Indigenous wheelchairs: IIT-Madras gesture to Army hospital

CHENNAI: The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) on Monday handed over the first batch of 25 indigenously developed wheelchairs to the Army Hospital (Research and Referral) in Delhi Cantonment, marking the start of a 100-wheelchair programme supported through a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) partnership with Fiserv.

The remaining 75 wheelchairs will be supplied in phases over the coming months.

The YD One wheelchairs were developed at IIT Madras’ TTK Centre for Rehabilitation Research and Device Development (R2D2) and are manufactured by Thryv Mobility, a startup incubated at the institute. The product was designed with inputs from wheelchair users and is intended to support independent mobility.

Lt Gen Avinash Das, Commandant of Army Hospital, said the wheelchairs would support patients and their families in regaining mobility through devices designed and manufactured in India.

“Mobility is fundamental to dignity and independence. We welcome this contribution from IIT Madras and Fiserv, which will directly support our patients and their families,” he said.

Manish Anand, faculty at IIT Madras, said the handover reflected the institute’s efforts to develop assistive technologies suited to Indian users.

“This handover represents what IIT Madras’s R2D2 was established to achieve, indigenous engineering for assistive technologies that meet the needs of Indian users at global standards, “he said.

The initiative is being funded by Fiserv as part of its CSR programme. Sachin Kulkarni, President, Global Services, Fiserv, said the partnership combined engineering and social impact through the delivery of mobility solutions to the Armed Forces Medical Services.