2012 Claire Pomeroy Award for Medical Technology Innovation Application

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1 Claire Pomeroy Award Purpose: To recognize and celebrate outstanding achievement within our region for innovation in medical technology. Self-nominations or nominations of a colleague for this prestigious award are invited. Please keep your description brief and to the point. Submissions must be submitted electronically to awards@sarta.org no later than 11:59 PM, on April 6, Winners will be notified by April 27, and awards will be publicly announced at the SARTA Sacramento Med Tech Showcase on June 5, Part 1 Summary Information (* = required) Contact information for the Nominee and Nominator (note: you may nominate yourself) Nominee Name* Brian Watwood Nominee Title Founder & Inventor Nominee Company Wijit, Inc. Nominee address* bwatwood@wijit.com Nominee phone number* Nominator Name* Harry Laswell Nominator Title CEO Nominator Company Wijit, Inc. Nominator address* hlaswell@wijit.com Nominator phone number* Summary Information about the Invention or Product Name of Invention or Product*: Wijit Lever Driving and Braking System Short Description (25 words or less -- what does it do?)* The Wijit provides wheelchair users with improved mobility, health, and quality of life. The Wijit makes it easier to self propel the wheelchair and eliminates upper extremity repetitive stress injuries caused by wheelchair use. The Wijit allows many power wheelchair users to go back to a manual chair with associated health benefits due to getting more exercise. Relevant Patent Numbers (if applicable): Approximate Year Commercialized (first year product or invention had sales)* Which company initially brought this invention or product to market?* 5 issued US patents, plus many international patents 2007 SuperQuad, LLC

2 Part 2: Free form narrative, limited to 1 ½ pages about 750 words. Please explain why the innovator qualifies to win the Claire Pomeroy Award for Innovation in Medical Technology. True innovation is severely lacking in the wheelchair industry. The manual wheelchair has changed very little in the last 150 years; only the materials and weight have changed. The fundamental mechanical structure is essentially identical. The manual wheelchair presents two major problems to the user: The efficiency of the human-wheelchair system is very inefficient. Less than 10% of the energy consumed by the user is translated in to forward motion of the chair. Use of a manual wheelchair causes repetitive stress injuries to the upper extremities in 80% of users within 5 years. This causes the user pain and reduced mobility, and costs the medical system thousands of dollars per year for treatment which frequently includes surgery only to have the injury recur because of continued wheelchair use. The alternative product the power wheelchair eliminated the upper extremity injuries, but causes deterioration in cardiovascular condition and muscle atrophy due to lack of exercise, ultimately cascading into other health problems. The Wijit combines mankind s two greatest inventions the lever and the wheel to offer improved mobility and to eliminate repetitive stress injuries caused by the manual wheelchair. To see the Wijit in action please watch the following video: The young man in the video Matt Rupel was going to drop out of college after his first quarter as getting around in his wheelchair was just too difficult. The Wijit has allowed him to thrive in college. He is in his junior year at Santa Clara University and the editor of the student newspaper. A power chair wasn t an option for Matt as the lack of exercise would have cut his life expectancy in half. The Wijit is 2 2.5X as efficient at a manual wheelchair so it is much easier for the user to meet their mobility needs. And clinical studies show that the Wijit significantly reduces the forces on the upper extremities in a way which will reduce the incidence of repetitive stress injuries. The Wijit is life changing for its users. One of our patients a 15 year old boy with Friedrich s Ataxia sums it up best With my Wijits I don t feel disabled. The Wheelchair Foundation estimates 100,000,000 people use or need a wheelchair. 3,500,000 US residents use a wheelchair today. We estimate that over 70% of them are good candidates for the Wijit While Wijit sales have been limited to date with total sales of approximately 200 units, we expect sales in 2012 to exceed 2012 units changing the lives of thousands of users, their family members, and care providers. The Wijit is quickly gaining recognition as the best solution for manual wheelchair propulsion. We expect to sell several hundred thousand units and create a headquarters company in Sacramento with revenues >$100,000,000 per year over the next several years. If you were putting a patient into a manual wheelchair, why wouldn t you give them the Wijit. And if you are considering a power chair, you should try a Wijit and manual wheelchair first. The Wijit has enabled many users to get out of a power wheelchair. See for a user testimonial from a C5/C5 incomplete quad.

3 We believe we can establish the Wijit as the standard of care in wheelchair propulsion At its current cost to the system of $4000 with a five year useful life the Wijit costs just $800 per year. It should save the system thousands of dollars per year in medical care for upper extremity injuries which often culminate in carpel tunnel or rotator cuff surgery and a power wheelchair. The combined cost of the surgery and associated care and power chair can easily exceed $50,000. If you look at a system like Kaiser Permanente they have approximately 10,000,000 patients, 100,000 of whom are in wheelchairs. If they supplied Wijits to 50,000 patients it would cost them $200,000,000 over 5 years, or $40,000,000 per year. If the Wijits reduce the cost of treating upper extremity injuries by an average of $2000 per patient per year the net savings per year would be $60,000,000. So, invest $40,000,000 to save $100,000,000. While simultaneously improving the patients mobility and quality of life. Great alignment with the Kaiser systems mission THRIVE! Include the answers to the questions below in the nomination: Detailed Product or Invention Description: What does this invention or product do?* The Wijit is a lever driving and braking system that can be installed on over 80% of the installed base of manual wheelchairs. The Wijit combines a lever and gear reduction drive to allow the user to self-propel the wheelchair with significantly less effort without ever touching the wheels. The Wijit has brakes which allow the user to stop the wheelchair without risk of friction burns or cut fingers. The Wijit promotes improved posture as you drive from an upright position critical for users with spinal injuries. See attached product brief for more details. How did this invention or product transform an important aspect of the practice of medicine and/or the delivery of healthcare services, making them safer, more effective, less costly, and/or more accessible?* Please be sure to clearly address the parameters listed above, to ensure this nomination can be fully assessed by the Awards Committee. The Wijit is a revolutionary product that presents a new alternative to medical practitioners to solve their patients mobility problems with a product that does not negatively impact their health. The Wijit is safer than the alternative, provides better mobility, and reduces total cost of care. How has this invention or product benefited SARTA s nine county region (Butte, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Solano, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba)? Wijit, Inc. is headquartered in Roseville and our manufacturing is done at Pride Industries. The company has created 12 FTE positions (combined in house and at Pride) and this is expected to grow to 50 FTE over the next 2-3 years. Wijit is an opportunity to build a $100M headquarters company in Sacramento over the next few years. The company expects to relocate to the City of Sacramento during 2012.

4 Include up to 2 images if desired by inserting them in the Word Document. This is a photo of the current production Wijit on a Colours wheelchair. The Wijit is the wheel and lever drive assembly. It can be mounted on almost all standard wheelchair frames. SARTA 3801 Power Inn Road, Sacramento, California

5 Brian Watwood in a prototype Wijit

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