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Paralyzed Man Walks Again Using Exoskeleton

Posted by kdawson on 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."

54 of 192 comments (clear)

  1. omg Robocop by to_throw_shapes · · Score: 5, Funny

    WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY

    1. Re:omg Robocop by syrinx · · Score: 4, Funny

      I'd buy that for a dollar!

      --
      Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.
    2. Re:omg Robocop by superdave80 · · Score: 5, Funny

      I think it would be closer to six million dollars, man.

    3. Re:omg Robocop by ParanoidJanitor · · Score: 4, Informative

      Probably even closer to M.A.N.T.I.S

    4. Re:omg Robocop by megamerican · · Score: 3, Funny

      Here's a picture of the new prototype they are working on with a top British scientist.

      --
      If you have something that you dont want anyone to know, maybe you shouldnt be doing it in the first place -Eric Schmidt
    5. Re:omg Robocop by camg188 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Now they just have to re-animate Nixon's head.

    6. Re:omg Robocop by tobiasly · · Score: 2, Funny

      Pfsssh. Stephen Hawking was first.

    7. Re:omg Robocop by NeuroManson · · Score: 2, Funny

      In today's dollars, that'd be what, $2500? I think it's gonna need more than that.

      --
      Just because you can mod me down, doesn't mean you're right. Shoes for industry!
    8. Re:omg Robocop by stephanruby · · Score: 2, Informative

      Here is the actual real video of him walking.

  2. Next, Effort to Duplicate the EYE. by curmudgeon99 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    What a fantastic device. I would note that the success of cochlear implants is attributable to the ability of the brain to recognise and interpret any pattern stream. That's why the next device they are working on is the eye. They will not attempt to recreate all the hardware in the eye. Instead, they will look to supply a pattern stream [cue Jeff Hawkins of "On Intelligence" fame] to the brain.

    1. Re:Next, Effort to Duplicate the EYE. by Xtravar · · Score: 4, 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.

      --
      Buckle your ROFL belt, we're in for some LOLs.
    2. Re:Next, Effort to Duplicate the EYE. by Esteanil · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Well, they've got something like 64 pixels for an artificial retina already, and several research projects are underway to improve this.

      Here 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 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 ;-)

      --
      I'm a dreamer, the world is my playpen. But hey, I'm a serious person, I can't dream all the time.
    3. Re:Next, Effort to Duplicate the EYE. by Pedrito · · Score: 4, 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.

    4. Re:Next, Effort to Duplicate the EYE. by curmudgeon99 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      So obviously you haven't heard of the experiment where they created a device with a grid pattern of dull pins. The pins formed a grid pattern that was placed on the tongue. When the pins were raised in the manner of a object that was seen by a video device, the wearer could learn to interpret the pattern of raised pins just as if they had seen the pattern coming in from the eye. In the experiement, wearers could learn to see obstacles and avoid them in walking and also to "see" things like a drinking glass and reach out and grab it. So, I stand by my statement. We have yet to reach the limit of the various patterns a brain can interpret.

    5. Re:Next, Effort to Duplicate the EYE. by Jherek+Carnelian · · Score: 2, Informative

      Newsclip about seeing with your tongue.

    6. Re:Next, Effort to Duplicate the EYE. by corbettw · · Score: 2, 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!

      --
      God invented whiskey so the Irish would not rule the world.
    7. Re:Next, Effort to Duplicate the EYE. by gregbot9000 · · Score: 2, 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.

  3. Neat, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Does it run Linux?

    1. Re:Neat, but... by gEvil+(beta) · · Score: 4, Funny

      Does it run?

      --
      This guy's the limit!
    2. Re:Neat, but... by CaptainPatent · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yes it runs...

      And my name isn't Linux.

      --
      Well, back to rejecting software patent applications.
    3. Re:Neat, but... by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 5, Funny

      Does it run Linux?

      Considering that he didn't have to type furiously at each step, I imagine not.

      --

      "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

    4. Re:Neat, but... by carlmenezes · · Score: 2, Funny

      Imagine a beowulf cluster of...

      omg! Attack of the clones!

      --
      Find a job you like and you will never work a day in your life.
    5. Re:Neat, but... by hvm2hvm · · Score: 4, Funny

      Forest then?

      --
      ics
    6. Re:Neat, but... by rrkap · · Score: 2, Funny

      Ah, yes, for the ability to type furiously for a moment followed by a headlong rush into a wall.

      --
      I like my beverages with warning labels!
  4. In popular culture: by Zygfryd · · Score: 4, Interesting

    In the TV series Dark Angel the paraplegic character Logan is able to walk using a leg exoskeleton.

    It's nice seeing how science catches up to science fiction.

  5. Now if they made it by geekoid · · Score: 3, Funny

    sounds like a terminator unit when it walks, we ahve a winner.

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    1. Re:Now if they made it by Spatial · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Terminator? Why, Cyberdyne have one of these too, called HAL.

    2. Re:Now if they made it by EnsilZah · · Score: 2, Funny

      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.

  6. Video... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Watch the video...
    http://www.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=89631&newsChannel=scienceNews

  7. Stairs? by TehCable · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I'm skeptical until I see a video of how it handles stairs. I can't imagine that is very graceful or dignified (or safe for that matter).

    1. Re:Stairs? by sakdoctor · · Score: 4, Funny

      People said that about the Daleks too.

    2. Re:Stairs? by geekoid · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You mean compared to being in a wheel chair?

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    3. Re:Stairs? by MoonBuggy · · Score: 4, 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.

  8. Yeah, but by geekoid · · Score: 5, Funny

    can he do the robot?

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  9. Relief for my hand ahead!!! by Tatisimo · · Score: 4, Funny

    I dream of the day I can cut off this buggy tired right arm of mine and replace it with a bionic one. So long, RSI! Hell, even throw in a USB cable for easier input and flash storage. Then I shall return to EMACS!!!!

    --
    Give Kashyyyk back to the Wookies
    1. Re:Relief for my hand ahead!!! by HTH+NE1 · · 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!

      --
      Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
  10. Just the beginning by mlwmohawk · · Score: 4, 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.

  11. Interesting observation by BigJClark · · Score: 3, Funny


    Anybody else notice the pictures of the person in the exo-suit (save robocop) are taken at wheelchair-height?

    Hmm

    --

    Hi, I Boris. Hear fix bear, yes?
  12. Better...stronger....FASTER.... by Danathar · · Score: 3, 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.

    1. Re:Better...stronger....FASTER.... by John+Meacham · · Score: 2, 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/

      --
      http://notanumber.net/
  13. Have you seen this chicken? by CorporateSuit · · Score: 5, Funny

    They're the wrong trousers Gromit!

    --
    I am the richest astronaut ever to win the superbowl.
  14. Steven Hawking's Exoskeleton Is Cooler by saudadelinux · · Score: 3, Funny

    http://www.theonion.com/content/node/39133

    --
    I didn't think the house band in Hell would play this badly.
  15. Add the segway code.... by slashname3 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Why did they not add the capability of the segway to balance things and do away with the crutches?

    1. Re:Add the segway code.... by iamkion132 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Why did they not add the capability of the segway to balance things and do away with the crutches?

      It might have to do with battery life and the potential bulk of the system. Having a stabilizer might be a big drain on the batteries.

    2. Re:Add the segway code.... by Sockatume · · Score: 3, Informative

      Because it's difficult? The Segway doesn't just balance by code, it's a product of having two big, grippy wheels with heavy-duty motors listening to a whole bunch of clever hardware to track the centre of gravity. All that to balance a vehicle which is basically a really heavy board on wheels with a stick out the top. This exoskeleton is an order of magnitude more complex, and no doubt has nowhere near as much torque or traction available to it.

      --
      No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
  16. Why motors and batteries? by Solandri · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The man is paralyzed, not an amputee. His legs and muscles are perfectly functional, they just lack control. Instead of powering motors with batteries, the computer should be using his leg muscles as actuators.

    1. Re:Why motors and batteries? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The man is paralyzed, not an amputee. His legs and muscles are perfectly functional, they just lack control. Instead of powering motors with batteries, the computer should be using his leg muscles as actuators.

      that may not be possible for this case as the muscles, bones and nerves may have degenerated too much from (20) years of non-use.

  17. Re:Pricetag? by ajdecon · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Health provider? Probably not for a while. "Experimental treatment", after all.

    --
    "Science is a way of trying not to fool yourself." -Richard Feynman
  18. Re:omg Robocop $6M Man? But, Steve Austin by davidsyes · · Score: 2, Funny

    will NOT BE THAT MAN....

    In Israel, that product may be CALLED "ReWalk", but in the US, it will probably mean "NO FLY".

    That chair says, "Quicky", and that makes all sorts of things come to mind. I wonder what kind of "charge" the chair position offers. Quick-charge?

    And, to need crutches to balance... why not just build servo-gyro circular/shaft motors (which, hopefully won't burn out every 5,000 steps) to dispense with the crutches. Now, if the crutches are a cover story for machine guns....

    Well, Machine Girl has that beat...

    http://www.horror-movies.ca/horror-movie.php?id=6678

    http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1072131/machine_gun_breasts/

    http://www.movierapture.com/machinegirl.htm

    http://inventorspot.com/articles/bizarre_breast_massage_robot_rea_11148

    --
    Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
  19. YouTube delievers by catxk · · Score: 2, Informative

    ReWalk, soon in a tv shop near you. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQRQs-N-ZIM

    --
    Don't be crazy anymore!
  20. WTF!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    WTF is wrong with you people? 77 comments and no "I for one" joke? That's the only reason I even read the article.

    Fine, guess I'll have to do it.

    I for one welcome our new paralyzed, powered exoskeleton-

    Oh fucking forget it already. You people make me sick. This place used to mean something.

  21. Link to vid (w/ stairs) by religious+freak · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Stairs are around 2:15, but the whole vid is interesting. Looks like movements like sitting and climbing stairs are input by the user by hand. I'd imagine the stairs probably have to be at a predefined slope.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQRQs-N-ZIM

    --
    If you can read this... 01110101 01110010 00100000 01100001 00100000 01100111 01100101 01100101 01101011
  22. Hard to do in real life by DrYak · · Score: 3, 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.

    --
    "Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
  23. I wonder if this will work long term by hamster_nz · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I would suspect that over time the lack of tension on the muscles around the joints (especially the knee) will cause the joint to slacken up, eventually causing them not to pivot correctly.

    Gosh I hope it works long term, but I doubt that the joints will adapt...