Michelle+Kerr+Interview

Outpatient Physical Therapy/ATEC 125 Nashua Street Boston, MA 02114 > > >
 * INTERVIEW SUMMARY – 10/30/06**
 * Contact:** Michelle Kerr – Physical Therapist and Assistive Technology Practitioner
 * Address:** Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital
 * Phone #:** 617-573-2925 / 617-573-2209
 * Email:** MKerr@partners.org
 * Summary:**
 * 1) Perhaps the most important consideration for us is added weight. The problem with added weight has little to do with transportability. Rather, the issue is that the more weight added to a wheelchair, the more force required from the user, which leads to increased shoulder injuries and chronic over-usage. When I quoted her the figure of 7lbs that we had found through our previous research, she said that that sounded reasonable to not exceed. As a benchmark, she said that titanium wheelchairs are around 15lbs, and that we really should keep that in mind (i.e. adding 7lbs to a titanium wheelchair is a big deal even though the wheelchair would still be relatively light by our standards). She also brought up the fact that other competitors like E.motion Wheels (see #11) add about 25 pounds a wheel.
 * 2) From her experience, wheelchair users tend to fall into two categories. Those who have been recently injured and those who are younger tend to be more looks orientated and really don’t want their wheelchairs to stick out. Those who have older injuries tend to be very function oriented and don’t care if it the wheelchair looks bad as long as it gives them good functionality. Michelle also pointed out that other products on the market (Magic Wheels included) do look different, but that that doesn’t seem to bother many wheelchair users. In her opinion, aesthetics are a plus, but not a necessity.
 * 1) In regards to the shifter, Michelle didn’t seem to think that having a visible shifter would be an issue. As an example, she said that some users require brake extensions that generally take the form of 3”-4” rods that stick out of the wheels. She was saying that the method most users take to “hide’ these rods is to just paint them black so that they blend in with the rest of the wheel.
 * 2) Also regarding the shifter, Michelle said that it may not be wise to shift each wheel independently. When I told her more about what we had envisioned, she said that it could be possible depending on how we designed it, but that we should definitely keep in mind the varied cognitive abilities of our customers. She believes that many wheelchair users would be able to learn how to shift each wheel independently given a bit of practice, but that the amount of practice could vary and that we may find a reasonable number of individuals who would have difficulty figuring the system out.
 * 3) Regarding multiple rims, Michelle agreed that we definitely should not exceed more than one rim. Her reasoning, though, was different than what we had thought of originally. Specifically, she mentioned that it is almost impossible to add an additional wheel without comprising accessibility and the ergonomics of the wheelchair. Also, having an extra rim could potentially increase occurrences of carpel tunnel syndrome among wheelchair users. Furthermore, an extra rim would require increasing the width of the wheelchair, which is never desirable (“one of the goals of wheelchair design is add as much functionality in as narrow and light a package as possible”).
 * 4) Michelle said that going in reverse is absolutely necessary. But, going in reverse is not necessary when ascending an incline.
 * 5) Michelle also said that having an uphill feature that would prevent a user from rolling back down the hill is absolutely necessary if we envision our geared wheelchair being used to ascend hills/inclines. Furthermore, it’s acceptable for the uphill feature to only allow the user to take a break while climbing an incline without helping the user start back up again (I believe that this issue came up earlier in the term).
 * 6) Michelle was telling me that the problem of helping wheelchair users ascend hills has been tackled a lot, but for whatever reason nobody ever wants to look into helping wheelchair users descend hills, which is equally problematic.
 * 1) In regards to the coaster brake, Michelle said that it would be a nice thing to have, but only if we can figure out a way to make it safe. From what I gathered, she believes that a coaster brake would potentially create more problems than it would solve. She was saying that the biggest problem with the coaster brake will be figuring out how to prevent the user from being propelled out of the wheelchair while braking hard. She suggested that we keep in mind that wheelchair users cannot support their bodies like we do and that they really can’t keep themselves in side their seats. So, while braking hard might work for us, we need to remember that we have the advantage of multiple muscles in our legs and back that will constrain us in the seat.
 * 2) Michelle was mentioning that one of our biggest challenges may be marketing. In order for insurance companies to allow subscribers to purchase our product, we have to be able to make the case that our product offers a necessary advantage that cannot be achieved with another, cheaper product. If we can’t convince the insurance companies, than we will be unable to sell our product to the vast majority of wheelchair users.
 * 1) Michelle also mentioned many more competitors than we had originally found. One of the first names she mentioned was Magic Wheels. In addition, she said that many companies sell battery-operated, power assist add-ons or full wheelchairs to help wheelchair users climb inclines. A few examples include:

Power Assist – not sure if this is a brand name; Google-ing brings up many related results Sunrise Quickie Xtender – wheelchair package (that is, it includes wheels + chair); quick release wheels; foldable; synchronized wheels; battery-operated: ([|__http://www.sunrisemedical.com /products/product_detail.jsp ?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=8455244428 07833&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id �0�1408474395235879&ASSORTMENT %3C%3East_id�1�1408474395285139 &bmUID=1162256817401__]) IGlide – discontinued product; another full wheelchair package; uses motors with control system to assist movement; battery-operated: ([|__http://www.usatechguide.org /itemreview.php?itemid=695__]) E.motion Wheels – wheelchair add-on; uses motors to help user up incline; unique user interface => pressure to rims tells motors that you are going up- or downhill; multiple performance settings depending on what user desires; quick release wheels; foldable; battery-operated; “can be installed on almost any manual wheelchair”: ([|__http://www.frankmobility.com /emotion.htm__] )
 * 1) In terms of a price point, the Quickie Xtender costs $6295 and the E.motion Wheels costs $6590. As a reference, Michelle was saying that a titanium wheelchair costs about $3500. So, to be competitive, she was saying that we need to be able to keep the cost of a titanium wheelchair with our product under about $5000-$7000, which is the cost of most powered wheelchairs. Otherwise, she said that most potential customers would look towards powered alternatives if they were interested in the functionality our product could offer them. This is apparently why we don’t see the Magic Wheels too often.


 * 1) Finally, Michelle was saying that if we can make our product really light with added functionality and little additional cost, then our product would have the potential to gain customer acceptance.