The Directorate of Entrepreneurship and Innovation steps forth with yet another brave initiative from Dr Sunitha K A, Associate Professor, the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering. Dr Sunitha had envisioned a dream to empower patients suffering from ailments that require sustained medical assistance with a specially designed convertible wheelchair that can aid the patients in mobility and self-help. In association with Hatchlab Research Centre, Dr Sunitha has initiated a health-tech startup exclusively for patients who cannot move their bodies due to several medical conditions and to raise awareness of the continuing rise of similar cases in today’s society.
Dr Sunitha says, “The main challenge of the patient is to perform the basic movements like coming out of the bed and to sit in the wheelchair (and vice-versa), and it is almost impossible for a patient to do this simple act without external support of a person or a nurse. We have listed several such scenarios and cases where our specially designed wheelchair can be converted into a bed and can be easily controlled by the patient itself. Apart from that, all the necessary inputs like the urine levels in the drop-bag, pulse rate, emergency indicated, oxygen levels and several other parameters are well integrated into the system itself which displays in the dashboard and is communicated to the stakeholders.”
The prototype for the convertible wheelchair has been successfully tested and appreciated by doctors and experts in Chennai. With the help of Hatchlab Research Centre, the prime focus for the next few months is to create a completely functional prototype. The innovative venture plans to recreate the fully functional prototype, seed funding and round one funding from the investors, followed by large-scale production. Several multinational design patents for the product have already been filed by Dr Sunitha, and the next stage of the cohort is the commercialisation of the product.