Month: May 2021

It can be one of the scariest things in the world to wake up from an illness or injury and realize that natural motor functions have been compromised. Serious spinal cord injury, strokes, or brain trauma can cause issues with paralysis or loss of function that may affect a patient’s overall quality of life. Ekso Bionics is committed to giving that sense of freedom back to patients with wearable robotic exoskeletons that can increase mobility and help patients get back on their feet in no time.

EksoNR© is a uniquely designed exoskeleton that works with the wearer to help regain natural movement, find their balance, and begin walking long distances. This leading technology is helping physical therapists and rehabilitation specialists aid patients post stroke, brain injury, and spinal cord injury in many different ways. This rehabilitation tool is helping individuals conquer their disability and get more personal freedom back. There are plenty of unique features about EksoNR exoskeleton that help patients increase their mobility in revolutionary ways.

Who benefits from EksoNR?

EksoNR is designed specifically for neurorehabilitation. In fact, EksoNR is the first medical exoskeleton that is FDA cleared to treat stroke, spinal cord injury (SCI) and acquired brain injuries (ABI). At this point in time, this is actually the only FDA cleared exoskeleton to be used as a clinical rehabilitation tool for ABI. Clinicians across the globe find that this wearable device benefits their patients while going through rehabilitation.

As patients relearn how to walk and regain their motor functions, the exoskeleton gives them support without becoming a long term crutch. The exoskeleton robot can adjust to most patients’ bodies and work in a number of different ways. Overall, the physical therapist will be able to control the interface between the rehabilitation device and the patient to help them get back on their feet sooner.

Work with the wearable robot to improve natural function.

EksoNR is revolutionizing the game when it comes to rehabilitative devices. While powered exoskeletons have been around for a while, our specific exoskeleton technology works with patients to meet them at their current stage of recovery. These aren’t assistive devices or crutches that are relied upon for an extended period of time. This wearable robot will only give the limbs the amount of support they need, allowing a patient’s muscles to relearn certain motions and get used to bearing weight and balancing. Therapists can adjust the robotic device in real-time so each weight shift starts to feel more natural and eventually the patient gains strength to take over. EksoNR, a critical rehabilitative tool, will require your patients to be active participants in their recovery.

Help with walking speed, gait, and consistency.

Every person has their own unique way of walking. Some may take wide steps while someone else’s gait is more narrow. Working with EksoNR exoskeleton, patients get to improve their personal mobility through consistency and repetition. The medical exoskeleton is designed for specific, rehabilitative use. With the help of specific algorithms and data analysis, the wearable robot will adapt to each patient’s body. A patient won’t be adapting to the exoskeleton, rather the robotic technology will work with their body specifically and adapt to them. From help at the torso, hips, knee joints, and more, this exoskeleton design makes a natural gait and longer walking distances more accessible than ever before.

Rehabilitation happens at each patient’s pace.

The beauty of EksoNR is that it helps with every step of the rehabilitation process. The same device that helps stroke victims relearn how to stand upright will also help that individual when it comes to taking their first step or walking down the hallway. EksoNR exoskeleton will be the same wearable robot that they’ll use on their future visits to the rehabilitation center. From standing and sitting to gait training, these rehabilitation robots work at each patient’s pace and help them get back to many different activities of daily living.

The personalized design is revolutionary.

When you hear about powered exoskeletons, chances are you picture bulky suits that may bring discomfort to your patients. This is not the case with Ekso Bionics’ exoskeletons. The design is revolutionary and removes any major limitations for your patients. The exoskeleton design allows patients to strap in without worrying about bearing extra weight as they work. In a way, this is a control strategy. The personalized design makes it easier for patients to forget they’re even wearing an exoskeleton. They can start to gain confidence in their own lower extremities as they gain momentum in their rehabilitation. Thanks to the design, these robotics work directly with patients to help them see improvements in their mobility more quickly than ever before.

Ekso is available worldwide.

While Ekso Bionics is based in California, the company is committed to reaching patients and physical therapists across the globe. From the United States to Australia, patients are getting the important treatment and hope that they need thanks to these wearable exoskeletons. Not only is this technology helping with the mobility of patients with chronic stroke, brain or spinal cord injury, it is mobile throughout the rehabilitation communities.

Hear some inspiring stories of how robot exoskeletons are changing lives.

Royal Rehab is the first rehabilitation center to bring this life-changing technology to Australia. This medical exoskeleton technology is helping patients from all walks of life with differing forms of paralysis gain more mobility than they ever thought possible.

One featured patient named Alex was injured in a sports accident as a teenager and was left in a quadriplegic state. Thanks to the exoskeleton, he is up and walking and regaining a sense of normalcy in his life.

Ken is another patient with an inspiring story. He was paralyzed at age 21 from an infection on his spinal cord. After decades in a wheelchair, he first started using EksoNR in his 70s. Ken is now able to walk again and has increased his walking distance and speed in just a few short weeks. This technology is shaping the lives of so many patients around the world. Imagine how it can help your rehabilitation center.

The construction and manufacturing industries are inherently hazardous and involve great deals of lifting, overhead work, and other repetitive tasks that can cause fatigue and injuries. Workplace injuries naturally cause trauma to the injured worker and the crew, and other potential effects include missed work time and a general loss of productivity on the job site. What if these situations could be entirely avoided? Ekso Bionics believes that they can be.

Ekso Bionics is the world leader in exoskeleton technology, and our assistive technology is used in a variety of industries, including neurorehabilitation with our latest models. Ekso has always believed in using our technology to enhance human capabilities and empower mobility in wearers. This began with our HULC model, which was used in military applications and special operations. The purpose was to help an industrial marine carry heavy loads over longer distances and at greater speeds than typically possible. While the support exoskeleton did technically work, it also put a strain on the user’s body, failed a functional performance validation standard, and was discontinued due to this issue.

Ever since that, Ekso has been working on other solutions for the benefit of humanity, and many of these have great industrial applications. Here are just a few of our devices that are improving the construction and manufacturing industries.

Ekso Vest

This was Ekso’s first passive exoskeleton meant for industrial settings. The durable vest would attach similar to a harness around the wearer’s waist where it would connect up through the spine and shoulder supports. This support helped workers lift heavy objects more easily, which made it a great option for overhead work, such as installing oil filters in vehicles. In fact, our partnership with Ford is what brought the Ekso Vest into the public light after workers started praising the device.

With its lightweight design, it was able to improve muscle activity, and lower metabolic costs, all without putting strain on the rest of the body thanks to symmetric lifts. While the exoskeleton didn’t grant users the strength of Iron Man, it did make repetitive lifting tasks easier, helped improve commercial transportation manufacturing, and had a variety of industrial applications. We found that the vests didn’t support a full range of motion, which could make working in certain conditions difficult. Finding this inspired us to improve and design a more ergonomic solution.

Ekso EVO

Our EVO exoskeleton is the latest evolution in industrial shoulder exoskeletons and technologies. This piece of personal protection equipment was designed in collaboration with existing customers, physical therapists, and partner feedback to provide the best in physical workload support. It currently boasts titles as the world’s most durable, naturally-tracking, and assistive exo vest.

Like the previous vest, the harness connects to the hips, so workers don’t have to worry about thigh connections or any lower body interference. Rather than a single spine support connecting to the shoulders, EVO features two support bars connecting the hips to the shoulder supports. The device features a custom fit for each worker with adjustable lift assistance and a personal height range. Large arm holes make for an easy fit and improved logistics, and minimal contact points means improved cooling.

The exoskeleton functions are backed by data from clinician testing, collected in PMID, that shows that worker capabilities are nearly endless when it comes to standing positions and overhead work thanks to superior back muscles and shoulder support. This is also thanks to a partnership with smart assist that ensured the device allowed for full strength with the full natural range of motion, meaning that a wearer’s torso, hips, thighs, and arms can move freely without resistance.

This design keeps the device as lightweight as possible for maximum comfort. Spring-loaded technology also eliminates the need for any kind of power supply or recharging. This means that there’s plenty of room to add a fall harness, further increasing safety. The rugged outer shell makes for easy care of the exoskeleton, and you can even boost its visibility with reflective tape. Workers can even control the amount of assistance for each arm separately, thanks to asymmetrical controls.

EVO is the ultimate solution to improve safety at construction sites, eliminate worker fatigue, eliminate workplace injuries, and improve productivity and worker output.

Ekso ZeroG

EVO isn’t the only way that Ekso is innovating in the construction industry. Reducing muscle fatigue thanks to overhead tasks and repetitive motions is great, but these factors aren’t the only reasons that construction workers report a high rate of injuries and pain. Oftentimes, this is due to lifting and holding heavy tools for extended periods. Now, there’s a way to get around that too. You can reduce muscle strain even more, as well as improve accuracy and workmanship with large tools, thanks to EksoZeroG.

This zero gravity arm is designed to be mounted for aerial construction jobs, such as on construction scaffolding or other aerial workstations. The spring-loaded arm is able to transfer the weight of heavy tools to its base and then into the ground, thus providing a truly weightless feeling to workers using the tool. It’s able to hold heavy tools weight up to 42 lbs., such as large drills, impact wrenches, industrial grinders, and more.

Maintenance of the unit is easy and mostly just involves keeping it clean and ensuring that moving parts are clear of debris, It currently isn’t designed to mount to a rolling cart or operator, but new innovations may remedy this in the future. It’s important to note that while the device can support loads up to 42 lbs., it only actually provides 36 lbs. of lift, so heavier tools won’t feel totally weightless.

Ekso Bionics continues researching and improving its technologies at all times. Our devices are frequently covered by IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional organization, so you can keep up with any relevant news. There’s little doubt that more innovations will be coming to the construction industry soon.

A spinal cord injury (SCI) is defined as damage to any part of the spinal cord itself or to the nerves at the end of the spinal canal. These are generally traumatic injuries caused by external forces like heavy blows or cuts to the spine. Automobile accidents are the most common causes, with motorcycle accidents in the lead.

The most frequent consequence of this kind of injury is a lack of neural communication at and below the injury level, which typically results in a loss of motor function or sensation. If the injury is severe enough, it may even result in permanent alterations to muscle tissues. Losing the ability to use lower extremities naturally leads to a great loss of physical activity, which also puts patients with SCI at greater risk of cardiovascular and respiratory disorders. Even when these individuals do exercise, their cardiovascular response may be impaired.

Naturally, these changes have an enormous impact on the quality of life for patients and could even get in the way of the activities of daily living. Unfortunately, these injuries aren’t especially rare, either, with an estimated 17,700 new cases per year in the United States. The traumatic nature of these injuries makes them different from some forms of acquired brain injuries (ABIs), which can have similar consequences, including lower limb disability. ABIs, however, more frequently stem  from internal sources, such as strokes or neurological disorders.

There is hope, however, for spinal cord injury patients to make recoveries. Clinical trials and advancements in medical exoskeleton technology are helping patients relearn to walk with assisted gait training. Here are some examples of these exoskeleton programs and the effects they have on wearers.

EksoGT©

Ekso Bionics is the world leader in wearable robotic exoskeletons. Our exoskeleton technology is used in a variety of industries, including both medical use and industrial applications. Lately, however, Ekso has been making more moves on the medical scene with lower limb powered exoskeletons that can help patients with stroke, ABIs, and SCIs.

Our first exoskeleton to be used in a clinical setting with physical therapists was the eLEGS model or Exoskeleton Lower Extremity Gait System. It allowed patients with paraplegia to stand and walk in a straight line. We made a significant upgrade in 2013 with our EksoGT model, which was the first robotic exoskeleton to be cleared by the FDA to be used with patients with stroke and those with SCI. This rehabilitation device was the first of its kind to apply adaptive amounts of power to either side of a patient’s body, which allowed patients to experience longer training sessions and to challenge themselves. This feature was especially useful for patients with stroke, who may experience pusher syndrome, a situation where stroke patients tend to weight shift to one side of their body. This model helped patients retain upright posture and spend more time standing throughout their entire session.

In 2020, a study came out about the energy cost and psychological impact of exoskeleton assisted gait training for patients with SCI. In this study, the EksoGT model was compared directly with the Lokomat stationary treadmill system. 15 SCI patients with varying degrees of injury were chosen to participate in gait therapy using these two devices. At the beginning of the study, each patient underwent three sessions on both devices. Afterward, each patient was assigned 17 additional gait training sessions on one of the two assistive devices. Outcomes being measured were the level of oxygen consumption, carbon dioxide production, metabolic equivalents, walking economy, and heart rate when using the assistive devices.

Overall the EksoGT model showed higher metabolic responses as well as higher scores of fatigue, both mentally and physically compared to the Lokomat. All patients showed improvement in walking economy, and both methods scored high on psychological and emotional satisfaction.

EksoNR©

Currently, the EksoNR wearable robotic exoskeleton is being used in rehabilitation centers and is billed as the go-to next step in neurorehabilitation. EksoNR is the first robotic exoskeleton to achieve Food and Drug Administration clearance to treat patients with stroke, SCI, and ABI. It is currently considered the most effective option for retraining a patient’s brain and muscles to walk again, and it has demonstrated real results with clinicians in helping patients transition from wheelchairs to crutches and, eventually, their own feet.

EksoNR has a variety of features that make it superior to previous models. It still attaches comfortably to the torso, hips, and legs to provide excellent support to hip joints, knee joints, and ankle joints. No other robot model provides more options for weight and posture support to ensure that patients are always getting the most out of their rehabilitation sessions. Smart sensors are able to continuously monitor gait patterns to regulate leg movements and prevent compensatory patterns. Clinicians can also set training goals in real-time to monitor assistance levels in each leg based on patient feedback. SmartAssist software can even support various impairment levels, ranging from full walking assistance to reacting to patient-initiated movements with a high degree of freedom.

The EksoNR program also comes with PreGait, a rehabilitation software suite that can help patients practice standing, shifting weight, test out knee motion, and step in place, all before they actually begin their gait training. This can ease patients into the idea of walking in an exoskeleton, help with building confidence, and encourage patients to make the most out of sessions. The fact that EksoNR requires active participation from all patients is proven to help promote brain plasticity, making it easier to train the brain and muscles to work again. 

Lastly, the EksoNR program allows advanced users or patients with more strength and coordination to walk with added resistance on one or both legs.  In this FreeGait mode, patients can also work on motor planning without the robotic trajectory.  This enables patients to work on increasing endurance, enhancing their cardiovascular output, and gaining speed during walking. 

The Future

If you are interested in bringing these robotic devices to your clinical practice, you can request more information or a demo from an Ekso Bionics expert. Ekso takes partnerships with clinicians seriously and will work to make your experience the best it can be. There are always new technology advancements coming out, too. With further research and development, there’s little doubt that the future for SCI and other neuro-affected patients will look even brighter.