One in 10,000 children born in Spain suffers from spinal muscular atrophy, a rare degenerative disease of genetic origin and with high mortality rates. This disease without cure causes a progressive generalized muscle weakness that prevents children from walking and causes them to develop complications (scoliosis, osteoporosis, respiratory failure …) that decrease their life expectancy and quality.
In order to help these children walk – often for the first time – and lead an existence as normal as possible, the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) and the Marsi Bionics company have developed a manufactured 12-kilo exoskeleton. with aluminum and titanium that can be used in hospitals for patients between the ages of three and fourteen to train their muscles and avoid some of the damage caused by loss of mobility.
The structure consists of long supports that adjust and adapt to the legs and trunk of the patient. The motors located in the joints mimic the functioning of human muscle and give the child the strength it lacks to stand and walk. The system is completed by a series of highly sensitive sensors that anticipate the child’s movements and communicate them to a small computer that controls the process. The team is finished off with a battery with five hours of autonomy.
Researcher Elena García, from the Center for Automation and Robotics of the CSIC, explains that “the main difficulty in developing this type of pediatric exoskeletons is that the symptoms of neuromuscular diseases, such as spinal muscular atrophy, vary over time both in the joints as in the whole body. That is why an exoskeleton capable of adapting to these variations autonomously is necessary. Our model includes intelligent joints that modify stiffness automatically and adapt to the symptoms of each child at all times “.
The exoskeleton is limited to those over 3 years of age, as each leg integrates five motors that require a minimum length for placement. In addition, children under that age are more difficult to control and do not cooperate enough with researchers.
At the moment, the device is in the preclinical testing phase, which is being carried out in the laboratory with volunteer patients. The next step is to check its therapeutic effects, which will be done with the collaboration of the Ramón y Cajal Hospital in Madrid and the San Juan de Dios Hospital in Barcelona.
