Abstract
Pearlman JL, Cooper RA, Karnawat J, Cooper R, Boninger ML. Evaluation of the safety
and durability of low-cost nonprogrammable electric powered wheelchairs.
Objective
To evaluate whether a selection of low-cost, nonprogrammable electric-powered wheelchairs
(EPWs) meets the American National Standards Institute (ANSI)/Rehabilitation Engineering
and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) Wheelchair Standards requirements.
Design
Objective comparison tests of various aspects of power wheelchair design and performance
of 4 EPW types.
Specimens
Three of each of the following EPWs: Pride Mobility Jet 10 (Pride), Invacare Pronto
M50 (Invacare), Electric Mobility Rascal 250PC (Electric Mobility), and the Golden
Technologies Alanté GP-201-F (Golden).
Setting
Rehabilitation engineering research center.
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures
Static tipping angle; dynamic tipping score; braking distance; energy consumption;
climatic conditioning; power and control systems integrity and safety; and static,
impact, and fatigue life (equivalent cycles).
Results
Static tipping angle and dynamic tipping score were significantly different across
manufacturers for each tipping direction (range, 6.6°−35.6°). Braking distances were
significantly different across manufacturers (range, 7.4−117.3cm). Significant differences
among groups were found with analysis of variance (ANOVA). Energy consumption results
show that all EPWs can travel over 17km before the battery is expected to be exhausted
under idealized conditions (range, 18.2−32.0km). Significant differences among groups
were found with ANOVA. All EPWs passed the climatic conditioning tests. Several adverse
responses were found during the power and control systems testing, including motors
smoking during the stalling condition (Electric Mobility), charger safety issues (Electric
Mobility, Invacare), and controller failures (Golden). All EPWs passed static and
impact testing; 9 of 12 failed fatigue testing (3 Invacare, 3 Golden, 1 Electric Mobility,
2 Pride). Equivalent cycles did not differ statistically across manufacturers (range,
9759−824,628 cycles).
Conclusions
Large variability in the results, especially with respect to static tipping, power
and control system failures, and fatigue life suggest design improvements must be
made to make these low-cost, nonprogrammable EPWs safe and reliable for the consumer.
Based on our results, these EPWs do not, in general, meet the ANSI/RESNA Wheelchair Standards requirements.
Key Words
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Archives of Physical Medicine and RehabilitationAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Wheelchair standards. Vol 2. ANSI/RESNA, New York1998
- Wheelchair standards. Vol 1. ANSI/RESNA, New York1998
- Fatal wheelchair-related accidents in the United States.Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 1990; 69: 184-190
- Durability, value, and reliability of selected electric powered wheelchairs.Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2004; 85: 805-814
- Evaluation of selected electric-powered wheelchairs using the ANSI/RESNA standards.Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2004; 85: 611-619
- Life-Cycle analysis of depot versus rehabilitation manual wheelchairs.J Rehabil Res Dev. 1996; 33: 45-55
- Comparison of fatigue life for 3 types of manual wheelchairs.Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2001; 82: 1484-1488
- Fatigue testing of selected suspension manual wheelchairs using ANSI/RESNA standards.Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2005; 86: 123-129
- Part B Physician/Supplier Nat’l Data, CY 2003 Top 200 Level II Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System. 2004 (Sept 17, Available at: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/statistics/feeforservice/top200l2hcpcsbycharges03.asp. Accessed July 20, 2005.)
- Part B Physician/Supplier Nat’l Data, CY 2001 Top 200 Level II Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System. 2004 (Sept 17, Available at: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/statistics/feeforservice/top200l2hcpcsbycharges01.asp. Accessed July 20, 2005.)
- Part B Physician/Supplier Nat’l Data, CY 2002 Top 200 Level II Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System. 2004 (Sept 17, Available at: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/statistics/feeforservice/top200l2hcpcsbycharges02.asp. Accessed July 20, 2005.)
- Medicare announces new initiatives on power wheelchair coverage and payment policy. 2004 (Sept 17, Available at: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/media/press/release.asp?Counter=1023. Accessed July 20, 2005.)
- Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS). 2004 (Sept 17, Available at: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/medicare/hcpcs/default.asp?. Accessed July 20, 2005.)
- Comments for revisions of ISO 7176-8. 2003 (. Sept 23,)
- Applied multivariate analysis. Springer, New York2002
- Tips and falls during electric-powered wheelchair driving.Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2003; 84: 1797-1802
- Driving characteristics of electric-powered wheelchair users.Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2002; 83: 250-255
Article info
Footnotes
Supported by the VA Rehabilitation Research and Development Center (grant no. F2181C), the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Wheeled Mobility (grant no. H133E990001), a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, and a National Science Foundation Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (grant no. 0333420).
No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the author(s) or upon any organization with which the author(s) is/are associated.
Identification
Copyright
© 2005 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
