ORLANDO, Fla. — Yoshiuyki Sankai, PhD, delivered the first keynote address to kick off the O&P World Congress meeting, here.
Sankai is a professor at the University of Tsukuba, Japan, visiting professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, and chief executive officer for Cyberdyne Inc. Sankai presented brief case overviews on “cybernics,” the fusion of human, machine and information systems developed by Cyberdyne, a company developing robotic technology for physical therapy and mobility assistance for amputees.
Yoshiuyki Sankai
He described a case in which robotic bracing, or the HAL system, helped a 50-year-old polio patient with left leg paralysis to move according to his intentions. Another woman whose left leg was paralyzed due to stroke regained the use of her leg with the HAL system, and walked unassisted 2 months after rehabilitation therapy with the device.
Robotic therapy, Sankai said, affects brain signaling, which has lasting positive effects on disabled patients’ ability to move. The technology also may be used in conjunction with prosthetic devices, Sankai said.
“We are looking for an excellent partner in the United States,” Sankai said, to expand the use of the technology worldwide, citing the recent opening of the HAL neurorehabilitation center in Germany.
Also during the opening ceremony, Thomas Kirk, PhD, president of the American Orthotic & Prosthetic Association spoke to the international flavor of this year’s meeting. He also presented special awards to the meeting’s partners, which include the Amputee Coalition, the Canadian Association for Prosthetics and Orthotics, Con.Fair.Med, Uniting Frontiers, and the United States and Mexico, as national members of the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics.
For more information:
Sankai Y. Keynote. Opening ceremony and general session. Presented at : O&P World Congress. Sept. 18-21, 2013. Orlando, Fla.
Disclosure: Sankai is chief executive officer of Cyberdyne Inc.
