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Paralyzed Man Walks Again Using Exoskeleton
Posted by
kdawson
on Tue Aug 26, 2008 02:55 PM
from the somewhere-there-is-a-crime-happening dept.
from the somewhere-there-is-a-crime-happening dept.
dominique_cimafranca notes a story up at the Daily Mail in the UK about a partially paralyzed man who is able to walk again using an exoskeleton frame. The article goes a bit far in comparing the device to Robocop, but it does show pictures of the man, paralyzed for the last 20 years, regaining some use of his legs. Quoting: "The device, called ReWalk, is the brainchild of engineer Amit Goffer, founder of Argo Medical Technologies, a small Israeli high-tech company. Something of a mix between the exoskeleton of a crustacean and the suit worn by Robocop, ReWalk helps paraplegics — people paralyzed below the waist — to stand, walk and climb stairs. The system, which requires crutches to help with balance, consists of motorized leg supports, body sensors and a back pack containing a computerized control box and rechargeable batteries."
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omg Robocop (Score:5, Funny)
Re:omg Robocop (Score:5, Funny)
I'd buy that for a dollar!
Parent
Re:omg Robocop (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:omg Robocop (Score:4, Informative)
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Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
In today's dollars, that'd be what, $2500? I think it's gonna need more than that.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re:omg Robocop (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Steven Hawking's Exoskeleton Is Cooler (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
Next, Effort to Duplicate the EYE. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Next, Effort to Duplicate the EYE. (Score:5, Insightful)
I think they should work on batteries first. The day they figure out how to safely power personal electronics via the bloodstream is the day we solve obesity.
Parent
Why motors and batteries? (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
And the day we figure out how to safely power cars with blood, we solve the problems of dependence on foreign energy AND overpopulation!
Re:Next, Effort to Duplicate the EYE. (Score:5, Interesting)
Here [doheny.org] is a good list of articles about the University of Southern California Doheny Eye Institute's retinal implants.
There are also projects based on external cameras, new cameras [sciencedaily.com] being developed for artificial retina use, and so on.
Now imagine WoW with 20 years of hardware and software progress, as well as a direct neural interface
Parent
Re:Next, Effort to Duplicate the EYE. (Score:5, Insightful)
I would note that the success of cochlear implants is attributable to the ability of the brain to recognise and interpret any pattern stream.
Actually, this is a bit misleading. Cochlear implants break the sound up into different frequencies using a fast fourier transform, and sending signals based on the various frequencies to the appropriate nerves. While the cochlea doesn't do math, obviously, the hairs of the cochlea perform more or less the same function with different hairs resonating at different frequencies and depending on which hairs resonate, the appropriate nerves are stimulated.
So really, a cochlear implant performs virtually the same function as the cochlea sending pretty much the same patterns to the brain.
I agree that the brain is very flexible, but if a cochlear implant didn't provide virtually the same signal that the cohclea does, the people using them would have to learn to recognize speech and other sounds from scratch, which isn't the case. This is why people who have lost their hearing for only a short period of time tend to find them more useful than people who have been deaf for life.
The brain is quite adaptive, but to say it can "recognize and interpret any pattern stream" is a great exaggeration. Additionally, most of the brains adaptability comes at an early age. By the early 20s after most of the synaptic pruning has happened (young children have roughly 10 times as many synapses as adults), the ability of the brain to learn new things, particularly the generalized pattern recognition type abilities, becomes greatly diminished.
Parent
Re:Next, Effort to Duplicate the EYE. (Score:5, Interesting)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Newsclip [youtube.com] about seeing with your tongue.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
and also to "see" things like a drinking glass and reach out and grab it.
Seems like that might not be such a good idea with all that hardware in your mouth, unless you drink it with your eye.
Neat, but... (Score:4, Funny)
Does it run Linux?
Re:Neat, but... (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Imagine a beowulf cluster of...
omg! Attack of the clones!
Re:Neat, but... (Score:5, Funny)
And my name isn't Linux.
Parent
Re:Neat, but... (Score:4, Funny)
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Re:Neat, but... (Score:5, Funny)
Does it run Linux?
Considering that he didn't have to type furiously at each step, I imagine not.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Ah, yes, for the ability to type furiously for a moment followed by a headlong rush into a wall.
In popular culture: (Score:4, Interesting)
It's nice seeing how science catches up to science fiction.
Hard to do in real life (Score:4, Interesting)
Even if the exo-skeletton is made to walk, it won't be suitable for all paraplegic patient.
There's a major problem with this kind of device : the patient is staying upright. And thus is experiencing decreased blood pressure in the upper part of the body and increased pressure in the lower part.
For a normal person in good health this isn't a problem, because when upright, we have mechanisms to compensate for the hydrostatic pressure.
The problem with paraplegic patient is that the nervous pathways controlling this might be broken. Muscle contraction also play a role to keep the blood-pressure and, well, those don't work in a paraplegic patient.
Probably a significant propotion of the patients will need to where special undergarment (like grandmas with venous problems and like some surgeon do) or trousers (like pilot's G-suits) to avoid passing out whenever in upright position for prolonged time.
Parent
First John Varley Reference (Score:2)
His novella, "Blue Champagne." One of his better stories.
Now if they made it (Score:4, Funny)
sounds like a terminator unit when it walks, we ahve a winner.
Re:Now if they made it (Score:4, Insightful)
Parent
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Wow, that's a lot of franchises mixed in there, A company named Cyberdyne creating an exoskeleton from [insert anime name here] called Hal piloted by what appears to be a Vulcan.
Video... (Score:2, Informative)
Watch the video...
http://www.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=89631&newsChannel=scienceNews
Stairs? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Stairs? (Score:5, Funny)
People said that about the Daleks too.
Parent
Re:Stairs? (Score:5, Insightful)
You mean compared to being in a wheel chair?
Parent
Re:Stairs? (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm sure it's more graceful and dignified than trying to roll a wheelchair up them.
Seriously, even if it can't yet go up stairs elegantly (and you don't know if that's the case), it's giving some serious advantages, not least of which is a sense of normalcy, without any drawbacks over a wheelchair - I don't really see the basis of your criticism.
Parent
Yeah, but (Score:5, Funny)
can he do the robot?
Stupid stupid stupid stupid (Score:2)
Don't they know that giving an angry paraplegic a super powered robot exoskeleton is just a recipe for a murderous cyborg rampage?
Fucking idiots!
Relief for my hand ahead!!! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Relief for my hand ahead!!! (Score:5, Funny)
What would happen to you if you flew into the US and the customs agents wanted to confiscate your cybernetic limb to analyze as they can do now with your laptops and other electronic devices? What recourse would you have to prevent such thing?
Crush their skulls?
You can have my cold dead hands when you pry them from my cybernetic body!
Parent
Just the beginning (Score:5, Insightful)
This is excellent, in 20 years paraplegics should be able to walk just like people with two functional legs.
I can't believe it will remain as bulky or clumsy. An $20K is nothing compared to what it provides.
Interesting observation (Score:4, Funny)
Anybody else notice the pictures of the person in the exo-suit (save robocop) are taken at wheelchair-height?
Hmm
Better...stronger....FASTER.... (Score:4, Informative)
This is awesome for those who are wheel chair bound. Keep in mind this will only get better and better. He may only be able to walk slowly and with arm supports NOW, but I'm fairly certain that there will come a time when he'll be able to walk and run faster and better than non-assisted people.
Not anytime soon of course, but within 20 years? I'd say yes.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
There are already issues in sports with people with prosthetic parts being "too good" at certain tasks. I imagine going forward this will become more and more of an issue. The paralympic games may become where all the action is at in the future.
http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/17/prosthetic-limbed-runner-disqualified-from-olympics/ [engadget.com]
Have you seen this chicken? (Score:5, Funny)
Add the segway code.... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Add the segway code.... (Score:4, Informative)
Parent
Link to vid (w/ stairs) (Score:5, Interesting)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQRQs-N-ZIM [youtube.com]
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)