Abstract
One of the most challenging problems faced by regular manual wheelchair users is the increased physical demand while navigating it and the resulting shoulder, wrist and hand injuries. These problems call for a device that reduces injury risk factor owing to a prolonged wheelchair use while simultaneously increasing user independence and mobility. The study suggests a modified wheelchair design that operates by means of a pulling motion as opposed to pushing. This motion offers a more efficient solution to the problems of shoulder, elbow, wrist injuries and user fatigue, since a pulling motion requires the use of a stronger and more capable group of muscles relative to those involved in standard pushing mechanism.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Rankin, J.W., et al.: The influence of wheelchair propulsion technique on upper extremity muscle demand: a simulation study. Clin. Biomech. (Bristol, Avon) 27(9), 879–886 (2012)
Finley, M.A., et al.: The biomechanics of wheelchair propulsion in individuals with and without upper-limb impairment. J. Rehabil. Res. Dev. 41(3B), 385 (2004)
Sie, I.H., et al.: Upper extremity pain in the postrehabilitation spinal cord injured patient. Arch. Phys. Med. Rehabil. 73(1), 44–48 (1992)
Fay, B.T., et al.: Wrist kinematics and indicators of carpal tunnel syndrome during manual wheelchair propulsion. In: Engineering in Medicine and Biology. 21st Annual Conference and the 1999 Annual Fall Meeting of the Biomedical Engineering Society. BMES/EMBS Conference. Proceedings of the First Joint. IEEE
Mercer, J.L., et al.: Shoulder joint kinetics and pathology in manual wheelchair users. Clin. Biomech. 21(8), 781–789 (2006)
Rao, S., et al.: Three dimensional kinematics of wheelchair propulsion. Gait Posture 2(1), 57 (1994)
Jayaraman, C., Moon, Y., Sosnoff, J.J.: Shoulder pain and time dependent structure in wheelchair propulsion variability. Med. Eng. Phys. 38(7), 648–655 (2016)
Flemmer, C.L., Flemmer, R.C.: A review of manual wheelchairs. Disabil. Rehabil. Assist. Technol. 11(3), 177–187 (2016)
Sabick, M.B., Kotajarvi, B.R., An, K.-N.: A new method to quantify demand on the upper extremity during manual wheelchair propulsion. Arch. Phys. Med. Rehabil. 85(7), 1151–1159 (2004)
Lin, H.-T., et al.: Muscle forces analysis in the shoulder mechanism during wheelchair propulsion. Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng. H J. Eng. Med. 218(4), 213–221 (2004)
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Dr. Imran Amjad, Assistant Professor & Assistant Dean of Riphah Academy of Research and education, Riphah College of Rehabilitation Sciences, Riphah International University. His guidance in muscle palpation and placing the electrodes correctly made the data collection possible.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore
About this paper
Cite this paper
Toor, H. et al. (2018). Pushing a Manual Wheelchair Requires More Muscular Force Than Pulling. In: Ibrahim, F., Usman, J., Ahmad, M., Hamzah, N., Teh, S. (eds) 2nd International Conference for Innovation in Biomedical Engineering and Life Sciences. ICIBEL 2017. IFMBE Proceedings, vol 67. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7554-4_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7554-4_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-10-7553-7
Online ISBN: 978-981-10-7554-4
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)