Monday, October 1, 2007

My Fears

Oops, nevermind. Deleting this entry so
that it doesn't come back and bite me in
the butt.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Shannon, don't be overly worried about the safety. You can look up the FDA's records at www.fda.gov. Here is the results of a search for the 3 words
IBOT 4000 MAUDE:
http://google2.fda.gov/search?access=p&entqr=0&getfields=*&output=xml_no_dtd&sort=date%3AD%3AL%3Ad1&ie=UTF-8&lr=&client=FDA&q=ibot+4000+MAUDE&as=GO&ud=1&site=FDA&oe=UTF-8&proxystylesheet=FDA&ip=208.161.98.140&filter=0
where MAUDE = Manufacturer and User Facility Device Experience

It looks to me like the failures involving tipping forward or backward were the effect of the user pushing things to their limits (or beyond). For example, some were during assisted stair climbing; one looked like the user was spinning the wheels trying to get up a wet curb, etc. When reading these, you have to bear in mind that the user is likely lying through their teeth as to what they were really doing, so don't be alarmed! If the iBOT is operated within its design envelope, it ought to be safe.
It's very likely that the experience you had last week will be reported to the FDA, and so will show up in their database.
- Richard

Unknown said...

This one is amusing - it doesn't say whether it was a 3000 or 4000, but it was in 2004:
"Consumer fell coming out of the pub toilet in balance function as wheels got stuck in the partition causing the fall. This is the third time in four months this consumer has fallen."
Probably would have happened whether he was on his feet or an iBOT!
- Richard

Shannon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.