<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>A neurodegenerative disorder like Parkinson’s disease (PD) causes tremor, rigidity, postural instability and gait problems in early stages and thus poses an undetermined threat to the social and personal lives of the elderly in developing countries due to insufficient survey and research activities. However, several types of assistive devices (AD) are available in the market and the real patients’ requirements are often overlooked in their design. This paper presents the process of design and fabrication of an innovative walker for PD patients. This walker has a non-modular foldable design which incentivizes patients to stand up straight and walk without the help of others. A survey on patients battling parkinsonism and practicing doctors was performed in public hospitals in Dhaka, Bangladesh and relevant engineering data was derived from it using Quality Function Deployment (QFD) which can also help visualize further market research opportunities. A finite element analysis (FEA) was performed before the walker was constructed for safety. It was handed to several volunteers for use and their responses were satisfactory. The designed walker may serve as a low-cost AD which is likely to improve a patient’s posture and overall lifestyle and therefore, it can act as a means of rehabilitation.</p>
</abstract>

A neurodegenerative disorder like Parkinson’s disease (PD) causes tremor, rigidity, postural instability and gait problems in early stages and thus poses an undetermined threat to the social and personal lives of the elderly in developing countries due to insufficient survey and research activities. However, several types of assistive devices (AD) are available in the market and the real patients’ requirements are often overlooked in their design. This paper presents the process of design and fabrication of an innovative walker for PD patients. This walker has a non-modular foldable design which incentivizes patients to stand up straight and walk without the help of others. A survey on patients battling parkinsonism and practicing doctors was performed in public hospitals in Dhaka, Bangladesh and relevant engineering data was derived from it using Quality Function Deployment (QFD) which can also help visualize further market research opportunities. A finite element analysis (FEA) was performed before the walker was constructed for safety. It was handed to several volunteers for use and their responses were satisfactory. The designed walker may serve as a low-cost AD which is likely to improve a patient’s posture and overall lifestyle and therefore, it can act as a means of rehabilitation.

A Walker Designed for Parkinson’s Disease Patients Based on a Survey in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology

Department of Mechanical and Production Engineering

Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology

Department of Industrial and Production Engineering

Strojnícky časopis - Journal of Mechanical Engineering

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

A neurodegenerative disorder like Parkinson’s disease (PD) causes tremor, rigidity, postural instability and gait problems in early stages and thus poses an...

A Walker Designed for Parkinson’s Disease Patients Based on a Survey in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Published Online: Dec 12, 2020

Page range: 55 - 66

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/scjme-2020-0020

Keywords
Assistive Device, Parkinson’s Disease, Sandwich-structured Composite, Finite Element Analysis, Ergonomics, Public Awareness

© 2020 Dibakar Sarker et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

A Walker Designed for Parkinson’s Disease Patients Based on a Survey in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Published Online: Dec 12, 2020

Page range: 55 - 66

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/scjme-2020-0020

KeywordsAssistive Device, Parkinson’s Disease, Sandwich-structured Composite, Finite Element Analysis, Ergonomics, Public Awareness

© 2020 Dibakar Sarker et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Assistive Device, Parkinson’s Disease, Sandwich-structured Composite, Finite Element Analysis, Ergonomics, Public Awareness