Coordination patterns of shoulder muscles during level-ground and incline wheelchair propulsion

1. Coordination patterns of shoulder muscles during level-ground and incline wheelchair propulsion Liping Qi, PhD; James Wakeling, PhD; Simon Grange, PhD; Martin Ferguson-Pell, PhD

2. Aim • Investigate how coordination patterns of shoulder muscles change in level-ground and incline wheelchair propulsion. • Relevance • People with spinal cord injury usually rely on manual wheelchair propulsion for independent mobility. • Wheelchair users adopt different postures and stroke techniques to suit different locomotion tasks. • Muscle assessment instruments could help clinicians optimize wheelchair users’ performance.

3. Method • 15 nondisabled subjects. • Recorded wheelchair kinetics and electromyography (EMG) activity of seven muscles during wheelchair propulsion on stationary ergometer and wooden ramp. • Measured wheelchair kinetic data with SmartWheel.

4. Results • Push forces on push rim and percentage of push phase in cycle: • Increased significantly during incline propulsion. • Propulsion condition and posture: • Affected muscle coordination patterns. • During incline propulsion: • More intense and longer EMG activity of push muscles in push phase. • Less EMG activity of the recovery muscles. • Corresponded with increased kinetic data total force output and longer push phase in incline condition.

5. Conclusion • This work establishes framework for developing performance feedback system for wheelchair users to better coordinate their muscle patterning activity.