From the Series
This robot was made for moving! The Ekso™ is a wearable robot in the form of an exoskeleton that helps people with lower-extremity paralysis or weakness to stand up and walk.
Ekso™ is a ready-to-wear, battery-powered, bionic device that is strapped over the user’s clothing. A combination of motors and sensors, along with patient-assist balancing and body positioning technology, the robot allows users to walk with an efficient reciprocal gait pattern.
In the US alone neurological disease and spinal cord injuries have some 1.3 million people paralysed or wheelchair bound.
With the Ekso™ the California based company Ekso Bionics is enabling paraplegics to get back on their feet.
As users become more familiar and experienced with Ekso™ it will take them less than five minutes to get the robot on or off. The torso and leg straps are designed for the user to easily get in and out of the device either on their own or with minimal assistance.
The Ekso™ is currently available in some hospitals and rehabilitation centres and Ekso Bionics hopes to make the device more accessible to use at home, with a personal version due for release in 2014.
Ekso™ is a finalist in the Body category of the INDEX: Award 2013.
