During his trip abroad this week, President Barack Obama got to check out some Israel’s most cutting-edge inventions at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. Among the inventions chosen for his tour was a robotic exoskeleton suit called ReWalk that’s designed to help paraplegics walk again.
The suit’s inventor, Dr. Amit Goffer, is an alumnus of Technion and the founder of Argo Medical, which markets the device. While strapped on the body, the suit uses computers and motion sensors to detect subtle changes in the center of gravity such as a forward tilt of the upper body that trigger its motorized legs and power hip and knee movements.
ReWalk is available for use in rehabilitation centers in Israel, Europe and the U.S., but is awaiting U.S. market clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for direct use by patients at home. It’s already gotten that clearance in Israel and Europe.
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The president got to see the futuristic technology in action as it was demoed by a paralyzed U.S. Army veteran, Theresa Hannigan, who contracted an autoimmune disease during service and was left paralyzed as a result.
We don’t have a video of that demo, but check out a video of Claire Lomas, who is paralyzed from the chest down, using it to complete the London Marathon. Similar technologies have been developed for medical use by ekso Bionics and Rex Bionics.
[Photo from Argo Medical]
