NAGASAKI, Japan — Leave it to the enterprising Japanese to invent a wheelchair with a built-in handy-dandy toilet that cleans, dries and deodorizes the occupant’s rear-end.
The Mainichi Daily News reported Saturday that a Nagasaki company, Japan Oasis, spent some six years developing the all-in-one toilet and wheelchair they expect will benefit the disabled and the elderly who can purchase it or rent it for a nominal fee.
No one would ever be the wiser as to what was going on in the chair except for the fact that users will be required to don special trousers and underpants, the report said. When nature calls, they would simply evacuate through a hole in the chair. Then a nozzle would spray out water that ostensibly cleans the user before warm air finishes off the area.
Shuichi Suehiro, president of the venture firm, is applying for a patent on the device that should be a dream come true for caregivers of the elderly and the incontinent.