Two students from the mountainous region of Nghe An won first prize for scientific and technological innovation when improving wheelchairs.

Meeting of minds

The project "Improving wheelchairs as rehabilitation tools" by the group of authors Truong Van An and Phan Quynh Trang - 8th grade students of Tra Lan Secondary School (Con Cuong) is one of 9 projects that won First Prize in the Science and Technology Innovation Contest for high school students in Nghe An province.

More honorably, the project was also selected to compete at the national level in March 2019, because it was highly appreciated for its applicability.

Truong Van An and Phan Quynh Trang presented their project at the Science and Technology Innovation Competition for high school students in Nghe An province. Photo: Ba Hau

The product was conceived from the initial idea when An and Trang visited Mr. Phan Si Viet. There, they met Mr. Viet's mother, who had a stroke about 15 years ago and had to move around in a wheelchair. At that time, she indicated that her back was sore, Mr. Viet was busy so he asked An to get a pillow to support her back.

After finishing work, An suddenly asked: "Why don't they design a backrest for this wheelchair?Teacher Viet, An and Trang looked at the wheelchair together, and the idea of ​​improving the wheelchair to help their mother sit more comfortably came from there.

Truong Van An's father and mother are both secondary school teachers. An's father passed away when he was 8 years old, and his younger brother was only 8 months old. His mother had to take care of everything by herself. Despite the difficult and deprived circumstances, An still tried to excel in his studies and became an excellent student in Physics.

The mother of teacher Phan Si Viet, who suffered a stroke, was the first person to test the improved wheelchair. Photo: Cong Khang

Phan Quynh Trang is a gifted student in English. Trang has always cherished the dream of creating a product to support English learning for people with disabilities.

Teacher Phan Si Viet has been a Math and Physics teacher for quite a long time at Tra Lan Secondary School. For many years, he has participated in the district and provincial level excellent teacher competitions and achieved high results. His mother had a stroke 15 years ago, about 10 years ago, after the second stroke, she was no longer able to walk and had to move around in a wheelchair.

During a long time of taking care of his mother, Mr. Viet and his relatives understood the hardships of families with relatives who suffered from strokes and hemiplegia. From that, when An asked the question and Trang shared her cherished dream, the project "Improving wheelchairs to supplement rehabilitation equipment" was formed.

The patient is the first judge

Since about 8 months ago, every afternoon, people in the area often saw the teacher and his student sitting next to the wheelchair, taking it apart and putting it back together, repeating this task over and over again. Then they went to the scrap yard to find suitable parts and details from waste to improve the wheelchair. Every time they finished teaching and learning in class, the teacher and students met to discuss, and if the students did not understand any issues, they would ask the teacher and discuss new ideas together.

The project team "Improving wheelchairs to supplement rehabilitation equipment" and teachers took a souvenir photo after the provincial competition. Photo: Ba Hau

At first, it was just the idea of ​​improving the backrest on a wheelchair for patients. Through testing, new ideas continued to appear, from which many other supporting and rehabilitation functions were formed. To test the idea in practice, Mr. Viet asked his mother to sit in the wheelchair and evaluate the effectiveness of each improved part.

The first time sitting in the modified wheelchair, Mr. Viet's mother shook her head slightly, pointing at the pedals to indicate that the pedals had to be too far out, so her feet often slipped. Then she pointed at the backrest to indicate that the wooden board was too wide and caused pain, meaning that it had not yet created the desired effect for the three teachers and students.

Undaunted, under the guidance of Mr. Viet, the two students continued their research and improved the wheelchair by changing the foot pedals with long and short joints to suit the height of each patient. At the same time, they attached a pair of rubber sandals with straps to the pedals to fix the feet and help the patient reduce pain when exercising or moving.

The solid backrest is also replaced with many small wooden bars attached together, which both massage the patient's back and cause less pain when moving.

Leaders of Nghe An Department of Education and Training congratulated the project team "Improving wheelchairs to supplement rehabilitation equipment". Photo: Cong Khang

This time, Mr. Viet's mother sat in the wheelchair for evaluation, and the teacher and student waited anxiously. After sitting for a while, she suddenly smiled, her eyes shining with joy. This meant that the product was completed and had been evaluated by the patient.

At the Science and Technology Innovation Competition for secondary school students in Con Cuong district in the 2018-2019 school year, the product of Truong Van An and Phan Quynh Trang won first prize. Next was the first prize in the Science and Technology Innovation Competition for secondary school students at the provincial level and was selected to compete at the national level.

The project was evaluated by the jury as highly humane, contributing to sharing difficulties with patients suffering from sequelae of cerebrovascular accidents, accidents, and risks. At the same time, it is feasible when applied in practice, cheap and low cost.