Citation
(2012), "New bionic exoskeleton enables people with spinal cord injuries to walk again", Industrial Robot, Vol. 39 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/ir.2012.04939eaa.003
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2012, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
New bionic exoskeleton enables people with spinal cord injuries to walk again
Article Type: New products From: Industrial Robot: An International Journal, Volume 39, Issue 5
Ekso Bionics™ – formerly Berkeley Bionics – is a US-based developer and manufacturer of bionic exoskeletons that enhance human strength, endurance and mobility.
Ekso Legs, which were launched successfully in the USA in 2010 (under the name of eLEGS) will be demonstrated by Amanda Boxtel at the LITS Excel on Friday 21 October.
Ekso Bionics’ CEO, Eythor Bender, said: “Many wheelchair users continue to live very active lives but as they research their options for increased mobility they discover that wheelchairs are the only real option. This has been the only alternative for nearly 500 years. We want to enhance their independence and freedom of movement,” he added, “and with Ekso Legs they now have the option to stand and walk for the first time since their injury”.
The Ekso Legs device can be adjusted to fit most people between 5′2″ (1.5 m) and 6′2″ (1.9 m), weighing up to 220 pounds (100 kgs) in a matter of minutes. Users must be able to self-transfer from their wheelchair. Simple straps secure Ekso Legs safely to the user, over their clothing and shoes.
The wearable robot provides unprecedented knee flexion, which translates into the most natural human gait available in any exoskeleton today.
The device is battery-powered and uses a gesture-based human-machine interface, which utilising sensors, observes the gestures the user makes to determine their intentions and then acts accordingly. A real-time computer draws on sensors and input devices to orchestrate every aspect of a single stride.
Ten of the top rehabilitation centres in the USA are leading the way with this new technology and are now conducting investigational trials to see how Ekso Legs can be best integrated into their rehabilitation programs. Recently, nearly 100 people have walked in the device.
Dr Kristjan T. Ragnarsson, Professor and Chair of Rehabilitation Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York city, commented, “There has been little progress over the past 40 years in developing orthotic devices for people with complete paraplegia that would enable them to ambulate functionally in the community, even for short distances. The limiting factor has always been the tremendous energy consumption associated with such movement. As a powered exoskeleton, Ekso Legs may sufficiently reduce that energy consumption and enable people with paraplegia – for the first time – to walk after their injury.”
In the UK and Europe the device will initially be used in spinal cord Injury rehabilitation centres under clinical supervision and we hope to expand the use of the device to other medical condition over the coming months. The vision is to create a personal device that can be safely used in the home, to be worn throughout the day as early as 2013 (Figure 5).