Myosuit Exoskeleton Developments
The Myosuit is an exoskeleton designed to assist leg movement. It integrates textile elements worn around the waist and shoulders with lightweight plastic components and small motors. Power from these motors is transmitted via cables, supporting leg muscles and tendons, and providing external assistance for hip and knee joints. The system aims to reduce the effort required to move against gravity.
Built-in sensors continuously measure the wearer's exerted force, allowing the robot to adapt and provide a precise amount of additional force. This adaptability enables the Myosuit to assist patients recovering from conditions such as stroke or spinal cord injuries, potentially increasing the intensity of physiotherapy exercises and promoting motor function restoration. The Myosuit is designed for ease of use, allowing it to be worn at home and outdoors, which can help individuals with lower limb impairment climb stairs, walk longer distances, and participate more fully in social activities.
Potential beneficiaries also include patients with muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, or heart failure. Research, including a joint study by Riener and Charité University Hospital in Berlin, suggests robot-assisted movement systems can help individuals with heart failure combat physical weakening due to reduced activity.
An example cited is a patient who, previously reliant on a wheelchair and limited to walking 100 meters, can now walk several kilometers with the Myosuit and completed 6 kilometers of the Zurich Marathon.
Magnetically Guided Bacteria for Cancer Therapy
Another medical advancement involves minuscule robot-like applications, specifically magnetically guided bacteria developed by Simone Schürle's Medical Microsystems Lab at ETH Zurich for cancer therapy.
A significant challenge in cancer drug development is the insufficient delivery of active ingredients to tumors or metastases, which often causes clinical trial failures or severe systemic side effects. The research proposes using bacteria as carriers for therapeutic agents. These bacteria can transport drugs directly to the tumor site, aiming to reduce the overall spread of drugs throughout the body and mitigate potential side effects.