DESIGN REFINEMENT AND TAKE-HOME TESTING OF A MOBILE MANUAL STANDING WHEELCHAIR

Commercially available manual standing wheelchairs are immobile during standing, which may limit their utility for the wheelchair user. This paper describes our refinement of a previously designed manual standing wheelchair that is mobile-in-standing to make it accessible to a wider group of potential users. A powered sit-to-stand system was utilized, which required significant design changes to the wheelchair to allow mobility in standing. In addition to describing these design changes, the paper briefly describes a two-month take-home study of N=11 Veterans with spinal cord injuries and disorders (SCI/D), including three Veterans with tetraplegia who would not have been able to use the earlier non-powered sit-to-stand system. Participants had high levels of satisfaction for durability, safety, comfort, ease of use, and effectiveness of the wheelchair. However, participants were generally not satisfied with the size and weight of the wheelchair, suggesting the need for further refinement.