Did your doctor or hospital do anything with any of these? Why expect anything from this newest one? Over a decade and your doctors/hospital did nothing, I would call that complete incompetency.
The latest here:
Prosthesis developed by mainland China and Hong Kong team uses electrical current to flex the wearer’s ankle while walking
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New device helps stroke survivors walk more naturally
Scientists have developed a lightweight, battery-free device that could help improve the mobility of people with difficulty walking, such as stroke survivors. Developed by researchers in Hong Kong and mainland China, the neural prosthesis uses energy generated by the wearer’s own movements to electrically stimulate their muscles, helping to flex their ankle and restore their natural walking pattern. This could prevent falls for stroke survivors, elderly individuals, and others living with mobility impairments. The researchers behind the device also said it could even be used by athletes during training. “Rather than relying on external sensors or battery-powered control, the device operates automatically during walking through mechanically coupled energy harvesting and stimulation delivery,” the team said in a paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications on September 2.Requiring just a few steps to power up, the device helped to increase stride length and walking speed in stroke survivors during both indoor treadmill trials and outdoor walking tests. These improvements were “immediate” and were achieved without the need for a complex set-up, according to the team led by researchers from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University This includes a 67.3 per cent increase in walking distance and a 43.5 per cent increase in walking speed during outdoor tests. “The system operates without external batteries, integrates into standard footwear and requires minimal donning time, supporting pragmatic use beyond the laboratory,” the researchers wrote in their paper. China’s self-powered neural device helps stroke survivors walk naturally Corresponding author Yang Zhengbao, an associate professor at HKUST, said on September 10 that the device had several advantages over existing therapies, including the fact that it took advantage of the “natural intelligence” of human walking patterns. The team said in the paper that while the device was not a replacement for all existing assistive devices, the benefits of supporting natural gait patterns rather than replacing or restricting them offered a distinct strategy for rehabilitation. Strokes are one of the leading causes of death and long-term disability worldwide, with one in four adults over the age of 25 predicted to experience one in their lifetime. Stroke survivors can face numerous complications, including brain injury, memory loss, speech impairments and motor issues. Foot drop, or the inability to flex the ankle and lift the front of the foot, is a common impairment that reduces the efficiency of walking, increases the risk of falling and limits quality of life, according to the team. Conventionally, rigid braces on the lower leg have been prescribed to help correct post-stroke foot drop. However, they work mainly by constraining the ankle joint rather than restoring flexion. This not only makes it difficult to walk naturally, but can also cause muscle atrophy with prolonged use. The field of robotic exoskeletons has been advancing rapidly. However, these devices can be challenging to use as mobility aids in real life due to their complexity, size and need for calibration. “Here, we addressed this translational gap with a discreet, daily-life-oriented self-powered neuroprosthesis designed to assist ankle dorsiflexion and thereby reduce foot drop during walking,” the researchers said. Pan Qiqi, a former postdoctoral fellow at Yang’s lab who is now a professor at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology, said that the design of the device was inspired by natural gait patterns. No gym needed? Scientists in China develop self-exercising muscle grafts Humans typically walk in an alternating pattern. First comes the stance phase, when the leg is on the ground, followed by the swing phase, when the leg is lifted and moves forward. “This natural gait pattern aligns well with the needs of stroke patients, who typically have one healthy leg capable of normal walking while the other requires assistance,” said Pan, a lead author of the paper.The team’s device harvests mechanical energy from the movement of the less affected limb using a component embedded in the wearer’s shoe. This harvested energy then powers a lightweight neurostimulator secured around the calf of the weaker limb, which uses electrical current to help the wearer’s muscles contract. Pan said that unlike exoskeletons – which typically substitute or assist lost motor function rather than rehabilitate it – the team’s solution “actively stimulates the user’s muscles to facilitate the movement”. The paper said that while foot drop was not completely eliminated during outdoor trials, the device still significantly improved wearers’ gait. The researchers noted that their prototype still required optimisation, including more precise control of the stimulation to broaden its applicability for different patients. Pan said that study participants were “very eager to get appropriate rehabilitation products”. “Stroke patients often prioritise socialisation and community engagement. We therefore aimed to develop a wearable device that integrates seamlessly into their natural gait, encouraging them to socialise and engage with others.” He added that existing exoskeletons and functional electrical stimulation devices were complex and expensive, so he hoped their device could be “low-cost, easy to use and lightweight”. Yang said that further reducing the complexity of the design could help cut costs, which could allow people in low-income countries to benefit from the device. Very few companies want to develop products for this population, according to Yang, who encouraged more researchers and companies to create designs that could improve their quality of life. He said they had shown the device to a colleague who worked with elite Hong Kong athletes and they were interested in using the device for training purposes. The team is working on similar products for the knee and hip using different approaches, which Yang said could “generate positive impacts for the world”. The researchers are also hoping to incorporate the energy harvesting system into pacemakers, which could help reduce the devices’ size, much of which comes from the battery.
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