Rehab

Robots help paralysis victims walk again

Rehab Regs, May 27, 2004

A robot named Lokomat is helping paralysis patients at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas to walk again, according to Medical Devices and Surgical Technology Week. With assistance from physicians and physical therapists, the robot provides gait training by teaching a patient's spinal cord and brain to signal the body to step again. A harness supports the patient's body weight over a large treadmill, and the legs and hips are strapped into the machine's robotic exoskeleton, which simulates a fluid walking motion. UT Southwestern is the only institution in Texas and one of only a handful in the United States using the new machine.

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