Determining the stability of mobility aids

In the spring of 2000, the BC Children's Hospital Foundation Telethon funded many projects designed with the goals of improving care and the quality of life for children. One such project was "Determine the Stability of Mobility Aids".

The purpose of this project is to increase the safety of the wheelchairs modified at Sunny Hill by developing a device that will objectively measure and record the centre of gravity of an occupied wheelchair. This information will be used clinically to increase wheelchair safety by helping with design choices during set-up and in educating the wheelchair user and caregivers following delivery.

The design uses clinically proven two-dimensional pressure pad technology to obtain the centre of gravity of the wheelchair system. The wheelchair is placed on the pressure pad that is located on an angle adjustable platform and the centre of pressure in two dimensions is calculated. The angle of the platform is then changed and the centre of pressure for the wheelchair is calculated again from the pressure pad. Using geometry, the intersection of the two normal centres of pressures is calculated. The co-ordinate of this intersection is the centre of gravity for the wheelchair. The entire process will be computer driven, initiated with the click of a single mouse button and be completed in less than 5 minutes. It is expected that the final system will be portable and can be brought to outreach locations throughout the province.

The projected completion date is August 2002.

Personnel

Primary Investigator: Andrew Brule
For additional information:Andrew Brule

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