• Journal of International Academy of Physical Therapy Research
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.1533-1536
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• 2018

The purpose of present study was to investigate the effect of kinesio taping on pulmonary function in stroke patients using manual wheelchairs. Twenty stroke patients were divided into a wood chair group (WCG, n=10), a wheelchairs group (WG, n=10), and a kinesio taping with wheelchairs group (KWG, n=10). Taping with wheelchairs group was applied kinesio taping on back muscles (vertical paraspinal strips and oblique strips). All three groups were trained in upright seated posture for 30 minutes. Pulmonary function tests were performed with forced expiratory volume in one second, forced vital capacity and peak expiratory flow as spirometer. There was a significant increase in forced expiratory volume in one second and forced vital capacity only in KWG. The results of this study demonstrate that kinesio taping has an immediate effect on the improvement of pulmonary function in stroke patients using manual wheelchairs.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.109-124
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• 2014

Objective: This study was conducted for one-hand users including hemiplegic clients currently using general folding manual wheelchairs, so as to analyze their specific problems and recommend solutions regarding usage. Background: Traditional manual wheelchairs require considerable use and control of both hands for operation, thus adaptations become necessary for individuals with asymmetrical use of hands. Method: Thirty hemiplegic clients who were admitted to rehabilitation and convalescent hospitals participated as subjects. The research tools were general folding manual wheelchairs commonly used by people with impaired gait, and the Wheelchair Skills Tests (WST) WST-M/WCU 4.1 version was adopted as the assessment tool. All participants were asked to fill out questionnaires on demographics and wheelchair usage characteristics. Assessment procedures were performed with currently used manual wheelchairs and with/without the use of foot to control the wheelchair. Results: When the participants drove folding manual wheelchairs without the use of foot, even the lowest failure rate among the WST items tested recorded 96.7%. On the contrary, with the use of foot in maneuvering the wheelchairs, failure rates dropped noticeably and success rate among the WST items tested was as high as 86.7%. Conclusion: These findings imply that the use of one-arm (hand) propellable (drivable) wheelchair can be an active and effective solution in resolving problems for hemiplegic clients using existing manual wheelchairs. As such, the government should provide institutional support to further develop and distribute this device or technology, and promote relative research in tandem. For now, the supply of commercially available device to hemiplegic clients is deemed urgent and also a mechanism to provide the devices and relevant services. Application: This study offers viable solutions for hemiplegic clients who rely on existing manual wheelchairs to increase their mobility and occupational performance.

• Journal of rehabilitation welfare engineering & assistive technology
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.177-184
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to investigate caretakers' demands and request in electric wheelchairs. The survey included the usability questionnaire (safety, operability, satisfactions) which were selected by opinions of caretakers and specialist of rehabilitation for electric wheelchairs. The survey also included questionnaires consisting of such questions as to demographic information, care experience, care time, and care burden, and demand for folding electric wheelchairs. Participants were fifty caretakers of electric wheelchair users. Caretakers' average age was 54.54years, and the average duration of their care experience was 80.98 months with average care time 9.80 hours per day. In safety and operability, most of participants were mostly satisfied. However, in satisfaction of weight and clean of electric wheelchairs was dissatisfied. They reported that the biggest problem of electric wheelchairs were too heav and difficult to control and that the greatest difficulty in helping electric wheelchair users was helping them with transfer to and from the wheelchair. They also need their prefer to develop folding electric wheelchairs. In this study, caretakers emphasized necessity of development light, easy to storage and clean electric wheelchairs. In conclusion, it is required to develop folding electric wheelchairs to reflect caretaker's opinions.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2010.11a
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• pp.983-984
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• 2010

• International Journal of Safety
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.30-34
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• 2008

For the purpose of establishing basic design standards for the manufacture of wheelchairs, a dummy for an ISO-standard wheelchair was modeled for use with a manufactured wheelchair, and the safety and performance of the wheelchair were examined through numerical simulations.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.798-804
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• 2016

This paper proposes a new operation and control strategy for Power-Assisted Wheelchairs (PAW) using one brushless DC (BLDC) motor. The conventional electrical wheelchairs are too heavy and large for one person to move because they have two electric motor wheels. On the other hand, the proposed PAW system has a small volume and is easy to move due to the presence of a single wheel motor. Unlike the conventional electric wheelchairs, this structure for a PAW does not have a control joystick to reduce its weight and volume. To control the wheelchair without a joystick, a special control system and algorithm are needed for proper operation of the wheelchair. In the proposed PAW system uses only one sensor to detect the acceleration and direction of PAW's movement. By using this sensor, speed control can be achieved. With a speed control system, there are three kinds of operations that can be done on the speed of a PAW: the increment of PAW speed by summing external force, the decrement of PAW speed by subtracting external force, and emergency breaking by evaluating the time duration of external force. The validity of the proposed algorithm is verified through experimental results.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.83-89
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• 2015

we suggest a shopping cart system following the wheelchairs autonomously for the disabled to do shop easily. This system have been developed in order for a cart to follow the disabled using wheelchairs automatically without pulling a cart directly. This system use kinnect and an radio control car (RC-car). The kinnect detect whether movement of disabled is right turn, left turn or straight and according to this result the RC-car can be controlled autonomously. By this system, the disabled using wheelchairs can do shopping more easily than before.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.143-150
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• 2023

As Korea's per capita income increases, participation in various leisure activities to improve the quality of life of the disabled is encouraged. However, in order to participate in leisure activities, movement to the place where the leisure activities are performed must be preceded, so interest in means of transportation for leisure activities of the disabled is increasing. Since manual and electric wheelchairs have their respective disadvantages as means of transportation for leisure activities, interest in power assisting devices for wheelchairs combining the functions of electric wheelchairs with manual wheelchairs is increasing. In this study, the FDA approval process of wheelchair power-assistance products was investigated, and the characteristics of side-attached, front-attached, downward-attached, and rear-attached types of power assist devices for wheelchairs wheelchair in countries around the world were identified. These information will be of great use in helping the disabled and their assistants in Korea to choose the optimal product according to the patient's condition. More usability tests and clinical case studies are needed so that people with disabilities can choose a power assist device suitable for them.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.26 no.12
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• pp.2678-2686
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• 2002

A novel approach is developed for avoidance of obstacles in unknown environment. This paper proposes a new way of intelligent autonomous wheelchairs for the handicapped to move safely and comfortably. It is the objective of this paper to develop delayed time fuzzy control algorithms to deal with various obstacles. This new algorithm gives the benefit of the collision free movement in real time and optimal path to the moving target. The computer simulations and the experiments are demonstrated to the effect of the suggested control method.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.23 no.2 s.179
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• pp.172-180
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• 2006

Although there existed many types of manual/power hybrid wheelchairs, their use was not widespread because of their inconvenience in converting drive system and in folding frames. To carry a wheelchair in the car or to convert driving methods, some hard work of disassembling or exchanging wheels was required for most of currently available hybrid wheelchairs. In this study, the standard foldable manual wheelchair was reformed to a power wheelchair by installing the newly developed Axial Flux Permanent Magnet(AFPM) type of brush less direct current(BLDC) motor on each rear hub of wheelchair. This wheelchair could be driven by manual or electric power without exchanging. wheels, thus no additional work was needed for carriage or for power conversion. The developed wheelchair was evaluated for durability, stability, maneuverability, cost, and reliability in accordance with the Korean standards. The results indicated that the developed hybrid wheelchair was good enough for commercialization comparing to other imported wheelchairs.