I-Corps: Patient Leg-Powered Wheelchair Mobility to Promote Wellness

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The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project derives from robotics innovations that are applied to the health needs of over 17 million individuals in the United States of all ages who have walking related disabilities. An innovative wheelchair attachment called Gait Rehab Adaptive Machine guides the user's legs through a therapeutic walking movement and drives the wheelchair. This converts therapy into movement of the chair to give patients the opportunity to work on their own rehabilitation in a compelling way, all from a safely seated position. The support of natural leg movement without the additional demand of load bearing and balance promotes muscle tone and blood circulation that are critical to organ health. The connection to mobility promotes patient involvement, fitness, independence and well-being. The system is instrumented to monitor daily performance. This extends the reach of therapists to assist recovery from sports injuries, strokes and accidents. It also provides basic mobility for the elderly and walking disabled that promotes leg movement and exercise and it can provide valuable leg exercise in confined spaces such as during long distance airline flights.This I-Corps project explores commercialization of robotics technology that has resulted from new capabilities in computer-aided invention. Given the requirements of the natural movement of the foot and leg of a patient, an articulated six-bar linkage skeleton that guides this movement was computed by evaluation of millions of alternatives and optimized to provide an effective mechanical system. The result is low-cost versatile wheelchair attachment that connects to a patients legs and guides them through a therapeutic walking movement. This movement is coupled to the drive wheels of the wheelchair and converts their therapy into movement of the chair in all ways needed for daily life (forwards, backwards, and turning). Mobility motivates increased therapeutic movement which increases its effectiveness. The technology of computer-aided invention also ensures that the six-bar skeleton can be matched to the specific needs of individual users of various sizes as well as adjusted to provide specialized rehabilitation needs.