• Since the start of the school year, physiotherapists at the Henry-Gabrielle Hospital have been using a HAL model exoskeleton to teach their patients to walk again.

  • A revolutionary machine capable of multiplying muscle strength by 10.

  • Its particularity compared to other existing models: it is the patient's brain that controls it and not a computer.

Leaning over his walker, Jean-Philippe Lemaître happily hums

I believe I can fly

. Savoring every small step taken. Each of his gestures requires an intense effort of concentration. And what he accomplishes, namely walking, is almost a miracle. During the summer, this 41-year-old Lyonnais had an accident, “pallets” crushed him. “I ended up with a pinch of the spinal cord and several cervicals affected,” he says. He was then diagnosed with incomplete quadriplegia.

Hospitalized for two months at the Henry-Gabrielle hospital in Saint-Genis-Laval near Lyon, he was one of the first patients to test an exoskeleton.

The HAL model, the same as the

2001

computer

, A Space Odyssey

.

The establishment is also the only one in France to have this Japanese robot capable of multiplying muscle strength by 10.

At the rate of three one-hour rehabilitation sessions per week for six weeks, Jean-Philippe has relearned to "get up" and "break down the steps".

"Like a baby," he smiles.

The 23 kg exoskeleton has become "a second skin" that he has patiently learned to put on.

A thought-driven model

“I have made a lot of progress. Today, I hardly feel the machine anymore, ”he says, strolling around the tables. The robot to which he is harnessed allows him to "finish the gestures" that he cannot manage to perform alone. “Unlike other exoskeletons that offer mechanical assistance, this model is guided by thought,” explains Bernard Massenet, rehabilitation manager. Electrodes plugged into the patient's thigh detect muscle contractions, controlled by the brain. Even the weakest of them. "By capturing the intention of the person's movement, the machine will provide the necessary assistance to strengthen the movement and walk," continues Damien Nivesse, also a rehabilitation manager.

If Jean-Philippe says he is “convinced” that the robot has “accelerated” its progress, the medical profession is more careful.

“The primary objective is to obtain an accelerated recovery of the functions of walking.

This system allows the brain to relearn how to use motor skills and improve mobility in the lower limbs.

But, we have too little perspective to draw any conclusions.

We cannot say how much time this can save patients in their rehabilitation, even if the beginnings are promising, ”replies Damien Nivesse.

Perceived as a “complementary tool” to traditional physiotherapy sessions, the HAL exoskeleton is still far from arriving in patients' homes.

One of the brakes?

Its cost, estimated at 219,000 euros.

Use

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