Passive Back Support Exoskeleton Improves Range of Motion Using Flexible Beams.
Passive Back Support Exoskeleton Improves Range of Motion Using Flexible Beams.
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DOI：
10.3389/frobt.2018.00072
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发表时间：
2018
影响因子：
3.4
通讯作者：
Lefeber D
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Näf MB;Koopman AS;Baltrusch S;Rodriguez-Guerrero C;Vanderborght B;Lefeber D
在欧盟，超过40%的工作人口会受到腰背痛的影响。腰背部的机械负荷已被证明是一个重要的危险因素。峰值机械负荷可以通过人体工程学干预、起重机的使用以及最近外骨骼的使用来降低。尽管工业用外骨骼的开发最近取得了进展，但它们还没有被工业广泛采用。一些必须克服的挑战包括运动范围缩小，人体解剖学和外骨骼运动学之间的不一致，以及不适。关于外骨骼如何被设计来补偿错位从而提高舒适性，已经有大量的研究。然而，如何设计一种外骨骼，以实现与人类腰椎在矢状面上高达60°的运动范围相似的运动范围，尚未得到广泛研究。我们通过开发和测试一种新型的被动式背部支撑外骨骼来满足这一需求，该外骨骼包括一种由与脊柱平行的柔性梁组成的机构，提供了较大的运动范围，并降低了腰椎(L5/S1)关节周围的峰值扭矩要求。此外，我们进行了一项先导性研究，以测试佩戴外骨骼时对受试者的生物力学(N=2)和功能(N=3)的影响。生物力学测试一次使用柔性梁作为后界面，一次使用刚性结构。使用柔性横梁，躯干在矢状面上的活动范围增加了25%以上。试点功能测试与之前使用Laevo设备进行的研究结果进行了比较，结果表明，这种新型外骨骼在几乎所有测试任务中都被认为障碍较小。
In the EU, lower back pain affects more than 40% of the working population. Mechanical loading of the lower back has been shown to be an important risk factor. Peak mechanical load can be reduced by ergonomic interventions, the use of cranes and, more recently, by the use of exoskeletons. Despite recent advances in the development of exoskeletons for industrial applications, they are not widely adopted by industry yet. Some of the challenges, which have to be overcome are a reduced range of motion, misalignment between the human anatomy and kinematics of the exoskeleton as well as discomfort. A body of research exists on how an exoskeleton can be designed to compensate for misalignment and thereby improve comfort. However, how to design an exoskeleton that achieves a similar range of motion as a human lumbar spine of up to 60° in the sagittal plane, has not been extensively investigated. We addressed this need by developing and testing a novel passive back support exoskeleton, including a mechanism comprised of flexible beams, which run in parallel to the spine, providing a large range of motion and lowering the peak torque requirements around the lumbo-sacral (L5/S1) joint. Furthermore, we ran a pilot study to test the biomechanical (N = 2) and functional (N = 3) impact on subjects while wearing the exoskeleton. The biomechanical testing was once performed with flexible beams as a back interface and once with a rigid structure. An increase of more than 25% range of motion of the trunk in the sagittal plane was observed by using the flexible beams. The pilot functional tests, which are compared to results from a previous study with the Laevo device, suggest, that the novel exoskeleton is perceived as less hindering in almost all tested tasks.