Technology has changed the world forever by making the
once inconceivable become possible. In the medical field, the development of
new technology has rapidly advanced levels of treatments doctors can offer. It
has brought us miraculous powers to revolutionize people’s lives, and every day
brings us new tools to help tackle difficult issues. Last week, we took a look
at an app Mount Sinai is developing and showed how it improved quality of
treatment and patient quality of life. This week, we invite you to explore how Mount Sinai and partners
are using technology to change the lives of people who were told that they
would never be able to walk again.
Grassroots
Innovation
Dr Ann Soungen, associate professor of rehabilitative
medicine at Mount Sinai, remembers a time when engineers would come in with
preliminary ideas and exoskeletons sketched on a notepad discussing the
potential for developing a robotic exoskeleton to help people who were
paralysed. After telling them to return when they had a prototype, they later came
back to develop the ReWalk program with physicians and experts at Mount Sinai,
which teaches people how to use the ReWalk Personal System.
What is the ReWalk
Personal System?
The ReWalk Personal system is a battery-powered, robotic
exoskeleton that is powered by a battery run through a computer placed in the
backpack of the patient. It allows the patient to walk with crutches and
improves knee alignment. This product, combined with ReWalk training available
at selected Mount Sinai clinics, offers patients the ability to walk again.
The training centers for the ReWalk programme can be
found at:
Mount Sinai
Hospital One Gustave L. Levy Place New York, NY 10029 USA
Icahn School of
Medicine at Mount Sinai – 3 east 101st Street New York, NY 10029 USA
The program teaches people who have lost the ability to
walk how to use a robotic exoskeleton that gives support and stability using
the exoskeleton controlled by a computer. By completing the training offered,
patients are able to reclaim their lives in ways previously unimaginable.
Tried and Tested:
How ReWalk Changed a Patient’s Life
Father of three, Robert Woo was told in 2007 he would
never be able to walk again. He suffered from a severe injury at Goldman Sachs
working as an architect when seven tons of steel fell thirty stories onto his
construction trailer. He said the weight folded him in half on site. Robert Woo
later became the first person to be certified to purchase the new ReWalk
Personal 6.0 system to use at home. It has given him to power to walk once again,
stand with his wife, and walk around the park with his children – something he
thought he would never be able to do again.
If you are
interested in a bespoke ReWalk plan, purchasing ReWalk technology, or would
simply like to learn more, please contact us at Mount Sinai Department of
Rehabilitative Medicine. Contact our switchboard at: (212) 241-6321
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