Robotic brace could make knee pain a thing of the past

Speaker 1: If you're one of the millions of people who suffer from knee pain, you'll know it can be debilitating. This is the ascend from Rome robotics, and it's a wearable robot that can help relieve your pain and maybe help you avoid surgery. Speaker 2: Exoskeletons are literally stepping out of superhero movies into the real world. Remember Bruce Wayne's knee brace in the dark night rises [00:00:30] While the ascend won't help you kick through walls, but this smart AOSIS can help people with osteoarthritis and knee injuries, regain mobility and relief of pain. This is Tim swift, CEO of Rome robotics. Who's gonna show us how it works Speaker 3: When a customer comes in and decides to, uh, get ascend and consultation with their doctor, then they'll be custom fabricated for them. This is really kind of the core of, of what ascend, uh, is, is, uh, this actuation unit. Um, there's [00:01:00] a, a novel actuate that lives inside here that uses air and woven fabrics. They're showing about 46% reduction in perceived pain for these customers. Uh, and about two thirds of them are seeing a functional improvement as a result. Speaker 2: Now it's time to try it on. I'll be wearing a demo unit that's strict to me, but the actual is made to each wear as specifically the measurements and weighs about two and a half pounds. Speaker 4: [00:01:30] So now we're ready to introduce the smart pack to you. Um, so I'm gonna go ahead and help you put it on here. It's worn just like a normal backpack. There is a waist strap. If you'd like to attach that around your waist for a little extra security. And then, and there's the connector. This is what connects the power source in the smart pack to the actual device. Um, it is a magnetized connector, so it's very easy to, uh, insert, um, to undo it. It's just a press and pull Speaker 2: This remote, lets the wearer control the level of support and activity mode like walking [00:02:00] or sitting. You'll get up to two hours of run time from a smart pack depending on what you're doing. So let's put it to the test. Speaker 5: Woo. It's really hard to see Speaker 1: We get that. Speaker 1: All right. Lincoln park steps. Here we go. Okay. Oh it's oh, okay. I could, I can feel it giving me some support on this leg [00:02:30] right underneath here behind my thigh. And it feels, it does feel like someone's just like gently lifting up. So, uh, I do feel like it's taking the pressure out of my quadricep and out of my knee as well. All right. I'm gonna walk back up, go for it and see what this feels like. Oh, it's like literally giving me a boost. I can feel it assisting me. Well, that was easy. Now let's [00:03:00] try something more challenging sitting. Speaker 3: So we'll go ahead and take this and um, place it into, into the mode for sitting. And now I'm gonna go ahead and turn it on. Okay. Okay. I'll go ahead and hold this. Okay. Sure. Cause what I'm gonna do is I'm actually gonna shut it off on you, uh, as you are going down so you can, so you can feel it the same Speaker 1: Way. So you, you like to play pranks. Uh, this is exactly what we're doing. Okay. All right. That sounds good. All right. Let's see. So Speaker 3: We're gonna go down. So you're gonna go down, just sit and relax into it up. Yeah. Speaker 1: This is a very relaxing position right Speaker 3: Here. And, and [00:03:30] then when we kill it, see, at this point I felt it off you fall Speaker 1: Into it. Yeah. Like it, so it was holding me right here and then it went off and I was like, oh yeah, no more support. Okay. Well, Speaker 3: So then at this point, and it's Speaker 1: Not that comfortable for an extended period of time, it doesn't look very good either. So oh. And it's back on again. Speaker 3: Oh nice. So then when the Tor comes back in, it has definitely got enough toque to kind of move you around. Speaker 1: So it, it actually could give me a boost out of that squat position. Cause I did. Yeah. But there it's a little noisy. Tell me about the actual finished version [00:04:00] or the version that customers Speaker 3: Will get. Yeah. So this is a, this is kind of a first production prototypes and device. Like this is gonna run kind of like a fairly loud dishwasher is what you're hearing. Uh, the end unit they're gonna run. What sounds more like a fridge? Uh, so 55 decibels is kind of the normal operating Speaker 1: Levels. So I can't really be sneaky with the on like people are gonna definitely keep you Speaker 3: Coming. Not in its current configuration. Yes. For most of our customers, they're looking for support on activities of day living. So we're targeting things like in [00:04:30] and outta chairs up and down steps level, ground walking. Speaker 1: Well lucky for you, Mitch, who has experienced knee pain, who is filming at the moment he is gonna put on the ascend because it's all well and good that I tell you about this as someone who doesn't experience knee pain, but someone with knee pain is actually gonna give you the low down. So Mitch, you're on the spot. I'm gonna put it on you right now. Let's go. He's ready. [00:05:00] So Mitch, how does this actually feel to you Speaker 6: Now? Uh, it feels really good. I can feel the assist definitely. Uh, when I didn't have it on, uh, there was pain in my knee and now I don't feel it. And in fact it feels like somebody's pushing or assisting my knee. Speaker 1: Interesting. Yeah. Tell me a little bit about why you would potentially want to use something like this. Speaker 6: Yeah, so I tore my [00:05:30] ACL many years ago. I had it fixed, but like all things, the repairs started to deteriorate in my knee. And so now my knee is a little loose so I can walk fine. And, and it's just a matter of time when going upstairs or doing something, getting out of car, whatever, and it starts to swell up and it starts to hurt when we walked up with it. I didn't feel that pain anymore. I didn't feel any discomfort. Speaker 1: So you're probably wondering where you can get your hands on an ascend. If you do have [00:06:00] knee pain and how much it costs. Well, if you're in the San Francisco bay area, you can contact Rome, robotics, and they'll do a fitting and you can do a trial run. If you are outside of the bay area, then do get in touch because they will be rolling it out far and wide very soon. And it might actually be eligible under your in insurance plan or under Medicare, but the full retail price is $7,000. All right. I'm just gonna test this out now and uh, do some more squats or walk down the steps first [00:06:30] Sounds. Uh, uh, no, it's just, that's funny. I wasn't expecting it to.