Paraplegia is a condition that occurs after a spinal cord or brain injury. When someone suffers this injury, they are either partially or completely paralyzed from the waist down. Since there is no cure for the injury, patients have to undergo a process of treatments (usually involving physical therapy) to improve their function and motion capabilities. One type of assistive device that has been recently developed are exoskeletons. Exoskeletons are devices designed to aid or improve human movement, and can be of great help to people with paraplegia. They can be used both for therapy and everyday life, improving living conditions for people. Since current exoskeletons are very expensive (~$80,000), our team decided to create our own design that is more accessible to the general population. Our group’s exoskeleton is capable of lifting a 200lb human, and supporting the motions of walking, sitting, and standing.

• This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

Creator

• Hersum, Alek
• Ferrua Elmudesi, Ricardo
• Waterman, Jack
• Habboosh, Dina
• Chapins, Zachary

Subject

• Inclusion
• Health

Publisher

• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Identifier

• E-project-042822-161139
• 65846

Keyword

• Assistive
• Lower Limb
• Exoskeleton
• Paraplegia
• Robot

Advisor

• Bhatia, Mehul A.
• Fischer, Gregory S.
• Skorinko, Jeanine LM

Year

• 2022

Date created

• 2022-04-28

Resource type

• Major Qualifying Project

Major

• Mechanical Engineering
• Biomedical Engineering

Rights statement

• In Copyright