Wheelchair users walk again with robotic legs

Auckland start-up Rex Bionics has unveiled the world’s first robotics legs that enable the wheel-chair bound to move about in an upright position.

The device, called the Robotic Exoskelton (Rex), has taken seven years to develop with private venture capital and public funding of $10 million.

Once strapped in, the user can walk up and down stairs and slopes for up two hours on rechargeable batteries.

More than half a dozen prototypes have been already been completed, having achieved approval from the New Zealand Ethics Committee and having cleared engineering validation and clinical trials.

Each unit is valued at $US150,000 on the global market, where the lack of a rival product should enable the company to recoup its investment, Rex Bionics chief executive Jenny Morel says.

Prime Minister John Key launched the Rex at Auckland's Hilton Hotel today with user Hayden Allen (pictured below), who lost the use of his legs in a motor accident.

Mr Allen says, “I can’t stop staring down at my feet moving,” adding to an amazed launch audience that the benefits of standing up are just as medical as they are practical.

“It has done wonders for my bladder control,” he says, a benefit backed up in the medical literature and confirmed by Dr Richard Roxburgh, a neurologist and adviser to the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

“I think this will enable people to stay well longer,” he says. “Those who have conditions where treatments are coming over the five to 10 years will be in better shape when they finally arrive.”

Mr Key told NBR the company had planned a fast release of the product on to the commercial market and that will enable it to speed up refinements.

For example, it is relatively slow moving weighs around 38kg. Initially, it will be available mainly in Auckland with a sales going worldwide by the middle of next year.

Nevil Gibson
Thu, 15 Jul 2010

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Wheelchair users walk again with robotic legs