San Sebastián (EFE).- Danela is 4 years old and has cerebral palsy. Along with fourteen other Gipuzkoan children, she participates in a pilot program with the first pediatric exoskeleton to arrive in the Basque Country.
It is an experience that is already bringing benefits to him, because according to his mother, he now “eats better” and “sleeps better”.
First pediatric exoskeleton
“She is very happy. She has been very noticeable on a motor level and on a physical level as well. As a family, it is being a very beautiful experience ”, Aran Antoñana, mother of little Danela, said this Monday, who has shown in San Sebastián how with the help of this exoskeleton she can stand up and walk.
The CSIC Atlas 2030 model, the first in the world. EFE/Kiko Huesca
The test took place at the Aspace facilities, where the Atlas 2030 pediatric exoskeleton was presented, the first model in the world, patented by the Higher Council for Scientific Research and developed by the company Marsi-Bionics, founded by the CSIC researcher Elena Garcia Armada.
This electromechanical and intelligent ingenuity has obtained the “CE marking” and the authorizations of the European Medicines Agency, which will allow it to begin to generalize its use in hospitals and rehabilitation clinics.
The first to arrive in the Basque Country has been purchased by Aita Menni, which has had the collaboration of the Gipuzkoa Provincial Council and Aspace to develop a 24-week pilot program, presented this Monday to the media.
Danela and her mother have been accompanied by the deputy general of Gipuzkoa, Markel Olano; the regional head of Social Policies, Maite Peña; the managing director of Aita Menni, Mikel Tellaeche, and the rehabilitation doctor of Aspace, Carolina Lancho.
Fifteen children in the Gipuzkoan program
The fifteen children who have participated in the program since October 2022 have had four weekly sessions for six weeks, although the last of the three groups into which the study has been divided has not yet finished treatment.
It is also expected that a fourth group will be set up in the coming weeks, also with five children, so that this innovative project reaches around twenty children between the ages of 4 and 13 who cannot walk independently.
After the completion of the pilot test, the conclusions will be drawn to decide if the treatment is extended to other children.
Carolina Lancho explained that she welcomed the experiment with “expectation”, since it is about “knowing the future”.
“It can help children a lot in their emotional, motor skills, in social relationships, health… It has a lot of benefits,” he stressed.
Do not set “very high” expectations
He has warned that “we must not create very high expectations”, but even if you have to go “with lead feet”, in the center they are “very happy” and “the families too” to see “how the exoskeleton helps children who they cannot move”, who also enjoy the “benefit, the right, to stand up and move around”.
Markel Olano has also referred to the need to “not generate overwhelming expectations in the short term”, but has applauded the arrival of this “instrument” that will contribute to the “individualized personal development” of these boys.
The deputy general has highlighted that the social model in which the foral institution works “focuses on the person and is very innovative”.
“We are reinforcing it day by day among all the parties involved: the administrations, together with the social entities and the community itself. The best example of this is the initiative presented today”, he underlined.