Dad invents electric back scrubber for homesick son working abroad

A man in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province spent three years inventing an automatic back-scrubber capable of giving the deep-cleansing scrub offered in traditional Chinese bathhouses, media reported Sunday.

Ju Sucheng said he was inspired to invent the "bacrawebber" by his son, who said he extremely missed the squeaky-clean feeling of a traditional scrub while working in the US.

Offered in most bath houses, back scrubs not only get to those hard-to-reach places, but are said to help improve blood circulation.

Weighing about 500 grams, the device uses a tank-like tread capable of holding a towel to massage and exfoliate.

"The towel is held securely in place so the tread doesn't hurt the back. And the device is entirely waterproof," said Ju.

Ju developed his invention with a team of some 20 people, and enlisted a professor at Yangzhou Univeristy to pick out the name.

Available for 400 yuan ($65) since May, Ju claims he is now in discussions with an agent in Germany interested in distributing the gadget.