As healthcare has evolved over the last several centuries, human beings have widened the focus of healthcare as well. Where once the focus of medical advancement was strictly in preserving and extending human life, improving the quality of the lives medical inquiry has extended has become the new tangent of the ever growing healthcare market. Where once the side effects of aging and degenerative diseases would leave a person bedridden for the rest of their life, the wheelchair emerged to assist those who could no longer ambulate effectively. As the technology boom of last 50 years push forth innovation, these human powered machines have become electrically powered machines. Yet, there are still hurdles out there in order to return people to the freedom they experienced as fully ambulating people. One of these hurdles for power wheelchairs is the dreaded stair.
Churchill had Hitler. Batman had the Joker. Power Wheelchairs have… Stairs? That is right. For anyone who has ever experienced a power mobility device in its various forms, you know there is nothing more formidable to this device than stairs. Yet, this is all about to change. According to an article posted on CNET.com titled “Stair-climbing wheelchair turns wheels into legs,” a team of Japanese researchers from the Chiba Institute of Technology unveiled a wheelchair that can ascend stairs. This power wheelchair is wired with a bevy of sensors to size up the height and depth of each stair. These sensors, coupled with a series of hydraulic systems attached to the all four wheels, allow for the chair to lift each tire up and over the stair the chair is trying to ascend.
The implications drawn from this new innovation are truly remarkable. The greatest potential of a product like this is the elimination of the side costs associated with having a power wheelchair. Side costs of owning a power wheelchair are not always emphasized by sales people, but are essential to meeting the greatest potential freedom for the customer. These side costs include ramps to get inside and outside of a home, lift chairs to get people up and down stairs if they have a two story home, and even moving from a two story home to a single story living space in order to facilitate a power mobility device. No longer would people be limited to just the ground floor. A wheelchair, like this “stair climbing” wheelchair, would eliminate the need for these supplementary devices and contraptions.
If you are expecting this cost saving machine to be in stores soon, your expectations should be tempered a little bit. The prototype unveiled at the Chiba Institute of Technology was merely a “proof of concept” vehicle. Commercial production of these machines will not be seen until a true prototype can be constructed, patented, and tested to meet necessary safety requirements. But that should not completely temper the excitement associated with the potential of this development. It is one more “step” toward providing people with conditions that limit their mobility with the ability to live a life with the freedom of a completely ambulatory person.
