The exoskeletons, which allow patients suffering from brain or spinal cord injuries to relearn how to walk, will be rolled out in every department from July, Emmanuel Macron announced on Thursday.
“We made the decision (…) to have at least two per department. The financing (from the State, editor’s note) has already been decided, it will be deployed as of July,” said the president, accompanied by his wife Brigitte and four ministers, during a visit to the Station Debout promenade center that has a copy of this team in Paris.
It is a robot that wraps the legs, pelvis and chest and helps paraplegics reproduce the movement of walking, without cane or crutches.
The Head of State attended a demonstration of an exoskeleton on a 22-year-old soldier from the 1st Tarbes Parachute Hussar Regiment, a paraplegic since he jumped on a mine in Mali.
Long-term goal: deployment in city care
The equipment will initially be deployed in Departmental Medical and Rehabilitation Centers (SMR), with the aim of eventually extending its use to outpatient care as well.
It will also be deployed within the Armed Forces Health Service, which currently only has one copy in its functional rehabilitation structure at Les Invalides, Emmanuel Macron announced,
Wandercraft, the French start-up designer of the model presented to the president, has a factory project that must be financed under the France 2030 plan.
The question of social security coverage
Emmanuel Macron was also presented with a rowing machine that allows, thanks to electrostimulation, to rebuild muscle capacities, in particular after accidents, as well as a virtual reality treadmill.
Professor Pierre-François Pradat, president of the Institute for Research on the Spinal Cord and Brain (IRME), advocated for the reimbursement of these expenses covered by Social Security.
“The exoskeleton allows plasticity of the nervous system, reproduces the gait pattern (…) There is also an essential aspect of prevention against osteoporosis, etc.”, he observed.
Source: BFM TV
