Power-Assist Exoskeleton Rocks the Casbah

Stroke, spinal cord injury, and similar neurological conditions really take a toll on your muscles, which generally atrophy. A new partial exoskeleton out of MIT aims to prevent and reverse the normal muscle wasting.

Fermental, a former surgical nurse, used the rehabilitation device 18 times over nine weeks. After 16 sessions, Fermental, now a stroke education nurse at Beth Israel Hospital, was able to fully bend and straighten her elbow on her own for the first time since the stroke. "It was incredible to be able to move my arm again on command," she said. "Cooking, dressing, shopping, turning on light switches, opening cabinets--it’s easier now that I have two arms again."

People with neurological conditions, like me, can sometimes still trigger small, or "trace" muscle contractions below their injury. The device detects these trace muscle contractions and provides an assist, moving the body through the normal motion.

What's cooler?

The robotic therapy device, which is awaiting FDA approval, was tested on stroke patients at MIT’s Clinical Research Center and at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston. According to the researchers, the results show that "the ability of the device to provide a ’power assist’ to … muscle groups may help close the feedback loop of brain intention and actual limb movement that is believed to be a key component of cerebral plasticity in motor recovery."

Neural plasticity. After an injury, the nervous system is able to rewire itself in an attempt to recover as much function as possible. The regular, repeated movements made possible by this system may very well help induce this plasticity. Alternately, it may reawaken intact neural pathways that lie dormant.

A 2006 report mentions that one of the conditions initially targetted by this research project is spinal cord injury.

If I may pout for a moment, I want one!!!

Drool more at Myomo.

Robotic Brace Aids Stroke Recovery [WebWire]