British athlete, Tushar Patel, is going for gold in the Paralympics this summer with technological help from the SportsPulse initiative.

SportsPulse is a consortium of sports science, engineering and commercial organisations based in South Yorkshire, a key member of which is the University of Sheffield-based Sports Engineering Research Group.

They have been carrying out various tests and design analyses on racing wheelchairs to improve their performance, whilst aerodynamic analysis software created by Fluent Europe is also being used to boost the propulsive forces of the athlete.

Nick Hamilton, from the University of Sheffield, hopes the research will be invaluable to British Paralympians in Athens. "We are looking at minimising drag and maximising forward momentum to help the athletes go even faster.

"We are also looking at varying the position of the seat to increase the athletes power transfer to the wheels."

Patel, from London, said: "The more things we get right now, the better it will be in the future. It is helpful having the athletes input into a project such as this, because we know the demands required of ourselves and our equipment."

SportsPulse is part-funded by £1m over three years from the European Union Regional Development Fund, through the Objective One Programme.