The Trax by Permobil is expected to start at $12,500.

Long gone are the days when a wheelchair was a one-size-fits-all piece of medical-looking equipment. Technology has stepped in, with remarkable advances and features that mean more convenience, greater comfort, durability and all-terrain capabilities.

Add to that stiff competition among dozens of companies slugging it out in a war of innovation and racing toward the most practical designs, best features and most affordable products.

For wheelchair users, such advances mean life-enhancing benefits like greater independence, better mobility and more choices than ever. Plus, the future holds thrilling possibilities with machines that will climb stairs or drive sideways and more.

Following is a look at just some high-tech advances appearing in the wheelchair market today, and a glimpse of some products due on the market soon.

Keep in mind that while some products may be enticing, it's imperative that you consult with your doctors, therapists and other experts to determine what wheelchairs or accessories are ideal for your needs. Remember that MDA can assist with wheelchair purchase, covering up to $2,000 of the cost.

Luxury to Off-Road Fun

The wheelchairs made by Permobil, a company based in Sweden, are often regarded as the BMWs of power wheelchairs: the Chairman Corpus and the Chairman Vertical model, which combines mobility with a stander. Now, the company has released a model that could be thought of as the Jeep or Humvee of power chairs. The Trax is designed specifically for off-road activities, looks something like a go-cart, and easily negotiates hilly or dirt- and gravel-covered surfaces.

It's a machine that allows a user to "live your life" and "do your job," said David Iammarino of Permobil.

"There's a lot of people who have outdoor vocations. We can see people like farmers or construction people being able to get around completely outside to actually do their jobs," with the Trax, Iammarino said.

Trax pediatric models include roll bars and other features such as luggage boxes, power steering and a power expandable base that allows the front carriage to be lengthened or shortened electronically. The Trax should be available to consumers beginning this month, pending FDA approval.

Another all-terrain wheelchair that turned many heads when it was unveiled in 1995 is the OmegaTrac by Teftec Mobility of Spring Branch, Texas.

The "go anywhere" OmegaTrac is known as one of the most rugged power chairs on the market. Manufacturers boast of the OmegaTrac's indoor and outdoor ability, automotivelike suspension and heavy-duty materials, plus bonuses like articulating chair arms and ability to tow heavy objects (with an optional tow hitch).

Its design, the collaboration of a father-and-sons team, was inspired by need and experience. Jim Finch is a C-1 quadriplegic who desired more freedom than conventional chairs offered him. He joined his father, Tom, an accomplished aeronautical engineer, and brother, Tom III, an electronic engineer, in creating the OmegaTrac, which sells for $16,495.

Tom Finch said, "Its big distinction is that it steers straight regardless of the terrain," thanks to two motors: a drive motor for propelling and a steering motor for steering.

Innovative Motors

Jazzy 1400 by Pride starts at $8,095.

"Gearless brushless" is the buzz phrase for innovative motors unveiled in recent years on some power chairs. Although this type of motor technology isn't new - English physicist Michael Faraday is credited with its discovery many decades ago - it's just recently been incorporated in wheelchairs. The gearless brushless motor operates by creating electricity within a controlled magnetic field. This method is said to be more efficient, more powerful and quieter than traditional motors. By eliminating gears and brushes that wear down over time, it also needs less service and fewer repairs, according to manufacturers. Invacare Corp. of Elyria, Ohio, unveiled the concept on several of its power chairs in 1998.

"The gearless brushless motor will change the way people think about power chairs with its quiet, smooth, powerful operation," Mal Mixon, Invacare chairman and CEO, says in a statement on the Invacare Web site. "In development for over five years, it marks the first time that the power chair industry has been ahead of the automotive industry in mobility technology."

The motor is an upgrade option available on several Invacare models such as the Action Arrow, Ranger and Torque.

Otto Bock, a company in Minneapolis, also offers gearless brushless technology on its Endeavor chair. The Endeavor is a heavy-duty modular power chair designed to maneuver in tight spaces. It can also be disassembled into four easily transportable pieces, thanks to features like a quick-release battery pack and a removable drive system.

Mid-Wheel Drive

Power wheelchair users generally can choose from rear-wheel, front-wheel and, now, mid-wheel drive capabilities.

Mid-wheel drive, in which two large driving wheels are centered underneath the rider, is the latest innovation. Manufacturers single out the maneuverability of these chairs.

Quickie S-626 starts at $6,745 - $7,995.

"With a mid-wheel drive chair, we like to center about 82 percent of the user's weight over the drive wheels to give you a chair that is very high performing, while being extremely maneuverable," said Brad Peterson, director of Marketing for Pride. The Exeter, Pa., manufacturerÔs chairs feature a patented mid-wheel drive system.

In Pride's Jazzy 1400 series of power chairs, the mid-wheel drive system affords a smaller turning radius since there are "equal amounts of the chair both in front of you and behind you," Peterson said. Mid-wheel drive wheelchairs generally have six wheels, two large drive wheels and four smaller caster wheels in the front and back that act as antitip supports.

A similar concept is employed in the Quickie S-626 model, the newest power chair from Sunrise Medical of Longmont, Colo. This chair has center-wheel drive.

"When we say center drive, what we're talking about is lining those drive wheels up with the center of the user," said Mark Greig, senior product manager for power wheelchairs at Sunrise. "By lining up those drive wheels with the center of the user, it makes the operation of that chair that much more natural and intuitive."

Two rear, articulating "constant contact" casters add extra stability and help prevent tipping, especially important when the user has a powered seating system or a ventilator, Greig said.

Redman's Chair starts at $20,200.

Suspension

Many higher-end power chairs come with suspension systems as standard features or upgrades. But for those that don't, accessories such as specialized shock absorbers can create a completely different ride. Frog Legs, a company in Vinton, Iowa, was the pioneer in this high-tech arena with its caster forks that smooth the ride of manual or power chairs, new and old models alike.

Frog Legs suspension caster forks start at $279 per pair for manual chairs.

Frog Legs feature a polyurethane shock absorber that absorbs about 75 percent of the vibrations a wheelchair incurs, said David Kaufman, the company's director of marketing. "Before Frog Legs came along, all wheelchairs just literally bolted the wheels right to the frame of the chairs, and your body had to absorb all that energy," Kaufman said.

Kaufman said benefits of shock absorbers include reduction of lower back pain, a decrease in muscle spasms triggered by severe jolts and greater mobility across certain surfaces.

Other suspension systems feature concepts such as coiled springs and frames that incorporate suspension. A description of the beefy OmegaTrac's suspension system sounds like a car's: heat-treated aluminum wishbones and control links, Firestone air suspension modules and hydraulic shock absorbers, custom-made for Teftec by Monroe and Gabriel.

And a standard feature for the Quickie S-626 is Rock Shox, shock absorbers that were invented for mountain bikes. In the wheelchair, they smooth the ride of its centered drive wheel, Greig said.

The shocks can be adjusted for stiffness or softness, as well as damping - how fast they spring back after flexing.

And they add an element of style. "I think the Rock Shox make it look cool - especially for kids. We wanted to sort of emulate the design of a mountain bike with it," Greig said.

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