Nova tecnologia de Israel dá novas esperanças para pessoas que não podem andar portadoras de paraplegia e tetraplegia com a possibilidade de voltar a andar.

A tecnologia RE-WALK em aprimoramento, desenvolvida em 2008 abre novas esperanças para centenas de milhares de paraplégicos e tetraplégicos pemitindo-os andar com o auxilio de um exoesqueleto mecânico.

O exoesqueleto computadorizado ReWalk é uma invenção que ajuda paraplégicos a ficar de pé, caminhar e subir escadas. 

O dispositivo foi criado pelo engenheiro Amit Goffer, fundador da Argo Medical Technologies, uma pequena empresa de alta tecnologia em Israel.

O sistema, que precisa de muletas para ajudar com o equilíbrio, consiste em apoios motorizados para as pernas, sensores corporais e uma mochila contendo uma caixa de controle computadorizada e baterias recarregáveis.

Com um controle remoto preso no pulso, o usuário escolhe um modo - ficar de pé, sentar, caminhar, descer ou subir - e então move o corpo para frente, ativando os sensores corporais e colocando as pernas robóticas em movimento.

Radi Kaiof, 41, foi ferido há 20 anos quando servia ao exército israelense e perdeu o movimento das pernas. "Nunca sonhei que poderia andar de novo. Depois de ser ferido, até esqueci como é caminhar," disse à Reuters.

Kate Parkin, diretora de terapia ocupacional no Centro Médico da Universidade de Nova York, diz que o aparelho pode ajudar a melhorar a saúde do paraplégico não apenas fisicamente, mas também psicologicamente. "Ele permite que a pessoa viva no nível das outras e faça contato visual," declarou.

Kaiof confirma a opinião de Parkin. "Somente quando estou em pé posso perceber a minha altura e falar com as pessoas olhando nos olhos, e não olhando de baixo," disse o ex-soldado.

Segundo o fabricante, o produto deve chegar ao mercado em 2010 e custará mais ou menos o que custam as cadeiras de rodas mais sofisticadas, vendidas hoje por cerca de US$ 20 mil.

Argo Medical Technologies Ltd. does far more than restore mobility to people with severe walking impairments. By enabling wheelchair users to stand, walk, and climb stairs, we restore dignity, health, inclusion, and self-esteem.

Argo brings mobility face-to-face with society. ReWalk™, the first commercially viable upright walking assistance tool, enables wheelchair users with lower-limb disabilities to stand, walk, and even climb stairs. For potentially millions of wheelchair users, ReWalk™ delivers a new perspective – on the world, on themselves, and on life.

ReWalk™ is a wearable, motorized quasi robotic suit. Partially concealable under clothing, ReWalk provides user-initiated mobility - leveraging advanced motion sensors, sophisticated robotic control algorithms, on-board computers, real-time software, actuation motors, tailored rechargeable batteries and composite materials.

ReWalk™ works with users – not just for them. Users walk with the assistance of crutches, controlling suit movement through subtle changes in center of gravity and upper-body movements. In addition to simplifying suit control, this user participation in mobility brings tangible health and emotional benefits. ReWalk™ is not just a vertical wheelchair – ReWalk™ restores the element of control over mobility so lacking for wheelchair users.

As any sedentary wheelchair user can attest, life in a wheelchair carries a hefty healthcare price tag. Serious problems with the urinary, respiratory, cardiovascular and digestive systems are common, as well as osteoporosis, pressure sores and other afflictions.

By maintaining users upright on a daily basis, and exercising even paralyzed limbs in the course of movement, ReWalk™ alleviates many of the health-related problems associated with long-term wheelchair use. In addition to relieving suffering, this has a real impact on healthcare costs – cutting yearly expenses almost in half, and enabling both insurers and individuals to redirect funds to other avenues.

Adoption of ReWalk™ by wheelchair users results in significant cost saving at both institutions and private homes. ReWalk™ makes standing devices, stair lifts, bed lifts, and other mobility assistance apparatus redundant. Similarly, ReWalk™ users don't require expensive powered wheelchairs – or the oversize vehicles and devices required to handle them. With ReWalk™, users require only minimal additional mobility assistance – saving tens of thousands of dollars yearly.

At institutions, ReWalk™ can serve as a robotic therapeutic or physical training device, used for intensive functional locomotion therapy. By replacing or supplementing expensive mechanized gait trainers, for example, ReWalk™ allows institutions to redirect significant budget resources for other therapeutic activities.

Functionality:

* All day usage
* Mobility – walking, sit-to-stand, stand-to-sit, climb stairs, ascending/descending slopes, driving
* Training – replacing other training equipment at home and at rehabilitation center

Prerequisites:

* Ability to use hand and shoulders (walking with crutches)
* Healthy cardiovascular system and bone density

[Fonte: Rewalk / Argomedtec, Terra, 20080