Скачать или смотреть Technology helps the elderly to walk

(30 Jul 2012) LEADIN
A new centre has been opened in Japan to develop cutting edge technology to help the elderly with every day tasks, like walking.
The National Centre for Geriatrics and Gerontology will assess how far robotics research can help improve the health of the country's increasingly elderly population.
STORYLINE:
This group of elderly residents from Obu City in Japan are trying out Honda's Stride Management Assist Device.
The group will participate in a research project organised by Honda and the National Centre for Geriatrics and Gerontology.
The project, due to begin in August, sets out to determine if regular use of a mobility device can help improve the health of elderly people.
The Stride Management Assist Device is a spin-off from the corporation's research in robotics.
The processing software and sensors that allow the device to react to the user's movements in real time are directly linked to knowledge gained through Honda's Asimo project, which developed the world famous promotional dancing robot.
Oikawa Kiyoshi is Chief Engineer at Honda R&D Co.Ltd.
He explains: "We have known that Japan is an ageing society for well over a decade. This project began in 1999 but in 2010, analysing the kind of society that Japan had become we specifically set out to develop technology to meet the needs of an ageing society and that is the main purpose of this project."
He adds: "This is the motor...and it straps around the users waste. We align this part to the users hip. The frame then powers the users legs. Through use of the system, it becomes very easy for elderly people, for example, to walk very easily."
Sunday (July 29) also marked the official opening of the National Centre for Geriatrics and Gerontology.
Geriatrics is the study of disease and illness associated with old age.
Gerontology usually refers to the broader study of the ageing process.
The centre itself can also be seen as part of Japan's attempt to meet the needs of an ageing populace.
Dr. Shimada Hiroyuki leads a section of NCGG known as the Centre for Health Promotion & Geriatric Disease Prevention.
He says: "Elderly people tend to lose the ability to look after themselves and become dependent on care. There are various methods of preventing this situation. This institution sets out to determine which of these methods prove to be the most effective."
The forthcoming research project will be placed into three groups - there will be 80 people per group.
Dr. Shimada Hiroyuki says: "The forthcoming research project will be comprised of three separate elements. Participants will be divided into three groups; the first will be offered advice about health care within the classroom; the second will participate in a walking program and the third will participate in a walking program in which they will use the Assist Device. The purpose of the research will be to determine which of the three programs proves most beneficial to the health of participants."
Researchers are hoping that a comparison of the data collected during the study will show how far the device improves the health of the users.
Kamiya Kiyomi is 72-year-old.
During the last five years she has had several surgical operations on her knees.
This has meant that she seldom walks and as a result the muscles on her legs have deteriorated.
Unable to lift her legs as she used to, she explains how she has developed a tendency to trip over things.
After an initial test, her impression was that use of the device may help prevent her from tripping as it lifts her legs.
78-year-old Nomura Teruo was also enthusiastic about the device.


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