Thursday, February 15, 2007

Stairs Climbing Wheelchair – A Dream Comes True

One of the biggest challenges for a wheelchair user is to climb or descend stairs and get access to places above or below a flight of stairs. Although most commercial places are wheelchair friendly, some locations especially friends or even relatives place are not. As sociable as wheelchair users would want to be, these stairs most often create the barrier for them to meet up and socialize.

It seems like a dream come true if wheelchair users are able to climb stairs, until a subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson created a stairs climbing wheelchair - iBOT Mobility System. Now, many wheelchair users would have more options when it comes to visiting friends and doing activities without having to worry about stairs as a barrier when they maneuver.

For now, this wheelchair has been approved for customers in the United States, and here are some of the requirements should one consider to get this wheelchair:

1. There is a weight requirement before the wheelchair can perform safely. You and the items you carry must weigh less than 75 lbs (34 kg) or more than 250 lbs (113 kg). The additional items you carry must not weigh more than the maximum limit of 20 lbs (9 kg).

2. You must have sufficient hand function to dial a push-button telephone or control and operate a hand-operated joystick to maneuver the system yourself.

3. You must be able to bend your knees such that your feet fit on standard footrests (for people with one or more amputations, this exclusion does not apply), bend your hips enough to sit in a standard wheelchair that does not recline. This is so to provide more balance when climbing stairs.

4. For basic health requirement, you must not suffer from any illness that causes you to lost consciousness or had a seizure in the past 90 days. There might be some exceptions to it, but you would have to ask your healthcare professional for details.

5. You must not need a tilt or recline seating system for pressure relief or activities of daily living or have a requirement for respiratory equipment to be mounted on your mobility device.

6. You must not suffer from severe osteoporosis, osteogenesis imperfecta, or metastatic bone cancer as the impact experienced when climbing stairs, curbs or transitioning out of the systems various balance function may cause fractures to occur in you.

This wheelchair - iBOT Mobility System is really a dream come true for many disabled people. Nevertheless, until it drops to a more affordable price, a lot of common people would still not be able to afford it. Hopefully as technology advances, the price that comes with such a system would be lower and eventually make affordable for every wheelchair users.

By: Moses Wright

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Moses Wright is a webmaster and he provides more helpful information on Wheelchair, Wheelchair Ramps and Wheelchair Lift that you can learn in the comfort of your home on his website. You are welcome to reprint this article if you keep the content and live link intact.