Exoskeleton Helps Paraplegics Walk
Paralyzed people can now do what was previously considered impossible. The ReWalk Motorized Exoskeleton Suit enables individuals with lower limb impairment to stand, walk and climb stairs. Designed by Israeli consultancy Taga for medical device company Argo Medical Technologies, Ltd., the ReWalk can be used by people with disabilities such as spinal cord injury, brain injury, stroke, multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy.
The ReWalk is a light, wearable brace support suit, which integrates DC motors at the joints, rechargeable batteries, an array of sensors and a computer-based control system. It is snugly fitted on the body and can be worn underneath clothing. Users select the movement they want from a remote control. A sensor on the chest determines the torso’s angle and guides the legs to move forward or backward to maintain balance.
New How-To Website
From Barnes & Noble comes Quamut.com, a website that offers how-to guides providing credible information in a concise, user-friendly format. The guides are commissioned by Quamut editors, written by experts, fact-checked, copy edited, enhanced with illustrations and photographs, and produced in an easy-to-read format for free viewing online at www.quamut.com. Quamut’s website currently covers more than 1,000 topics, and will add hundreds of new titles each month.
Quamuts are classified under five categories: House & Home, Hobbies & Leisure, Money & Business, Computers & Technology, and Mind & Body. While Quamut.com is based on professionally produced content, Q-Wiki (wiki.quamut.com), a Quamut sister site, enables individuals to make contributions to the content through a wiki platform.
Hulu in General Admission
Nothing good on satellite TV tonight? It’s a common problem in Saudi Arabia. If that’s the case and you’ve got a fast broadband connection give Hulu.com a try. It’s a free ad-supported video site carrying US network television content. Hulu, a joint venture from NBC Universal and News Corp., has also inked deals to carry content from the NBA, Warner Bros. and the NHL, among others.
Power Strip Reduces Electric Costs
From Incasolution Co., Ltd., Korea comes the CheckTap, an energy-saving device designed to reduce or eliminate the consumption of electricity that is wasted when PCs and peripheral devices are on, but not in use. CheckTap lowers energy consumption by automatically cutting off idle equipment without turning off or unplugging a computer and without reducing either the computer’s performance or speed.
CheckTap is the only software-operated product that saves both wasted power in use and standby power. It differs from existing power-saving devices or outlets that only sense the primary power source of connected equipment to turn off related peripherals. A software program called CheckManager, comes on a CD as part of the product package. The program allows CheckTap to deliver automatic power savings with several options, enabling customized consumption control. The program also provides automatic monitoring and generates custom power-saving reports showing CO2 reduction.
The ReWalk employs an innovative, non-robotic design approach that matches the user’s capabilities with the control mechanisms. Upper-body movements of the user are detected and used to initiate and maintain walking processes. User stability and safety during ambulation is secured by concurrent use of safety aids such as crutches for walking and a railing for stairs. The ReWalk exoskeleton is currently undergoing clinical trials, which should be completed by July, with the product ready for general availability in 2009.
