Innovations With 3-Dimensional Printing in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation: A Review of the Literature.

Created more than 30 years ago, 3-dimensional printing (3DP) has recently seen a meteoric rise in interest within medicine, and the field of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation is no exception. Also called additive manufacturing (AM), the recent increase in the use of 3DP is likely due to lower-cost printers as well as breakthroughs in techniques and processing. This thematic narrative review serves to introduce the rehabilitation professional to 3DP technology and how it is being applied to orthoses, prostheses, and assistive technology (AT).

Participatory design and validation of mobility enhancement robotic wheelchair.

The design of the mobility enhancement robotic wheelchair (MEBot) was based on input from electric powered wheelchair (EPW) users regarding the conditions they encounter when driving in both indoor and outdoor environments that may affect their safety and result in them becoming immobilized, tipping over, or falling out of their wheelchair. Phase I involved conducting a participatory design study to understand the conditions and barriers EPW users found to be difficult to drive in/over. Phase II consisted of creating a computer-aided design (CAD) prototype EPW to provide indoor and outdoor mobility that addressed these conditions with advanced applications.

Evaluation of aluminum ultralight rigid wheelchairs versus other ultralight wheelchairs using ANSI/RESNA standards.

Previous studies found that select titanium ultralight rigid wheelchairs (TURWs) had fewer equivalent cycles and less value than select aluminum ultralight folding wheelchairs (AUFWs). The causes of premature failure of TURWs were not clear because the TURWs had different frame material and design than the AUFWs. We tested 12 aluminum ultralight rigid wheelchairs (AURWs) with similar frame designs and dimensions as the TURWs using the American National Standards Institute/Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America and International Organization for Standardization wheelchair standards and hypothesized that the AURWs would be more durable than the TURWs.

Real-time model based electrical powered wheelchair control.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of three different control methods on driving speed variation and wheel slip of an electric-powered wheelchair (EPW). A kinematic model as well as 3D dynamic model was developed to control the velocity and traction of the wheelchair. A smart wheelchair platform was designed and built with a computerized controller and encoders to record wheel speeds and to detect the slip.