Joystick Grip for Electric Wheelchair for Tension-Athetosis-Type Cerebral Palsy

In Japan, the number of people who have difficulty walking has been increasing with the rise in the aging population and that of people with physical disabilities. Individuals with athetosis-type cerebral palsy may use electric wheelchairs due to abnormal walking. However, since they have problems with fine motor control, including the occurrence of involuntary movements and difficulty maintaining posture, they have difficulty intentionally controlling their hand movements. Therefore, they cannot operate a joystick, even if they desire to use electric wheelchairs, and there are risks of accidents. In this study, by considering the arch structure of hand, we developed a new joystick grip that enables the suppression of involuntary movement. We evaluated our proposed grip by comparing running stability with a conventional grip, and demonstrated the effectiveness of proposed method.

I. Introduction

In Japan, the number of people who have difficulty walking has recently been increasing due to the rise in the aging population and the number of people with physical disabilities [1]. Electric wheelchairs are one type of equipment that can improve the welfare of this population by allowing people to move about by themselves as they wish. Electric wheelchairs can decrease the burden on caregivers and supplement nursing care. Therefore, the demand for electric wheelchairs has been increasing. However, there are some who have difficulty in operating electric wheelchairs as intended, including those with tension-athetosis-type (TAT) cerebral palsy.