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LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Brad Duerstock has difficulty accessing an iPad or laptop whenever he needs it.
Duerstock, who uses a wheelchair due to a spinal cord injury, has to have someone take the mobile device out of his backpack and set it up for him or he leaves it on his lap during the day, which makes it susceptible to falling off and hitting pavement as he travels around campus.
"I have a tablet with a broken screen, right now," he said. "(I was) just going over bumpy sidewalks."
But as a Purdue University researcher, Duerstock has the ability to change this dilemma for other people who have limited mobility in hands, arms and legs due to conditions such as spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis.
"I realized it was something that not only I am having trouble with but thousands of others," he said.
Duerstock's company Prehensile Technologies is only one step away from commercializing RoboDesk, an automatic retractable tray that attaches to wheelchairs using a motorized mount.
"Now, in the classroom it's ubiquitous to have a laptop to take notes, or a tablet," he said. "There's a specific need for people to be able to access these technologies whenever they want to, but at the same time remove it so they can use a normal desk."
Duerstock, an associate professor of engineering practice, said similar products exist on the market such as fixed mounted trays but they restrict the wheelchair user's movement.
"These things cannot be moved or positioned out of the way," he said. "They're always there. You can't go underneath desks or tables without someone removing it. Removing it is kind of a chore. It's not easily done. Also, it prevents you from transferring out of your wheelchair."
The technology can also double as a writing surface or meal tray, he said.
Alexander Lo, a researcher in the Purdue Center for
Alexander Lo, a researcher in the Purdue Center for Paralysis Research, uses an iPad on the RoboDesk. The RoboDesk is an assistive technology being developed at Purdue University to help people with disabilities use iPads and other mobile devices more easily. (Photo: Photo provided/Purdue Research Foundation)
Prehensile Technologies, which Duerstock co-founded with his wife Li Hwa Chong, a Purdue alumnus, licensed the technology through the Purdue Research Foundation's Office of Technology Commercialization.
The prototype has already passed the internal pilot test and the company will begin beta testing using selected customers before commercial quantity production.
Duerstock said the company has not yet identified a manufacturer.
"Ideally, we would find a place that sells either health care equipment or wheelchair vendors," he said. "We would license it. We give them rights to it. Tell them how to make it, and they make it themselves."
He anticipates RoboDesk to enter the marketplace next year.
"I can't wait to get the first manufactured prototype because I'll be customer no. 1," he said.
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Source: The (Lafayette) Journal & Courier, http://on.jconline.com/1hQZCQZ
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Information from: Journal and Courier, http://www.jconline.com
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