SoylentNews

AnonTechie writes:

A motorized exoskeleton, designed to help paralyzed people walk again, just earned U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. It is the first such device to do so.

The device, called ReWalk, straps on a user's body and helps those with certain spinal-cord injuries to sit, stand, and walk. Users have to wear a backpack to carry the ReWalk's computer and battery. They also have to wear a wrist device with buttons to tell the motorized legs when to stand up, sit down, or start walking. But it's not like users are punching every step into their wrist controllers — ReWalk's legs also respond to movements of the user's torso, so that leaning forward triggers a step.