Effectiveness of Rear Suspension in Reducing Shock Exposure to Manual Wheelchair Users During Curb Descents
By Kwarciak, Andrew M.; Cooper, Rory A., PhD; Wolf, Erik J.; Proceedings of the RESNA 25th International Conference, Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 365-367Publication Date: June/July 2002
Study evaluating the effectiveness of three manual suspension wheelchairs (Colours Boing, Invacare A6S, and Quickie XTR) and three folding x-brace wheelchairs (E&J Epic, Invacare Action Xtra, and Quickie 2) during curb descents. Each chair was configured with similar critical dimensions, including seat width/depth, backrest height, and wheelbase. Rear tires on all chairs were inflated to their rated pressures and verified with a calibrated gauge. The study participant was a male with a T7/8 spinal cord injury with over 20 years of experience using a wheelchair. Data were collected from an instrumented seat plate. A Matlab program was implemented to detect acceleration points and frequencies. The average acceleration of each chair from respective curb height was calculated and plotted on a bar graph. The Quickie XTR was the only chair to demonstrate effective vibration reduction.
Assistive Products Discussed: QUICKIE 2
BOING!
Published by: Rehabilitation Engineering & Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) (Website:http://www.resna.org)
ISBN: 00-932101-44-5
This publication is included in the library of the National Rehabilitation Information Center (NARIC), accession number O14569
