EksoGT Exoskeletons are Changing Lives

December 14, 2017, Kitchener, Ontario

Posted by: Robert Deutschmann, Personal Injury Lawyer

Great news for disabled Canadians who have been waiting for progress with exoskeleton use in Canada came late last month. Patients at an Edmonton hospital have been learning to walk again with the EksoGT exoskeleton.

80 people have had the opportunity to be helped in the last three years since it was introduced at Glenrose Rehab hospital. There’s been a lot of focus on Ekso in the rehab industry, and a lot of public focus has been placed on it helping car accident and other traumatic accident patients. I liked this news report because it focussed on a young man with cerebral palsy who at 16 has been using the suit to walk.

CTV news has reported that Hussain Al Hussainy tried the robot-like device to walk. Ekso uses battery power and electronic joints with special software. The device can provide the individual with as much support as they need to walk, with or without crutches. The caveat is that the patient needs to have enough muscle strength to stand.

The devices are becoming more common in Canada, and are providing those disabled people with a new lease on life outside a wheelchair. It is life changing for many of them. The company Ekso Bionics has also developed upper body skeleton supports to help labourers prevent injury to their backs. Ford has begun using the upperbody supports as well to reduce strain on bodies and to reduce injury rates.

You can read about Ekso’s great work and watch a video of the EksoGT in use here.

About Deutschmann de Koning Law

Deutschmann de Koning Law serves South-Western Ontario with offices in Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Woodstock, Brantford, Stratford and Ayr. The law practice of Robert Deutschmann and Nick de Koning focuses almost exclusively in personal injury and disability insurance matters. For more information, please visit www.ddinjurylaw.com or call us at 1-519-742-7774.