Sahayatha: A smart wheelchair restoring dignity through innovation | Fusion - WeRIndia

Innovation often begins with empathy, and for Sruthi Babu, that compassion sparked a life-changing invention.

The 30-year-old biomedical engineer developed Sahayatha, a revolutionary wheelchair that empowers persons with disabilities (PwDs) and the elderly to live independently.

Witnessing the struggles of immobile patients in hospitals inspired her to use technology to restore their dignity.

Sruthi’s journey began in 2018, when she became a Sparsh Fellow under BIRAC’s Social Innovation and Immersion Programme.

During her hospital visits, she observed how patients relied on others even for basic hygiene.

Deeply moved, she decided to create a solution that combined comfort, technology, and care.

Her research showed that nearly three crore people in India face similar challenges.

While some wheelchairs feature toilets, none have a self-cleaning mechanism. With her late father, a mechanical engineer, Sruthi set out to change that.

After five years of work and over 118 design trials, they created Sahayatha, a compact wheelchair with an automatic cleaning system.

With a single switch, a gentle water spray activates from a 3-litre inbuilt tank, cleansing the user automatically.

Waste collects in a detachable rear box for easy disposal, while smart alerts signal low water or battery levels.

Two versions are available: a reclining model that folds flat like a bed and an upright version.

Priced at ₹30,000 and ₹40,000, both are foldable, portable, and suited for home, hospital, or travel use.

In 2019, Sruthi and her father founded Dhanvantri Biomedical Private Limited to bring Sahayatha to life.

The wheelchair is patented in India and protected internationally under the Patent Cooperation Treaty. Since its 2023 launch, more than 400 units have been sold.

Sruthi’s innovation gained national attention on Shark Tank India Season 2, where she secured ₹1 crore for 10% equity, and later earned the CavinKare-MMA ChinniKrishnan Innovation Award.

Sruthi said that, for her, Sahayatha was not just a product but a promise of dignity, comfort, and independence for every person.

Image from Pxhere (Free for commercial use / CC0 Public Domain)

Image Published on February 28, 2017

Image Reference: https://pxhere.com/en/photo/894885