The robot that helps disabled people walk again: “There are those who can now use crutches”

Matteo Laffranchi holds a PhD in robotics from the University of Sheffield, UK. Since 2014, he has worked at the Rehab Technologies laboratory on robotic prostheses and exoskeletons. Since 2016, he has managed activities related to robotics research. In 2004, he became coordinator of the research line. Today he speaks Messenger of the Twin robot, a modular exoskeleton that will allow those who have lost the ability to move to regain their functionality. “It has four high-performance motors that are aligned with the knee and hip joints, replacing the functionality of the joints and are controlled from a central unit placed in a sort of backpack on the back of the exoskeleton . The motor detects the tilt of the torso and provides step activation signals to the person who, by leaning forward, is able to control the exoskeleton. Additionally, bands are placed on the lower and upper leg as well as the chest for the mechatronic part of the patient.

The exoskeleton

Laffranchi explains to Paolo Travisi that it is a series of modular parts that the user – independently, in the case of more capable people or helped by a caregiver – carries piece by piece and this allows the machine, which weighs 19 kg, becoming manageable. To move, he adds, “they just need to be able to move the weight of their body forward, a movement that this machine can perceive and start the motors. A concept similar to the Segway.” However, the robots are not yet on the market: “In the next 3 years, we must pass the clinical validation necessary for commercialization, after which we should enter into a partnership with an industrial entity that “will be busy with production and sales. I think it could be on the market within 5 years.”

Uses

Laffranchi adds that “people who have a complete injury will not be able to recover their functionality, but they will be able to use the exoskeleton for therapeutic purposes, stay in an upright position to maintain the bone density of the skeleton, use it for walking, reactivate the circulation, facilitate fundamental bladder and intestinal functions in this type of pathology. However, in the case of a partial lesion, recent studies indicate how intensive use of the exoskeleton in the acute phase can reestablish connections at the nervous and spinal level and therefore allow functional recovery.

The patient

And he recounts one of the experiences: “One of our patients had an accident which caused an injury to the cervical level, so he thought that he would no longer be able to recover the functionality of his limbs, but thanks to intensive use from the first Moments after the accident, he almost completely regained his functionality, so he is able to walk with crutches, manipulate objects, be independent and work.

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