title: An instrumented wheel system for measuring 3-D pushrim kinetics during racing wheelchair propulsion.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to design and validate an instrumented wheel system (IWS) that can measure 3-dimensional (3-D) pushrim forces during racing wheelchair propulsion. Linearity, precision, and percent error were determined for both static and dynamic conditions. For the static condition, the IWS demonstrated a high linearity (0.91 <or= slope <or= 1.41) with less than 2.72% error rate. Under dynamic loading, the IWS provided the well-matched measurement forces with the predicted values from the inverse dynamics method (0.96 <or= slope <or= 1.07) with less than 4.32% error rate. The results revealed that the IWS developed in the study can be used to measure 3-D pushrim reaction forces with acceptable accuracy. This was the first instrumented wheel device that can register 3-D pushrim forces during racing wheelchair propulsion. With the available kinetic information of the 3-D pushrim forces, the upper extremity joint reaction forces could be determined.
authors.affiliation: Division of Physical Therapy, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia 30302-3995, USA.
authors.forename: Weerawat
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Limroongreungrat
authors.forename: Yong Tai
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Li-Shan
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Mark D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Geil
authors.forename: Jeffery T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D000054:Acceleration; D000465:Algorithms; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena / Q000502:physiology; D004867:Equipment Design / Q000592:standards; D018737:Hand Strength; D006801:Humans; D008328:Man-Machine Systems; D013177:Sports; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014910:Wheelchairs