Exoskeletons — motorized mechanical devices attached to a person’s body to help movement — have been a well-liked feature in science fiction movies from Robocop to Iron Man as a way to present someone  superhuman skills.

Ankle exoskeleton. Image Credit: Victoria University

But researchers at Victoria University’s (VU) Institute for Health and Sport are using the concept in real life to assist the elderly or individuals with physical injuries or neurological conditions corresponding to spinal cord damage, stroke, or osteoarthritis improve their mobility. 

As considered one of the few organizations worldwide to mix gait biomechanics, robotics, computational intelligence and wearable sensors, VU has been working for nearly a decade on research that may allow wearable exoskeletons to exchange centuries-old mobility aids corresponding to wheelchairs, walking frames or canes.

Researchers Professor Rezaul Begg and Dr Hanatsu Nagano are currently conducting research with world-leading Japanese company, CYBERDYNE (which anecdotally is the name of a fictional robotics company in Terminator movies) which developed the world’s first wearble cyborg, the Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL) exoskeleton.

How a Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL) Exoskeleton works

HAL identifies and anticipates an impaired person’s residual muscle activation commands as ‘micro-electricity’ through a sensor attached to the wearer, which then operates an external robotic device attached to the non-functioning limb. If attached on an ankle, for instance, it may possibly use the micro-electricity signal to exactly control the exoskeleton’s required timing and ankle movement to walk.

Briefly, it understands the wearer’s intention and assists her or him to breed the intended move.” 

Professor Rezaul Begg

With repeated training, the device could affect a wheelchair-bound patient’s brain neuroplasticity, helping to reconnect signals between their damaged nervous system and limbs to enhance and even restore motor function.

“Using exoskeletons for technology-assisted rehabilitation is already happening world wide,” said Dr Nagano.

“VU’s research with our Japanese partners is laying a foundation for clinical applications in Australia.”

Ultimately, and inside the subsequent five-to-ten years, Dr Nagano foresees a HAL research centre at VU, tailoring exoskeletons to work with the estimated 54,000 wheelchair users in Victoria.

The project received a prestigious grant from the Victorian Government’s Victorian Endowment for Science, Knowledge and Innovation (VESKI). VU can also be working with the University of Tsukuba in Japan on this project.

Watch this video to see a hybrid assistive limb (HAL) exoskeleton in motion.