Comparison of Manual Wheelchair and Pushrim-Activated Power-Assisted Wheelchair Propulsion Characteristics during Common Over-Ground Maneuvers

Abstract

Pushrim-activated power-assisted wheels (PAPAWs) are assistive technologies that use force sensor data to provide on-demand propulsion assistance to manual wheelchair users. However, available data about kinetic and kinematic of PAPAW use are mainly limited to experiments performed on a treadmill or using a dynamometer. In this work, we performed experiments to gather kinetics of wheelchair propulsion and kinematics of wheelchair motion for a variety of over-ground wheelchair maneuvers with a manual wheelchair with and without PAPAWs. Our findings revealed that using PAPAWs can significantly reduce the propulsion effort and push frequency. Both linear and angular velocities of the wheelchair were significantly increased when using PAPAWs. Less force and push frequency could potentially reduce risk of chronic upper limb injury. Higher linear velocity could be desirable for various daily life activities; however; the increase in the angular velocity could lead to unintended deviations from a desired path. Future research could investigate PAPAW controllers that amplify the desired intentions of users while mitigating any unwanted behaviours.

Relationship Between Shoulder Pain and Joint Reaction Forces and Muscle Moments During 2 Speeds of Wheelchair Propulsion

“…The limitations of the present study are (1) the variation of the injury types of participants, (2) the use of a standard recreational wheelchair which may have affected participants' propulsive movements, (3) the use of only 2 digital cameras in kinematic data collection resulted in the omission in data analysis of the supination/pronation of forearms, and internal/external rotations of upper arms since the marker placements do not allow for internal/ external rotation calculations, (4) for the standardization purpose, the velocities imposed are not normalized into each person's abilities, therefore, some participants may have exceeded comfortable levels of slow and fast speeds, and (5) the comparisons of joint kinetics between the shoulder pain group and no shoulder group were not conducted. Despite these limitations, the kinematic and kinetic data were successfully collected from 20 participants, whereas the standardized procedures, such as using a standard wheelchair or pushrim 50 and adapting the 2 propulsion speeds (1.3 and 2.2 m/s), 34 are typical laboratory settings which may help the consistency in the data collection. Therefore, we are confident to draw a conclusion about these participants in the present study.…”