New Electronic Braking System Prevents Slips on Walkers

Rolling walkers—which help senior citizens maintain mobility and an active lifestyle—have just become safer and easier to use.

Cornell University biomedical engineering students working with Weill Cornell Medical College affiliated psychiatrist Eli Einbinder, MD, have designed an electronic braking system for walkers, with buttons replacing bicycle-style squeeze brakes and also automatic braking that can prevent slips, slides, and falls when a user grabs the handgrips.

For three years, a team of graduate students from the department of biomedical engineering and undergraduate seniors from several departments in the College of Engineering worked in the laboratory of David Lipson, PhD, a Cornell professor of engineering, as well as with Einbinder on how to prevent elders with limited mobility from inadvertently falling when they use a braking walker.

The “Smart Walker” relies on handgrip sensors. The Smart Walker starts in the braked position. Low-strength users need only touch a button to electronically disengage the brake and begin moving. Once a user removes hands from the handlebar, the walker automatically resets to the braked position. The added stability and ease of operation for users with reduced hand strength promises to dramatically reduce accidental falls—a significant source of injury among limited-mobility elders. It can further reduce injury among elders by encouraging a more active lifestyle.

The devised braking system has a single highly sensitive button. The button runs to a microprocessor, which sends information to a linear actuator that in turn pulls on a mechanical brake to make the wheels come to a complete stop. That means this walker will brake safely for users with low strength or impairment in their hands.

Source: Cornell University