ReWalk, a new wearable robot, could help some paraplegics walk, using high-tech braces. The device was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in homes.
The device uses computerized sensors to support the user and mimic the natural feeling of walking. It is priced at $69,500 and it is still not known how much of that cost will be reimbursed by insurance companies.
"For the first time individuals with paraplegia will be able to take home this exoskeleton technology, use it every day and maximize on the physiological and psychological benefits we have observed in clinical trials," Larry Jasinski, CEO of ReWalk Robotics, said.
Ekso, another device capable of allowing people to walk using robotic technology, is currently only approved for use in rehabilitation centers. This robotic exoskeleton was announced in March 2013.
Neither of the exoskeleton-like devices is able to last long on supplied batteries, and it takes nearly an hour to walk a mile, when the feat can be accomplished.
Benefits to users of exoskeletons include better respiration, blood circulation and pain relief. The ability to stand, looking people in their eyes as they talk, can provide a psychological benefit to users.
Electrical stimulation of spinal cords recently allowed four men, paralyzed for years, to move their legs once again. The results of the experiment were announced in the medical journal Brain, in April 2014. An epidural stimulator, which mimics signals passed from the brain down to the body, restored some lower motor ability to the patients.
"Because of epidural stimulation, they can now voluntarily move their hips, ankles and toes. This is groundbreaking for the entire field and offers a new outlook that the spinal cord, even after a severe injury, has great potential for functional recovery," Claudia Angeli, from the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center (KSCIRC) at the University of Louisville, said.
Wheelchairs may, one day, become as outdated as wooden stumps and hooks for hands. None of these technologies is yet able to completely replace the devices for mobility. Stairways present significant, but not insurmountable, barriers to travel. But, that doesn't mean they will not be a step forward for those suffering from paraplegia.
"It will be incredible for me to regain independence, to use the system to walk and stand on my own," Derek Herrera, a paraplegic and captain in the Marine Corps, stated in a press release. The soldier will be one of the first people in the nation to own the ReWalk system.
