Hi Aejaz,
I provided one a few years ago to a patient with MND. He had a Mobile Arm Support and used it with a metal dibber. It worked because he drove in an open flat area in an institution with a large dayroom.
Since then I have worked with a number of people with MND, Spinal Muscular Atrophy and Muscular Dytrophy and they have all found the HMC mini joystick much easier to use as it is possible to operate it with less movement. It is important not to get the finger pot wet so this limits the scope outdoors.
With regard integration the RNet OMNI is quite hopeful as it can be configured to access drive/speed/actuators/ECS/mouse all from the joystick without an additional switch. I am just in the process of providing a chair to do the above but I have kept the ECS separate as the client already has one. My main concern was who would implement and support the ECS on the OMNI as ECS and wheelchair are provided from separate services.
The DX2 joystick is a possibility but there is an unfortunate 2 second delay on mouse function selections. Also the ECS is limited to a small number of functions without labels/symbols. The DX SCR is better in most respects.
The other issue about ECS is how will the person access it when they are in bed/ staic chair etc.
The Genie and DX-Wise are also possibilities.
The mini-joystick is also available from HMC for direct PC access.
Regards
Martin
Martin Wozencroft
Clinical Electronics Engineer
Specialist Disability Service
Oxford Centre for Enablement
Windmill Road
Headington
Oxford OX3 7LD
Phone 01865-227438 / 227447
Fax 01865-227317
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-----Original Message-----
From: A discussion list for Assistive Technology professionals.
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Aejaz Zahid
Sent: 14 April 2010 09:15
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Finger Pot Wheelchair Control and Muscular Dystrophy
Hi all
Does anyone here have experience of using the 'Finger Pot' wheelchair controller for clients with MD who have extremely limited range of upper limb movement? If so, would you be able to share your experience about this and other controllers you might have trialled? Also, have you tried integrating this with computer control and ECS?
Thanks and regards,
Aejaz
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