Robotic legs a step in the right direction
Thirty years ago doctors told Noboru Matsumoto that he would never walk again. Matsumoto had suffered severe brain injuries after a motorcycle crash. The accident left his speech slurred and unable to walk properly. It was in that movement that Professor Yoshiyuki Sankai saw hope for Matsumoto to defy the original doctor's diagnosis. Professor Sankai is the inventor of the Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL), a wrap-around robotic belt and legs. Sensors sit on top of the patient's skin that picks up the brain signals instructing the body to move. There are 140 HAL suits in use in Japan, renting for just under $2,000 a month. Professor Sankai is in the final stages of bringing the suits to Sweden and Denmark and is hoping to one day introduce the suits to the U.S., to help the aging baby boomers.
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