Helping Hand

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http://www.know-more.com/stories/DB0109-09-smartwheelchairs/Helping_Hand.asp

--

" Love may be priceless, but it demands a huge expenditure of time. "

--Suzanne Fields

MainRate Your RiskMaintain MobilityHelping Hand

A spinal cord injury (SCI) is damage to

the spinal cord that results in a loss of function such as

mobility or feeling.

The spinal cord does not have to be

severed in order for a loss of functioning to occur.

In fact, in most people with SCI, the

spinal cord is intact, but the damage to it results in loss of

function.

American Association of Neurological Surgeons

consumer

solution

Air Date: 9/9/2001

Station: KXAS Fort Worth, TX

Reporter name: NBC 5

Reporter email: nbc5i@...

HELPING

HAND

hen

you live life in a manual wheelchair, all that pushing can

take a toll on your body. Over time, chronic pain can develop

in your shoulders and elbows. But a new smart wheelchair is a

lot easier on the body and easier to use too.

Engineers

have developed a new type of hybrid wheel chair that’s a

cross between a manual and an electric one. It’s called a

" PAPAW " , or Pushrim Activated Power Assisted

Wheelchair.

" It’s kind of like a power assist lawnmower, so they

would push the lawnmower - the lawnmower responds to your

pushing it and helps you move it along across the lawn. This

is the same idea, " according to University of Pittsburgh

professor Dr. Rory .

The PAPAW can’t mow your lawn, but it can help people in

wheelchairs relax a little more by making it easier for them

to propel their wheelchairs.

Here's how the new chair works:

· User pushes on the rim of the

wheel

· Sensors in wheel send a signal to a computer

attached to the chair

· Next, the computer makes an on-board battery boost

up the power

· That increase in power propels the chair further

with less effort

Scientists say the wheelchair can be adjusted to fit any

level of disability and help users get on with a more normal,

active lifestyle.

For people who need wheelchairs but still like to get

cardio exercise on their upper bodies, the PAPAW allows them

to do that but with less strain on their wrists and shoulders,

where most of the injuries occur from overuse.

The PAPAW wheelchair is currently available to the general

public through any wheelchair dealer. It runs about the same

cost as an electric powered wheelchair, between $3,000 and

$6,000. For people who are severely disabled and can only use

hands or fingers, the electric wheelchairs propel them farther

so they don’t have to use quite as much effort.