Effect of Wheelchair Frame Material on Users’ Mechanical Work and Transmitted Vibration
Joint Authors
Chénier, Félix
Aissaoui, Rachid
Source
Issue
Vol. 2014, Issue 2014 (31 Dec. 2014), pp.1-12, 12 p.
Publisher
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Publication Date
2014-09-03
Country of Publication
Egypt
No. of Pages
12
Main Subjects
Abstract EN
Wheelchair propulsion exposes the user to a high risk of shoulder injury and to whole-body vibration that exceeds recommendations of ISO 2631-1:1997.
Reducing the mechanical work required to travel a given distance (WN-WPM, weight-normalized work-per-meter) can help reduce the risk of shoulder injury, while reducing the vibration transmissibility (VT) of the wheelchair frame can reduce whole-body vibration.
New materials such as titanium and carbon are used in today’s wheelchairs and are advertised to improve both parameters, but current knowledge on this matter is limited.
In this study, WN-WPM and VT were measured simultaneously and compared between six folding wheelchairs (1 titanium, 1 carbon, and 4 aluminium).
Ten able-bodied users propelled the six wheelchairs on three ground surfaces.
Although no significant difference of WN-WPM was found between wheelchairs P<0.1, significant differences of VT were found P<0.05.
The carbon wheelchair had the lowest VT.
Contrarily to current belief, the titanium wheelchair VT was similar to aluminium wheelchairs.
A negative correlation between VT and WN-WPM was found, which means that reducing VT may be at the expense of increasing WN-WPM.
Based on our results, use of carbon in wheelchair construction seems promising to reduce VT without increasing WN-WPM.
American Psychological Association (APA)
Chénier, Félix& Aissaoui, Rachid. 2014. Effect of Wheelchair Frame Material on Users’ Mechanical Work and Transmitted Vibration. BioMed Research International،Vol. 2014, no. 2014, pp.1-12.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-1016391
Modern Language Association (MLA)
Chénier, Félix& Aissaoui, Rachid. Effect of Wheelchair Frame Material on Users’ Mechanical Work and Transmitted Vibration. BioMed Research International No. 2014 (2014), pp.1-12.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-1016391
American Medical Association (AMA)
Chénier, Félix& Aissaoui, Rachid. Effect of Wheelchair Frame Material on Users’ Mechanical Work and Transmitted Vibration. BioMed Research International. 2014. Vol. 2014, no. 2014, pp.1-12.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-1016391
Data Type
Journal Articles
Language
English
Notes
Includes bibliographical references
Record ID
BIM-1016391