INDUSTRY WATCH
SINCE WORKING WITH
VODAFONE, THE NUMBER
OF CUSTOMERS WE
NEED TO CONTACT FOR
UTILISATION UPDATES HAS
BEEN CUT IN HALF.
M
any people who suffer
from a stroke or spinal
cord injury face a long
road to recovery lasting
months or years, with
a goal of restoring functionality and
returning to their community. This
can be devastating, not only for the
person injured but also for their family
and friends. Swifter recovery, along
with quantified feedback on progress,
can now be achieved by using robotic
exoskeletons for patients who are most
likely able to gain ambulation function.
These are ready-to-wear, battery-
powered robots that are strapped over
the users’ clothing, enabling individuals
to achieve mobility, strength or
endurance not otherwise possible.
The challenge
Communicating recovery progress
For patients recovering from spinal
cord injury or stroke, the rehabilitation
process can be exhausting. In addition,
daily progress can be so challenging that
patients sometimes lose motivation.
“Ekso Bionics’ unique solution, the Ekso
GT, has been adapted specifically for
recovery clinics to support both patients
and clinicians,” explained Greg Davault,
VP, Global Marketing at Ekso Bionics.
“It can be used as early as inpatient
care, when patients are first admitted to
hospital and are stabilised.”
www.intelligentcio.com
The Ekso GT is the only battery-powered
robot to be FDA cleared for use in the
treatment of individuals with hemiplegia
due to stroke and individuals with spinal
cord injuries from T3 to C7 level for
AISA D and T4 to L5 for others, where
an individual may lose function from
the chest down but still retains use of
their arms and much of their hands.
“With the Ekso GT, therapists report
users being able to walk for increasingly
longer periods. The exoskeleton allows
therapists to offer a more complete
treatment,” said Davault.
For patients, being able to stand and
move earlier is important in their
rehabilitation, particularly for their state
of mind, as it allows them to quickly see
improvements, such as their endurance.
However, Ekso Bionics was unable to
provide easy access to data regarding
patient progression.
The company’s EksoPulse feature, a
cloud-based platform which obtains
insights into an individual’s rehabilitation
and displays measurable progress,
motivating patients to continue
treatment. Ekso Bionics wanted to
provide real-time recovery data to users
in every country it operates in. “We saw
problems collecting data from devices
abroad, especially in Europe,” said
Davault. “A third of users had to collect
data manually from the exoskeletons.”
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