An Assistive Powered Wheelchair: Stage 2 Trial

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Preliminary evaluation of an obstacle alerting system to enhance the user's independent mobility by improving their confidence to drive and their safety in driving a powered wheelchair.

Detailed Description
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Many powered wheelchair users find that collision free driving presents a significant challenge to confident and safe driving. In some cases so much so that the user will not drive their chair in some environments. Interviews with users in the EDUCAT project confirmed that users had problems driving safely and confidently in a confined space, passing through doorways or down narrow corridors and when reversing. Therefore the goal of this stage of the project is to improve the quality of life of the powered chair user by developing an obstacle alerting system which will help improve their confidence and safety in driving. This was to be achieved by asking expert users to provide feedback on the impact and usefulness of providing information about the presence and location of obstacles in the vicinity of their powered wheelchair. There are two aspects to this. User assessment of the usefulness of the obstacle alerting feedback. This will include user evaluation of the value of the different modes of feedback - audio, visual and haptic - and how best to adapt these to the range of driving environments and driving speeds. And what level of control the user requires to select and deselect these options. Monitoring the user's driving patterns with and without obstacle alerting -using the Stage 1 recording device. The analysis of this data, and feedback from the Users and carers will inform the development and design of the obstacle alerting system. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic the trial could not be carried out with powered wheel-chair users participating as they represented a clinically vulnerable part of the population. The trial was, therefore, adapted and carried out with adult non-wheelchair users.

Official Title
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An Assistive Powered Wheelchair: Stage 2 Trial - Powered Wheelchair User Evaluation of an Obstacle Alerting System. A Non-interventional Study

Conditions
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Multiple Sclerosis, Stroke, Cystic Fibrosis, Motor Neurone Disease, Craniocerebral Trauma, Guillain-Barre Syndrome

Intervention / Treatment
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* Device: Powered Wheelchair Obstacle Alerting System


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Adults who are not wheelchair users. Willing and able to provide a valid consent. Able to participate in interviews aided or unaided using preferred method of communication. Willing to drive a powered chair. Exclusion Criteria: 1. Lacks capacity to consent

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 90 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Arms and Interventions

| Intervention/Treatment |
| --- |
|Device: Powered Wheelchair Obstacle Alerting System|Evaluation of an Obstacle Alerting System|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pre-trial Participant Evaluation of the possible Value of an Obstacle Alerting System | The participant had been given an information sheet describing the Obstacle Alerting System. The participants were given the pre-trial questionnaire to obtain their opinion of the value of the Obstacle Alerting System. In a face to face interview the participants were asked to score each question. 0=don't know, 1=not at all, to 5=very helpful. Participants were also asked to discuss the reasons for their choices. Questions included. Value of warning of obstacles in the vicinity of the powered chair. Use of visual, auditory and haptic feedback in a range of environments e.g. small room, lifts, corridor, doorways, crowded spaces. The value of a reversing camera. Perceived benefit for Powered Chair Users. | immediately before the intervention/procedure | 
| Post-trial Participant Evaluation of the possible Value of the Obstacle Alerting System | Post-trial questionnaire based on pre-trial questionnaire. Participants reassessed the Obstacle Alerting System [OAS] in the light of experience. In a face to face interview the participants were asked to score each question. 0=don't know, 1=not at all, to 5=very helpful. Participants were also asked to discuss the reasons for their choices. Asked when they found the OAS helpful and when unhelpful. Assessment of the feedback options and when they were and were not helpful. How could the OAS be improved to make it more user friendly and environment specific. Perceived benefit for Powered Chair Users. | immediately after the intervention/procedure | 
| Joystick range of movement patterns with and without the Obstacle alerting System Active | Range of movement scatter plots/ heat maps | immediately after the intervention/procedure | 
| Smoothness of joystick movement with and without the Obstacle alerting System Active | Smoothness of movement e.g. Normalised Jerk Score. A lower score indicates smoother and more controlled movements. Typical values for this trial are in the range of 3000-5000. A lower score is an indication of the participant learning to drive and becoming more familiar with the course. A lower score may occur with the Obstacle Alerting system active - if it helps. A higher score if it distracts. At present this is a novel measure of these factors | immediately after the intervention/procedure | 
| Joystick path length with and without the Obstacle alerting System Active | Joystick path length - distance the participant moves the joystick to drive the course. Calculated from the joystick displacement X and Y coordinates. For a set course it would be expected that the path length will decrease as the participant learns to drive and familiarises with the course. Fatigue not having an impact. A lower score may occur with the Obstacle Alerting system active - if it helps. A higher score if it distracts. At present this is a novel measure of these factors | immediately after the intervention/procedure | 
| Time to complete the course with and without the Obstacle alerting System Active | Manually timed. Start when participant enters the course, stop when exiting the course | immediately after the intervention/procedure |