August 14, 2014 07:47am ETBionic Exoskeleton Could Help Paralyzed Patients Walk  The "Hybrid Assistive Limb" (HAL) exosuit can help paralyzed patients regain some mobility. Credit: ? RUBIN, photo: Nelle View full size image

A futuristic-looking robot suit that has its own mechanical "limbs" may help paralyzed patients walk again.

The robotic exosuit, called HAL for “Hybrid Assistive Limb," was originally developed in Japan, but has now been tested on paralyzed patients at the Center for Neurorobotic Movement Training in Bochum, Germany.

When a person wants to move, the brain sends a signal through the spinal cord and the nerves that surround it, to a muscle in a body part such as a leg or an arm. However, in paralyzed patients, these spinal nerve structures are damaged, and the muscles operate with signals that are too weak to reach the leg or the arm. This is why these patients cannot walk or move certain body parts. [Super-Intelligent Machines: 7 Robotic Futures]

But the HAL robot suit can actually pick up these weakened signals through sensors that are attached to a patient's skin, and can set its motors, located in the pelvic and knee-joint regions, in motion. This effectively connects the robotic suit to the patient's nervous system and helps the individual to regain some mobility.

"This exoskeleton robot suit differs from other exoskeleton systems in its unique and successful neuronal control directly by the patient," said Dr. Thomas Schildhauer, medical director at the Bergmannsheil, a university hospital in Bochum. "[T]he patient is in 'direct control' of the robot and is not passively moved by the robotic exoskeletal system."

The robot suit is already being used at the Bergmannsheil by paraplegic, quadriplegic, stroke and muscular dystrophy patients in controlled trials, he said. (Paraplegic patients can move their arms, hands and fingers, whereas quadriplegic patients have limited movement or no movement from the neck down.)

"In some subgroups of spinal cord injury patients the application is already very successful, whereas the other patient groups are still under formal investigation," Schildhauer told Live Science.

Schildhauer was surprised by "the amount of functional gain in some subgroups of chronic spinal cord injury patients," he said. For instance, a wheelchair-bound patient may be able to walk short distances with the support of a walking frame after training with the exosuit five times a week for three months, the researchers said.

The Bergmannsheil is the only hospital in Germany where the robot suit has been used. Similar suits have been tested in about 200 geriatric rehab centers in Japan.

The HAL was developed by Dr. Yoshiyuki Sankai, a professor in the Graduate School of Systems and Information Engineering at the University of Tsukuba in Japan. Sankai also founded Cyberdyne Inc. (from "cybernics" — an interdisciplinary research field that incorporates cybernetics and other disciplines), a company that produces the HAL. Sankai designed the robot "for the benefits of humankind in the field of medicine, caregiving, welfare, labor, heavy works, entertainment and so on," according to Cyberdyne's website.

Sankai has said in the past that he aims to create new technologies that will benefit people and not serve to destroy them. For instance, he reportedly rejected offers from the U.S. Department of Defense and the government of South Korea to develop robots for military use.

Research describing the application of the robot suit in paralyzed patients was published in April in the Spine Journal.

仿生外骨骼能帮助瘫痪病人行走

2014年8月14日上午07时47 ETBionic外骨骼能帮助瘫痪患者Walk 的“混合辅助肢体”（HAL）exosuit可以帮助瘫痪患者恢复一些流动性。

A未来主义外观的机器人套装，有它自己的机械及QUOT;四肢＆QUOT;可以帮助瘫痪病人重新行走.

机器人exosuit，呼吁HAL为＆ldquo;混合辅助肢体，与QUOT;最初是在日本开发，但现在已经过测试，在瘫痪病人的中心Neurorobotic运动训练波鸿，德国.

当一个人要动，大脑会通过脊髓的信号，其周围的神经，以便在身体部分上的肌肉诸如腿或臂。然而，在瘫痪病人，这些脊神经结构被破坏，使肌肉与太弱到达腿或臂的信号进行操作。这就是为什么这些患者不能行走或移动某些身体部位。 [超智能机器：7机器人期货Super-Intelligent Machines: 7 Robotic Futures地区，在运动。这有效地将机器人适合连接至患者的神经系统和帮助个体重新获得一些移动性.

u0026 QUOT;此外骨骼机器人西装不同于其他的外骨骼系统，可在其独特的和成功的神经元控制直接由患者，＆QUOT;说托马斯博士Schildhauer，在Bergmannsheil，波鸿大学医院内科主任。 ＆QUOT; [TT患者在对照试验，他说。 （截瘫患者可以移动自己的手臂，手和手指，而四肢瘫痪的病人有限的运动或不运动，从颈部向下。）

＆QUOT;在脊髓损伤患者的某些子群的应用已经是很成功的，而其他患者组仍在正式调查，＆QUOT; Schildhauer告诉现场科学.

Schildhauer由＆QUOT惊讶，功能性增益量慢性脊髓损伤患者的某些亚组，与QUOT;他说。举例来说，一个坐轮椅的患者也许能够短距离行走训练与exosuit后步行框架的支持下，每周五次三个月，研究人员说.

的Bergmannsheil是德国其中唯一的医院机器人西服已被使用。类似的诉讼已经在日本约200老年康复中心进行了测试.

的HAL是由善行山阶博士，在系统与信息工程研究生院教授筑波日本大学开发。三凯还创办Cyber??dyne公司公司（从＆QUOT; cybernics＆QUOT;＆mdash;一个跨学科研究领域的集成控制论等学科），一个产生的HAL公司。山阶设计的机器人和QUOT;为人类的医学，护理，福利，劳动，重工程，娱乐领域的优势等，与QUOT;根据Cyber??dyne公司的网站.

三凯在过去曾表示，他的目标是创造新的技术，这将有利于人民，而不是用来消灭他们。例如，据说他拒绝了美国国防部部和韩国政府提议制定机器人用于军事用途.

研究描述了机器人套装在瘫痪病人发表于4月在脊柱杂志.

的应用程序