Eight international caliber wheelchair male athletes (3 basketball, 5 distance track) performed an all-out propulsion effort from a standing start for 10 seconds on a wheelchair ergometer. Comparisons between the basketball and track athletes on linear wheelchair and push rim velocity during the first 3 pushes and the peak value indicated that the basketball players had a significantly (p less ...

INTRODUCTION Whole-body vibration can resulted in low-back pain, disc degeneration and other harmful effects to the body [1]. Researchers are investigating optimal solutions for reducing vibration and seat pressure exposure of electric power wheelchair users [2, 3, 4]. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the newly designed waterfilled cushion (NDWF), based on vibra...

Wheelchairs are used by the people who cannot walk due to physiological or physical illness, injury or any disability. Recent development promises a wide scope in developing smart wheelchairs. The present article presents a gesture based wheelchair which controls the wheelchair using hand movements. The system is divided into two main units: Mems Sensor and wheelchair control. The Mems sensor, ...

The paper focuses on the design of an intelligent interface that compensates for incapacity a person with Parkinson’s disease to drive wheelchair. fractional order model defines is investigated. An identification technique based analysis frequency behavior movement wheelchair driven by test trajectory proposed and delay time crossover exponent β=1.5 inferred. dynamic “disabled man-wheelchair” s...

BACKGROUND The United Nations has called for countries to improve access to mobility devices when needed. The World Health Organization has published guidelines on the provision of manual wheelchairs in less-resourced settings. Yet little is known about the extent to which appropriate wheelchairs are available and provided according to international guidelines. This study's purpose was to descr...

Although engaging in an active lifestyle is beneficial for maintaining quality of life, a majority of wheelchair users are inactive. This study investigated the mobility characteristics and activity levels of manual wheelchair users in the residential setting and at the National Veterans Wheelchair Games (NVWG). Demographic factors that may have influenced activity in the home environment were ...

BACKGROUND Currently, inadequate wheelchair provision has forced many people with disabilities to be trapped in a cycle of poverty and deprivation, limiting their ability to access education, work and social facilities. This issue is in part because of the lack of collaboration among various stakeholders who need to work together to design, manufacture and deliver such assistive mobility device...

Objective: To assess the validity and responsiveness of the heelchair Circuit, a test to assess manual wheelchair mobility n persons with spinal cord injury (SCI). Design: Longitudinal. Subjects performed the Wheelchair ircuit at the start (T1) and at the end (T3) of inpatient unctional rehabilitation. Construct validity and responsiveness ere assessed. Setting: Eight rehabilitation centers in ...

PURPOSE To explore power wheelchair users', caregivers' and clinicians' perspectives regarding the potential impact of intelligent power wheelchair use on social participation. METHODS Semi-structured interviews were conducted with power wheelchair users (n = 12), caregivers (n = 4) and clinicians (n = 12). An illustrative video was used to facilitate discussion. The transcribed interviews we...

Many children with disabilities use their wheelchair as a vehicle seat when traveling. To date, few studies have focused on pediatric wheelchair users in transit. A computer model representing a manual pediatric wheelchair seated with a Hybrid III 6-year-old anthropomorphic test device subjected to a 20-g/48-kph (30-mph) frontal crash was developed in MADYMO. The wheelchair was secured using a ...