An exoskeleton is a complex and sophisticated piece of equipment that can partially compensate for a person’s motor deficiencies in the context of paralysis. Spanish researchers have developed one of these tools by adapting it to the specific needs of patients with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). They report on a real-life experience with a young patient:
- she was 6 years old,
- she suffered from SMA type II with respiratory impairment,
- the exoskeleton was tested at home for two months,
- the result was generally positive, with good tolerance and good control of the machine by the child, despite an initial learning phase.
These encouraging results point to further developments in this field, even if the difficulties inherent in this new technology (size, cost) have not all been resolved.
