Bionics Gives Hope

Science is on the cusp of reinventing our bodies and this opens new bright prospects for people in wheelchairs. A private company Ekso Bionics has created a wearable robot that enables paraplegics to walk.  Ekso Bionics’ Iron Man-style exoskeletons have been quietly tested over the past year, at 10 different rehab centers and the results have been amazing!

The exoskeleton in development is a wearable suit with exterior robot components that allows a wheelchair user to stand up and walk. It could be a life changing technology for people with spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis, lower extremity weakness or paralysis due to neurological disease or spinal injury.

Ekso Bionics CEO Eythor Bender was quoted as saying “Making a robot itself is difficult enough. To add that to the body and put it on like a pair of jeans is a whole other level.”

The exoskeleton has four electric motors that replicate a person’s hips and knees. Fifteen sensors are networked with a computer that sits on the user’s back and acts as a “brain.” A battery pack provides four hours of endurance.

It is not as simple as giving all people in wheelchairs an exoskeleton.  A candidate must have the upper body strength to transfer from a wheelchair to a regular chair and to balance with crutches in order to use the exoskeleton. Nor is it cheap to use an exoskeleton.  Currently it costs more than $100,000, which is a bargain for the ability to walk.

Have you heard or read about other breakthroughs in the field of bionic engineering? What is your attitude to them?