Design refinement and evaluation of a mobile manual standing wheelchair

Abstract

Purpose

There are no manually propelled wheelchairs on the market that are mobile in both seated and standing positions. In response to this product gap, our group formerly designed a mobile manual standing wheelchair (MMSW) and gathered stakeholder feedback. The purpose of this study was to refine the MMSW based on feedback, including weight and width reduction, and evaluate its performance.

Materials and methods

The MMSW was subjected to ANSI/RESNA stability testing, and three male participants completed a subset of the wheelchair skills test, including a 100-m roll test in the MMSW (seated and standing) and in their ultralight wheelchair.

Results

The MMSW met ANSI/RESNA stability safety standards. During the 100-m roll test, participants reached speeds with the MMSW in both the standing and sitting postures similar or greater than those typical of moving in the home environment (1.11 m/s seated; 0.79 m/s standing). Mobility speeds in the MMSW in the standing position were about three times faster than average walking speeds in exoskeletons (0.26 m/s exoskeletons). With the addition of chain drive bracing to the MMSW, one user was able to reach speeds in the standing position similar to average neurotypical walking speeds indicating the possibility for wheelchair users to be able to move in pace with family and friends.

Conclusion

All participants expressed interest in the MMSW to facilitate improved quality of life. Further work is needed to test the utility of the MMSW in home and community settings, and its potential effects on standing time and health outcomes.

Implications for rehabilitation

• Manual standing wheelchairs with standing mobility may increase functional utility and length of standing time for manual wheelchair users

• Increased standing time may lead to several health benefits for manual wheelchair users

Keywords:

• Accessibility
• spinal cord injury
• manual
• wheelchair
• mobile
• standing

Disclosure statement

Gary Goldish, Andrew Hansen and Eric Nickel are inventors on patents for the mobile manual standing wheelchair (US 9,044,369 and US 9,101,520). Dan Johnson is the President of LEVO, a standing wheelchair company that has licenced these patents for future commercialization of the wheelchair.

Additional information

Funding

The work reported in this article was funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Rehabilitation Research & Development Service, Award A1826-R – Mobile Manual Standing Wheelchair. A previous prototype was funded by the Paralyzed Veterans of America Research Foundation. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Veterans Affairs.