Toyota will be selling several health robots to help people walk, transfer from bed to wheelchair in 2013

It’s easy to get excited when Toyota announces a robot to help people walk.

In the 60 years since my left leg became paralyzed nothing really new in technology has been invented beyond the leg brace to help people like me.

When I broke me leg this year, I thought there might be some new hi-tech brace that would replace the clunky things I wore until my 20’s.

The break may have tipped me from being semi-ambulatory to not walking at all. After 5 months, I still need crutches or a walker to get around.

My physiatrist is suggesting there might be a leg brace in my future. Physiatrists are doctors who look after bones, nerves and muscles. They treat people in sports rehab and withneuromuscular problems like post polio syndrome.muscles

According the to physiatrist, the only people who have benefited from technology have been amputees. Because of the thousands of US veterans, the research dollars have been spent helping them normalize their lives.

Admittedly there are fewer people with polio but strokes and other neuromuscular problems can render people paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair.

I use a wheelchair and that’s great but it does create problems. Muscles not in use atrophy. The human skeleton needs to stand erect and walk to be healthy.

Toyota robotic exoskeleton

Toyota robotic exoskeleton one of their new health robots (photo Toyota)

Toyota’s walking robot encloses the leg partially and senses the user’s intention – walk, faster, slower, stand, turn, sit. Then it provides the necessary amount of assist.

If human walking was only that simple. There are different terrains to navigate. Surfaces can be slippery with ice or water. How does the robotic exoskeleton protect the user when they fall?

“[Toyota] endeavors to provide the freedom of mobility to all people, and understands from its tie-ups with the Toyota Memorial Hospital and other medical facilities that there is a strong need for robots in the field of nursing and healthcare,” the company said. “We aim to support independent living for people incapacitated through sickness or injury, while also assisting in their return to health and reducing the physical burden on caregivers.” ComputerWorld

Too cool, is my first reaction.

Then I wonder about the price. Will they be funded under health or government plans for people with disabilities? Will they be affordable.

Toyota has a history of creating innovative products that sell to the mass market. Hopefully the robotic exoskeleton will be affordable and widely used.

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