On the mere contact of a button, a wheelchair person can now without problems transition from a sitting to a status place because of the NeoStand — an indigenously evolved and customisable electrical status wheelchair. Evolved by means of researchers on the TTK Heart for Rehabilitation Analysis and Tool Building (R2D2) from the Indian Institute of Era (IIT) Madras, this groundbreaking assistive tool was once introduced on 20 March 2024, on the institute campus.
In step with a press liberate issued by means of IIT-Madras, the challenge to broaden NeoStand was once led by means of Professor Sujatha Srinivasan, Head of R2D2, who additionally led the advance of Get up, India’s first handbook status wheelchair, and NeoBolt, the rustic’s first motorised add-on for wheelchairs.
In an encouraging construction, the NeoStand is being taken to the Indian marketplace thru NeoMotion — an IIT Madras-incubated startup based by means of alumni from the institute.
Redefining the wheelchair revel in with its user-centric design
But even so heading R2D2, Prof Srinivasan additionally teaches on the Division of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Madras. Articulating the imaginative and prescient of this challenge, she mentioned, “Integrating status serve as in a wheelchair supplies well being advantages in addition to practical and mental advantages to the person. Our first status wheelchair was once Get up, a low cost mechanical design, specifically designed for rural customers, enabling status and out of doors mobility for brief distances.”
This compact status wheelchair with an easy-to-use actuation gadget makes on a regular basis actions — like attractive in eye-level conversations, achieving for a ebook or taking part in a meal status by means of a counter — a lot more straightforward for wheelchair customers, and in addition supplies actual well being advantages.
For many wheelchair customers in India, the power to face is an actual luxurious. However status is very important for higher blood movement, digestion, fighting force sores, and many others. But even so bodily well being, there could also be an actual psychological well being and financial component to status for wheelchair customers.
In step with this November 2013 educational paper printed in Physiotherapy Canada, “Extended status has been proven to have recommended results on quite a lot of frame purposes and constructions. As well as, time spent in a status place may give wheelchair customers a way of self assurance and equality thru face-to-face touch with the non-disabled group.”
“The use of a status tool can give alternatives to hook up with the outdoor international, improve reminiscences from the previous, and advertise hope for the longer term,” it provides.
Justin Jesudas — head of operations at R2D2 with 14 years of lived revel in as a tetraplegic and an elite para-athlete — says, “Wheelchairs permit us, and this is a secure area for our mobility and to accomplish day-to-day actions. The facility to face with only a push of a button makes the wheelchair much more inclusive, serving to tetraplegics to face independently.”
Lately, wheelchair customers are regularly depending on exterior assist and a few wish to use orthoses to face. For customers with compromised higher frame energy, it is a vital problem, and a handbook status wheelchair is insufficient, notes the clicking liberate issued by means of IIT-Madras.
That’s why in a dialog with The Higher India, Professor Sujatha Srinivasan recollects, “The speculation for NeoStand was once fueled by means of encounters with people who, in spite of their need for independence, discovered themselves reliant on others because of their bodily boundaries. The adventure to creating NeoStand started in August 2021 with our remark that customers of the Get up Status Wheelchair, in spite of its inventions, had been restricted by means of the requirement for higher frame energy to function the arm and hand-powered status serve as. This limitation sparked our choice to design an answer that would bridge this hole.”
“NeoStand, with its electrical status serve as, was once conceived to empower a broader spectrum of customers — together with the ones missing the higher frame energy for handbook operation — and to facilitate caregivers in offering improve with much less bodily pressure. Its compact design additional addresses the desire for a realistic, space-efficient answer in city environments,” she provides.
But even so hanging much less pressure at the shoulders of caregivers or therapists within the medical institution, the NeoStand additionally carries significance from a healing point of view. Caregivers or therapists can assist the person practise status step by step since NeoStand permits the person to prevent at intermediate positions. That is very helpful from a healing point of view.
Elaborating additional, she describes the way it guarantees customers the liberty to take a seat for extended hours and stand with ease when wanted, lowering the chance of secondary well being headaches. “Its compactness guarantees clean manoeuvrability thru tight areas, bettering accessibility. The seamless transition between sitting and status, with an way to pause halfway, underscores its leading edge option to bettering customers’ high quality of existence and social participation,” she claims.
Growing the NeoStand
As mentioned previous, the conceptualisation of NeoStand took root in August 2021 pushed by means of a transparent imaginative and prescient to improve mobility answers. As Professor Sujatha recollects chatting with The Higher India, “The improvement procedure was once marked by means of rigorous checking out and refinement, with our group finishing 4 design iterations to highest the NeoStand. This iterative procedure was once a very powerful in evolving the prototype into the market-ready product we’re proud to introduce as of late.”
On the other hand, creating the NeoStand did pose demanding situations, specifically achieve a graceful, compact design appropriate for indoor use with out compromising on easy propulsion and capability.
“Our group tackled those demanding situations thru a mix of systematic engineering and considerate business design, making sure that the overall product now not best met however exceeded our targets. This procedure was once a testomony to our determination to innovation and our relentless pursuit of answers that improve the standard of existence for our customers,” she claims.
Figuring out NeoStand
NeoStand is engineered with 4 key programs: the seating gadget for convenience, the handbook propulsion gadget for mobility, the electrical status gadget for easy transition from sitting to status, and the protection gadget to verify protected use.
“The seating gadget provides adapted changes — together with seat width, intensity, and backrest top, for extended convenience. The handbook propulsion is enhanced by means of ergonomic design parts, facilitating smoother mobility. The electrical status gadget employs a battery-powered actuator to easily transition the person to an upright place, whilst the protection gadget contains options like wheel locks and chest harnesses for extra balance and safety,” says Swostik Sourav Sprint, Co-Founder and CEO at NeoMotion, chatting with The Higher India.
“Powering the NeoStand is a Lithium-ion battery, selected for its reliability and function. This battery allows customers to seamlessly transition between seated and upright positions as much as 200 occasions on a unmarried fee. Moreover, the battery’s fast recharge capacity — totally recharging inside simply 4 hours — guarantees minimum downtime, bettering the person revel in by means of offering constant improve all the way through the day,” says Professor Sujatha.
Priced at Rs 89,900, the NeoStand is located to make complicated mobility answers extra obtainable, argues Swostik. “It’s these days available to buy at once thru NeoMotion, with touch main points supplied on their web page for ease of get right of entry to. Our dedication to affordability extends past the fee tag, as we discover quite a lot of methods to make gadgets just like the NeoStand extra obtainable to wider communities, making sure that complicated mobility answers succeed in those that want them maximum,” he elaborates.
Company collaboration
The challenge to broaden NeoStand was once subsidized by means of the company social duty (CSR) arm of Tata Elxsi. Building and design, in the meantime, had been led by means of the TTK Heart for Rehabilitation Analysis and Tool Building (R2D2) at IIT Madras and NeoMotion.
In step with the clicking liberate issued by means of IIT Madras, Sudhakar Rao — IAS (Rtd); Member, Board of Administrators, Tata Elxsi; and Chairman of CSR committee, Tata Elxsi — mentioned, “The release of a brand new product…for the another way abled indicates a turning level in our endeavour to foster inclusiveness and empowerment for many who face mobility demanding situations,” he mentioned.
Talking to The Higher India, Professor Sujatha says, “Our collaboration with Tata Elxsi’s CSR arm supplied now not best monetary improve but additionally valuable experience in business design for a few of our tasks. Our partnership style extends past monetary grants, aiming to surround improve for the in depth R&D paintings carried out at R2D2, in addition to backing for the tasks undertaken by means of the Nationwide Heart for Assistive Well being Applied sciences at IIT Madras,” she provides.
Shifting ahead, Professor Sujatha speaks of the “urgent want” they’re addressing — the availability of an tailored bus carrier.
“This carrier is a very powerful for transporting individuals with disabilities to and from our centres, particularly all the way through the sports activities and cultural occasions we organise. Given the loss of obtainable public transportation choices in our towns, this initiative represents an important hyperlink in making sure participation and accessibility for all attendees. This type of [corporate] improve is going some distance in amplifying the affect of our paintings and underscores the multifaceted nature of the help we search from our companions,” she provides.
(Edited by means of Pranita Bhat; Photographs courtesy IIT-Madras)