Indego: Intelligent Exoskeleton Allows Patients to Walk Again

When Michael Gore broke his back in a work accident, he lost all function and feeling in his legs. Engineers at the Center for Intelligent Mechatronics at Vanderbilt University and Parker Hannifin built the Indego Exoskeleton; now Gore can get up and walk again.

The Indego works like leg braces with gyroscopes and accelerators to anticipate a patient's movements to move in concert, allowing the user to be assisted and use their own muscles to walk. It can also be used for recovery. Using electrodes and functional electrical stimulation (FES), patients can use the exoskeleton in physical training, helping the body recover from injury. 

Sensors determine how much power is needed, eventually decreasing as the patient grows stronger. It weighs 27 pounds and small and portable enough to be broken down and carried. They are sold in threes for $150,000 or each for $75,000. 

We also recommend watching: "Ekso Bionics: Exoskeletons as Medical Therapy" and "eLEGs: Allowing Paraplegics to Walk Again".

Indego: Intelligent Exoskeleton Allows Patients to Walk Again

Parker Hannifin Corporation originally Parker Appliance Company, usually referred to as just Parker, is a corporation specializing in motion and control technologies. Its corporate headquarters are in Mayfield Heights, Ohio in Greater Cleveland (with a Cleveland mailing address). The company was founded in 1918, and has been publicly traded on the NYSE since December 9, 1964. Parker Hannifin is one of the largest companies in the world in motion control technologies including aerospace, climate control, electromechanical, filtration, fluid and gas handling, hydraulics, pneumatics, process control, and sealing and shielding. Parker employs approximately 58,000 people globally.