Researchers
at Carnegie Mellon and North Carolina State universities have come up with an
unpowered boots that reduces the metabolic energy spent on walking by
approximately 7 percent.
Boots help people with limited lower body strength to get back a more natural way of walking. It reflects the function of the walker's calf muscle and Achilles tendon, saving energy.
Boots help people with limited lower body strength to get back a more natural way of walking. It reflects the function of the walker's calf muscle and Achilles tendon, saving energy.
The mechanical clutch in the boots puts tension on the spring when the foot is touching the ground but leaves it loose when the foot lifts and swings forward through the air.
Dr Steven Collins, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon, said, "We're hopeful that designs that use similar techniques can help people who have had a stroke walk more easily. We're still a little ways away from doing that, but we certainly plan to try."
The researchers developed a carbon-fiber design that is ultra-light. The boots weighs one pound per leg and is natural to wear.
Source: Medindia
- << Convicted murder Mumia Abu-Jamal Hospitalized for Diabetes C...
- Swine Flu Fatalities totals to 52 Lives in Punjab, 40 in Har... >>
Recommended Reading
Walking As An Exercise
People walk for many reasons ranging from pleasure to mental relaxation, finding solitude or for exercise.
Walking Corpse Syndrome
Walking Corpse Syndrome or Cotard's Syndrome is an uncommon neuropsychiatric disorder in which patients experience delusions that they are dead, do not exist, are putrefying or have lost their vital organs.
Long Walking is Better Than Heavy Gym Workouts
Doing intense exercises in gym is not good enough to give you similar benefits as walking can. Long walks are better that gym workouts as they increase your insulin resistance and keeps you fit.
