There is now a way to prevent common elderly falls using a motorized robot to help support the user when needed. A robotic harness can change the lives of fall-risk elderlies. (Photo via NTU Singapore)
According to the World Health Organization, falls are one of the leading causes of unintentional injury death worldwide, with adults over the age of 60 having the greatest number of falls. Scientists at the Nanyang Technical University in Singapore are looking to change those numbers. Researchers there have created a high-tech harness that can attach itself to a patient and prevent falls/injuries. Looking like an upright wheelchair, the Mobile Robotic Balance Assistant- or MRBA (Mr. Bah) for short- can change the lives of most fall-risk patients. It attaches itself to the user and can assist them with daily activities such as standing and sitting, walking, getting dressed, performing simple chores, etc.
So how does it work? MRBA uses built in sensors to instantly detect when the user is off balance. Once it notices this, it uses a safety harness that is attached to the wearer to hold them upright. It also comes with a depth-perceiving camera to watch how the user is moving and then uses its programmed algorithms to estimate the anticipated movements that the user will make that may cause them to become unbalanced or cause any future falls. With this advanced technology, the user can rest easy knowing that the MRBA will do its job correctly and catch them should anything happen.
MRBA doesn’t only have to be limited to the elderly either. It can be used to help rehabilitate patients that are going through physical therapy to gain back strength in their bodies. By using this balance assistant, patients can rest easy knowing that their movements are being monitored for fall risks and that the chances of them re-injuring themselves during recovery can go down significantly.
Just in clinical trials alone, MRBA was able to assist both elderly patients, survivors of strokes and brain/spinal cord injury, in everyday activities such as standing, sitting, walking, and balance support! The whole point of MRBA is to empower patients to gain strength back, feel confident in their abilities now, and to provide a safe space for users to get through their everyday lives without the fear of injury.
The MRBA comes in three separate models: two different models that support users of different weights (from 80 kilograms to 120 kilograms) and a third model to aid users in more dexterous movements. The variety of these models will provide access to a span of different users that are in need of a balance system like MRBA.
The largest challenge of a project like is, of course, the cost. There is about $4 million of funding needed just to get started with the product and, after that, they would need millions more to even get the device on the market. This means that we could be waiting awhile before we see anything like MRBA out in the world at all. Until then, we will have to continue to think about the ways robotic therapies/ tools like this can help countless people in the future.
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