iBOT

President Bill Clinton and Dean Kamen in the White House, 2000

The iBOT is a powered wheelchair developed by Dean Kamen in a partnership between DEKA and Johnson and Johnson's Independence Technology division.

As of 2009, it is no longer available for sale from Independence Technology, but support for existing units was available until the end of 2013.[1] Production was discontinued for cost reasons; only a few hundred were sold per year at a retail price of about $25,000, and Medicare paid $5000.[2]

In 2010, one organization was trying to revive the manufacture and maintenance of the iBOT Mobility System. America's Huey 091 Foundation is an organization that provides advanced mobility devices, which used to include the iBOT, to wounded disabled veterans. The foundation's goal is to help revive the manufacture of a new generation of iBOT and if possible to manufacture, sell, and maintain some using a veteran owned and operated organization.

In 2011, Dean Kamen, the inventor of the iBOT, stated his support of America's Huey 091 Foundation's effort to reinstate iBOT production.[3]

In late 2014, Kamen announced that the FDA had reclassified the iBOT from a Class III to a Class II medical device. This lowering of regulatory controls will allow DEKA to revive the long dormant iBOT and immediately start building a next generation product. Kamen said the model would be out in “less than two years" and would be available initially to wounded veterans. [4]

Features

The iBOT has a number of features distinguishing it from most powered wheelchairs:

References

  1. iBot homepage, retrieved 10 Apr 2009
  2. "iBOT’s End Puts Power Wheelchair’s Users In Tough Spot". WBUR Here & Now. 26 Dec 2011. Retrieved 20 Dec 2015.
  3. "Huey091 > Home". Huey091foundation.org. 2011-12-18. Retrieved 2012-02-04.
  4. http://www.mobilehydraulictips.com/dean-kamen-leadership-engineering/
  5. "Stair-Climbing Wheelchair - iBOT Mobility System". About.com. Retrieved July 15, 2014.

External links

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