Manual wheelchair propulsion places considerable physical demand on the upper extremity and is one of the primary activities associated with the high prevalence of upper extremity overuse injuries and pain among wheelchair users. As a result, recent effort has focused on determining how various propulsion techniques influence upper extremity demand during wheelchair propulsion. However, an impo...

It may be concluded that, by use of the newly developed Swing-Turn-gear system, mobility of the disabled person using wheelchairs outdoors can be improved. The qualities of the drive gear in push and pull action, the free wheel, the full selection of frequency, and the range of moving the hand levers represent important progress in wheelchair engineering research. The handrim drive is an altern...

Objective: To investigate the course of mechanical effiiency of handrim wheelchair propulsion during rehabilitation f subjects with (in)complete paraplegia and tetraplegia. Design: Subjects were tested at the start of active rehabiliation (t1), 3 months later (t2), and when discharged from npatient rehabilitation (t3). They performed two 3-minute subaximal treadmill exercise blocks in a wheelch...

Studies of manual wheelchair propulsion often assume bilateral symmetry to simplify data collection, processing, and analysis. However, the validity of this assumption is unclear. Most investigations of wheelchair propulsion symmetry have been limited by a relatively small sample size and a focus on a single propulsion condition (e.g., level propulsion at self-selected speed). The purpose of th...

BACKGROUND It has been suggested that a higher intra-individual variability benefits the motor learning of wheelchair propulsion. The present study evaluated whether feedback-induced variability on wheelchair propulsion technique variables would also enhance the motor learning process. Learning was operationalized as an improvement in mechanical efficiency and propulsion technique, which are th...

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to explore the total and regional grip forces in the hand when propelling two different manual one arm drive wheelchairs: the Neater Uni-wheelchair (NUW) and a foot steered Action3 wheelchair. METHODS 17 nondisabled users were randomly assigned to each wheelchair to drive around an indoor obstacle course. The Grip, a multiple sensor system taking continuous m...

BACKGROUND The high physical demands placed on the upper extremity during manual wheelchair propulsion can lead to pain and overuse injuries that further reduce user independence and quality of life. Seat position is an adjustable parameter that can influence the mechanical loads placed on the upper extremity. The purpose of this study was to use a musculoskeletal model and forward dynamics sim...

INTRODUCTION Handrim wheelchair propulsion is a mechanically inefficient mode of locomotion in comparison to arm cranking and cycling (de Groot et al., 2002). In addition, wheelchair propulsion has been associated with high physical strain and repetitive strain injuries (Janssen et al., 1994). The inefficiency of wheelchair propulsion has been attributed to factors such as, improper fit of the ...

Pediatric manual wheelchair users (MWU) require high joint demands on their upper extremity (UE) during wheelchair mobility, leading them to be at risk of developing pain and pathology. Studies have examined UE biomechanics during wheelchair mobility in the adult population; however, current methods for evaluating UE joint dynamics of pediatric MWU are limited. An inverse dynamics model is prop...

Methods for the three-dimensional (3-D) kinematic analysis of the shoulder complex (humerus relative to trunk) are presented and their use demonstrated in this analysis of shoulder motion during wheelchair propulsion. Ten subjects propelled two different wheelchairs (adjustable and conventional chairs) while the motions of the left arm and trunk were measured using a video tracking system. Eule...