%0 Journal Article
%T Major trends in mobility technology research and development: Overview of the results of the NSF-WTEC European study
%A David J Reinkensmeyer
%A Paolo Bonato
%A Michael L Boninger
%A Leighton Chan
%A Rachel E Cowan
%A Benjamin J Fregly
%A Mary M Rodgers
%J Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation
%D 2012
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1743-0003-9-22
%X Mobility technology plays a critical role in millions of people's lives: consider the impact of a wheelchair on an individual who cannot walk, or of a prosthetic leg on a person with an above- knee amputation, or of a hip replacement on a person who has become sedentary because of the pain associated with joint degeneration. In each case, the technology transforms the person's life because it allows him or her to participate much more fully in desired life activities. Yet, even state-of-the-art mobility technology is not yet fully transformative. As illustrated in the companion paper by Boninger and Cowan, there are still routine activities that cannot be pursued, or are difficult to pursue, by individuals who use wheelchairs, prostheses, or joint implants. In addition, there are people with other physical disabilities, including those caused by age-related impairments, for which the enablement provided by technology is still too limited. This study is about identifying status and trends in technology that will lead to a fuller restoration of movement ability for a wider range of people. What might these transformative technologies be and how might they arise?The National Science Foundation, working with the World Technology Evaluation Center and the Department of Veterans Affairs, selected a panel of American experts in mobility technology to help answer this question. The assembled team included engineers and clinicians with expertise in a broad range of mobility technologies and included an engineer and a scientist with a physical disability. The team worked with WTEC to arrange a brief (5 days) but intense (33 site visits split between two groups) tour of leading laboratories in mobility technology in western Europe. Western Europe was chosen because of its rich and broad research activity in mobility technology. Note that the panel did not focus on brain machine interface technologies, as NSF had recently sponsored a similar study focused on that technology.The
%U http://www.jneuroengrehab.com/content/9/1/22