By Joann Loviglio
Associated Press
June 30, 2009 04:48 pm
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PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania rehabilitation hospital has started the first U.S. clinical trials of a motorized robotic suit that uses computer sensors to help paralyzed patients stand and walk.
It's called "ReWalk" and it's being tested at Moss Rehabilitation Hospital in Elkins Park outside Philadelphia.
Developers say the device can help paraplegics stand up and walk when they lean forward and move their upper body in different ways. Users must have use of their hands and shoulders to operate it.
The eight-week trials will involve around a dozen patients in all and take roughly a year.
ReWalk was developed in Israel and has been tested on wounded soldiers there.
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Photos
Alysse Einbender, center, a paraplegic for eight years, demonstrates the The ReWalk suit which enables paraplegics to stand, walk, and climb stairs while Dr. Alberto Esquenazi, right, medical director of the MossRehab rehabilitation hospital in Elkins Park, Pa. watches closely Tuesday, June 30, 2009. Einbender is the first participant in the U.S. clinical trial led by Dr. Esquenazi to test the new technology that was developed in Israel. Associated Press