FOOTLOOSE AND…
I never heard of an “ankle bot” until the other day. Now this extremely impressive robotic device functions to help people coordinate ankle and foot movement after a stroke. Wow! Talk about important scientific progress.
This high-tech advancement has been developing at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in New York for more than 20 years. Dr. Bruce Volpe, the co-inventor with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, sought a device that influences human movement. Thus, the patient wears the device on the affected leg and it moves the paralyzed limb through positive exercises. Patients check a computerized screen for movement. It can also get out of the way when the patient moves it independently.
There are some 1,000 varying movements as the “bot” helps people walk easier and gain speed, balance and a more normal gait.
Stroke is a huge United States health problem. It affects close to 800,000 people yearly and takes some 140,000 lives, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Now the medical world has a positive new tool to battle the problem.
The team at the Feinstein Institute is also conducting additional research with the “bot” in hopes of adding electrical stimuli to the product.
Good luck, and thank you!
