Manual wheelchair downhill stability: an analysis of factors affecting tip probability

Abstract

Background: For people who use manual wheelchairs, tips and falls can result in serious injuries including bone fractures, concussions, and traumatic brain injury. We aimed to characterize how wheelchair configuration changes (including on-the-fly adjustments), user variables, and usage conditions affected dynamic tip probability while rolling down a slope and contacting a small block.

Methods: Rigid body dynamic models of a manual wheelchair and test dummy were created using multi-body software (Madymo, TASS International, Livonia, MI), and validated with 189 experiments. Dynamic stability was assessed for a range of seat angles (0 to 20° below horizontal), backrest angles (0 to 20°), rear axle positions (0 to 20 cm from base of backrest), ground slopes (0 to 15°), bump heights (0 to 4 cm), wheelchair speeds (0 to 20 km/hr), user masses (50 to 115 kg), and user positions (0 to 10 cm from base of backrest). The tip classifications (forward tip, backward tip, rolled over bump, or stopped by bump) were investigated using a nominal logistic regression analysis.

Results: Faster wheelchair speeds significantly increased the probability of tipping either forward or backward rather than stopping, but also increased the probability of rolling over the bump (p < 0.001). When the rear axle was positioned forward, this increased the risk of a backward tip compared to all other outcomes (p < 0.001), but also reduced the probability of being stopped by the bump (p < 0.001 compared to forward tip, p < 0.02 compared to rolling over). Reclining the backrest reduced the probability of a forward tip compared to all other outcomes (p < 0.001), and lowering the seat increased the probability of either rolling over the bump or tipping backwards rather than tipping forward (p < 0.001). In general, the wheelchair rolled over bumps < 1.5 cm, and forwards tipping was avoided by reducing the speed to 1 km/hr.

Conclusions: The probability of forward tipping, corresponding to the greatest risk of injury, was significantly reduced for decreased speeds, smaller bumps, a reclined backrest, and a lower rear seat height. For wheelchairs with dynamic seating adjustability, when travelling downhill, on-the-fly adjustments to the seat or backrest can increase the likelihood of safely rolling over a bump.

Keywords: Mobility devices; Motion capture; Rigid body dynamics; Simulation; Wheelchair stability.

Fig. 1

Methodology road map for estimating wheelchair dynamic tip probability

Fig. 2

Diagram of wheelchair model. Variations were made to the wheelchair seat angle, backrest angle, rear axle position and user position (a), as well as user mass, wheelchair speed, ground slope, and bump height in the simulations. The Madymo model is shown on the right (b) Fig. 3 Experimental setup for testing wheelchair downhill stability

Fig. 3

Experimental setup for testing wheelchair downhill stability

Fig. 4

Experimental sequence of events for wheelchair rolling over a medium bump (1.91 cm) at 3.92 km/h.(1) wheelchair released on slope, (2) casters impact bump, (3) the momentum of the wheelchair causes the casters to launch over bump, (4) rear wheels impact bump while casters are still in the air, (5) wheelchair continues rolling down slope

Fig. 5

Experimental sequence of events for wheelchair rolling over a high bump (3.18 cm) at 2.59 km/h.(1) wheelchair released to roll down slope, (2) casters impact bump and rear wheels lift, (3) the rear wheels return to the ground, but the momentum causes the casters to lift, (4) casters clear bump, (5) the rear wheels follow, also clearing the bump

Fig. 6

Expected wheelchair behaviour after rolling into/over a bump with respect to backrest and seat angles. Panels are grouped by speed and bump height