Claire Lomas uses a wheelchair, and in 2012, she finished the London Marathon wearing a robotic exoskeleton. She wore the ReWalk, a new piece of assistive technology that allows people who have limited or no movement in their legs, to independently walk again.
The ReWalk was developed by Argo Medical Technologies, a company with a mission to “fundamentally change the health and life experiences of individuals with spinal cord injuries.”
The ReWalk is built to hold a person’s full body weight and can easily be adapted to people of different heights and weights. The device attaches to a person’s legs and waist. It works in a similar way that a Segway does; deliberate shifts the user’s center of gravity control the suit. It has a motion sensor that can detect even the smallest of movements and the sensor can signals to the bionic legs to move.
100 people are walking around Europe and Israel using the suite. Pending a FDA approval, the ReWalk will be available in the United States. The suit is already available in 16 rehabilitation centers in the United States and it’s estimated that the suit will be available for personal use in the second half of 2013. You need about 15 sessions of training to learn to use the suit.
Benefits of the ReWalk include:
- Increased independence
- Access to buildings and areas without using ramps
- Performing tasks that it’s helpful to be standing, like cooking and giving presentations
- Ability to reach objects in high places
- Eye to eye conversations
- Going for a walk with friends and family
- Decreased pain and body fat
- Improvements in cardiorespiratory and bladder function
Dr. Amit Goffer founded Argo and developed the ReWalk because of his own experience as a quadriplegic. The company began as a small Israeli startup in 2001 and has developed this innovative technology that’s used worldwide. The company has headquarters in the United State, Germany and Israel.