27 July 2024

Paralyzed Tennis Player With Robotic Exoskeleton Carries Olympic Torch

A paralyzed tennis player carried the Olympic flame through Paris using a robotic exoskeleton that helped him walk again. The tennis player is the first real para-athlete to wear a self-balancing exoskeleton during the Olympics. These self-balancing exoskeletons are battery-operated and offer personalized support to the legs and torsos of people who have lost the ability to walk due to health conditions ranging from strokes to paralysis. The devices also have sensors that can detect when wearers want to stand by reading upper body movement using bespoke algorithms.

Wandercraft's exoskeletons have only been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration in the United States since the end of 2022, and for stroke rehabilitation. In France, however, roughly 20 of the robotic exoskeletons had been deployed to hospitals to help patients walk again, at around $176,000 a pop. But with the establishment of a campus in New York City to continue making the devices even more autonomous, it may not be long before Wandercraft's robotic exoskeletons, or others like them, are seen in the streets of the United States, too.

More information:

https://nz.news.yahoo.com/paralyzed-tennis-player-carries-olympic-164622883.html