Christian Roux's Hurri-Cane/Crutch can be adjusted to many heights. Rubber tips prevent slipping.	Roux's crutch has hand-shaped grips and open-slit cuffs that slip over the forearm to make gripping the crutch easy

Strength is one of several features that sets the crutch apart, Roux says. The device also has a flexible rubber tip to prevent slipping, half-inch height adjustments to suit people of many sizes and a grip shaped to fit the hand.

Also, it can be converted from a crutch to a cane in a hurry, one reason Roux calls it the "Hurri-Cane/Crutch."

The other reason: "We're going to take the market by storm," said Marilyn Roux, his wife and enthusiastic business partner.

It's not just the enterprising couple who like the design of the crutch. The initial reviews from area health care providers are promising.

"We're all intrigued by some of the interesting design components," said James Leonard, chairman of physical medicine and rehabilitation at the University of Michigan Medical Center. "It has credibility and should be pursued."

Jon Wardner, heads of physical medicine and rehabilitation at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, also is impressed with the device: "The grip conforms to the shape of the human hand, as opposed to many traditionally shaped canes, in which the hand must conform to the shape of the cane."

Tom Dobson, an Ann Arbor resident with multiple sclerosis, has been using a Hurri-Cane/Crutch for more than a year.

"It's a fantastic innovation," he said. "The tip stays flat on the ground. That gives you so much security and makes you feel less tentative. It allows you to be more able-bodied."

Roux recently received a U.S. patent for the Hurri-Cane/Crutch, which he's selling for $140 a pair, and now he's searching for investors to help set up a distribution network. He has made some of the crutches himself in a friend's garage in Brighton.

Hundreds more are being produced in his native Switzerland by workers with disabilities.

The crutch is ideal for people with chronic conditions, such as MS, hip or knee problems, or amputations, Roux said. It also can be used for short-term breaks and strains.

In fact, the Rouxs sent a pair to President Clinton last year after he hurt his knee. The White House politely replied that Clinton couldn't use them because he can't advertise products, Roux said.

The couple moved to this area in 1995 from Switzerland, where Roux sold a crutch he developed in the 1970s after a military injury. Now they're trying to get Americans interested in the new model.

Roux, an industrial designer by training, was injured in 1969 when a tank ran over his left foot in a military exercise. He was given traditional wooden crutches that rest under the arms.

"I didn't like them," he said. "They hurt my hands, and they were too heavy."

He designed a more comfortable, aluminum model and got attention by receiving a gold medal at an inventors convention.

Soon, the Swiss facility with disabled workers was mass-producing his crutch.

Marilyn Roux, originally from Ann Arbor, left town at age 21 to become a singer and bass player with a band in Florida.  Her music career eventually took her to a Switzerland club, where she met Christian Roux. The couple stayed there until her mother in Ypsilanti became sick in 1995. They moved here to be closer to her.

Marilyn Roux's mother became one of the inspirations for the Hurri-Cane/Crutch. A diabetic, she had a leg amputated and needed a way to get around. Roux set out to make a crutch with some improvements over his Swiss model.

The comfortable grip, flexible tip and the crutch's durability are some of its best selling points, Roux said.

Another is that it rests on the forearm with an open-slit cuff. That way, users can get in and out of the crutch easily, and can do other tasks like putting a key in a lock or handling money.