Spinning the wheel of empowerment

A person with lower limb disability may have to use a wheel chair for the entire life. In a conventional wheelchair the user spends time in a seated position all the time. This constraint gives rise to many physical as well as mental health related issues such as sore body, building of pressure points leading to pressure sores, lowered blood circulation, and dependence on other people for basic needs. One solution to this problem is to provide mechanisms in the wheel-chair to assist the person to stand.

When Mr. Sashikumar, Managing Director at Phoenix, saw the prototype in the Rehabilitation Research and Device Development Lab (R2D2) at IIT-Madras, he decided to take up its development. Phoenix’s expertise in affordable manufacturing is crucial to making the price point of the SWC comparable to that of a good quality manual wheelchair.

This is possible also because Wellcome Trust’s grant, aimed at creating a social impact, covers the cost of all the initial equipment required to manufacture the wheelchair.

The prototype versions are currently been put through user trials and refined based on feedback. Visit https://home.iitm.ac.in/r2d2/prototypes.html for more details.

With Arise, Phoenix Medical Systems aims to transform the lives of people with disabilities and empower them to live life to the fullest.