It was designed for the military and featured in the movies. Now, a futuristic robotic skeleton could help B.C.’s disabled community.
The wearable technology, which looks like something out of the Robocop movies, arrived in the province in January.
Designed by a Quebec-based company, the Keeogo device is an assistive walking machine aimed at helping people with mobility issues.
“We can see people continue to be active, healthy, exercise and rehabilitate,” said mobility device distributer Graham Plant. “Maybe they can get away from having to use a cane or a wheelchair.”
Targeted at people with multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and other neuromuscular issues, the high-tech device is giving people like Paul Lazenby their legs back.
“It’s fun not to have to think about it,” said Lazenby, as he scaled a flight of stairs that would normally exhaust him.
Suffering from Kennedy’s disease, the Duncan resident is slowly losing control of some muscle movement and is happy to be a trial patient for the new technology.
“What things like this offer is hope. Hope for young people who have neuromuscular diseases that they can move freely if they keep what strength they have left,” he said.
Priced at around $50,000, the futuristic mobility tools don’t come cheap. Because they’re so new, most insurance providers have yet to research them thoroughly.
WorkSafe BC says it is not aware of requests for Keeogo devices, but it is open to investigating anything that could help clients. (Would ‘workers’ work better here? Or does Worksafe BC actually have clients?)
The robotic walking aids are a class one medical device, meaning they could be covered by insurance, much like a wheelchair.
To date, the company HME Mobility and Accessibility, which is distributing the product in B.C., has yet to sell a unit but is in the midst of several patient trials.
