Power exoskeletons—robotic suits that can greatly augment its wearer’s ability to lift and move things around—are already being developed for construction and factory workers, where the tools can promise to greatly multiply the productivity of a single worker.
In a separate field, robotic exoskeletons are looking to make a qualitative difference: help the physically disabled regain their motor functions and liberate the wheelchair-bound.
With the development of surgically implanted nerve stimulant devices over the past few years, it was thought this would be the only way to help people with severe paralysis regain use of limbs. But that belief was shattered a few months ago when researchers pioneered a noninvasive spinal cord stimulation technique to stimulate the muscles of paralyzed patients.
Now that technique is being paired up with robotic exoskeletons to allow previously paralyzed patients to walk without assistant of other people. Researchers at UCLA applied spinal cord stimulation to Mark Pollack, who had lost control of his legs four years ago after an accident. Pollack was strapped to an exoskeleton that augmented walking, so that he could independently exert the muscles used for walking.
In addition to the electrical stimulation, Pollack also had to take the psychoactive drug buspirone to make his nerves more sensitive.
The combined spinal-stimulation and exoskeleton therapy gave Pollack the feelings of tension and tingling, and he experienced heavy sweating on his legs and lower back, something that hasn’t happened since his accident, marking a major breakthrough in the field. Pollack also experienced elevated blood pressure and his heartbeat rose from 75 to 115 beats per minute.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPej2l6dVbw
