A novel system for wheelchair stability assessment design and initial results

Dimitar Stefanov; A. Avtanski; N. Shapcott; Paul Magee; P. Dryer; Simon Fielden; M. Heelis; Jill Evans; Louise Moody

doi:10.1109/MeMeA.2014.6860100

A novel system for wheelchair stability assessment design and initial results

Dimitar Stefanov, A. Avtanski, N. Shapcott, Paul Magee, P. Dryer, Simon Fielden, M. Heelis, Jill Evans, Louise Moody

National Institute for Health and Care Research

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

3 Citations (Scopus)

377 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Wheelchairs should provide safe and reliable functioning in various road conditions and situations, ease of propulsion, and high maneuverability. Often, wheelchairs need further modification and installation of additional equipment (ventilators, oxygen cylinders, etc) which affect their stability. Wheelchair stability is also dependent on a user's body characteristics that can result in a shifting of the centre of mass e.g. limb amputations, and obesity, etc. Adaptation of the wheelchair requires additional assessment and wheelchair tuning by highly skilled rehabilitation engineers. In this paper, we discuss the design and initial testing of a novel wheelchair stability assessment system. The developed WheelSense system consists of a force platform that senses the weight distribution of the wheelchair, the centre of the contact points, and the distances between contact points of the wheels. The measurement platform is linked via WiFi connection to a portable tablet computer where the platform's sensor signals are processed and the wheelchair stability parameters are calculated. An intuitive touchscreen GUI is used for visualization of the stability results and navigation through separate measurement modes. The mechanical platform was designed to be foldable and light-weighted and thus, to be easily transportable which gives additional advantages when the system is used outside of a clinical engineering department. The initial design is being evaluated through four prototype systems installed for clinical testing in 3 large hospitals in the UK. The initial results indicate that the developed measurement system possesses high accuracy and ease of operation

Original language	English
Title of host publication	IEEE MeMeA 2014 - IEEE International Symposium on Medical Measurements and Applications, Proceedings
Publisher	IEEE Computer Society
Pages	68600100
ISBN (Print)	978-147992920-7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/MeMeA.2014.6860100
Publication status	Published - Jun 2014

Bibliographical note

The paper was given at the 9th IEEE International Symposium on Medical Measurements and Applications, IEEE MeMeA 2014; Lisbon; Portugal; 11 June 2014 through 12 June 2014
© 2014 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.

Keywords

Centre of gravity
ISO 7176
Static stability
Tipping angle
Wheelchair
Wheelchair stability

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1109/MeMeA.2014.6860100

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Cite this

Stefanov, D., Avtanski, A., Shapcott, N., Magee, P., Dryer, P., Fielden, S., Heelis, M., Evans, J., & Moody, L. (2014). A novel system for wheelchair stability assessment design and initial results. In IEEE MeMeA 2014 - IEEE International Symposium on Medical Measurements and Applications, Proceedings (pp. 68600100). IEEE Computer Society. https://doi.org/10.1109/MeMeA.2014.6860100

Stefanov, D, Avtanski, A, Shapcott, N, Magee, P, Dryer, P, Fielden, S, Heelis, M, Evans, J & Moody, L 2014, A novel system for wheelchair stability assessment design and initial results. in IEEE MeMeA 2014 - IEEE International Symposium on Medical Measurements and Applications, Proceedings. IEEE Computer Society, pp. 68600100. https://doi.org/10.1109/MeMeA.2014.6860100

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abstract = "Wheelchairs should provide safe and reliable functioning in various road conditions and situations, ease of propulsion, and high maneuverability. Often, wheelchairs need further modification and installation of additional equipment (ventilators, oxygen cylinders, etc) which affect their stability. Wheelchair stability is also dependent on a user's body characteristics that can result in a shifting of the centre of mass e.g. limb amputations, and obesity, etc. Adaptation of the wheelchair requires additional assessment and wheelchair tuning by highly skilled rehabilitation engineers. In this paper, we discuss the design and initial testing of a novel wheelchair stability assessment system. The developed WheelSense system consists of a force platform that senses the weight distribution of the wheelchair, the centre of the contact points, and the distances between contact points of the wheels. The measurement platform is linked via WiFi connection to a portable tablet computer where the platform's sensor signals are processed and the wheelchair stability parameters are calculated. An intuitive touchscreen GUI is used for visualization of the stability results and navigation through separate measurement modes. The mechanical platform was designed to be foldable and light-weighted and thus, to be easily transportable which gives additional advantages when the system is used outside of a clinical engineering department. The initial design is being evaluated through four prototype systems installed for clinical testing in 3 large hospitals in the UK. The initial results indicate that the developed measurement system possesses high accuracy and ease of operation ",

keywords = "Centre of gravity, ISO 7176, Static stability, Tipping angle, Wheelchair, Wheelchair stability",

author = "Dimitar Stefanov and A. Avtanski and N. Shapcott and Paul Magee and P. Dryer and Simon Fielden and M. Heelis and Jill Evans and Louise Moody",

note = "The paper was given at the 9th IEEE International Symposium on Medical Measurements and Applications, IEEE MeMeA 2014; Lisbon; Portugal; 11 June 2014 through 12 June 2014 {\textcopyright} 2014 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.",

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AU - Heelis, M.

AU - Evans, Jill

AU - Moody, Louise

N1 - The paper was given at the 9th IEEE International Symposium on Medical Measurements and Applications, IEEE MeMeA 2014; Lisbon; Portugal; 11 June 2014 through 12 June 2014 © 2014 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.

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N2 - Wheelchairs should provide safe and reliable functioning in various road conditions and situations, ease of propulsion, and high maneuverability. Often, wheelchairs need further modification and installation of additional equipment (ventilators, oxygen cylinders, etc) which affect their stability. Wheelchair stability is also dependent on a user's body characteristics that can result in a shifting of the centre of mass e.g. limb amputations, and obesity, etc. Adaptation of the wheelchair requires additional assessment and wheelchair tuning by highly skilled rehabilitation engineers. In this paper, we discuss the design and initial testing of a novel wheelchair stability assessment system. The developed WheelSense system consists of a force platform that senses the weight distribution of the wheelchair, the centre of the contact points, and the distances between contact points of the wheels. The measurement platform is linked via WiFi connection to a portable tablet computer where the platform's sensor signals are processed and the wheelchair stability parameters are calculated. An intuitive touchscreen GUI is used for visualization of the stability results and navigation through separate measurement modes. The mechanical platform was designed to be foldable and light-weighted and thus, to be easily transportable which gives additional advantages when the system is used outside of a clinical engineering department. The initial design is being evaluated through four prototype systems installed for clinical testing in 3 large hospitals in the UK. The initial results indicate that the developed measurement system possesses high accuracy and ease of operation

AB - Wheelchairs should provide safe and reliable functioning in various road conditions and situations, ease of propulsion, and high maneuverability. Often, wheelchairs need further modification and installation of additional equipment (ventilators, oxygen cylinders, etc) which affect their stability. Wheelchair stability is also dependent on a user's body characteristics that can result in a shifting of the centre of mass e.g. limb amputations, and obesity, etc. Adaptation of the wheelchair requires additional assessment and wheelchair tuning by highly skilled rehabilitation engineers. In this paper, we discuss the design and initial testing of a novel wheelchair stability assessment system. The developed WheelSense system consists of a force platform that senses the weight distribution of the wheelchair, the centre of the contact points, and the distances between contact points of the wheels. The measurement platform is linked via WiFi connection to a portable tablet computer where the platform's sensor signals are processed and the wheelchair stability parameters are calculated. An intuitive touchscreen GUI is used for visualization of the stability results and navigation through separate measurement modes. The mechanical platform was designed to be foldable and light-weighted and thus, to be easily transportable which gives additional advantages when the system is used outside of a clinical engineering department. The initial design is being evaluated through four prototype systems installed for clinical testing in 3 large hospitals in the UK. The initial results indicate that the developed measurement system possesses high accuracy and ease of operation

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BT - IEEE MeMeA 2014 - IEEE International Symposium on Medical Measurements and Applications, Proceedings

PB - IEEE Computer Society

ER -

A novel system for wheelchair stability assessment design and initial results

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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Cite this