This exoskeleton will enable injured soldiers to walk again.
New Delhi:
AIIMS Delhi and DRDO are collaborating on a project to develop a special exoskeleton for soldiers who have been injured during service and have lost the ability to walk or become paralyzed. This exoskeleton will enable injured soldiers to walk again.
Professor Bhavuk Garg, department of orthopedics, AIIMS, said, “We have the best gait lab in India and right now, in the first phase, we are observing and collecting data about muscle activation patterns in people while walking “Once we have this data, we will put it into a wearable robot-like thing called an exoskeleton, which will enable paralyzed people to walk.”
Professor Ravi Mittal, head of the orthopedic department at AIIMS, said, “In our gait lab, we record the movements of knees, legs etc. For this, we record them by placing many sensors and cameras on the body. After which everyone can share this data. It is collected and fed into the computer and then it is analyzed. After this every parameter is checked. It is studied. We find out how the person walks, how his legs move, what is the speed. And how much is the difference? All these things are being worked on very closely.
Dr. Mittal told that he studies the behavior of the person in detail. “What is the movement of the rest of his body? What is affecting his shoulders and head? Every single thing is recorded in detail and it shows how much variation there is in a person’s gait.” He said, “The movement of a healthy and sick person. Gait Lab is a study done on all these things, through which we can find out the data.
Gait Lab study was not earlier in India and this study has been conducted at AIIMS Delhi for almost 5 years.
The doctor told that in a disease like osteoarthritis, joints wear out. “Then the part of the body that has the problem needs to be replaced, like a knee replacement, etc. But through gait lab studies, we find out how his gait has changed and what his statistics are. A gait lab study has been conducted to determine the quantity. What changes occurred throughout the body? What were the parameters? Its number has been determined. In this series, one such exoskeleton is being prepared through this study. So that it can help those people who are unable to stand or have problem in walking, those patients will be able to walk, stand and do their other activities properly by wearing the exoskeleton.”
The head of the department of orthopedics, AIIMS, Delhi, said that the exoskeleton will be a kind of structure made of plastic and metal.
Professor Bhavuk Garg, Department of Orthopedics, AIIMS, said that through the Gait Lab they are currently studying how a common man who is completely healthy walks. “What movements does his body make, and how do his muscles activate. That data is being collected through this laboratory, and after collecting the data, we try to replicate it through an exoskeleton, that is, a small robot. Will try to see how it can work like a common man.”
Dr. Garg told that the patient will be able to walk wearing the exoskeleton. That is, a person suffering from paralysis or any serious disease is not able to move his hands and legs, walk, or do his daily tasks easily. So he will be able to do all his work. While wearing it. We are working closely with IIT Delhi in this regard and we are being funded by DRDO for this.”
Dr Bhavuk Garg said that currently they are “on the first page” regarding this study, and data is being collected. It is expected that this technology will be completely ready in two-three years. Which will be very beneficial for patients facing problems like paralysis or body movement.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
