Wheelchair Lever Driver for Low Resource Settings

Project Description:
In low resource environments, access to needed medical equipment such as wheelchairs is limited. With the motto “no one should have to crawl”, the Free Wheelchair Mission (https://www.freewheelchairmission.org/) provides free wheelchairs to those in need. They have identified that many of their end users have upper extremity weakness, or need to travel long distances from their home. As a result, they are interested in providing lever arm drivers on their wheelchairs for those who need them.

The aim of this project is to develop a lever driver for the wheelchairs that the Free Wheelchair Mission provides to those in need for free. The device should be easy to mount, resistant to weather and extensive use, fit through a standard doorway, enable easy maneuverability, and low cost (< $71 to manufacture).

Project Mentor:
Engineering Mentor: Christine E. King PhD, Department of Biomedical Engineering, UCI, kingce@uci.edu
Engineering Mentor: Kyle Bulloch, Symbient Product Development, Kyle.Bulloch@symbientpd.com
Offsite Spinal Cord Injury Physician: Victoria Lent, MD, Department of Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation, Helen Hayes Hospital, NY victoria.lent@helenhayeshosp.org

Other Resources:
David J. Reinkensmeyer PhD, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, UCI, dreinken@uci.edu
Don Schoenderfer PhD, CEO of the Free Wheelchair Mission, dschoendorfer@freewheelchairmission.org

Team Members:

Richard Alexander Coucoules, Phung M. Lam, Manuel Miramontes, Fernando Robledo, Danessa Leslie Yip