Japanese robo-boot could help stroke victims walk again
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Version 0 of 1. If the sight of Robert Downey Jr summoning his Iron Man accessories from across a room gave you a taste for having your own powered exoskeleton, your wish may soon be granted. Japanese technology company, Yaskawa Electric – known for its Motoman robotics used in the car industry – has turned its hand to human prosthetic enhancements and unveiled plans for what it calls the Ankle Walking Assist Device. The design is a motorised leg brace, fitted around the wearer's foot and shin with velcro straps, and connected by a cable to a waist-mounted battery pack. The boot senses when the user's heel makes contact with the ground and supplies a powered boost to help keep up a consistent walking pace. The amount of power the boots provide can be adjusted to help the user maintain balance and forward momentum – although budding Tony Starks will be sad to learn a turbo setting will not be available. Developed in partnership with the Tokyo-based Shibaura Institute of Technology and Hiroshima University’s Space Bio Laboratories, the robo-boot has been designed with stroke victims in mind, of which Japan has around 300,000 annually, though the company says it could aid a wide range of mobility impairments when it is released in 2015. Facing a rapidly ageing populace and a declining birth rate, Japan is increasingly examining the potential of assistive robotics to help its elderly population remain mobile for longer. The world's first neuroprosthetic robot suit – the Hybrid Assistive Limb produced by Cyberdyne – was certified earlier this year, while the same technology is being used to develop automated muscular therapy techniques. Continuing a project initially developed in 2005 with Kyushu University Hospital, Yaskawa has released images of its Leg Rehabilitation Robot, a device to aid movement-based resistance therapy. Wheeled to the side of a hospital bed, its leg-shaped jaws are clamped around the limbs of supine patients to administer a range of resistance exercises. With some hospitals already employing robot workers, and robotics being developed for precision surgery, a world of automaton-assisted treatment may not be too far away. Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |