New Nizhny exoskeleton tested on volunteer: “fairly comfy”

A new exoskeleton developed at Lobachevsky University (UNN) in the mid-Volga area has entered a testing phase on healthy volunteers. 

To test the product the developers use a special biomechanics laboratory where the speed and angles of movement are monitored, as well as the exertion one has to apply when using the exoskeleton. The researchers also look into one’s manner of walking in the exoskeleton, remotely utilizing special markers that send signals to a computer.

The product has been developed to help patients with musculoskeletal dysfunctions and paralyzed lower extremities. The exoskeleton is expected to enable them to move vertically. 

According to Gennady Sheiko, a neurologist who first put it on for testing, the product "is fairly comfy… it can easily lift the weight of a human body… while it’s not heavy itself.”

To ensure better safety for patients the developers consider adding protection for knees and elbows, and even a helmet. Tests on healthy volunteers will continue for about a year, and starting this coming summer, the team hopes to begin to involve volunteers from among lower extremities patients, said Sergei Mineyev, a UNN associate professor and one of the developers of the exoskeleton. 

The product will cost about $13,000/apiece, half the price of a western analog, the developers from Lobachevsky’s Neuroscience Center emphasized. They expect to get fully ready for commercialization by the end of 2016.