Technology exists largely so that all people can live with dignity. In order to solve the problem of Parkinson's and other patients with hand tremors can eat normally, some scientists have developed an anti-shaking spoon. Now, according to a Nov. 9 report in the Daily Mail, scientists from the U.S. have developed a robotic exoskeleton suit that attaches to the legs of children with cerebral palsy to help them walk upright, a better way than invasive orthopedic surgeries to improve children's posture and mobility.
Cerebral palsy is a neurological disorder that causes limb weakness, mobility problems, and lack of coordination, and is the leading cause of childhood disability. Specifically, it is caused by problems in the part of the brain responsible for controlling muscles.
Children with cerebral palsy may develop if the brain develops abnormally or is damaged, either before, during, or shortly after birth. According to the World Health Organization, cerebral palsy affects 7 out of every 100,000 people worldwide and occurs in 0.5% of newborns each year. According to statistics, there are more than 6 million people with cerebral palsy in China, including 1.78 million children under the age of 12, with 40,000 to 50,000 new cases of cerebral palsy every year, and 70% of children with cerebral palsy live in impoverished areas. In Jiangxi Province, there are about 150,000 patients, including 40,000 children under 14 years old.
There is no cure for cerebral palsy, but there are some treatments that can alleviate the symptoms, such as physical therapy. The life expectancy of patients is usually unaffected; however, the emotional and physical strain brought on by limited mobility can cause a great deal of stress and can lead to other problems later in life.
Researchers from the National Health Clinical Center in North Carolina conducted an 8- to 12-week study of a robotic exoskeleton suit on seven children with cerebral palsy between the ages of 5 and 19. These children practiced walking on the floor and on a treadmill every time they went to the lab, which lasted for an hour at a time.
Six of the seven participants showed significant improvement in their crouching gait condition by the sixth practice session, with increased stride length and gait speed indicating that the participants adapted to the assistive device. Rather than just guiding the lower limbs through the movement as the patient walks, the suit introduces the auxiliary discrete neural impulses needed for knee extension, which changes the walking posture.
This robotic exoskeleton suit can primarily help improve crouch gait (Crouch Gait) in children with cerebral palsy. Crouch Gait is the most common abnormal gait in spastic bilateral cerebral palsy and is characterized by persistent knee flexion during the weight-bearing phase of the gait. The research and development team said that if children with cerebral palsy practice using the equipment at home for a long period of time, it could help them walk as they please without any external help.
“If we can improve the crouching gait of a child with cerebral palsy at a young age, they will not have problems walking in adulthood. Moreover, children with cerebral palsy do not need to use the robotic exoskeleton for the rest of their lives, and in the future, we want them to be able to walk without it,” said Thomas Bulea of the National Institutes of Health. Having the ability to walk could help improve the physical health of children, especially those with motor disabilities, the researchers said. For now, a larger study is needed: children use the robotic exoskeleton at home for a year to give them the ability to walk upright without any help.
This is the first one.
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