WHEELED WALKER

• What problem does your design idea solve?
I'm a seventy four year old veteran. I use a walking cane. I see a lot of vets that use a walking device and I ask them why they need it. Most, myself included, complain about joint pain, the knees the hips the lower back and the shoulders, not muscle pain. When I use a cane I just seem to shift the discomfort to a less painful place. The weight of the body seems to be the key factor on my ageing joints.

This device will take some of the weight of the body off all the joints and allow a high degree of mobility with less pain.

• What are the potential benefits?
With less pain the activity can increase, the holy grill, weight loss. Weight loss and health so many benefits are documented I’m looking forward to getting the prototype built, sometime this month.

• How is your idea novel or an improvement on what is currently available in the marketplace?
There are a lot of mobility devices available all of the ones I've seen all do the same thing: shift the body weight around.

This walker can support part or almost all of the body weight and leave the person free to move.

• Where would this idea be applied?
• What is the market potential?
We are living longer but not always healthier. I think we are called the baby boomers.
• How does your design work?
• How would your product be manufactured?
• How would the production cost compare with products already in the marketplace?
Velcro belts easy to open easy to close but will not pull apart, around the hips and around the chest, under the arms will hold the back and hips firmly to the padded frame. You adjust your self so the feet touch the ground with a light but firm foot fall without the weight of the body.

The technology needed to build this walker would be no more then that needed to build a lightweight bicycle. The cost should be about the same as that of the bicycle.