Universitarios develop exoskeleton four times cheaper than commercial

If we had a great stroke association they would take over manufacture of this to allow stroke survivors an affordable option. But we don't so once again we are screwed.

http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=167560&CultureCode=en

03 September 2016 Investigación y Desarrollo

At a cost of 10 to 15,000 dollars, the device allows the patient to stand, sit, walk up and down stairs.

The World Health Organization (WHO) notes that annually between 250 and 500 thousand people suffer spinal injuries, ie partial or total loss of sensation or motor arms, legs or whole body control. Given this, academicians of the Faculty of Engineering of UNAM developed an exoskeleton able to help in the mobility of patients with this disease, with cervical and lumbar damage.

This is an external device that has an economic cost ten to $ 15,000, considerably less than other business models ranging from 40 to 100 thousand dollars.

Dr. Serafín Castañeda Cedeno, professor at the Faculty of Engineering, emphasized that this first prototype allows the patient to stand, sit, walk up and down stairs and climb slopes of ten to 20 degrees and achieve a speed of 12 to 15 steps per minute.

Created in lightweight aluminum, the exoskeleton weighs 25 kilograms, is designed for use by people from 1.60 to 1.80 meters tall and weighing 80 kilograms maximum, also has a battery that allows autonomy of two hours to perform movements.

With more than three years of development, this prototype has two canes for operation; through a graphical interface on them, the user selects the type of prerecorded that you want to move, it is commanded to the exoskeleton and the task runs.

"It has four degrees of freedom four joints for each leg, ie can perform flexion, extension, abduction and adduction of hip flexion and extension of knee and ankle," explained Dr. Castañeda Cedeno.

Use of this university device should be validated by a doctor to determine the movements that the patient must follow, as well as the execution time and speed; therefore, its creators expected to be used in rehabilitation therapies and treatments and subsequently in homes or open spaces.

The group of scientists Mechatronics Laboratory, working on a third version of the device. "Lighter materials are sought greater autonomy, degrees of freedom in ankle and foot, to perform more complex tasks and is cheaper than the current" concluded Dr. Serafín Castañeda Cedeno.