Robotics used to get wheelchair users on their feet

From KYW Newsradio in Philadelphia:

A Montgomery County, Pa., woman is the first American to use a device that helps some wheelchair users walk again.

Dr. Albert Esquenazi says that Moss Rehab is the exclusive site in the United States for clinical trials of Rewalk, a device developed in Israel to help wheelchair users walk upright.

"It's like if it was a big armor. You put it on on top of your clothes, and the device then makes -- based on your body gestures -- a decision if you want to walk or you want to step or you want to sit or you want to stand. And it's fully powered, so it allows you to do that."

Alysse Einbender of Wyncote, Pa., (pictured) suffered a spinal stroke resulting in her paralysis more than five years ago:

"It's enormous. The idea of standing and being eye-to-eye with people is something that the standing world doesn't really get. The first time I stood up in the suit and I was eye-to-eye with somebody frontally, it's a very different idea than this."

The device could be on the market in within a year and a half, and is expected to retail for about $35,000.