Get up, get down

The device essentially relies on leverage to help raise and lower post-op patients who are able to walk. The 50-in. extruded aluminum shaft is reinforced with a honeycomb core. The device also has an anchor pad of Vyram thermoplastic elastomer (TPE), and a soft-touch grip of Santoprene thermoplastic vulcanizate (TPV) from Advanced Elastomer Systems, Akron, Ohio (www.santoprene.com).

The lift weighs less than 2 lb and uses no batteries, wires, gears, or motors. It lets a caregiver lift a 200-lb patient to a standing position with just 25 lb of lifting effort. Perhaps most notably, in some cases the device reduced postsurgical pain from an 8 or 9 level on a 10-scale to a 2 or 3.