Electric powered wheelchairs (EPWs) are an important form of mobility for many persons with disabilities. However, little quantitative data exists on how much people use their EPWs in real-world environments. Previous devices have been successful at measuring EPW usage, but they have been limited by the size or the battery life of the device. This study describes the design, development, and validation of caster data logger (CDL) suitable for long-term collection of EPW usage data in real-world environments. Also included in this study is a description of EPW usage data collected during and after the National Veterans Wheelchair Games (NVWG).
Several device concepts for logging EPW usage were evaluated. A caster data logger concept was chosen and functional prototypes were fabricated. The prototypes were subjected to a variety of bench tests before being deemed suitable for field use. 10 CDLs were constructed of data collection at the NVWG.
At the NVWG, subjects who used an EPW as their primary means of mobility were recruited for this study. In 5 days at the games the participants (n=5) traveled a distance of 7751 ± 3439m per day, while traveling 3397±1300 m (n = 4) per day during 5 days the following week. The results were limited due to small sample size; however, they could provide useful pilot data for future studies.
Overall, the CDL showed potential as a useful tool for measuring EPW usage. Future development should focus making the device easier for researchers and clinicians to use.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-07162007-131107 |
| Date | 25 September 2007 |
| Creators | Grindle, Garrett George |
| Contributors | Rory A. Cooper, PhD, Shirley Fitzgerald, PhD, Michael Boninger, MD |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
| Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-07162007-131107/ |
| Rights | restricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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