Measurement of Wheelchair Position for Analyzing Transfer Motion for SCI Patient

The purpose of this study is to clarify the side-approach transfer ability of spinal cord injury (SCI) patients. We have proposed the measurement system that consists of four force plates and two CCD cameras in order to analyze the transfer motion. The system measures the three-dimensional floor reaction forces and the side-view and the front-view images during each patient´s transfer motion. We understood that the force patterns and the force direction of the left hand are different among SCI patients by analyzing the floor reaction forces. In side-approach transfer, SCI patients diagonally move their wheelchair close to the platform and the wheelchair position is different among SCI patients. In this study, we estimate the wheelchair position by detecting the center position of the wheelchair wheel using the images and by calculating the wheelchair degree (gap angle between the wheelchair and the platform) using side-view image.