可穿戴机械：让人类变成钢铁侠

    医疗

    第一款通过美国食品及药品监督管理局（FDA）认证，供家庭和社区使用的外骨骼系统名叫ReWalk，顾名思义，它的用途是帮助半身不遂者重新站起来。这款由以色列公司生产的外骨骼装置，可以通过判断上半身的动作来完成走、停、坐、上下台阶等动作。临床康复是它的主要卖点之一。

    纽约脊椎损伤研究中心（Spinal Cord Damage Research Center）副主任安妮•斯庞根表示，美国约有24万人患有脊椎损伤。在该中心所在地，位于纽约布朗克斯区的退伍军人事务部（Veterans Affairs）里，斯庞根调查了各种外骨骼助步设备的使用情况，其中就包括ReWalk。退伍军人事务部是美国最大的脊椎损伤病人服务机构，为大约22,000名脊椎损伤的退伍军人提供服务（患有这种疾病的退伍军人共42,000名）。

    除了ReWalk之外，也有一些其它平台可以为半身不遂者提供帮助，比如Ekso、Indego和 REX Bionics等公司的产品。斯庞根表示：“我的理念是，不拿这些设备进行相互比较，他们都挺好的，各有各的优势。我们需要这一领域不断向前发展，但愿这些制造商都能够更进一步。”

    第一台ReWalk于今年七月被一名患者买回了家，69,500美元的价格可着实不便宜。ReWalk公司CEO拉里•亚辛斯基表示，他认为这种局面短期内可能不会改变。“我们认为这套系统的定价是合理的，而且还为保险业省了不少成本。”他还表示：“如果生产规模扩大，将有助于利润率的提高，从而有助于我们投入更多研发费用对它进行改进，或开发新的应用。”（本周二，ReWalk Robotics公司向纳斯达克提交了IPO招股书，拟上市融资5,000万美元，该公司的估值也将达到1.88亿美金。ReWalk在上市文件中批露，截至目前，该公司已经卖出了81套外骨骼系统。）

    Medical

    The first medical device to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for home and community use by paraplegics is called the ReWalk, an Israeli-made exoskeleton that takes cues from upper body movements to take steps, stop, and sit down. Clinical rehabilitation is one of its major selling points.

    There are something like 240,000 people with spinal cord damage in the U.S., says Anne Spungen, associate director of the Spinal Cord Damage Research Center in New York. Spungen has investigated the uses of exoskeletal walking devices, including the ReWalk, at the Veterans Affairs facility in the Bronx where the center is located. The VA is the largest provider of services to people with spinal cord injury in the United States, serving approximately 22,000 of the 42,000 veterans with the injuries.

    There are several other platforms for paraplegics besides the ReWalk, including the Ekso, Indego, and REX Bionics. “My motto is not to compare these devices to each other. They are all good in some way,” Spungen says. “We need the field to advance. We need them all to come forward.”

    The first patient took a ReWalk home in July. It’s not cheap. The price for one is $69,500, and ReWalk CEO Larry Jasinski says he doesn’t expect that to change anytime soon. “We believe the system pricing is fair and that it is a net cost-saver to the insuring community,” he says. “Scale will help margins which will allow more focus or spending on R&D for improvements and new applications.” (On Tuesday, ReWalk Robotics set the terms for a $50 million IPO on Nasdaq, valuing the company at $188 million. In its filing, it revealed that it has sold 81 systems to date.)