Medical engineering device allows paraplegic to walk NYC streets.

ReWalk Robotics has the medical engineering community talking about its updated version of robotic legs. The ReWalk Personal 6.0 is an exoskeleton strapped to the user’s legs, robotically allowing the user to walk.

Now approved for both clinical and personal use, the latest ReWalk is also the most user–friendly version yet. In just ten minutes users can attach the legs and be ready to walk– all without assistance.

Robert Woo, demonstrating the robotic exoskeleton in the video below, is excited to be the first to order his own ReWalk. Unable to walk since a 2007 accident, Woo has been active on the medical engineering scene.  He tests exoskeletons in their clinical trials and offers consultation to medical engineering companies.

With New York City’s constant construction and uneven sidewalks, wheelchairs are at best cumbersome in crowded urban environments. ReWalk Robotics’ exoskeleton not only heightens paraplegics’ mobility, but also offers numerous health benefits. Researchers are presently determining how walking with exoskeletons improves a paralyzed user’s muscle mass, circulation and digestion.

In the meantime, Robert Woo and his wife are completing a certification course to take home their own ReWalk Personal 6.0.

Read the full article from IEEE Spectrum and see how IP Automation serves the medical engineering industry by designing cardiac devices, insulin pumps and more.