A team of researchers at the University of Harvard and Nebraska Omaha created an Exosuit that assists people with movement disorders due to, but not limited to, Parkinson’s Disease. People with other conditions such as Stroke, Multiple Sclerosis, also benefit from it. More details can be found here. It was also published in Science.
The robot suit is designed to be comfortably worn and used in everyday activities. It doesn’t contain rigid materials when compared to an exoskeleton. It has only special fabrics. It weighs 5kg with more than 90% of the device concentrated around the waist, “where the metabolic penalty per kilogram of added mass is the lowest”. As described in the paper.
The suit is efficient at reducing the metabolic costs of walking and running compared to doing without it. For walking, it reduces by 9.3%. For running, by 4%. While it may be modest, the important takeaway is that it’s possible, and it’s just a matter of improving more and more. I actually imagine that further advancements were already made since 2019.
The team first showed that the exosuit worn by users in treadmill-based indoor tests, on average, reduced their metabolic costs of walking by 9.3% and of running by 4% compared to when they were walking and running without the device. “We were excited to see that the device also performed well during uphill walking, at different running speeds and during overground testing outside, which showed the versatility of the system,” said Conor Walsh, Ph.D., who led the study.
A similar exosuit is already approved by the FDA and commercially available at ReWalk. It’s designed more towards patients who suffered a stroke. The one discussed in this post is simpler and lighter in comparison.
“A previous multi-joint exosuit developed by the team could assist both the hip and ankle during walking, and a medical version of the exosuit aimed at improving gait rehabilitation for stroke survivors is now commercially available in the US and Europe, via a collaboration with ReWalk Robotics.
The team’s most recent hip-assisting exosuit is designed to be simpler and lighter weight compared to their past multi-joint exosuit”
With regards to price and availability, there is no much information on the simpler and lighter version. I contacted ReWalk Robotics, but I haven’t gotten a reply yet. For some perspective, according to what Andy Dolan, vice president of global marketing for REWalk Robotics, told Healthline, the previous version (the one already being sold) costs $30,000. A lot less than other devices that cost $100,000. To note, the Healthline article is from 2019, so current details may differ.
Another important aspect of this newer version is how robustly and reliable its classification algorithm is in detecting walking versus running. It was challenging for the team, considering that the two activities’ gait cycle is relatively different. The device needs to detect and adjust the assistance seamlessly. The gait classification algorithm is available here.
I found this quite exciting. I’m looking forward to more progress. I think the device’s lightweight and consequently comfort is key. Even children can benefit. In my mom’s case, I believe it doesn’t suit (pun not intended) at this stage. Definitely in the beginning, but I think not now. Her body is bent to one side, and I think a different, more powerful device would be required. Regardless, the price would need to go down significantly (based on the previous version information).