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Biotech / Medical : Dean Kamen and Ginger ??? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jerry in Omaha who wrote (339)	1/22/2002 12:21:50 PM
From: Jerry in Omaha	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 377

More important than Ginger? 200 million wheelchair users just might think so. Jerry in Omaha Breaking the next wheelchair barrier By BARBARA J. McKEE January 17, 2002 knoxnews.com The mystery of "Ginger" finally was revealed last month. Dean Kamen, the inventor of this scooterlike device, had kept what he long had called only "It" a secret, with the belief that Ginger would change the world. I have a different opinion. Kamen has another incredible invention that isn't getting as much attention as Ginger. He has invented the "iBOT," a wheelchair that gives the disabled unsurpassed freedom and independence. Back in June of this year, John Hockenberry did a segment on the ABC News program "20/20" on the iBOT. Kamen demonstrated how iBOT could go through deep sand and gravel, climb stairs, raise the rider up to reach high shelves or give a loved one a kiss. Hockenberry could hardly contain his excitement. I could not contain my tears. A wheelchair that makes a transformation by giving the user a working pair of legs! Kamen's invention, backed by the pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson, will give thousands of paraplegics and quadriplegics their independence back. This invention, not a scooter, is the "It" that will change the world. Why isn't the iBOT on the front pages of every newspaper and magazine? Kamen wants to know why. So do I. Kamen should have kept the iBOT a secret longer than the now-famous Ginger scooter. The scooter will be revolutionary to some, a plaything to many. But the iBOT is life-altering. The wheelchair is designed with a combination of gyroscopes and computer chips that sense the user's body weight, structure and center of gravity. Each wheelchair will be built to the user's body specifications by the type of disability and its residual effects, such as spastic limbs, spinal curvatures and level of movement. Previous stair-climbing wheelchairs were not this specific. They were mere prototypes of Kamen's invention. Over the Internet, I chatted with a few disabled folks about the device, curious to see what the disability community thought about the iBOT. I asked them why they weren't excited and chatting up a storm about this device. I was a bit shocked at their responses: "It is a lawsuit and injuries waiting to happen." "Can you imagine this slipping or breaking on stairs? It would kill you." "I saw one (like it) a number a years ago in a demonstration; it slipped down the stairs once, and that was enough." "No insurance company will ever pay for one at 25K to 30K." I understand their fear. There will be risks with any invention that involves the movement of a person from point A to point B. Remember the history of the first car? It came with predictions of death, too. I believe Kamen is onto something that is as big, if not bigger, than the first automobile. Johnson & Johnson wants the iBOT to be listed as a medical device, enabling reimbursement by Medicare and other medical insurance. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is currently conducting clinical trials, testing the iBOT for safety, reliability, ease of use and performance in various climates and adverse conditions. Kamen states he's done all these tests, but rules are rules. The FDA will have its way with the iBOT before any government funds are used to purchase this extraordinary wheelchair. The estimated cost is more than $20,000. That price is in the range of the electric wheelchairs used today by quadriplegics who have little to no mobility. Medicare balks at approving these. It could be two to three years before the disabled get a chance to live a life they thought was gone forever. How will they approach the approval of the iBOT? If the FDA approves the iBOT as a medical device, it will change the meaning of "disability" in the lives of more then 200 million wheelchair users worldwide. It will drastically reduce the need for long and sometimes steep ramps, lessen the lifting and carrying chores of personal care assistants, and allow the disabled to enjoy their homes without costly reconstruction of bedrooms and kitchens. The iBOT will give independence back to those who have lost it for many years. The more I think about the iBOT, the more impatient I get. Until the Hockenberry segment, I had no hope of ever having the chance of dancing at my children's weddings. That possibility now exists. The very thought of raising myself to kiss my husband chokes me up. If I sound like I'm babbling, well, I am. I'm giddy about the many freedoms this device could give back to me. (Contact Barbara McKee of The Tribune in Albuquerque, N.M., at abqtrib.com.)