The Russian exoskeleton is ready for testing
The exoathlete and the leading medical university of Russia have agreed
jointly conduct clinical studies of the exoskeleton
The resident of the information technology cluster of the Skolkovo Foundation, ExoaThlet, has agreed to cooperate with the N.I. Pirogov Russian National Research University on cooperation in conducting the first clinical studies of an exoskeleton for the rehabilitation of people with impaired musculoskeletal functions of the lower extremities on the basis of the Translational Medicine Research Institute.
The research will begin in May 2015. A special commission will select from more than 700 applications the most suitable candidates who will be able to undergo a 30-hour training course in an ExoAthlete under the supervision of experienced doctors. Such research in the field of biomechanics and mechatronics will be held in Russia for the first time.
Ekaterina Bereziy, co-founder and CEO of the ExoaThlet project: "The agreements reached with the Pirogov RNIMU are very important to us. Since September 2014, people have been writing to us daily who want to become test pilots of an ExoAthlete, undergo a rehabilitation course and feel again how it is to walk. They are "tired of sitting in a wheelchair", they have "enough plans for life", they again "want to be independent", they "want to look at the world not from a sitting position", "accompany and meet children from school". These are their words – quotes from their letters. Now the number of registered is about 700 people. These are people with various spinal cord injuries, with cerebral palsy and other neurological disorders. For almost 9 months we have been looking for a medical partner who is ready to work with our army of pilots, interested in conducting clinical trials and developing new methods in rehabilitation for patients with various diseases. We believe that the participation of the country's leading medical research university will significantly accelerate the development of the project."
According to Ilya Lozinsky, Vice-rector for Economics of the N.I. Pirogov Russian National Research University, Candidate of Biological Sciences: "... according to various estimates, right now, right today, at least three scientific and technical revolutions are taking place in the world, comparable to the industrial revolution or the invention of the conveyor. We are talking about the fact that today, with the help of a robotic device, we can take the natural walking pattern of a healthy person and use it for the rehabilitation of a person with a musculoskeletal system disease."
Albert Efimov, head of the Skolkovo Robotics Center: "We are very pleased that the clinical studies of the ExoaThlet project will be conducted at the country's leading medical university – the exoskeleton is one step closer to mass production, which means that very soon fewer and fewer people will be limited in their capabilities. ExoAthlete is a project that not only the Skolkovo Foundation is proud of, but the whole country as a whole – there is no similar project not only in our country, but also in Europe."
Background informationExoaThlet is a project to create a medical exoskeleton for rehabilitation and social adaptation of people with impaired musculoskeletal functions of the lower extremities, launched in 2013.
In June 2014, the ExoAthlete won the All-Russian Startup Village competition and became a resident of Skolkovo. During this time, the company's engineers have created several modifications of exoskeletons.
The latest version is called ExoAtlet Albert II and differs from the previous one in a thinner profile, smaller dimensions and a control system that allows the pilot to independently control the exoskeleton directly while walking. ExoAtlet Albert II allows a person with lower paraplegia to get up, walk on a flat and inclined plane and sit down without assistance.
The Russian National Research Medical University named after N.I. Pirogov is a state budgetary educational institution of higher professional education. One of the largest medical universities in Russia and Europe with a total number of students – over 9,000 people. RNIMU has 115 academic departments. The total number of teaching staff is 1205 full-time units.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru24.04.2015