Paraplegics walk again with exoskeleton while US Army researches similar technology for the battlefield: Rex Bionics launched Rex, a robotic exoskeleton consisting of a pair of robotic legs that enables wheelchair users to stand up and walk. The device can be used by anyone who can self-transfer and operate hand controls, with most users to-date having sustained spinal cord injury. Operators control movement using a joystick and a control pad. Currently, users need to be between 1.46m and 1.95m long, weigh less than 100kg and have a width of less than 380mm. Costs are still high, and the device has an expected price of US$150,000 for which it will soon be available in New Zealand, with the rest of the world following by the middle of 2011.
Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE:LMT), received a contract from the U.S. Army to test the company’s HULC Exoskeleton at its Natick, Mass. facility. The HULC assists soldiers movement through terrain and in lifting heavy objects. Similar technology from other manufacturers, like Rex, emphasize the medical uses of such a system, particularly for elder care and allowing wheelchair-bound patients to walk.
An artificial arm that you control with your mind: The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency will soon begin testing thought-controlled prosthetic arms on human subjects. Although this isn’t the first mind-controlled arm we’ve seen, this is the first one that will directly interface with the brain instead of relying on peripheral nerves to transmit signals from the brain. Doctors would implant micro-arrays into the brain that will capture neuronal signals and transmit them to the device. Over the next two years, the arm will be tested in five patients while development continues to focus on adding haptic pressure and touch capabilities and improving the implant lifespan, according to Wired‘s Danger Room blog.
PositiveID develops breath glucose meter technology: Delray Beach, Fla.-based PositiveID Corp. claimed it developed a breath-based glucometer technology that should be ready for clinical testing by the end of 2010. The portable Easy Check Breath Glucose Detection Device would use single use cartridges featuring the firm’s own reagents, according to a press release. MedGadget’s contributing physicians are skeptical, but one day this technology might shake up the blood prick market for diabetics.
Cambridge Consultants and XenBio Fluidics bring diagnostic testing to the bedside: Cambridge, Mass.-based Cambridge Consultants and San Diego, Calif.-based XenBio Fluidics announced a new immunoassay platform for cheap and reliable diagnostics at point of care. The device relies on novel ‘time-resolved fluorescence’ and ‘low-cost portable detection’ technology. The companies said the device "can be applied to a number of substrates, arrays and planar surfaces as well as being capable of being retrofitted to a range of existing lateral flow assays."
A weekly roundup of new developments in medical technology, by MedGadget.com.