artificial muscles disposed in the cavity of the liner body, wherein each artificial muscle of the plurality of artificial muscles comprise:
• a housing comprising an electrode region and an expandable fluid region;
• a dielectric liquid housed within the housing;
• and
• an electrode pair positioned in the electrode region of the housing, the electrode pair comprising a first electrode fixed to a first surface of the housing and a second electrode fixed to a second surface of the housing, wherein the electrode pair is actuatable between a non-actuated state and an actuated state such that actuation from the non-actuated state to the actuated state directs the dielectric liquid into the expandable fluid region;
• wherein each of the plurality of artificial muscles are independently actuatable to apply selective pressure to the outer layer of the liner body in response to one or more pressure measurements by the plurality of pressure sensors.

A method for actuating a support cushion liner, the method comprising:

• generating a voltage using a power supply electrically coupled to an electrode pair of an artificial muscle, the artificial muscle disposed in a cavity between an inner layer and an outer layer of a liner body, wherein:
• the artificial muscle comprises a housing having an electrode region and an expandable fluid region;
• the electrode pair is positioned in the electrode region of the housing;
• the electrode pair comprises a first electrode fixed to a first surface of the housing and a second electrode fixed to a second surface of the housing;
• and
• a dielectric liquid is housed within the housing;
• and
• applying the voltage to the electrode pair of the artificial muscle, thereby actuating the electrode pair from a non-actuated state to an actuated state such that the dielectric liquid is directed into the expandable fluid region of the housing and expands the expandable fluid region, thereby applying pressure to the outer layer of the liner body.