Cheap At $40,000: Phoenix Exoskeleton Gives Paraplegics Legs to Walk With

Fast Company highlights the cheap-for-the-price Phoenix exoskeleton, created by University of California Berkeley professor (and Berkeley Robotics and Human Engineering Laboratory director) Homayoon Kazerooni and a team of his former grad students at SuitX, a company Kazerooni founded in 2013. Set to sell for $40,000 when it goes on sale next month, the Phoenix sounds expensive -- except compared to the alternatives. For paraplegic patients, there are a handful of other powered exoskeletons, but they cost much more, and are engineered for more than the modest goals of the Phoenix, which allows only one thing: slow walking on level ground. That limited objective means that the rig is light (27 pounds), and relatively unobtrusive. Kazerooni says that he'd like the price to go down much further, too, noting that all the technology in a modern motorcyle can be had for the quarter of the price. A slice: [The] only driving motors in Phoenix are at the hip joints. When the user hits a forward button on their crutches, their left hip swings forward. At this moment, the onboard computer signals the knee to become loose, flex, and clear the ground. As the foot hits, the knee joint stiffens again to support the leg. This computer-choreographed process repeats for the right leg. As it happens, this hinged knee joint has another benefit. If the wearer hits something midstep, like a rock or a curb, a powered knee would blindly drive the leg forward anyway, likely leading to a fall. The hinge naturally absorbs such resistance and allows the wearer a chance to compensate.

Comments

Re:$40K still a lot for most folks

[rmdingler]

This is a medical device, which means that for most people, the cost should be covered to some extent by insurance, like wheelchairs.

In the US, even if you had a good job with health insurance, there is a great chance your private insurance is gone by the time you're rolling around in the chair.

Now you're on Medicaid, and at the whim of the regulators as to whether you need something better than your chair. Experimental? Denied!

Re:$40K still a lot for most folks

[arth1]

Normally, the cost would continue to come down as more of these are manufactured, and in some cases when the R & D costs are recouped. ($100 VCR movie.)

In this instance, it matters how large the target market is... [fscip.org] hmmm, larger than I would've guessed.

As Mr. Schrekli has taught us, increased production can also lead to increased prices. As long as there either is a monopoly, or more customers than the cheapest producer can handle, there will be gouging.

As for the price, $40k is not much. My hip implants cost around that much, not counting the surgery.
And in my youth, I had $20k manual wheelchairs (adjusted for inflation).