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 Before then, UPnRIDE needs to pass two clinical trials, one with the
U.S. veteran association in New York, to help it get regulatory
approval and ensure health insurance companies can assist customers
with the hefty price tag.
The company was founded by Amit Goffer, 63, who created a robotic
exoskeleton at his previous venture ReWalk Robotics that helps
people paralyzed from the waist down to walk.
But Goffer, who has been confined to a wheelchair since an
all-terrain vehicle accident in 1997, has never been able to use his
first invention because his injuries left him with limited function
in his arms
With his new four-wheel chair, which uses a gyroscope similar to
that in a two-wheeled Segway and self-stabilizing software, Goffer
can maneuver upright over uneven urban terrain and join
conversations face to face with people standing up.
"The dignity, self esteem ... to feel like part of society again,
the core of society, not the fringe of society - the psychological
effect is dramatic," Goffer said.
UPRIGHT
For people with serious spinal cord injuries, the act of standing
also helps stave off cardiovascular, respiratory and other problems
that can arise, said Gabi Zeilig, director of the neurological
rehabilitation department at Israel's Sheba Medical Center.
"The (UPnRIDE) idea is fascinating," he said. "There are devices
today to move from one place to another, but for short distances and
never on a sloped ground."
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In the coming weeks, Zeilig will run a clinical trial of the product
while a second study will be done by the U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs in New York, said UPnRIDE Chief Executive Oren Tamari.
He said the key function was UPnRIDE's ability to adjust and
stabilize itself, so no matter what surface angle the device was on,
the user would always be upright, maintaining a steady center of
gravity and minimizing the risk of falling over.
About one percent of the population uses a wheelchair, he said, but
only 10 percent of that group has the sufficient upper body function
to use the ReWalk exoskeleton, so UPnRIDE targets the rest.
High-end wheelchairs cost between $15-50,000, Tamari said, and "our
target is to be somewhere in the middle".
(Editing by David Clarke)
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