Forget supersoldiers who can double-jump and run on walls; technology is better put to work in the service of helping injured people. Good luck not getting a lump in your throat after reading this.
A company called Ekso Bionics which specialises in creating powered exoskeletons has collaborated with a team of scientists at UCLA to help a paralysed man, Mark Pollock, to walk again and regain some control of and feeling in his legs, according to Engadget.
The team also managed to stimulate Pollock’s spinal cord using a non-invasive technique that placed electrodes on his skin, and zapped his spine with electricity.
The result? Not only can he move on his own, but Pollock now feels pins and needles in his legs, and he’s been able to sweat for the first time since his accident back in 2010.
Engadget says “According to one of the researchers, Reggie Edgerton, restoring at least some of paraplegics’/quadriplegics’ ability to move on their own is essential despite advances in exoskeleton technologies, as it ‘will greatly improve their overall health and quality of life.'”
That’s pretty special, in my opinion. Sure, the whole endeavour probably costs more money than most of us will ever see in our lives, but it’s great see technology doing something really amazing for someone in a really pretty awful situation like being paralysed.
Watch the video below; the world could certainly do with a lot more of this sort of thing.
[Source – Engadget]
