Exoskeleton allows disabled to walk again

Posted by greg
July 22, 2008

By Greg George
CEO
Spinal Cord Resources Network

ARGO Medical Technologies of Israel have developed an exoskeleton that allows a disabled person to walk again. The disabled person straps on the device to their legs and puts a small power pack on their back. Then using a control box strapped to their wrist, get up and walk using crutches anywhere they want to go. The exoskeleton allows people to climb stairs and to enter and leave a car so they can drive. By allowing the disabled person to get up and walk around they can finally do many of the standard life tasks without having to ask for help to do simple operations. The company has a short video that shows a man that was injured during the war and is no longer able to walk. However, with the exoskeleton he is able to get around like he was able to before his injury.

There are a few questions that are not addressed in the video. Many disabled people have problem standing for more then a few minutes at a time. I have been put into a machine that stands you up and I was able to be propped up for about ten minutes before I started to black out because of low blood pressure. I’m not sure how this can be dealt with in the exoskeleton other then repeated standings so you can stand for longer amounts of time. Another issue is price. Most of the really nice wheelchairs that perform multiple duties like the iBot are extremely expensive and insurance companies don’t want to pay for it. We are all tied to Medicare costs for items and the insurance companies follow that to the letter. To that end most of us are lucky to get a basic wheelchair, let alone a power chair. I was lucky to get a chair through a charity and I could not get around without it.

But this shows where we are going with technology. It is obvious that over time we will not have to be stuck in wheelchairs but will be able to walk by a number of systems. By walking we can then easily use the refrigerator, sink, or just walk around the block with your family. The big issue is going to be convincing Medicare and insurance companies that we need this technology to increase our quality of life. Perhaps we need to get a superfund for disabled equipment that allows anyone to afford what they need.

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