'Robot legs' for stroke patients

Scientists and engineers in the Netherlands are currently experimenting with using "robot legs" to improve mobility and mobility for stroke patients, with initial results quite satisfactory.

'LOPES robot legs' promise to improve
travel ability for stroke patients - (Photo: BBC)

Developed by researchers at the University of Twente in Enschede (Netherlands), this 'robotic foot set' - called LOPES , can 'train' patients more naturally.

'Some people cannot lift their feet properly. When they use LOPES, it is possible to sense that the foot has not been properly lifted and will create a torque to support them , 'explains researcher Edwin van Asseldonk.

One of the LOPES users is Mrs. Petra Hes, who suffered a stroke at the age of 17. Before that she had spent many years practicing physiotherapy, but still could not lift and bend her legs even though she had done it and still remembered how to do it.

'I had a great moment when I felt and found the old feeling about how to go back to normal , ' she said when she first used LOPES.

According to the BBC , LOPES is being tested on patients with spinal injury, which is expected to be commercialized and available at rehabilitation centers around the world early next year.