HANOI--In a rehabilitation center at Bach Mai Hospital here, Do Thi Cuong did rehabilitation exercises for 20 minutes, using the new pedal-driven wheelchair sent from a company in northeastern Japan that survived the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
HANOI--In a rehabilitation center at Bach Mai Hospital here, Do Thi Cuong did rehabilitation exercises for 20 minutes, using the new pedal-driven wheelchair sent from a company in northeastern Japan that survived the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Cuong, 58, suffered a cerebral infarction half a year ago and the left side of her body has been paralyzed since then. But thanks to the innovative wheelchair of the medical and welfare equipment development firm, Tess Co., of Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Cuong found herself mobile again.
“I am happy to be able to move around by myself,” she said, smiling.
To show the resilience of disaster-ravaged companies in northeastern Japan, Tess decided to expand overseas, starting in Vietnam. It is introducing its pedal-powered wheelchair for rehabilitation and mobility that can be operated even by people with almost completely paralyzed legs, without having to use their hands.
The wheelchair has some obstacles to overcome, such as its relatively high price, but local doctors, patients and other parties have high hopes that it will be used widely.
“I want it to be used in developing countries, where welfare services and equipment are difficult to find all over the country,” said Tess President Kenji Suzuki. Suzuki, 38, was formerly a staff member at a facility for disabled people.
At Bach Mai Hospital on Dec. 17, Cuong said gait training exercises, which are teaching her to walk again, are monotonous and boring, but exercise with the Tess wheelchair is fun because it allows her to move around as if by bicycle.
Hoang Minh Thanh, 28, was also pleased with the usability of the company's wheelchair. He injured his spine in an accident involving falling rocks while working in a coal mine.
“If I step on the pedal using my relatively movable left foot, my paralyzed right leg moves automatically,” he said. Thanh repeatedly stepped on the pedal of his wheelchair in his rehabilitation exercises. He hopes to someday recover enough to be able to return to work.
Luong Tuan Khanh, the director of the Bach Mai Hospital's rehabilitation center, also praised the usefulness of the wheelchair.
“It allows patients to effortlessly train muscles which are otherwise difficult to move,” said Khanh, 40. “It is also a good point that it does not need much help and patients can train by themselves.”
Tess is a small company with only three full-time staff members, and developed the wheelchair jointly with Tohoku University. The company commercialized the wheelchair in 2009, which weighed 80 kilograms and was priced at 1.3 million yen ($14,600). Accumulated improvements since then have lowered the weight to 14 kilograms and cut the price to under 400,000 yen.
The more affordable wheelchair has sold some 3,000 units. But Suzuki found the wheelchairs used in Ho Chi Minh City were much less expensive, around 8,000 yen, when he visited a facility for disabled people in September. In addition to utilizing the relatively inexpensive wheelchairs, the facility depends on contributions.
Tess’ wheelchair was too expensive for people in Vietnam.
So, as a start, Suzuki decided to lend his company's wheelchairs to hospitals to have them used as rehabilitation equipment.
Since the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, Tess has been struggling financially because it could not obtain sufficient orders because of the disaster.
Although some people say this is not the time to offer assistance to developing countries, Suzuki said, “Now is the time to show the vitality of devastated companies.”
After a month of trial usage of the wheelchair in Vietnamese hospitals that started from December, Tess collected data, such as patients’ muscular strength, to test the wheelchair's effectiveness.
Drawing on the findings, the company plans to hold a briefing session in Vietnam in March, which is targeted at officials of the government and hospitals. It will then call on them to introduce the wheelchair on a full-scale basis.
“If we achieve success in Vietnam, I want to expand our business to other countries such as Cambodia that has many victims of land mines,” Suzuki said. “If we can produce our products in local areas, I would like to employ impaired people.”