Conception of an innovative racing wheelchair simulator and instrumented wheels to assess and improve the racing propulsion biomechanics via real-time biofeedback

创新赛车轮椅模拟器和仪表轮的构想，通过实时生物反馈评估和改善赛车推进生物力学

• 批准号: RGPIN-2016-04998
• 负责人: Chénier, Félix
• 金额: $ 1.68万
• 依托单位: Université du Québec à Montréal
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=757689
• 关键词: Conception; innovative; racing; wheelchair; simulator

There are about 260 000 manual Wheelchair (WC) users in Canada. Due to many physical, social and environmental barriers, WC use is often associated to a sedentary lifestyle, physical deconditioning and decreased quality of life, leading to annual costs of more than 8 M$ due to morbidity. WC sports may reduce this spiral of physical inactivity. However, as everyday WC mobility causes secondary musculoskeletal impairment to half of the WC users due to a high and repetitive joint load, then WC sports need special attention because the joint load is even higher.Unfortunately, knowledge on WC sports biomechanics is scarce due to the unavailability of adequate measurement equipment. No current instrumented wheel can record propulsion kinetics during highly dynamic conditions such as WC sports. Moreover, no current WC simulator can reproduce controlled, realistic WC sports conditions or provide biofeedback to improve the users' propulsion techniques.My long-term main objective is to design new technologies and generate new knowledge in WC sport biomechanics. During the next 5 years, the following specific objectives, which all focus on research in biomechanics and technologies related to wheelchair racing, will be addressed:Obj. 1: Design and validate two new instrumented racing wheels to record bilateral propulsion kinetics in real racing conditions, using the users' own WCs, without adding significant weight or rolling resistance.Obj. 2: Design and validate an innovative wheelchair simulator to record racing kinematics, electromyography (EMG) and kinetics with the new wheel prototypes in a controlled and realistic laboratory environment, using the users' own WCs. This simulator will make use of advanced force feedback, visuals and acoustics to provide an immersive racing environment to the users.Obj. 3: Analyze racing biomechanics and simulate the effect of different techniques on performance and joint load based on biomechanical acquisitions on the new simulator.Obj. 4: Create a real-time biofeedback system that estimates the joint dynamics in real time and that provides this variable as auditory, visual and force biofeedback to the users.This innovative work will allow full understanding of racing biomechanics and therefore maximize performance and reduce joint load. It will allow the testing of new prototypes of standard and sports wheelchairs in controlled and realistic conditions, allow research on the development of fatigue and injury and on the effects of biofeedback during WC training. It will also allow the formation of highly qualified personnel in the fields of WC sports technologies. In the future, this research program will allow the integration of personalized sports training into the rehabilitation process, benefiting the whole population of manual WC users and reducing the enormous costs related to physical inactivity.

加拿大约有 26 万名手动轮椅 (WC) 用户。由于许多身体、社会和环境障碍，厕所的使用通常与久坐的生活方式、身体状况不佳和生活质量下降有关，导致每年因发病而产生的费用超过 8 百万美元。 WC 运动可能会减少这种身体不活动的情况。然而，由于日常的WC运动会导致一半的WC使用者因高重复性关节负荷而导致继发性肌肉骨骼损伤，因此WC运动需要特别关注，因为关节负荷更高。不幸的是，由于缺乏足够的测量设备，关于WC运动生物力学的知识很少。当前的仪表轮无法记录WC运动等高动态条件下的推进动力学。此外，目前的WC模拟器还没有能够重现受控的、真实的WC运动条件或提供生物反馈来提高用户的推进技术。我的长期主要目标是设计新技术并产生WC运动生物力学的新知识。在接下来的5年里，将实现以下具体目标，这些目标全部集中在与轮椅赛车相关的生物力学和技术的研究上：Obj。 1：设计并验证两个新的仪表赛车轮，以使用用户自己的 WC 记录真实赛车条件下的双边推进动力学，而不增加显着的重量或滚动阻力。 2：设计并验证创新的轮椅模拟器，以在受控且真实的实验室环境中使用用户自己的厕所，使用新的车轮原型记录赛车运动学、肌电图 (EMG) 和动力学。该模拟器将利用先进的力反馈、视觉和声学为用户提供身临其境的赛车环境。 3：分析赛车生物力学并根据新模拟器上的生物力学采集来模拟不同技术对性能和关节负载的影响。 4：创建一个实时生物反馈系统，实时估计关节动态，并将该变量作为听觉、视觉和力生物反馈提供给用户。这项创新工作将使人们充分了解赛车生物力学，从而最大限度地提高性能并减少关节负荷。它将允许在受控和真实的条件下测试标准轮椅和运动轮椅的新原型，允许研究疲劳和损伤的发展以及厕所训练期间生物反馈的影响。它还将有助于培养WC运动技术领域的高素质人才。未来，该研究计划将允许将个性化运动训练整合到康复过程中，使所有手动厕所使用者受益，并减少与缺乏身体活动相关的巨额成本。