What it does
The Adaptive Handcycle system supports individuals with neurological difficulties by enabling upper-body rehabilitation directly from a wheelchair. It aims to remedy the issues of accessibility, posture, and cost through a user-friendly design.
Your inspiration
Traditional handcycles are difficult to access for patients in wheelchairs. Current systems typically require users to transfer out of their wheelchairs, placing physical strain on both patients and caregivers. By speaking with rehabilitation stakeholders and hearing their stories, we recognized that existing devices were not designed with wheelchair-compatibility in mind. This led us to design a height-adjustable, user-friendly system that allows patients to perform rehabilitation exercises comfortably from their wheelchairs, improving their overall cardiovascular health and upper body strength without the need for strenuous transfers.
How it works
The Adaptive Handcycle is composed of three systems: frame, mounting, and lifting. The robust aluminum frame system provides structural support and features locking casters and levelling feet for portability and stability. The modular mounting system secures a (Garmin Tacx) handcycle onto a steel and plywood pegboard using custom aluminum clamps and velcro straps. Lastly, the lifting system is composed of a remote-controlled linear actuator that allows for vertical adjustment of the mounting system to align with the user’s pedaling height. Once the Adaptive Handcycle has been assembled and stationed in place, patients with varying physical attributes can begin handcycling at their convenience. Not only does it improve accessibility by bypassing the need to transfer out of the patient’s wheelchair, but it also prioritizes proper posture alignment, portability, stability, and adaptability, which effectively matches dynamic clinical environments.
Design process
The Neurorehabilitation department at Foothills Hospital in Calgary, Alberta reached out to BMERIT regarding challenges patients and clinicians were experiencing when using handcycles. From conversations with the healthcare professionals in this department we were able to gain a deeper understanding about the needs of patients and healthcare workers, allowing us to identify our design constraints. Taking this knowledge, we began developing our initial prototype. This prototype included the use of motors and lead screws within the current frame to adjust the height of the handcycle and mounting system. As we developed this concept further, we realized this solution was overcomplicated, adding many mechanical parts to the system. With further discussion and research, we were able to develop our final system, switching the motor-and-lead-screw mechanism with an elegant, off-the-shelf solution in a linear actuator. Similarly, we designed multiple iterations of the mounting system before settling on the current design. One of our original designs included a spring loaded clamp combined with vibration damping material, but after discussions with healthcare professionals and engineers, we identified a need for a modular mounting system, able to adapt to changing bike trainer systems.
How it is different
Most handcycle systems require custom seating or assume that users will transfer from their wheelchairs, which can be taxing on both patients and healthcare workers. The Adaptive Handcycle system circumvents that model by allowing the system to adjust to the user instead. Compared to other designs, it has full wheelchair compatibility, height adjustability via a linear actuator, and modular components for easy maintenance. Unlike arm ergometers that force users into a forward-leaning posture, our design assists upright, back-supported positioning. The system simplifies maintenance through easy-to-manufacture modular components and uses replaceable, off-the-shelf parts, including a commercially available bike trainer, to facilitate pedaling. These innovations combine to create an affordable, ergonomic, and scalable rehab tool that is practical in clinical settings.
Future plans
The next steps for the handcycle are to begin verification and validation testing, ensuring all requirements are fulfilled and tested by users to validate the effectiveness of the system. Along with testing, research will be done to gather information on the neurorehabilitation benefits provided by the adapted handcycle system and the comparison of effectiveness within the market of rehabilitation handcycle devices. We will continue to implement user testing and work with healthcare professionals to receive feedback. The feedback will be used to improve the handcycle to handle various test cases to account for all needs.
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