A Design Thinking (Reverse Innovation) exercise to enable mobility ..

As part of Reverse Engineering of a movable chair for the physically handicapped, paraplegics, Prof. Vijay Govindarajan of Tuck School of Business has reported a very innovative wheelchair for the paraplegics. As part of HBR;s offering on Design Thinking this product was discussed in great detail in the book. 

Developed by the Global Research  Innovation Technology (GRIT) from MIT and Continuum, the wheelchair  is a great example of Design Thinking.

Click here for the HBR article by Amos Winter and Prof. Govindarajan, HBR, July '15.

A very revolutionary and cheap wheelchair design has been proposed by the MIT Design Lab to enable wheel chair patients around the world. There are about 40 million paraplegic patients around the world who do not have access to wheelchairs and of these 70% are from rural areas who do not have access to the expensive wheelchairs in the market, costing about $400 apiece..

A paraplegic is one who is affected with paralysis of the torso, legs and pelvic organs ..

Paraplegia can occur after a spinal cord injury. It's caused by damage to the vertebrae, ligaments or disks of the spinal column. Paraplegia is the loss of muscle function in the lower half of the body, including both legs. Rehabilitation, medication and medical devices allow many people with spinal cord injuries to lead productive, independent lives.  Source : Appollo hospitals, Chennai. 

Click here for more details from the World Design Organisation (WDO) .. 

 

 

Some of the advantages of the Leveraged Freedom chair are given below.

 

1. Safety - long wheelbase, cheststrap, seatbelt and footstrap

 

2. Cheap to make and repair - the cycle is made from parts that are found in any village cycle shop

 

3. Less tiring - energy required to get the wheelchair moving is not very high as the tyres are made of rubber

 

4. Faster and all-terrain - the chain and sprocket drive train of a standard bicycle and the hand levers help users generate 38% more speed on flat terrain and 53% more torque to cover rough roads

 

5. Versatility - the levers can be removed, thus making it comfortable for indoor use.

 

6. Supportive backrest - helps users to bench press the levers adding more power to the lever movement

 

This wheelchair has been  designed with the final customer in mind, his physical and economic limitations. This makes the wheelchair design a Design Thinking exercise where the ideation phase has given the great possibilities and features in the wheelchair, all at a lower cost.

Recently in the Design Thinking class which we have at our school, I discussed the Freedom chair exercise in the class. I encouraged the students  to empathise with the paraplegics of the world and to come up with additions / enhancements to the Freedom Chair with cost constraints.

I am enclosing the relevant top ten suggestions which may be included in the product in future.

1. Elevation adjustment
2. hooks on the body to hang bags for patiients
3. to ensure stability two wheels at the front
4. mostly women enter with kids. Addition of a barrier / body rest for the baby too
5. chain with hand pedal
6. accupressure points on the foot and hand pedal to ensure better health for patients
7. replace chains with wires as chain can corrode and fail
8. design rear pockets on the chair for patients
9. front and rear light reflector
10. dynamo based lights that can burn with movement of wheels

These suggestions have come from Tejus, Niharika, Greeshma and Ankit, students of the MBA sem 4 Operations class.

George..