SWADAPT2: benefits of a collision avoidance assistance for powered wheelchair users in driving difficulty

Abstract

Purpose

In France, tens of thousands of people use a wheelchair. Driving powered wheelchairs (PWCs) present risks for users and their families. The risk of collision in PWC driver increases with severity of disability and may reduce their independence to drive. The European ADAPT project has developed a robotic assistance add-on for PWCs to prevent collisions and improve their driving performance.

Materials and methods

The aim of the SWADAPT2 study is to assess the benefit of this robotic assistance add-on arranged on a Standard Quickie Salsa M2 PWC in a population of PWC drivers with neurological disorders and driving difficulties. Eighteen (18) participants tested the system on three circuits of increasing difficulty, with and without the robotic assistance add-on.

Results

The benefit of the robotic assistance add-on was important especially on the more difficult circuits without impacting cognitive load or driving speed. The number of collisions was significantly reduced when using robotic assistance add-on from 2.16 to 0.36 on circuit 2 (p = 0.009) and from 7.3 to 1.33 on circuit 3 (p = 0.0009). Task load demand was not increased with the assistance.

Conclusion

Finally, this system seems to be indicated to assist and improve driving safety for PWC drivers in driving difficulty. Evaluation was performed in controlled environments; therefore, further evaluation in real-world scenarios is needed to reach technology readiness.

IMPLICATION FOR REHABILITATION

• •This device is an effective technology to avoid collisions, especially for patients with neurological disorders in difficulty of driving.

• •Several use cases can be considered:

• –the equipment of drivers who are losing driving ability due to age evolution of their pathology, or anxiety

• –the equipment of users in driving training with difficulties, in order to facilitate access to users who are currently unable to drive.

Keywords:

• Smart wheelchair
• rehabilitation
• neurological diseases

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Estelle Ceze, Marie Dandois, Estelle Poupelin, for their help in setting up the experiments.

Authors’ contributions

The authors cited have all contribute to this trial. MB, FP and LD have participated to technical the development of smart PWC. They all participate to the technical support during the trial. BN, PG and EL participate to the enrolment of the participants. PG and EL participate to the protocol writing. BF participate to the protocol elaboration and coordinate the trial. PP was responsible of statistical analysis. EL, PG, and BF participate to the analysis of the results. BN, PG, MB, PP, FR and BF participate to the writing and to the reviews of this article.

Ethical approval and consent to participate

This study was approved by the ethics committee Comité de Protection des Personnes CPP Sud Méditerrannée IV the 11th 2019 (n°2019-A01306-51). This study was registered the 6 October 2020 on ClinicalTrials.gov, ID: NCT04259151 https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04259151?term=gallien&draw=2&rank=6

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Consent for publication

All authors consent to this publication

Availability of data and materials

The dataset uses and analysis during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Notes

1 https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/section_lc/LEGITEXT000006072665/LEGISCTA000006154978/#LEGISCTA000025457387

Additional information

Funding

This study is founded by INTERREG FEDER publics funds, in the context of the ADAPT project (adapt-project.com) and European Regional Development Fund. F. Routhier is a Senior Research Scholar of the Fonds de recherche du Québec –Santé (FRQS).