The Stoke Mandeville bed cycle

This post was written by Selina Hurley, Curator of Medicine, at the Science Museum in London

Now on display in Medicine: The Wellcome Galleries, this bed cycle helps tell the story of Ludwig Guttmann (1899-1980), German neurologist, who was part of a movement to change the treatment of people with paralysis. Instigating a regime of movement, physical and occupational therapy, management of pressure sores and urinary tract infections was all part of Guttman’s holistic approach. It’s aims were to improve quantity and quality of life and giving people independence to return home and more importantly in Guttman’s view – to work.

For me as both a curator and researcher, this bed cycle not only is visually intriguing but speaks to the inventiveness of its developer. It also illuminates the users’ experiences of exercising through cycling as part of their rehabilitation for spinal injuries.

First developed by Guttmann at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Buckinghamshire in 1939, this particular example was collected from the Chaseley Trust. Chaseley began life as a home for ex-service personnel with spinal injuries at the request of Guttmann. At both Stoke Mandeville and Chaseley, exercise and physiotherapy were part of a regime carried out by Guttmann and his staff. By moving the arm pedals, seen here with bandage padding, the leg pedals are activated. Depending on the user’s level of paralysis, they can exercise different parts of their body.

Various designs have been tracked down in books dedicated to physiotherapy and in Guttmann’s own publications. A short video clip courtesy of the Wellcome Library shows the original design of the bed cycle in action (clip at 11:43). To the very best knowledge within the Science Museum, this appears to be the only surviving example and we would be happy to find out if any similar examples do survive or other examples of cycles or any testimony from someone who used one.

One question that I’ve had is about the use of cycling as a method of physiotherapy. Cycling continues to be a method and is part of a large scale clinical research project in Canada in bed cycling for patients in ICU led by Michelle Kho. Any information or possible avenues for research on the history of cycling or other pedal exercisers in physiotherapy would be appreciated.

For any information or potential leads please contact Curatorialservices@ScienceMuseum.ac.uk

Posted by Dave Nicholls

Dave Nicholls is a Professor of Critical Physiotherapy in the School of Clinical Sciences at AUT University in Auckland, New Zealand. He is a physiotherapist, lecturer, researcher and writer, with a passion for critical thinking in and around the physical therapies. David is the founder of the Critical Physiotherapy Network, an organisation that promotes the use of cultural studies, education, history, philosophy, sociology, and a range of other disciplines in the study of the profession’s past, present and future. He is also co-founder and chair of the International Physiotherapy History Association Executive, and founding Executive member of the Environmental Physiotherapy Association. David’s own research work focuses on the philosophy, sociology, and critical history of physiotherapy, and considers how physiotherapy might need to adapt to the changing economy of health care in the 21st century. He has published numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, many as first author. His first book – The End of Physiotherapy (Routledge, 2017) – was the first book-length critical history of the profession. A second sole-authored book – Physiotherapy Otherwise – was published in early 2022 as a free pdf/eBook (available from https://ojs.aut.ac.nz/tuwhera-open-monographs/catalog/book/8). He was co-editor on the first collection of critical physiotherapy writings – Manipulating Practices (Cappelen Damm, 2018) – and was the lead editor for the follow-up – Mobilising Knowledge (Routledge, 2020). He is also very active on social media, writing weekly on contemporary critical physiotherapy issues (criticalphysio.substack.com). He has taught in physiotherapy programmes in the UK and New Zealand for over 30 years and has presented his work around the world.

All Posts Website