Using a Segway with hemiplegia
 

My wife has severe hemiplegia as a result of a stroke suffered during a brain operation. She has some movement and use of her left leg but little-to-no use of her left hand or arm.

Has anyone any experience of this type of disability using a Segway? She uses a rotunda to stand so my thinking is she MAY be able to use a Segway as it is essentially a mobile rotunda. It would certainly take up less space than a wheelchair and may help to give her some measure of independence.

If it happens she can't mount or dismount the Segway safely check out the Allychair at
www.allychair.com It has four point stabilizers that allow the Segway chair like stability.

I looked up rotunda to be sure what you are looking at. I cannot be sure of your situation (or your wife's in particular) but while a segway may look like a rotunda in some manners to a person who does not use a segway, it will act very differently than how a rotunda works as described on the net.

Your description of the segway as being essentially a mobile rotunda is what prompted me to look, and I am very familiar with segways, and my new found understanding of rotundas makes me say that they are very, very different, in form and function, even is somewhat similar in some appearances.

Good luck. Definitely go to a place that has segways ( a dealer, a tour, or some other place) and check them out, and see if they have some potential in your situation.

I probably overstated the similarity. Certainly in terms of form and the function of an individual standing upright they are similar. Obviously the rotunda is only designed for one motion and that is a swivel round one, not a forward one.

I think locating my nearest dealer and trialing it is the obvious next step. I'm also intrigued by the various "chair" adaptations. Certainly the Segway offers the chance of a smaller footprint than a wheelchair, whether standing or sitting.

With a left hemiplegia, your wife will want to stay away from generation 1 segway's as they require turning control with a left wrist twist. The generation 2 segway's use a "lean steer" system which involves tilting the handlebar to steer and should be more hemiplegic friendly.

Thanks for the heads up. That's useful to know.

MagiMike, I recently took delivery of an X2 Segway with a seat (From Living Spinal in San Diego. ) and R side-steering adaptation kit. I have had it modified with a hitch to be able to use it with the wheelchair lift on our minivan. So far, I am encouraged that it will allow me to explore places (rough trails, beaches, etc. ) that have been inaccessible to my conventional powerchair. Take a look at 'Segsolutions', seated Segway on YouTube and, even plan to use it with the trailer I use to transport my tennis chair. I've got lots of hopes for this device and, will keep folks updated here as I make progress. Something to consider is that one must have good 'seating-control' as you sit on this chair to avoid it beginning to move forward as you sit down on it in'riderless-balanced mode.


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Regarding stoke survivors: to safely use a seated Segway, one needs fairly good mobility in order to be able to get on/off the chair. One does need to be able to dismount within 10 seconds should a 'safety shutdown' occur. For now, I've agreed that I'll only be riding my GlidR with supervision. So far I have managed to navigate a fairly steep (With some side-slope. ) path in a local mountainside park. I have never been able to get up this path unassisted in my conventional powerchair.


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This is something I have not researched, but surely one feature that would be useful for more severely disabled folk would be some kind of a "retractable landing gear" that would stabilize the Seg for getting on and off. Do any of the later seg stand type of thing provide for this?

The AllyChair has the 4 point retractable landing gear which makes for chair like stabile mounts and dismounts. Also, an important feature should a safety shutdown occur. The downside is it's high cost.