Bionic Suit Allows Paralyzed Man to Walk at Huntington Hospital

PASADENA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--After transferring himself from a wheelchair into a robotic suit, onlookers held their breath with excitement as they watched 27-year-old Aaron Bloom grip the handles of specially designed crutches, raise to his full height, and walk at Huntington Memorial Hospital's Outpatient Rehabilitation Center on Wednesday. Bloom, who lost the use of his legs in a July 2010 accident, became one of the first Southern California residents to begin using the bionic suit designed by Ekso Bionics and now available at Huntington Hospital. Other wheelchair-bound Southern California individuals, captivated by the prospect of using the robotic suit themselves, watched in awe as Bloom demonstrated this incredible new technology that enables people with lower-extremity paralysis or weakness to stand and walk. Huntington Hospital is the first hospital in Southern California and only the third in the western United States to offer the suit.