Page 12 - The Mobility Project, April 2020

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OVERCOMING INDUSTRY OBSTACLES
Beyond working with end users to develop their products,
both Viswanathan and Beavers said they have had to overcome regulatory and business challenges, whether that meant putting their product on the market without a Medicare payment code or convincing clinicians and distributors that their innovation brings value to patients.
“One of the things that makes this industry challenging is that it’s not customer acceptance, it’s acceptance of the whole CRT process,” Beavers said. “I’ve known from very early on that there is a high degree of customer desire for Independence Drive, but that does not necessarily mean that it’s going to be a success when it comes to [insurance] coverage and regulation.”
As an academic researcher, Viswanathan heard comments about resistance from healthcare professionals and the stereotypes that “clinicians are averse to new technologies.” But after working with clinicians — such as physical and occupational therapists — she came to a different conclusion.
“If anything,” she said, “clinicians were our biggest advocates right from the beginning in terms of giving us critical feedback that was really important. It wasn’t just criticism, it was very constructive, telling us areas we needed to work on.”
Viswanathan noted that it’s easy to criticize the industry by saying that the high number of stakeholders involved stifles
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technological innovation. But the complexity in the field and
the level of customization needed for each individual wheelchair makes innovation difficult in the first place, she said.
LIMITATIONS & OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE FUTURE
There is no question that there have been major developments in the use of robotic elements in complex rehab, ranging from the Obi robotic dining companion to the ReWalk exoskeleton systems to the products designed by Braze and Evergreen.
Wheelchair manufacturers like Permobil have also been on the forefront, with the company’s “connected chair” integrating a tool called Virtual Seating Coach. Ding and other researchers at the University of Pittsburgh developed the technology, which allows users to monitor how they use power seat functions and learn how to properly take advantage of those functions.
But Ding and her fellow robotic engineers are also some of the first to note the limitations of this technology, as well as the challenges that come with high costs due to lack of insurance coverage and the limited market for CRT products.
“People with disabilities are so diverse, and it’s really hard to have one model fit all, and on the other hand, [products] are expensive, and we have all these policy issues,” Ding said. “It makes it really hard to make this technology mainstream.”
Products incorporating robotic technology will continue to
THE ELEMENTS OF SAFETY
LEARN MORE AT: QSTRAINT.COM/QLK-150
Meet all the Elements of Safety and Find Your Formula at: qstraint.com/elements
PERSONAL WHEELCHAIR DOCKING SYSTEM
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