The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs announced that it will be paying the cost of robotic legs for qualified veterans who are paralyzed with spinal cord injuries. The policy becomes the first in the U.S. and particularly significant for disabled veterans who cannot afford the $77,000 price of the robotic exoskeleton called ReWalk.
Authorities revealed that a memorandum was already circulated last week detailing plans to train staff for the ReWalk initiative, Associated Press reported. The number of army veterans who are paralyzed because of war injuries is estimated to be around 42,000. It is not yet known how many of these are eligible for the wearable robotic legs.
"The research support and effort to provide eligible veterans with paralysis an exoskeleton for home use is a historic move on the part of the VA because it represents a paradigm shift in the approach to rehabilitation for persons with paralysis," Dr. Ann Spungen, head of the VA team that conducted research on the system, said in a Military Times report.
The electronic leg technology was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last 2014. It was designed by Amit Goffer, an Israeli entrepreneur who was also paralyzed in an accident in 1997, Haaretz reported.
Aside from the ability to walk, the ReWalk robotic legs help disabled users to have better bowel and bladder functions, as well as significantly reduced back pains, fatigue and poor sleeping patterns.
