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TECHNOLOGY Thursday 13 april 2017

Toyota shows robotic leg brace to help paralyzed people walk

YURI KAGEYAMA
AP Business Writer
TOKYO (AP) — Toyota is in-
troducing a wearable ro-
botic leg brace designed
to help partially paralyzed
people walk.
The Welwalk WW-1000 sys-
tem is made up of a mo-
torized mechanical frame
that fits on a person’s leg
from the knee down. The
patients can practice
walking wearing the ro-
botic device on a special
treadmill that can support
their weight.
Toyota Motor Corp. dem-
onstrated the equipment
for reporters at its Tokyo
headquarters on Wednes-
day.
One hundred such systems
will be rented to medical
facilities in Japan later this
year, Toyota said. The ser-
vice entails a one-time ini-
tial charge of 1 million yen
($9,000) and a 350,000 yen
($3,200) monthly fee.
The gadget is designed to
be worn on one leg at a
time for patients severely
paralyzed on one side of
the body due to a stroke or
other ailments, Eiichi Saito,
a medical doctor and ex-
ecutive vice president at A model demonstrates the Welwalk WW-1000, a wearable robotic leg brace designed to help partially paralyzed people walk at
Fujita Health University, ex- the main system with treadmill and monitor, at Toyota Motor Corp.’s head office in Tokyo, Wednesday, April 12, 2017.
plained. Associated Press
The university joined with
Toyota in developing the
device. botics both for manufactur- therapist can. ficer at Cambridge Medi- ply robotics in medicine
A person demonstrating it ing and other uses. Honda “This helps just barely cal Robotics in Britain, said and other social welfare
strapped the brace to her Motor Co.’s Asimo human- enough,” said Saito, ex- in a phone interview. areas, not just entertain-
thigh, knee, ankle and foot oid can run and dance, plaining that helping too “They can be so much ment. The company also
and then showed how it pour a drink and carry on much can slow progress in more precise,” he said. has an R2-D2-like machine,
is used to practice walk- simple conversations, while rehabilitation. Previously, Toyota has called the Human Support
ing on the treadmill. Her WelWalk is more of a sys- The field of robotic aids for shown robots that play the Robot, whose mechanical
body was supported from tem that uses robotics than walking and rehabilitation violin and trumpet. It plans arm can help bed-ridden
above by a harness and a stand-alone robot. is growing quickly. A bat- to start sales in Japan of a people pick things up.
the motor helped to bend Given how common paral- tery-powered wearable tiny boy-like robot for con- “Our vision is about trying
and straighten her knee. ysis due to strokes is in fast- exoskeleton made by Is- versational companion- to deliver mobility for ev-
Sensors in the device can aging Japan, Toyota’s de- raeli manufacturer ReWalk ship. It is also investing in erybody,” said Isobe. “We
monitor the walking and vice could be very helpful, Robotics enables people artificial intelligence and have been developing in-
adjust quickly to help out. Saito said. He said patients relying on a wheelchair to developing self-driving ve- dustrial robotics for auto
Medical staff control the using it can recover more stand upright and walk. hicles. manufacturing, and we
system through a touch quickly as the sensitive ro- Such systems also can aid Toshiyuki Isobe, Toyota’s are trying to figure out how
panel screen. botic sensor in Welwalk therapists in monitoring a chief officer for research, we can use that technol-
Japanese automakers fine-tunes the level of sup- patient’s progress, Luke said Welwalk reflects the ogy to fill social needs and
have been developing ro- port better than a human Hares, chief technology of- company’s desire to ap- help people more.”q