Like a device called Exoscheletter it is helping an NB man to get back on his feet
After suffering a spinal cord injury in a car accident, Josh Neers is learning to walk again, even if he doesn’t have much feeling in his legs.
A patient at the Stan Cassidy Center for Rehabilitation at Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital in Fredericton, an aspect of his physiotherapy sessions made the difference: a robotic suit called exoskeleton, or more fully, the Eksonr robotic exoskeleton.
“It is rather surprising to walk again because in reality you are moving your legs as you are walking,” said Never.
“I hope you take me so that you can use the stanz brackets again.”
The physiotherapist Erica De Passillé said that the exoskeleton is a battery wearable device that offers patients with a minimum movement in the legs the ability to walk.
“It allows patients to take more steps than otherwise they could be on earth,” said De Passillé. “So it’s a fantastic piece of technology.”
The suit was purchased with a donation by the Chalmers Foundation, said the Health Horizon network in a press release. The only one more in Atlantic Canada is owned by the University of New Bruswick, who allowed the hospital to use it since 2017, said the press release.
Meghan Leroux, his other physiotherapist, said Never had no movement in the lower body and has had further legs in the legs in recent years.
“And so we are just trying to bring him back to walking back to the house and returning to what he was doing,” said Leroux.
He said they used this “cutting -edge equipment” twice a week with Never to put it at ease in an upright position. And it was rewarding to see its growth.
“Especially when you have a goal you are working on and you know that this is part of getting there and part of that journey, you know, and to bring it back where it wants to be,” said Leroux.
The use of the exoskeleton can help a patient in the end becoming more independent, said De Passillé.
“And the feeling of being able to get up and take steps is like no one else, especially if they have not been able to do it for some time.”
