Robotic Exoskeleton – Truly Worthy Techmology

[Abbot Mythos]

"This $40,000 Robotic Exoskeleton Lets the Paralyzed Walk"



Here's the link:

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/546276/this-40000-robotic-exoskeleton-lets-the-paralyzed-walk/

[Faust]

40 k is incredibly reasonable as medical devices tend to be quite expensive, when the prosthetic limbs became available they cost way more then this, and its cost will come down.
Its awesome that these are starting to deployed for testing, apart from just the obvious regained mobility these have the side effect of reducing muscle atrophy and with passive sensing can allow us to model and greater understand the effects of time on limited/paralysed limbs.

I've seen a few people pointing out the military potential of a lot of these, especially when the Japanese rice farmers were using the one that gives them 50kg upper body lifting capacity, but I really think their military benefits will be lacking as they will come with a trade off of speed. Their good applications outweigh the bad.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

That's a really exciting tech! I love prosthetics, and how they are increasingly enabling people who would otherwise be extremely limited to be full participants in society.

[Abbot Mythos]

As a family member is in a rehabilitation hospital this week, I had the opportunity to get a close look at one of these units for the first time. The model the facility is currently using is this one, an EskoNR.

When I first saw it leaning against the wall, I didn't recognize what it was, as, from a distance, it kind of resembled that harness Hannibal Lecter had to wear to stop him from eating his guards faces, when he was allowed out of his cell for exercise. So, I first thought the unit was simply a special, heavy-duty version of the support harnesses utilized for taking the weight off of a rehabilitation patient by suspending them from the facility's overhead walking track system. But, the physical therapist laughed, and told me it was actually their robot. (And, they have more than just the one I examined.)

So, after walking over and taking a much closer look, I remarked to the physical therapist that it looked to me like a hundred thousand dollars worth of hardware leaning against that wall. She laughed again, and told me that it cost more than that, but didn't elaborate. And, unfortunately, after doing some later searching on the internet, I couldn't zero in on a more accurate, true cost.

Still, the most interesting thing I learned yesterday is that the hospital is currently testing and evaluating even more sophisticated robotic exoskeletons for offsite use. Needless to say, I was impressed.