Exoskeletons, Rehabilitation and Bodily Capacities

Abstract

Motility impairments resulting from spinal cord injuries and cerebrovascular accidents are increasingly prevalent in society, leading to the growing development of rehabilitative robotic technologies, among them exoskeletons. This article outlines how bodies with neurological conditions such as spinal cord injury and stroke engage in processes of re-appropriation while using exoskeletons and some of the challenges they face. The main task of exoskeletons in rehabilitative environments is either to rehabilitate or ameliorate anatomic functions of impaired bodies. In these complex processes, they also play a crucial role in recasting specific corporeal phenomenologies. For the accomplishment of these forms of corporeal re-appropriation, the role of experts is crucial. This article explores how categories such as bodily resistance, techno-inter-corporeal co-production of bodies and machines, as well as body work mark the landscape of these contemporary forms of impaired corporeality. While defending corporeal extension rather than incorporation, I argue against the figure of the ‘cyborg’ and posit the idea of ‘residual subjectivity’.

Socio-cultural brain reprogramming–The uniqueness of human cognition

“…The increasing development of rehabilitative robotic technologies highlights that tools serve not only the purpose of convenience but are also employed in rehabilitation. For instance, exoskeletons aid in addressing the prevalence of mobility impairments stemming from spinal cord injuries and cerebrovascular accidents (Butnaru, 2021 ).…”

Aiming at the ‘proper’ body: How exoskeletons foster ‘risky’ bodies and conflicting knowledge regimes

“…1 1 I understand ‘health work’ in this context as a type of work done to and on the human body. I therefore associate it to the category of ‘body work’ that I elaborated elsewhere and by which I mean the possibility that exoskeletons allow to rearrange and enact (although temporarily) capabilities, skills and a variety of forms of expertise during rehabilitation sessions (Butnaru, 2021b, p. 100). …”