Wheelchairs News and Research

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Purdue startup wins SAH Assistive Technology Grant to improve veterans’ ability to live independently

Prehensile Technologies, a company developing robotic assistive technology devices, is developing RoboTable, a robotic over-the-bed table, to help veterans and others with disabilities or mobility impairments better use their laptop computers and mobile devices while restricted to bed, allowing them to be more independent and remain productive with work or school.

26 Aug 2017

Exoskeleton device helps man with disabling condition to complete 10K race

Martin Jarry was a police officer in Quebec. He coached a youth hockey team. He was used to being active, used to working out, used to being strong. But when Jarry was diagnosed with inclusion body myositis (IBM), he had to do some serious re-evaluating of his activities.

10 Aug 2017

When wounds won’t heal, therapies spread — to the tune of $5 billion

Carol Emanuele beat cancer. But for the past two years, she has been fighting her toughest battle yet. She has an open wound on the bottom of her foot that leaves her unable to walk and prone to deadly infection.

3 Aug 2017

Counting on Medicaid to avoid life in a nursing home? That’s now up to Congress.

Ten years ago, a driver ran a stop sign as Jim McIlroy rode into the intersection on his motorcycle. Serious injuries left McIlroy paralyzed from the chest down. But, after spending some time in a nursing home, he returned to his home near Bethel, Maine.

31 Jul 2017

Medical transportation provider accused of disserving L.A.’s frail patients

Some days, the drivers showed up late to take Julian Myers to and from dialysis. Other days, they didn't come at all. When that happened, Myers, who has end-stage kidney disease, scrambled to find a ride.

14 Jul 2017

Millions of kids fall outside Senate plan to shield disabled from Medicaid cuts

Aidan Long is a 13-year-old from Kalispell, Mont., who has suffered multiple daily seizures since he was 4. The seizures defy medical cure, and some of them continue for weeks, requiring Aidan to be airlifted to children's hospitals in Denver or Seattle, said his father, Ben Long.

10 Jul 2017

Novel therapy decreases incidence of bleeding by 87% in hemophilia A patients with inhibitors

An international team of hematologists including Guy Young, MD, of Children's Hospital Los Angeles, has found that in patients with hemophilia A with inhibitors, a novel therapy called emicizumab, decreases incidence of bleeding episodes by 87%.

10 Jul 2017

Clinical trial of immunotherapy shows promising results for patients with melanoma brain tumors

Two years ago, when Kathy Roberts was 54, she started having pain in her ankle. She ignored it. Then it became swollen, and she had more and more trouble walking. So she went to a series of doctors trying to figure out the problem.

27 Jun 2017

Honda gives $1 million gift to Nationwide Children’s Hospital to enhance pediatric mobility

Nationwide Children's Hospital and Honda announced today a $1 million gift from the automaker to establish the Honda Center for Gait Analysis and Mobility Enhancement designed to enhance pediatric mobility.

20 Jun 2017

Body cooling for wheelchair comfort

People with a Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) are unable to sweat because their body can no longer communicate with their brain. They risk overheating with every revalidation exercise. While this was the main driver for Staels Design, we have since noted that almost every single wheelchair user has issues with heat and moisture.

16 Jun 2017

Single-dose radiotherapy effectively reduces spinal cord compression symptoms

A common complication in people with metastatic cancer, spinal cord compression is a major detriment to quality of life. Radiation treatment is widely used to relieve pain and other symptoms, but there is no standard recommended schedule, and approaches currently vary.

5 Jun 2017

Researchers develop new modified toy car designs for children with disabilities

Researchers at Oregon State University have developed two new modified toy car designs for children with disabilities in an effort to encourage them to further explore, play, and engage in physical and social activities.

24 May 2017

Scientists use AHDS patients’ cells to recreate disease and mimic blood-brain barrier

The blood-brain barrier is biology's proverbial double-edged sword. An impermeable shield of endothelial cells that protects our brains from toxins and other threats that may lurk in circulating blood, the barrier can also exclude therapeutic drugs and, at times, essential biomolecules required for healthy brain development.

17 May 2017

Weekly doses of steroids help hasten recovery in muscle injuries

Weekly doses of glucocorticoid steroids, such as prednisone, help speed recovery in muscle injuries, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study. The weekly steroids also repaired muscles damaged by muscular dystrophy.

17 May 2017

UAH researcher develops new suite of phone apps to monitor physical mobility, stability of older people

A new suite of phone apps developed at The University of Alabama in Huntsville uses Android smartphones to monitor the physical mobility and stability of older people.

15 May 2017

Functional electrical stimulation helps MS and stroke patients to walk effectively

Robert Bush has multiple sclerosis (MS), which sapped his ability to walk five years ago. Joseph McGlynn suffered a stroke that seriously impaired his left side, also five years ago.

10 May 2017

Spinal cord cross sectional area is not good predictor of axonal loss in MS, say researchers

It is commonly thought that in MS, the loss of axons (nerve fibers) contributes to the chronic disability found in many patients. This has led to the wide use of MRI to measure the cross sectional area of the spinal cord in order to predict disability.

10 May 2017

FDA approves first drug for treating rare form of Batten disease

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Brineura (cerliponase alfa) as a treatment for a specific form of Batten disease. Brineura is the first FDA-approved treatment to slow loss of walking ability in symptomatic pediatric patients 3 years of age and older with late infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis type 2 (CLN2), also known as tripeptidyl peptidase-1 (TPP1) deficiency.

27 Apr 2017

Spine surgery helps 5-year-old with cerebral palsy to make strides

Bhoomi Manjunatha, 5, has been able to rely less on her walker and wheelchair, and more on her own two feet, because of a surgery performed at Nationwide Children's Hospital. Her hard work and determination in physical and occupational therapy post-surgery has also helped Bhoomi continue to make strides.

20 Apr 2017

Brain cancer patient treated with malaria drug shows dramatic improvement

After her brain cancer became resistant to chemotherapy and then to targeted treatments, 26-year-old Lisa Rosendahl's doctors gave her only a few months to live.

19 Apr 2017