The Rex Exoskeleton lets people with impaired mobility (such as those confined to wheelchairs) stand up and walk. Patients use a control pad and a joystick to control 29 onboard processors that determine their balance and leg movements. The exoskeleton consists of a set of leg braces, straps, and a harness, all powered by a battery pack. With their hands free, users can stand, sit, turn, and walk on flat surfaces, slopes, and stairs. A fully charged battery pack allows walking for up to two hours. The exoskeleton, made by Rex Bionics of New Zealand, weighs 84 pounds (38kg). (Source: Rex Bionics)
Tools, tools, tools. The use of robots, using highly engineered and very small tools, allow the surgeon to do his work with very tiny incisions. They are not meant (at least in the current iterations) to replace the human doctor, the human thinker, or the human controller. What these surgical robots do best is work very precisely in a very confined space. Even the most skilled surgeon is limited by the size of his hands and fingers.
It is interesting to see the comments here & to see just how far we've come in developing robotic medical assistants.
Farm (http://www.farmpd.com) has worked on a few of the technologies highlighted here (Mako Surgical & Corindus)! These technolgies are improving patient outcomes by reducing procedure time while increasing surgical accuracy and precision. We attribute these developments to an increased awareness and focus on human factors engineering and usability!
The exoskeleton is an idea whose time has come. Although the one pictured here weighs 84 lbs, I could imagine it weighing one-fourth of that in ten years.
Lou, I'm with you--the idea of autonomous robots operating on oneself is very creepy indeed. Personally, I'm glad we're not yet at the stage of the Star Wars medibots.
Ann, the idea of robots operating on one is somewhat creepy. On the other hand, they can be very consistent and accurate. If you have a good surgeon who makes you feel comfortable, then it is nice. This is not always the case, though.
It looks like we are moving toward the medibots from Star Wars. That will be interesting.
Ann, yes you are right. Now a day's in super specialty hospitals robots are using in surgical rooms for assisting doctors for carrying out surgery and pre-post operative procedures. But one thing we have to remember is all the operations of such robotics are pre programmed one and they have no logical or analytical thinking like human brains.
By experimenting with the photovoltaic reaction in solar cells, researchers at MIT have made a breakthrough in energy efficiency that significantly pushes the boundaries of current commercial cells on the market.
We looked at a number of sources to determine this year's greenest cars, from KBB to automotive trade magazines to environmental organizations. These 14 cars emerged as being great at either stretching fuel or reducing carbon footprint.
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A quick look into the merger of two powerhouse 3D printing OEMs and the new leader in rapid prototyping solutions, Stratasys. The industrial revolution is now led by 3D printing and engineers are given the opportunity to fully maximize their design capabilities, reduce their time-to-market and functionally test prototypes cheaper, faster and easier. Bruce Bradshaw, Director of Marketing in North America, will explore the large product offering and variety of materials that will help CAD designers articulate their product design with actual, physical prototypes. This broadcast will dive deep into technical information including application specific stories from real world customers and their experiences with 3D printing. 3D Printing is
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