Wheelchairs News and Research

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Ekso Bionics, Kessler Foundation partner to test commercial robotic exoskeleton

On Monday, Kessler Foundation became the second rehabilitation research center in the U.S. to implement Ekso, a wearable, robotic battery-powered exoskeleton that allows wheelchair users with lower-extremity weakness to stand and walk.

2 Mar 2012

BrainAble project to offer benefits for people with motor disabilities

In the 2009 film Surrogates, humans live vicariously through robots while safely remaining in their own homes. That sci-fi future is still a long way off, but recent advances in technology, supported by EU funding, are bringing this technology a step closer to reality in order to give disabled people more autonomy and independence than ever before.

28 Feb 2012

New intraoral Tongue Drive System for high-level SCIs

The Tongue Drive System is getting less conspicuous and more capable. Tongue Drive is a wireless device that enables people with high-level spinal cord injuries to operate a computer and maneuver an electrically powered wheelchair simply by moving their tongues.

20 Feb 2012

Mechanical dose of load through muscle force may slow bone loss in SCI patients

Loss of bone density leads to brittle bones that fracture easily. It is a major complication of spinal cord injury (SCI), which affects about 250,000 Americans every year.

17 Feb 2012

Walking With Anthony's campaign to raise money for The CST Regeneration Project

In hopes to find a cure for better and faster healing and to raise awareness of spinal cord injuries, Walking With Anthony is starting an intensive campaign to raise money for The CST Regeneration Project.

16 Feb 2012

Reverse integration and wheelchair athletes playing basketball

Wheelchair basketball: It's a fast, skillful game, dazzling to watch, gruelling to play. It's also a sport that in Canada has become one of the most inclusive, welcoming athletes with disability and able-bodied athletes alike to its leagues and teams. And athletes like it that way.

18 Jan 2012

Defects in mitochondria lead to devastating neurodegenerative disease

A devastating neurodegenerative disease that first appears in toddlers just as they are beginning to walk has been traced to defects in mitochondria, the 'batteries' or energy-producing power plants of cells. This finding by a team of researchers, led by investigators from the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital - The Neuro- at McGill University, was published in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA.

18 Jan 2012

Angioplasty improves quality of life in MS patients

Although using angioplasty to treat multiple sclerosis (MS) is highly controversial, sufferers often insist it helps - in some cases dramatically, such as allowing them to walk without a cane. Patients with less severe MS also reported additional quality of life improvements, such as being able to talk more clearly, after having treatment to open blocked blood vessels in the chest and neck, according to research being presented at the 24th annual International Symposium on Endovascular Therapy.

17 Jan 2012

New research project in rehabilitation

Intelligent wheelchairs that automatically guide you to the correct store while avoiding obstacles, specific colors on the walls and stairs in order to obtain better contrasts which would likely prevent potential falls, personal guides with special training for different types of disabilities- These scenarios could soon become a reality at Place Alexis Nihon due a new ambitious research project in rehabilitation involving some of the best Quebec researchers in this area.

12 Jan 2012

CMS delays two anti-fraud projects

Modern Healthcare reports that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has put on hold its initiative targeting fraud related to power wheelchairs and its expansion of the Recovery Audit Contractors. Georgia Health News reports on how health care fraud has taken root in Georgia.

4 Jan 2012

Kessler scientists monitor Ekso device in six patients with traumatic SCI

Monitored by scientists at Kessler Foundation, six people with traumatic spinal cord injuries tested Ekso, the robotic exoskeleton from Ekso Bionics that enables wheelchair users to stand and walk.

16 Dec 2011

Textile cushions with smart sensor systems for persons confined to bed or wheelchair

Anyone confined to a wheelchair or a bed has to deal with numerous complications. Frequently, they suffer from bedsores or decubitus ulcers as physicians call them. Bony prominences, such as the sacrum, coccyx and ischium, are especially endangered spots. Unrelieved pressure can lead to tissue necrosis. Damage can extend into the periosteum and, at the worst, into bones themselves.

14 Dec 2011

Pending budget cuts could jeopardize health, safety of state's most vulnerable seniors

California's low-income seniors with disabilities are struggling to remain in their homes as public funding for long-term care services shrinks and may be slashed even further, according to a new study by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research conducted with support from The SCAN Foundation.

8 Dec 2011

Life as a couch potato can create new fat in fat cells

Conventional wisdom says that exercise is a key to weight loss - a no-brainer. But now, Tel Aviv University researchers are revealing that life as a couch potato, stretched out in front of the TV, can actually be "active inactivity" - and cause you to pack on the pounds.

2 Dec 2011

Scientists identify MEGF10 defective gene responsible for muscle weakness

An international team of researchers from England and the Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin has presented new findings regarding the function of muscle stem cells, which are published in the current issue of the journal Nature Genetics.

23 Nov 2011

Researchers discover more about function of muscle stem cells

An international team of researchers from Leeds, London and Berlin has discovered more about the function of muscle stem cells, thanks to next-generation DNA sequencing techniques.

20 Nov 2011

Health supplement hope for child muscle disease

A health supplement used by bodybuilders could be the key to treating a life-threatening muscular dystrophy affecting hundreds of Australian children, new research shows.

14 Nov 2011

Study to explore how people with disabilities can better access personal health records

Personal health records have been going electronic, and patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers are learning to navigate the new digital world of health information. Now three institutions are teaming up to discover how a large population—people with disabilities—can best access this information.

8 Nov 2011

Manual wheelchair users can burn up to 120 calories in half an hour

A person who uses a manual wheelchair can burn up to 120 calories in half an hour while wheeling at 2 mph on a flat surface, which is three times as much as someone doing the same action in a motorized wheelchair.

29 Oct 2011

'Heroes of Hope Race for Brain Tumor Research' event to be held on Nov. 6

Veronica Cappalonga, 28, knows a lot about living with cancer. Diagnosed at age 6 with leukemia and at 22 with a malignant brain tumor, the Los Angeles (Mar Vista area) resident will walk in the Nov. 6 Heroes of Hope Race for Brain Tumor Research - not only to help fundraise, but also to show that survivors can fight these diseases with dignity.

29 Oct 2011