Manual wheeled mobility - current and future developments from the human engineering research laboratories

• Published in: Disability and rehabilitation Vol. 32; no. 26; pp. 2210 - 2221
• Main Authors: Cooper, Rory A., Koontz, Alicia M., Ding, Dan, Kelleher, Annmarie, Rice, Ian, Cooper, Rosemarie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Informa Healthcare 2010; Taylor & Francis
• Subjects: Active life-style; Biomechanical Phenomena; biomechanics; Biomedical Engineering; Disabled Persons; Energy Transfer; Engineering; Equipment Design; Equipment Safety; Humans; Laboratories; manual wheelchair; Mobility; Rehabilitation; Rehabilitation - methods; Technical aids; training; transfer biomechanics; Wheelchairs; Wheelchairs - standards; Wheelchairs - trends
• ISSN: 0963-8288; 1464-5165
• DOI: 10.3109/09638288.2010.517599

Medical rehabilitation and assistive technology are immersed in a world transitioning to a basis in evidence-based practice.Fortunately, there is a growing body of knowledge related to manual wheelchair mobility to form a basis for clinical decision making. The results from research studies are useful for designing better wheelchairs, fitting and training people appropriately, contributing to evidence-based-medicine and guiding future research. This review describes some of the work related to manual wheelchairs that has and is being conducted within the University of Pittsburgh and the Human Engineering Research Laboratories of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, and its application.