France: Wandercraft, the start-up which aims to expand the exoskeleton
Audio 01:14
An exoskeleton allowing the use of additional arms.
Aberloff Laboratory MIT
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
Emmanuel Macron announced a plan to promote French industry and businesses by 2030. Among them, those of “deep tech”.
These start-ups offer breakthrough solutions to the challenge of the 21st century, such as the company Wandercraft which markets an exoskeleton.
This innovation is a hope for patients who can no longer walk.
Report from the company's premises, in the heart of Paris.
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It is almost a miracle.
Kévin Piet, a paraplegic for ten years, gets up and walks.
But this miracle is technological.
If he stands up, it is thanks to an exoskeleton.
This system external to the body, either biomechanical or motorized, provides physical assistance to its user.
It can be used by a person suffering from a mobility problem, such as Kévin Piet or by an employee subjected to a significant physical load, for example.
The all-black machine and Kévin Piet are one.
His torso, legs and feet are held by straps.
And it is an algorithm which, according to its morphology, allows it to move forward.
He works for Wandercraft and tests the device regularly.
“
I only have benefits for the muscle tone of my trunk,” he
explains.
I
was more comfortable in a wheelchair, straighter, less stooped ... And in fact, we realized, by dint of standing, that my muscles were stretched and suddenly I reduced my treatment .
"
A tool not widely used for the moment
At the moment, the exoskeleton is only used in hospitals.
The CHU Henri Mondor in Créteil has one.
"
This especially allows patients who are bedridden for a very long time, as soon as they arrive in the department, to be able to be upright quickly, and above all to be trained to walk,
" says Caroline Colas, doctor in the rehabilitation department.
Mathieu Vasselin is president of the
company
.
The idea for this tool came from an injustice: "
It is not normal that in the 21st century, at a time when rockets are sent into space, we are not able to give back solutions to get back on their feet to people who want to
”.
So far, the company produces ten models per year.
With the objective of leaving four times more in a few years.
►
Also to listen:
Augmented Man / Repaired Man: the Exoskeleton
►To go further:
the
Exosquelette
dossier from INRS, the National Research and Safety Institute for the Prevention of Workplace Accidents and Occupational Diseases (INRS)
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