IBOT – Stair Climbing Wheelchair Is No More

the ibot wheelchair

the ibot wheelchair

Independence Technology – a Johnson and Johnson company, has announced that it will be withdrawing it’s revolutionary powered mobility device from the market with immediate effect. They will however be honoring service agreements until 2013.

The chair while revolutionary in advancing a customers mobility came with a high price tag at about 22,000 US Dollars with the reimbursement agencies valuing the product at about 6,000 US Dollars – thus putting it out of reach of most people.

We had our doubts way back in 2006 – Johnson and Johnson IBOT Medicare And The Power Mobility Industry.

On an allied subject – two years ago we wrote about the Topchair which is a similar concept providing enhanced mobility for climbing stairs – this one made in France.

topchair

Consumers have a much better chance of acquiring products like these in some European countries where reimbursement rules are much more favorable as to the right to quality of mobility.

We have even noticed companies in China starting to advertise – “stair climbing wheelchairs” – but until somebody gets the functionality / cost ratio correct these products are going to go the way of the Concorde – unfortunately.


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Post Author

This post was written by Frank Barlin who has written 112 posts on the international medical market place.

Frank Barlin is the founder and Managing Partner at Sibaya LifeScience.

7 Responses to “IBOT – Stair Climbing Wheelchair Is No More”

  1. B R July 20, 2009 at 5:18 pm #

    Breaks my heart to once again see superior and needed technology CRUSHED because of financial greed and the inability to see that the value of the object far outreaches its current cost. The genius of ibot is evident from the first moment and the value should be easy to see. When will we learn to balance truly genius innovation with reasonable and sustainable profit, instead we destroy great ideas because they do not produce enough profit. Someday we will al have to tell our grandchildren that we could have saved the world and made it a better place, but there was no money in it, so we chose not too.

  2. Amor Amoureuse July 21, 2009 at 10:03 am #

    usually the government should be bound to build safety devices in front of important buildings in order to make easier the life of the people in wheelchairs . Since the politicians dont care, its good to see there are such modern and comfortable wheelchairs , pity that they are too expensive and cant everyone who need them to afford..

  3. morteza October 6, 2009 at 3:55 pm #

    Principal-Principal-Principal-Principal
    سلام
    من ایرانی هستم
    من زبان انگلیسی بلد نیستم
    من یک معلولم
    ای کاش از این ویلچرها ایران بود
    اگه هم بیاد انقدر گرانه که ما توان خرید آن را نداریم
    اگه ممکنه قیمتش رو برام ایمیل کنید و نحوه خرید
    متشکر

  4. Hamza November 20, 2009 at 8:32 am #

    I need to know the actual price of the second wheelchair which the woman is sitting on it with a red shirt thank

  5. Sumit Agarwal November 28, 2009 at 8:16 am #

    i m not able to walk so i want to get it but i don’t know the prise of this send me a e-mail of it’s prise in indian ruppes and how can i get it? thankyou.

  6. shamsad August 16, 2010 at 8:21 pm #

    I need to know the actual price of the wheelchair as i’m not able to walk so i want to get it. send me a e-mail of it’s price and how can i get it? thankyou

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  1. The New Topchair Stair Climbing Wheelchair Ready For Commercialization — the international medical market place - May 31, 2009

    [...] Update: May 2009 – IBOT – Stairclimbing wheelchair withdrawn from market. [...]

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