[electronic music]
Until you have a sprained ankle or torn ACL,
most of us go about our lives
without even thinking about walking.
Cerebral palsy is caused by an injury to the brain
or central nervous system around the time of birth.
Cerebral palsy often results in abnormal walking pattern.
The goal of this research project is to definitively
demonstrate that simple, lightweight, wearable robots
can improve walking efficiency
in children with cerebral palsy.
Our goal is to use this as a training tool
so that one day they can walk without it.
[driving electronic music]
[somber piano music]
When Jackson was born,
he was three pounds and eleven ounces.
Times would come for Jackson to maybe start to crawl,
or to walk, and he just wouldn't.
Looking back, I can see that those were signs
of cerebral palsy, but we didn't know
that he had that at the time.
I noticed when we were playing on the playground,
my friends were faster than me,
because my legs are kind of still recovering
from my last surgery I had.
There are three primary standard of care treatments.
The first is a highly invasive orthopedic surgery;
while effective at reducing the most severe cases,
it doesn't solve the issue.
By demonstrating the utility of this technology,
we may be able to design these early interventions.
That's what we're going for right now with this study.
The Biomechatronics Lab is a lab that I started
here on campus about a year ago.
Here, in my lab, we're designing pediatric-specific
wearable devices, so pediatric exoskeletons.
Wearable robotics are powered devices that augment
human function, so they're used to improve performance,
improve mobility, they can enhance rehabilitation;
basically, anything that works synergistically
with the human is a wearable robot.
So for our design, we focus on making it
as lightweight as possible.
What this means is we kind of sacrifice
some of the modularity.
The set-up time required is increased,
because everything's so customized.
Without that customization, it's very likely
that we're making walking more difficult.
It amazes me, because this is an exceedingly
simple system: everything about it is very basic,
yet it is effective.
Be close to zero. Okay.
Now you see, it works. How much time?
Yeah, two minutes.
We are ready.
We have a walk with the assisted device
providing a certain level of assistance,
and we repeat the process while we change how much
assistance we're providing.
We're measuring how the body moves,
but also how much energy the body is consuming.
We measure that by the face mask, so we can record
how much oxygen someone is breathing,
how much CO2 they're producing.
We use motion-capture cameras and reflective markers
to quantify how their joints are moving.
Starting new capture.
All right, now we're walking back, nice job.
Alright, get ready, Jackson.
We're going to slow you down in three, two, one.
There you go, alright.
It's good to be Superman, huh?
How're you doing? How'd that one feel?
Was it rough, or was it okay?
It was okay.
It's really important for us to come up with a solution
that will span across this continuum of walking ability.
We have three participants partaking in
the study right now.
One of them is Jackson, and we have Waylon.
These two participants are partaking in the study
so we can answer this early intervention question.
So, how young would the use
of a wearable robotic device make sense?
Really, we want to come up with a solution that has utility
for young children who are still able to walk
relatively normally, as well as for older individuals
like Mariah, who have more trouble walking.
Unfortunately, cerebral palsy is a condition
with no known cure, and there's really no anticipated cure.
But what we are trying to do is make it possible
for someone with cerebral palsy to live a more normal,
or ideally a completely normal, life.
In 10 years, I think wearable exoskeletons
will be not only increasing the mobility,
how they navigate around their community,
but also in improving their underlying functions.
So that, one day, they can walk without it.
They don't have their choice
that they were born with cerebral palsy or not,
but we have a responsibility, I think, to them
to make it the best life possible.
I think one of the greatest things that Jackson
has taught be about life is that nothing's too hard.
And that even when you have things that hold you back
or set you back, that that doesn't mean
you can get any less out of life.
[energetic electronic music]