Library Guides: PADEP Pfreimer Adaptive Equipment Project (Berks): Home

Assistive Devices and Adaptive Equipment

What is AT? - Assistive Technology Industry Association
An overview of assistive technology with links to related professional associations.
Overview of Adaptive & Assistive Devices for People with Disabilities - United Disability Services Foundation
Background on assistive devices and adaptive equipment with examples for different disabilities.

Find information on the biomechanics of a disability and how it affects individuals' activities of daily living.

CINAHL (Cumulative Index for Nursing and Allied Health)
Tip! Search for a keyword along with the subject term "Assistive Technology Devices".
One of two major databases for nursing, providing references to over 1,800 nursing and allied health journal articles in addition to citations for book chapters, nursing dissertations, association publications, educational software, conference proceedings and selected full-text for state nursing journal articles, legal cases, patient education material, research instruments, standards of practice, critical paths, nurse practice acts, drugs, clinical innovations and government publications. References for alternative/complementary medicine, consumer health and health sciences librarianship are also included. Coverage: 1982 - Present. Updates: Monthly.
ProQuest Nursing and Allied Health Journals
Includes OT literature.
A full text database subset of CINAHL, including only 300 full-text journals that are licensed to ProQuest. Coverage is typically from 1996, with a few titles prior to that date.

MedLine Plus
National Institute of Health's website for patients and their families. Excellent consumer health information that's easy to understand for patients!
Activities of Daily Living - StatPearls
Overview of ADLs from the National Center for Biotechnology Information.

Google Patents
Discover worldwide patents for assistive devices.
Patent Searching with Google Patents - Introduction
Learn the basics of patents as a form of intellectual property protection, review patent sections and their associated metadata, and practice patent searching using Google Patents.

Find patent 'prior art' related to your device invention, engineering design literature, standards, and material procurement data.

Google Patents
Discover worldwide patents for assistive devices.
Patent Searching with Google Patents - Introduction
Learn the basics of patents as a form of intellectual property protection, review patent sections and their associated metadata, and practice patent searching using Google Patents.

Engineering Village 2 (Compendex)
Search the most comprehensive interdisciplinary engineering database.
Compendex is the most comprehensive interdisciplinary engineering database in the world with over 9 million records referencing 5,000 engineering journals and conference materials dating from 1884.
ASME Digital Collection
Search the American Society of Mechanical Engineers' research and standards literature.
ASME Digital Collection (mechanical engineering) contains full-text access to the American Society of Mechanical Engineer’s online journals since 1960 and conference papers since 2002.
SAE Mobilus
Search Society of Automotive Engineers standards and other engineering design literature.
Full-text of all Society of Automotive Engineers technical papers from 1906 - present, journal articles from 1998 - present, Aerospace Standards from 1942-present, Ground Vehicle Standards from 1952-present, and current Aerospace Materials Specifications.

IBISWorld ProcurementIQ
Manufacturing information on materials, supply chain, and prices.
IBISWorld Procurement Research Reports is a database that contains hundreds of reports on products and services. These reports include information on pricing environment, supply chain, purchasing process, and more.

Proto Labs, Inc.
Manufacturing quotes for injection molding. Review Legal Notices and label all design documents "Privileged and Confidential Information."
Xometry
Manufacturing quotes for injection molding and other manufacturing techniques. Review Customer Service Agreement and Xometry Customer Mutual NDA and label all design documents "Privileged and Confidential Information."

Patents & Trademarks
by Denise Wetzel Last Updated Sep 27, 2024 888 views this year
Engineering (Berks)
by Sarah Hartman-Caverly Last Updated Mar 19, 2025 352 views this year
Engineering: Cost Data, Parts and Suppliers
by Paul McMonigle Last Updated Jun 21, 2024 423 views this year
Biomedical Engineering
by Denise Wetzel Last Updated Dec 10, 2024 947 views this year
Standards
by Denise Wetzel Last Updated Dec 10, 2024 1975 views this year

Conduct market research on disability prevalence and consumer trends in adaptive devices, along with materials procurement information.

Mintel
Search Mintel Reports for keywords 'disability,' 'assistive,' or 'adaptive' to discover consumer trends for persons with disabilities.
Provides access to two products. Mintel Academic publishes 600 market research reports each year for the U.S. and European consumer markets. Reports analyze market drivers, trends, market forecasts, market segmentations, demographics, and consumer attitudes and purchasing behaviors. The Trends module in Mintel Academic tracks cutting edge trends and shifts in consumer behavior. Mintel Market Sizes provides market size, market share and segmentation data for global consumer packaged goods industries. No walk-ins allowed.
IBISWorld ProcurementIQ
Manufacturing information on materials, supply chain, and prices.
IBISWorld Procurement Research Reports is a database that contains hundreds of reports on products and services. These reports include information on pricing environment, supply chain, purchasing process, and more.

US Census Bureau: Disability
Links to US Census Bureau data on disability prevalence in the US.
Data.Census.Gov
Search for keyword 'disability' along with a US location for location-specific disability statistics.
Disability and Health Promotion - CDC
Disability statistics and reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Disability - WHO
Data and reports on worldwide prevalence of disability from the World Health Organization.