日本汽车制造商丰田公司设计了一款帮助残疾人走路的机器人下肢。
The company demonstrated the new device to reporters at its headquarters in Tokyo this week.
该公司本周在东京总部向记者展示了这种新的设备。
The robotic leg is called the Welwalk WW-1000 system. It has a mechanical frame that fits onto a person's leg below the knee. Patients can practice walking on a special treadmill.
该机器人下肢被称为Welwalk WW-1000系统。它有一套适合安装在人腿膝盖以下部位的机械框架。患者可以在特殊的跑步机上练习行走。
Eiichi Saito is a doctor and an executive vice president at Fujita Health University. His university helped Toyota develop the robotic leg.
Eiichi Saito是藤田卫生保健大学的一名博士和执行副总裁。
Saito said it is designed to be worn on one leg for patients who are paralyzed on one side of their body because of a stroke or other disease.
Saito表示，该设备被设计用于穿戴到因为中风或其它疾病导致身体一侧瘫痪的病人的一条腿上。
The device is attached with a strap to the thigh, knee, ankle and foot of the person using it. A motor helps to bend and straighten the knee. Sensors provide information about what is happening and medical staff can control the system through a touch panel screen.
该设备通过皮带固定到使用者的大腿、膝盖、脚踝和脚部。电机帮助膝盖弯曲或伸直，传感器提供实时信息，医务人员可以通过触摸屏控制该系统。
"This helps just barely enough," said the researcher, who said helping a patient too much can slow recovery.
“这种帮助刚好适当，”研究人员表示。他们认为过多帮助患者会延迟康复。
Japanese carmakers are also making robots
日本汽车制造商也制造机器人
Japanese carmakers have been developing robotics for manufacturing and other uses for many years.
日本汽车制造商多年来一直在开发用于制造等用途的机器人。
Honda Motor Co., for example, has developed the Asimo humanoid robot that can run, dance and speak.
例如本田公司已经开发出可以跑、跳舞和说话的阿西莫类人机器人。
Toyota's WelWalk system uses robotic technology to assist people in moving and walking. Toyota took about 10 years to develop the robot walker.
丰田公司的WelWalk系统使用机器人技术来协助人们移动和行走。丰田公司花了10年时间来开发机器人助行器。
Toshiyuki Isobe is with Toyota's Frontier Research Center. He told Reuters news service that it has taken the company time to develop robotics products.
Toshiyuki Isobe就职于丰田前沿研究中心。他对路透社表示，该公司开发机器人产品已经花费了很长时间。
"The biggest challenges have been in determining the needs of the robot market, which is relatively new, and to ensure that our products are safe," he said.
他说，“最大的挑战是确定相对较新的机器人市场的需求，并确保我们的产品是安全的。”
Robots that assist in health care are seen as an important and growing market.
助力卫生保健的机器人被视为一个重要且不断增长的市场。
Growing market for robots in healthcare
卫生保健机器人日益增长的市场
Eiichi Saito says Toyota's device is aimed at helping common paralysis caused by health problems like strokes that can happen to aging people. Japan's population is aging faster than other countries. In 2015, more than 26 percent of Japanese were aged 65 or older.
Eiichi Saito表示，丰田的设备旨在帮助中风等健康问题导致的常见瘫痪，老年人就可能中风。日本人口老龄化速度超过了其它国家。2015年，26%以上的日本人的年龄都不小于65岁。
Robotic devices may also be better for patients in some cases. Saito said patients using the device can recover more quickly because the robotic sensors in the WelWalk are more sensitive to movement than a human health worker.
在某些情况下，机器人装置可能对患者也有利。Saito表示，使用该装置的患者可以恢复得更快，因为WelWalk中的机器人传感器比人类健康工作者对运动更为敏感。
Some experts expect demand for robots used to assist in care of the old and disabled will increase sharply. That is because there will be fewer people in the work force to care for the growing number of older patients.
一些专家预计，协助照料老人和残疾人的机器人需求将会急剧增加。这是因为劳动力市场中照顾人数不断增长的老年患者的劳动力会越来越少。
The International Robotic Federation says more than 37,000 robots used in healthcare for the aged and disabled will be sold between 2016 and 2019. It says the field is expected to increase a lot in the next 20 years.
国际机器人联合会表示，2016年到2019年期间将会卖出3.7万个用于老年人和残疾人医疗保健的机器人。该联合会声称该领域有望在未来20年取得很大增长。
Toyota plans to rent 100 of the robotic systems to medical centers in Japan later this year. Costs include a $9000 one-time charge and a monthly rental cost of $3,200.
丰田公司计划今年晚些时候向日本的医疗中心出租100台这种机器人系统，费用包括9千美元的一次性费用和3200美元的月租金。
However, competition in walking assistance devices is growing. The medical technology company Hocoma of Switzerland and ReWalk Robotics of the United States also have developed robotic walkers.
然而，步行辅助装置的竞争日益激烈。瑞士Hocoma医疗科技公司和美国ReWalk Robotics公司都开发了机器人助行器。
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