Robot suit helps children with cerebral palsy to walk better

If you are a child with the most common childhood physical disability, cerebral palsy, there is only a 50 per cent chance that you will still be able to walk as an adult. Robotic exoskeletons may just be about to change that. Some clinics already have bulky robotic devices that support children with cerebral palsy so they can practise walking. But these are usually attached to a ceiling pulley system and so cannot be used at home. The new device, developed at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland, is completely mobile.