I have been working on a patented no-lift patient transfer device for a few years now, and it has the ability to roll the patient from a mobile chair into the shower/bath. There is no lifting/sliding/dragging and it requires very little effort. The same device moves the patient out of bed and onto the mobile chair again with little effort (It takes 2 minutes to transfer patient). I am interested if there is a need for such a device in the SCI community.

I know a doctor who fell off a three foot latter and injured his C4 vertebra. He has $20,000 worth of equipment (wheelchairs/lifts/shower benches) from the VA and his wife (working alone) still cannot get him into the shower.

Is this common?

It isn't unusual for many SCI's to redo their bathrooms post injury for easier accessability. If the doctor you know was recently injured, this may be his next step after coming home.

As far as your invention is concerned, there's always room for new, and better devices out there. But I can't say whether your idea would work better or not, simply because I have no clue how it functions, although it sounds intrigueing.

Have you located other transfer devices on websites such as sammonspreston.com? How does your compare cost-wise?

If you have pictures, please post them.

The device is in beta prototype form and not yet ready for production. But I have had demos at local hospitals to get feedback. My goal here is not to advertise it but to get feedback from SCI patients on whether there are other good shower/bath devices. I have studied lifts, shower chairs, shower benches, and transfer chairs and I know their limitations. They do not seem to be very good for bathing and showering dependent patients.

I plan to show my device at an SCI hospital soon and I was wondering if there is any real competition. So far, I have not found it.

You might not want to limit this device to the SCI community, but try nursing homes as well. My 75 yr old grandmother recently injured her foot and now can't get into her wheelchair from bed without a lift. She doesn't have the arm strength to transfer and can't support her own weight when standing (nursing home claims she's playing mind games, which could be true also). I'm sure she's not the only patient that needs help transferring.

I'm afraid it's hard to tell you if you have competition, unless we know what it is you have.

I also know that revealing too much may compromise patenting or finding a manufacturer,,, so I don't blame you.

Suffice it to say that any device that makes it easier for a carer to transfer their client,, or for that client to transfer him/herself,, would be well recieved,,,, if the price is right.
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Hoyer & Volaro make lifts that do the function of which you are speaking. They have models that can both lift & transport for getting a person into bed, shower, wheelchair or any combination of. But like qbounce said.....there is always room for improvements.


http://www.rehabmart.com/category.asp?cat=...&ppc=google

http://www.smthealthsystems.com/?gclid=CKi...CFRBbagodRkHZaQ

I'm sure there may be other brands of lifts other than these 2.......but I think you get the idea.

I guess I did not make clear that few sling-lifts can get patients directly into showers/baths. They require the difficult task of putting the patient on a shower bench, unhooking the sling and sliding the patient over into the bath/shower. The caretaker I spoke of above cannot do the sliding required to bathe her husband.

Many home-based caregivers also refuse to use lifts because they are afraid of dropping the patient. Also (If you have read Christoper Reeve's biography), there is the added problem of going into mild shock as the head of the SCI patient is lifted too quickly in the sling and the vascular system cannot adapt (because of the SCI) draining the blood from the patient's head.

Lastly, lifts are based on the cranes that were used to lift heavy automobile parts in repair shops. They are undignified in my opinion and quite primitive (even the ones with the bells and whistles).

Do you have blueprints or some drafts of what your lift would look like?

I am not ready to show the world how this device works (even though it is patented) although I am showing selected medical groups (nurses and rehab professionals) and wheelchair design institutes.

But I still wonder has anybody found a fast, safe, easy device that helps SCI patients get from the bed into the shower/bath without lifting/hoisting them and dragging/sliding them. I do not think any such device exists and especially one that sells for less than $3500.

Well I guess there is no new technology for making showering easier that anyone is aware of.