Torque and power outputs on skilled and unskilled users during manual wheelchair propulsion

Seonhong Hwang, Seunghyeon Kim, Youngho Kim

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Manual wheelchair users are at a high risk of pain and injuries to the upper extremities due to mechanical inefficiency of wheelchair propulsion motion. The kinetic analysis of the upper extremities during manual wheelchair propulsion in various conditions needed to be investigated. We developed and calibrated a wheelchair dynamometer for measuring kinetic parameters during propulsion. We utilized the dynamometer to investigate and compare the propulsion torque and power values of skilled and unskilled users under four different conditions. Skilled manual wheelchair users generated lower torques with more power than unskilled users and reacted alertly and sensitively to changing conditions. We expect that these basic methods and results may help to quantitatively evaluate the mechanical efficiency of manual wheelchair propulsion.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication2012 Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBC 2012
Pages4820-4822
Number of pages3
DOIs
StatePublished - 2012
Externally publishedYes
Event34th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBS 2012 - San Diego, CA, United States
Duration: Aug 28 2012Sep 1 2012

Publication series

NameProceedings of the Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBS
ISSN (Print)1557-170X

Conference

Conference34th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBS 2012
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySan Diego, CA
Period08/28/1209/1/12

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