Don’t let your disability keep you inside this summer! This week’s tech report is on products that will make the beach comfortably accessible.

Beach wheelchairs are a great way to get out and about and enjoy the sunshine and they make accessing any sandy waterfront affordable and fun. The De-Bug by Achievable Concepts is a four wheeled, fixed frame all-terrain wheelchair. It is made with stainless steel tubing, has 21 by 11 inch front tires and 13 by 6 inch rear tires along with padded armrests and sling seating. The rear suspension articulates 20 degrees which allows all four wheels to maintain ground contact, creating stability, while the large front tires are said to make it easier to push.

Another all-terrain chair is the Landeez All-Terrain Wheelchair. This one can not only traverse the sand, but can also maneuver through water, snow or mud. Different in form from the De-Bug, the Landeez’s rear tires are large with a soft PVC plastic pneumatic design that absorbs road shocks. They are also made with stainless steel frames and have a 325 pound weight capacity.

These are just two examples of wheelchairs that provide access to nature’s attractions…we don’t advocate for any in particular as they all have a variety of different features and fits that will appeal to different people. Check them out and find one that fits you!

Here are a couple of sites to get you started on your wheelchair search:

Achievable Concepts

Landeez

Four men are “wheeling” across Canada with the use of hand cycles in order to bring awareness and generate donations to research for conditions such as concussive head injury and Alzheimer’s. They believe that a donation of 30 cents by each Canadian citizen for “breakthrough” research will allow them to walk again.

This research comes from a Canadian research team at McMaster University in Hamilton. Dr. Michel Rathbone and Dr. Shucui Jiang successfully regenerated nerves in the chronically damaged spinal cords of rats with the use of adult enteric glia cells. These cells are abundant in human and animal intestines and have been found to support the nervous system.

The enteric glia cells were grown in cell cultures and then transplanted into the rat’s spinal cords where they stimulated nerves to grow, reducing the damage in the spinal cord. These cells are not only stable, they have bypassed the problem of tissue rejection by the host. In addition, this team of scientists found that a naturally occurring molecule in the body, guanosine, stimulates stem cells already present in the spinal cord to grow and develop into cells that insulate the nerve processes.

Even more interesting, this medical approach and application can be used on other diseases as well, including those of the brain.

To progress beyond animal testing, the researchers need support. You don’t have to be Canadian to pitch it - visit Wheel to Walk for more information!

Able Flight, a nonprofit organization, is giving those who can’t walk the ability to fly.

With the use of a plane adapted for disabilities, people who are paralyzed from the waist down are now able to enjoy the thrill of flight. Instead of the usual foot pedals for control of the rudder (which directs which direction the airplane’s nose is pointing), pilots use hand controls. The planes that Able Flight uses are the Sky Arrow light-weight sport planes, the only such U.S. plane that comes with a handy removable hand control for rudder control.

The training is an intensive one month program that will give the student 25 to 30 flight hours in a Light Sport Airplane. The sport certification will allow the pilot to fly, but there are certain restrictions. They can’t act as pilot in command of a craft that is carrying a passenger, property for hire, on international flights, or with visibility less than 3 miles during the day and 5 miles at night.

Able Flight was founded in 2006 by Charles Stites and provides scholarships ranging from $5,000 to $8,000 to cover the costs of flight training and room and board.

For more information on Able Flight, click here.
Image from Able Flight’s Website.

Electronic Aids for Daily Living (EADL):

EADLs are devices and systems that help individuals with a disability gain better control over their environment. These devices are created to meet a variety of needs such as providing voice activation and tongue touch for people with spinal cord injuries.

Products such as ActiveHome, which works with your computer to control your home’s lighting and appliances, can make everyday living a good deal easier. Speaker telephones provide hands-free access to your phone, and products like ERICA give you the ability to control your computer with just your eyes.

For a good resource Website, visit ATRC.

Late last week the Allen Institute for Brain Science revealed its Allen Spinal Cord Atlas. The atlas is the world’s first genome-wide map of the mouse spinal cord. This information will give researchers immediate access to a wealth of free online data that can be applied to spinal cord injury treatment.

According to their press release, there is close to one-quarter of a million Americans who have suffered from a spinal cord injury. With this new map, researchers are able to study diseases and disorders in humans as we share 90 percent of the same genes as mice.

When complete, this atlas will contain an estimated 20,000 genes from both youth and adults. For more information, you can read the press release here.

According to a recent Newswise article, the University of Washington’s Computer Science & Engineering department is working on personalizing computer interfaces based on an individual’s needs. This will take into account your disability and the limitations it imposes, unlike the pre-made devices you buy in the store.

In order to make sure you are properly matched to your computer, the university will administer a skills test that then allows them to generate a mathematical model geared towards your needs. An optimization program will then figure out how long it will take you to finish applicable tasks, measuring your accuracy and speed.

This program, named Supple, will be able to help people with limitations ranging from paralysis to poor eyesight. The creators see this application starting as a Web-based program that will eventually adapt to traditional interfaces.

Currently, the majority of technologies are made to help you adapt, not the other way around. You can buy arm supports, adaptive computer desks and stools, stands for your paperwork, specially designed mice and many other products created to make your computer access easier. Imagine doing away with all of these extra accessories and instead logging directly into a computer that is geared to help you without assistance. A nice idea and one we fully support!

Pain management technology for chronic back pain:

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a surgical treatment involving the implantation of a “brain pacemaker”, a device that sends electrical impulses to areas of the brain, primarily the sensory thalamus, in order to relieve chronic pain. This procedure is used for pain that medication has had no effect on, as it’s not exactly simple and there can be some unpleasant side effects.

Fine electrode wires are inserted into specific parts of the brain, and then they are used to deliver continuous pulses of electricity to the brain regions that process pain signals. By changing brain activity though the depression of excitatory transmissions in the thalamus, pain is effectively “turned off”.

The DBS is made up of the implanted pulse generator (IPG), the lead, which is a wire insulated in polyurethane that the electrical impulses run through, and the extension, which connects the lead to the IPG. The DBS is surgically inserted into the body - the electrode is implanted into a small hole (about 14 mm) that is drilled into the skull under local anesthesia, and then under general anesthesia, the IPG and lead are implanted.

Side effects vary depending on the patient, but some that have been documented are “apathy, hallucinations, compulsive gambling, hypersexuality, cognitive dysfunction and depression”. Wikipedia notes that these effects may be temporary, if experienced at all, and are most likely reversible with either change in placement of the stimulator or its removal.

While there are a handful of procedures that you can turn to if medication fails to be effective, this particular one has a high success rate, some 80 percent over time, and is also reversible should it not work.

With all the discussion lately about the variety of ways to sustain both head and spinal cord injuries (extreme sports, bike riding, trampolines and so on), it’s refreshing to be able to bring your attention to something that reduces your risk!

University of UBC researchers in Vancouver, Canada have created a helmet that will reduce spinal cord injuries due to a head-first collision by an astounding 56 percent. While still in the design stages, researchers say that it will reduce the load on the neck, preventing fractures and spine injuries by deflecting the head.

Initially this helmet will be marketed towards hockey players and then will begin to target other sports activities.

Whether one suffers a traumatic brain injury or a spinal cord injury, stimulation is often one of the keys of recovery. Bioness has developed knee braces that provide direct electronic stimulation of specific nerves and muscles in the legs. Keeping those signals flowing allows muscles to develop while also strengthening existing neural pathways and/or creating new ones. Read more here.