Rehab Technologies Lab recently unveiled a new robotic exoskeleton, Twin, designed for lower limbs to allow patients with spinal cord injuries to walk independently. Although Twin is currently a prototype, the company will work towards getting CE mark to bring it to the market to help patients with physical impairments integrate back into social and work environments.
Wandercraft SAS broadened its U.S. FDA clearance for the Atalante X to include rehabilitation in individuals with spinal cord injuries at levels T5 to L5. The self-balancing exoskeleton was already given the greenlight by the FDA for use in stroke rehabilitation in December 2022. “We are thrilled to have two FDA clearances, first for stroke and now spinal cord injury, in less than a year,” CEO Matthieu Masselin, told BioWorld.
Rewalk Robotics Ltd. has integrated advanced sensing technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) into its latest exoskeleton prototype to enable autonomous decisionmaking. This milestone, coupled with Rewalk’s capabilities, holds enormous potential to create a new generation of exoskeletons that are more intuitive and respond to real-world conditions that users encounter daily, Rewalk CEO Larry Jasinski told BioWorld.
Wandercraft SAS has begun commercial operations of its exoskeleton, Atalante X, in the U.S., offering another solution to the millions of people living with mobility impairments. The company also formed a partnership with the Kessler Foundation whose research team will investigate the possible benefits of the Atalante X for neurologically impaired patients, including those recovering from stroke, spinal cord injuries and motor neuron disease.
With many of the big names in med tech focused on streamlining their portfolios and spinning off divisions as independent companies, M&A activity sputtered through most of 2022. As the year comes to a close, however, deal volume has increased, with a strong trend toward acquisitions of closely related companies and units that bolstered higher-growth product lines and offered short cuts to filling in significant gaps in portfolios.
In a move that put Ekso Bionics Holdings Inc. on a path to walk over other firms developing exoskeletons, the company acquired the Human Motion and Control (HMC) business unit from Parker Hannifin Corp. The deal expands Ekso’s lower-limb exoskeleton line to include the Indego Personal and Indego Therapy devices, which like its own exoskeleton platform, help patients recovering from stroke or spinal cord injuries walk again. The transaction also includes the development of related robotic-assisted orthotic and prosthetic devices.
Ekso Bionics Holdings Inc. added a new indication for its robotic Eksonr exoskeleton with a U.S. FDA 510(k) clearance for use of the mobility device in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). The green light for MS follows clearances for stroke and spinal cord rehabilitation in 2016 and acquired brain injury (ABI) in 2020.
Ekso Bionics Holdings Inc. has received a green light from the U.S. FDA to market its Eksonr robotic exoskeleton for use with patients with acquired brain injury (ABI). The company said it is the first exoskeleton product to receive the agency's nod for rehabilitation use with ABI, allowing a broader patient population to access the device. This is good news for Richmond, Calif.-based Ekso, which, like many other device companies, saw its earnings off during the first quarter.
