Case Study: Delft University of Technology quantifies wheelchair mobility performance with Shimmer wearable IMU sensors

Delft University of Technology quantifies wheelchair mobility with Shimmer's 3-IMU system

Delft University of Technology, a student at the institution, sought to move beyond the conceptual understanding of wheelchair mobility performance (WMP) in sports and develop a method to actually quantify it as an objective measure. The challenge was to gain insight into the interaction between athlete, wheelchair, and sport to improve performance and reduce injury risk.

Shimmer Research provided the solution using its inertial measurement unit (IMU) wearable sensors. The university equipped a wheelchair with three Shimmer IMUs to collect kinematic data on frame displacement, speed, and rotation. This Shimmer-based system proved reliable against a gold standard and successfully quantified six key kinematic outcomes for WMP, enabling comparison across sports and evaluation at the individual athlete level to enhance future development and training.

Delft University of Technology