Science Fiction Dictionary
A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

 

Medical Exoskeleton From Cyberdyne Gets FDA Approval

Cyberdyne, a Japanese company, has finally received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to actually sell it's HAL-5 Robot Suit, which I've reported on for the last 12 years.


(HAL exoskeleton - learn more)

The version of HAL that the FDA has approved is called HAL for Medical Use, and it's designed to help people with lower limb disabilities get better at walking on their own. There are other exoskeletons that help rehabilitate people through physical walking motions, but HAL is unique in the way that it relies on a mixture of voluntary control and autonomous control, using the wearer's own nervous system to signal the robot when and how to move. According to Cyberdyne, this makes the rehabilitation process more effective, because it's not just the robot moving— it's you.

Medical exoskeletons are not just science fiction. Read this excerpt from Fritz Leiber's 1968 novel A Specter is Haunting Texas, in which a man who grew up in a microgravity environment visited Earth:

This truly magnificent, romantically handsome, rather lean man was standing on two corrugated-soled titanium footplates. From the outer edge of each rose a narrow titanium T-beam that followed the line of his leg, with a joint (locked now) at the knee, up to another joint with a titanium pelvic girdle and shallow belly support. From the back of this girdle a T-spine rose to support a shoulder yoke and rib cage, all of the same metal. The rib cage was artistically slotted to save weight, so that curving strips followed the line of each of his very prominent ribs.
(Read more about Leiber's titanium exoskeleton

Via IEEE Spectrum.

Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 1/15/2018)

Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.

| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |

Would you like to contribute a story tip? It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add it here.

Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )

Related News Stories - (" Robotics ")

Your Window For Being A Tesla Optimus Remote Operator May Be Closing
'... he realized that the moving thing inside was - of course - a robot.' - James Blish, 1957.

Waymo Autonomous Cab Hits Autonomous Delivery Robot
'Not since the time he rewired the delivery robot...' - Robert Heinlein, 1962.

Jizai Arms 'Free Limbs' Wearable Cyborg Arms
'Guy named Otto Octavius winds up with eight limbs. Four mechanical arms welded right onto his body. What are the odds?'

SwagBot Robotic AI Cattle-Herding From Down Under
You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me!

 

Google
  Web TechNovelgy.com   

Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.

 

 

 

 

Science Fiction Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's   1950's
1960's   1970's
1980's   1990's
2000's   2010's

Current News

Stargate $500 Billion Investment in Artificial Intelligence
'... an artificial intelligence equal to the human.'

Jetson Orin Nano Super 70 Just $249
'Rayno folded up the microterm and tucked it back inside his jumper.'

Nano-Chainmail 2D Mechanically Interlocked Polymer
'Nemourlon armor of reasonable weight resists penetration by most fragments and any bullet that is not both reasonably heavy and fairly high-velocity.'

Anker's SOLIX Solar Umbrella Portable Power
As predicted by science fiction thirty-five years ago!

Positioned Cybertrucks With Free Starlinks WiFi In LA
'Several thousand of them formed the positioning grid on the rubble pile.'

AI-THu Shapeshifting Transformer Home
'Its slack walls tightened, bulged, were crossed by ripples and waves of movement.'

Xiaomi Self-Driving Self-Balancing Scooter
'Norman... had never ridden any motorized device that lacked onboard steering and balance systems.'

Transparent 4K OLED Wireless TV From LG
You will note that HG Wells also figured out the aspect ratio of the future!

TSA 2 - Advanced Thermosensory Stimulator Is A Dune Pain Box
'As though a switch had been turned off, the pain stopped...'

Humans Love Helping Other Species
'At the ringside opposite them a table had been removed to make room for a large transparent plastic capsule on wheels.'

Organic Non-Planar 3D Printing
'It makes drawings in the air following drawings...'

Your Window For Being A Tesla Optimus Remote Operator May Be Closing
'... he realized that the moving thing inside was - of course - a robot.'

Waymo Autonomous Cab Hits Autonomous Delivery Robot
'Not since the time he rewired the delivery robot...'

Amazing Wheel Shapeshifting In Real Time
'Each spoke telescopes into sections.'

Drone With Face Recognition Could Hunt You
'The spotter descends, and we think it searches the vicinity, looking for the victim’s face...'

Jizai Arms 'Free Limbs' Wearable Cyborg Arms
'Guy named Otto Octavius winds up with eight limbs. Four mechanical arms welded right onto his body. What are the odds?'

More SF in the News Stories

More Beyond Technovelgy science news stories

Home | Glossary | Invention Timeline | Category | New | Contact Us | FAQ | Advertise |
Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™

Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved.