Curb descent testing of suspension manual wheelchairs

Curb descent testing of suspension manual wheelchairs.

Manual wheelchair users are subjected to whole-body vibrations (WBV) on a regular basis as they traverse obstacles and uneven surfaces. One way users could protect themselves from secondary injuries related to WBV is by using a suspension manual wheelchair. This study investigated the ability of suspension manual wheelchairs to reduce seat accelerations during curb descents of various heights (...

Performance Analysis of Suspension Manual Wheelchairs

Influence of hand-rim wheelchairs with rear suspension on seat forces and head acceleration during curb descent landings.

OBJECTIVE Shocks and vibrations experienced while using a hand-rim wheelchair can contribute to discomfort, fatigue and injury. The aim of this study was to compare the seat forces and head accelerations experienced by manual wheelchair users during independent curb descent landings in a standard and 3 suspension-type rigid-frame wheelchairs. DESIGN EXPERIMENTAL repeated measures analysis ...

Evaluation of a curb-climbing aid for manual wheelchairs: considerations of stability, effort, and safety.

The experimental and theoretical procedures used to gather ergonomic data and derive theoretical estimates of stability, effort, and safety in use of a curb-climbing aid for standard manual wheelchairs are presented. The aid, intended for use of paraplegic persons, employs ramps which the user while seated in the chair can deploy and retrieve using attached telescoping rods. Ramps and rods may ...

Assessment of field rolling resistance of manual wheelchairs.

This article proposes a simple and convenient method for assessing the subject-specific rolling resistance acting on a manual wheelchair, which could be used during the provision of clinical service. This method, based on a simple mathematical equation, is sensitive to both the total mass and its fore-aft distribution, which changes with the subject, wheelchair properties, and adjustments. The ...