TESS Co., a Japanese manufacturer of
nursing/medical/transport equipment, commercialized the world first pedal-driven
wheelchair developed by a research group led by Dr. Yasunobu Handa, guest
professor at Tohoku University.
The cutting-edge wheelchair named "Profhand" can
be driven freely with own two legs even by half-paralyzed people from the
stroke or people with walking difficulty from spinal-cord-injury, backache or
knee osteoarthritis if they can move one of their legs slightly.