ALICANTE, 24 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Higher Polytechnic School (EPS) of the University of Alicante (UA) has recently acquired an exoskeleton, a technology with “great potential” in the current robotics industry, with the aim of improving the training of future robotics and biomedical engineers and providing them with ” “appropriate and state-of-the-art teaching instruments for the study of rehabilitation robotics”.
Robotic exoskeletons have “great utility” in the clinical field as elements of assistance and movement rehabilitation, as well as in the professional field to help lift heavy weights or for arduous work that requires uncomfortable positions sustained over time, according to indicated the academic institution in a statement.
The professor of the Department of Physics, Systems Engineering and Signal Theory, Andrés Úbeda, has pointed out that the exoskeleton industry has experienced “a great boom” in recent years and has highlighted that it is “a key element in training of future robotics and biomedical engineers.
Specifically, more than 150 students from the UA’s Robotics Engineering and Biomedical Engineering degrees and master’s degrees in Biomedical Engineering and Automation and Robotics will work with the exoskeleton during this academic year to contribute to their scientific and educational future.
In this sense, the UA Higher Polytechnic School, together with the Department of Physics, Systems Engineering and Signal Theory, has taken a “significant step” in innovation and teaching in biotechnology and robotics with the acquisition of the BELK exoskeleton.
“Students trained in this subject will have the ability to join companies in the sector and also undertake their own projects since, being a growing field, the possibilities of developing new devices that adjust to the new needs of the market are high. “, stressed the UA professor.
In addition, he added that they will be able to contribute their knowledge in the field of research related to the use and application of exoskeletons, with the aim of improving current rehabilitation processes and limiting the negative effects of diseases of the neuromuscular system.
The application of exoskeletons in the clinical setting is mainly indicated for patients who have suffered a stroke or spinal cord injury. According to data from the World Stroke Organization medical association, it is estimated that annually about 12.2 million people suffer a stroke and the total number of survivors is approximately 101 million worldwide. In the case of people with spinal cord injury, the figures rise to 250,000 and 500,000 people annually, according to data from the World Health Organization.
“These are the two pathologies with the highest prevalence, although any illness or injury that requires assistance can allow the use of exoskeletons if the conditions are met,” Úbeda stressed.
