The "Buffalo News" ran the following article yesterday about a local
company that helps inventors develop and market assistive technology
products for people with disabilities. It also highlighted an item that
might be useful to PWP.
"Buffalo Firm Nurtures Products for People with Disabilities," by Brian
Meyer, Buffalo News, Feb. 8, 1999 p. C1.
"Rebecca Christie never had visions of becoming an inventor. But as an
occupational therapist who worked with a woman who had Parkinson's
Disease and multiple sclerosis, she wanted to improve the quality of life
of people who have difficulty using their arms.
"This woman hadn't fed herself in 14 years because of heavy tremors."
Ms. Christie recalled. "I wanted to invent something that would emulate
an arm, something that would stabilize movement."
Fourteen years later, Ms. Christie's contraption has just been
introduced commercially. The Thomas Steady Arm (Thomas is her maiden
name) went through its final round of clinical tests and will be sold
through medical product companies for under $300.
But Ms. Christie said it was a not-for-profit company in Buffalo that
made it all happen. AZtech Inc. has carved a unique niche in the market
research arena - it specializes in transforming inventions into products
for people with disabilities.
The seeds were planted six years ago when the University at Buffalo was
awarded a five-year national grant to start a program that evaluated new
technologies in the disability products market. AZtech (which stands for
A-to-Z Technologies) still has a contract with UB but has since become a
self-sustaining entity with a staff of five.
AZtech coordinates focus groups, arranges in-home trials and evaluates
prototypes for a wide range of assistive devices. It has helped to design
ice skates for people with orthopedic disabilities, toilet seats with
built-in handgrips for people who have trouble balancing and even a gizmo
that make it easier for people to change toilet paper rolls . . .
Vice President Jeffrey A. Kohler said AZtech researches every facet of a
product, including potential competition, design options and
manufacturing opportunities. It also offers technology transfer services,
helping inventors to negotiate royalties with manufacturers.
The company works closely with the Independent Living Center of Western
New York, a consumer-run service and advocacy agency. The Independent
Living Center helps AZtech to evaluate products and recruit focus group
participants . . .
AZtech officials said they are always searching for that
diamond-in-the-rough . . . But about 84% of all ideas that make it onto
the Aztech work bench are ultimately rejected as being too similar to
existing products. Only one-fifth of the remaining concepts ever make it
to market. . ."
The company has a web site at:
http://cosmos.ot.buffalo.edu/
where there are also links to information about the "Thomas Steady Arm,"
and about a database of consumers willing to test new products.
I have no connection with this company; I'm not trying to sell anything.
I just thought this would be of interest to some list members. We might
even have some inventors among us.
Linda Herman
