Design and Development of Wheelchair Cum Stretcher Mechanism

Abstract

Abstract: At present in world, the number of handicapped individuals is increasing each year. Their mobility has become a serious problem and it poses a great challenge before the engineering and scientific community. It demands conceptualizing and developing effective solutions in the form of mobility aids. Various mobility aids play a crucial role to empower their disabilities and bringing them back to normalcy. These tools help them in transportation and also act as a viable substitute for physical walking in indoor and outdoor environments. Out of all the equipment, the most common are stretcher and wheelchair. Wheelchair finds its usage in hospitals, railway stations, airports, shopping malls, and even in household activities. Primarily it is used in hospitals along with stretchers. Owing to its large-scale application in commercial and domestic purposes, it needs a modification in terms of flexibility and interconversion ability so that the problems which are arising in individual devices can be eliminated and particularly it will be more beneficial in medical industries. This paper presents an idea about developing such a mechanism so that we can integrate the advantages of both wheelchair and stretcher. It should be ergonomically designed and all the safety standards should be met. This paper also reviews the various areas of development made in the past about mobility aids for the comfort of both patients and hospital staff