Passive Exoskeleton for Children with Neuromuscular Disorders

Project Summary/Abstract Rush River Research (RRR) Corporation proposes to develop and commercialize a novel passive exoskeleton that helps young children with very little residual strength to use their arms. The proposed orthosis could help the over 500,000 children with many different neuromuscular disorders including muscular dystrophy, spinal muscular atrophy, cerebral palsy, arthrogryposis multiplex congenital (AMC), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, multiple sclerosis, brachial plexus injury, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, stroke and partial paralysis. Currently there are very few commercially available orthosis options to allow many of these young children to use their arms in a meaningful way. The new design is based on years of experience with custom prototype designs that have helped these children use their arms to feed themselves, raise their hand in class, open a book, and use a computer. The proposed design will improve on the ease of use, cost, comfort, aesthetic appearance, and ability to be widely distributed.Project Narrative There are millions of children with neuromuscular disorders that cause debilitating weakness in the arms and shoulders making everyday tasks nearly impossible. The proposed gravity balancing exoskeleton allows these children to use their arms which empowers them to do daily tasks such as feed themselves, reach for their toys, put on their socks, blow bubbles and hug the people they love.