The Exoskeleton Should Be Measured by the Dependency It Removes

A rehabilitation exoskeleton can help a patient complete hundreds of technically correct steps and leave the care system almost exactly as it found it. The patient may still need the same therapist beside them. The machine may remain inside the same specialised centre. Setup may consume much of the treatment session. The hospital may require more training, maintenance and safety support than it anticipated. Once the patient leaves, the additional walking disappears. The robot moved the legs. It did not move the system. This is the category error holding back rehabilitation exoskeletons. The field continues to ask how much movement a machine can produce. The more important question is what dependence disappears because the machine exists. Dependence on a therapist. Dependence on a caregiver. Dependence on a rehabilitation centre. Dependence on parallel bars, body-weight support or a second staff member. Dependence on a payer willing to approve an expensive capital purchase. An exoskele…

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