One Dimensional Input Device of Electric Wheelchair for Persons with Severe Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Persons with severe Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) usually have difficult in operating electric wheelchairs (EW) using standard input device due to the lack of muscular power and the deformation of their hands. This paper proposed a novel one dimensional two degree of freedom (1D2F) input device based on the quantitative evaluation of hand function which consists of fingertip force and active range of motion. The validity and the operating features of this device are demonstrated by experiments.