Create a robotic artificial leg that can "read" brain signals

A Japanese robotics company has created an artificial leg to interpret brain signals and move according to their orders, allowing the user to walk in a "fluid," Efe reported today to company sources.

Tokel device, developed by the company Cyberdyne, is the same technology used in 2008for the revolutionary robot suit named HAL, a kind of cyber armor that allows ease of movement for the elderly and physically handicapped.

"The first robot is the same. The leg system has sensors that can read signals from the brain," explained a spokesman for the company, Mitsuhiro Sakamoto.

When the sensors detect that the brain sends the order to the leg movement, small engines in the artificial limb move automatically the mechanisms of the knee and ankle.

The artificial leg enables patients to walk naturally without the aid of crutches, the company said.

It is expected that the device is marketed in about four years, according to Cyberdyne, a company founded by engineer Japan Yoshiyuki Sankai.

In addition, the company plans to apply the same principles to manufacture robotic artificial limbs orthopedic purposes.

So far the company's flagship product was the robot suit HAL, which enhances the physical capabilities of human body and is intended for patients with muscle problems or physical disabilities.

Source: EFE News
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