Mize walking with a bionic exoskeleton!!!

[Mize]

I am insanely jealous of amputees. I even know a hero young man who was born without most of his legs and arms who can ambulate better than I can. Still, prosthetics (I do PT at a place that also has prosthetics) are very low tech. They have some cool stuff to trigger lower leg swing and more, but they're missing something that, to me, seems obvious: feedback.

It would be trivial (for example) to fit sensors for heel strike and toe strike that would then stimulate existing nerve endings in the stump. Over time neuroplasticity in the brain would map these as real sensations and the time to acclimate would drop considerably as would gait quality.

On my list for to do someday if someone else doesn't.

 

[Sxotty]

That certainly seems to have potential. Energy storage seems likely problematic in terms of distance, but awesome to see you on your feet.

 

[zed]

https://arstechnica.com/science/201...-three-paralyzed-men-to-walk-with-assistance/

 

[zed]

They're making gains even with total paralyasis
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-49907356

 

[Mize]

Man, life's been crazy the last few months. The latest from the resident gimp is that I did my first handcycle marathon in September and, on the 4-year anniversary of the day I was hit, I raced in the 50-year-old Cleves Time Trial. This race runs every Tuesday night, March through September, with the fastest times of the year winning their age categories. I won that race with a time I posted just a week before I was paralyzed. September was my first time back and the first time anyone did it on a handcycle. I was the slowest time of the night (duh) but they put me down as the night's winner. It was good to be back and to flip the bird at paralysis.

 

[Mize]

In terms of technology, I'm trying to get a demo/trial of a couple "C-brace" units. These are leg braces that use the same microcontroller logic found in the latest prosthetic knees. The idea is that, with two of these and a walker, I might be able to walk (therapeutically, not practically). Would be cool.

 

[rcf]

When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
I wish I had even 10% of your toughness and determination.

 

[homerdog]

We can rebuild him. We have the technology. We can make him better than he was. Better, stronger, faster.

 

[digitalwanderer]

In terms of technology, I'm trying to get a demo/trial of a couple "C-brace" units. These are leg braces that use the same microcontroller logic found in the latest prosthetic knees. The idea is that, with two of these and a walker, I might be able to walk (therapeutically, not practically). Would be cool.

Can I be bloody amazed at the technological advances as well as your perseverance and sheer balls to keep going with all this?!?!

 

[AlNom]

Can I be bloody amazed at the technological advances as well as your perseverance and sheer balls to keep going with all this?!?!

It's aMizing

 

[Mize]

LOL.

Thanks, but what are my options? Certainly there's suicide; that's insanely easy as a paraplegic, btw. Once I came home from the hospital I had my wife move my nightstand firearm (in a safe in a drawer) for fear I'd use it during a depressive bout. But months later it occurred to me that a simple sharp knife would be enough to slice my femoral artery which would mean bleeding out in under 30 seconds. Most people are functionally dead (passed out) within 10 seconds of a major femoral artery slice.

But that's neither here nor there. The point I was trying to make is that life is like a theater with only one movie playing at one time. You might not like the movie, but it's the only one playing so you might as well stick around and see how it ends. If you can get to that line of thinking then you will start to realize that the movie doesn't have a screenplay - it's being written live and you can affect it.

 

[Mize]

We can rebuild him. We have the technology. We can make him better than he was. Better, stronger, faster.

If only. In cycling the best predictor of performance is the athlete's functional threshold power (FTP). This is essentially the maximum power one can output for a full sixty minutes.

As a leg-cyclist, my FTP was 310 watts.

As a handcyclist, my FTP is 90 watts.

There are very few areas where I am improved since paralysis. Those would include listening, empathy, objectivity, generosity and, oddly enough, sensuality. No doubt I'm a far better person for my paralysis as well. That said, I'd take able-bodied in a heartbeat.

 

[digitalwanderer]

"I once lamented I had no shoes, until I met a man with no feet."

 

[homerdog]

If only. In cycling the best predictor of performance is the athlete's functional threshold power (FTP). This is essentially the maximum power one can output for a full sixty minutes.

As a leg-cyclist, my FTP was 310 watts.

As a handcyclist, my FTP is 90 watts.

There are very few areas where I am improved since paralysis. Those would include listening, empathy, objectivity, generosity and, oddly enough, sensuality. No doubt I'm a far better person for my paralysis as well. That said, I'd take able-bodied in a heartbeat.

There is no fucking way I can do 90W for an hour with my legs. I am fat and like cigarettes