ASSESSMENT OF A PASSIVE WEARABLE ROBOT FOR REDUCING LOW BACK DISORDERS DURING REBAR WORK
ASSESSMENT OF A PASSIVE WEARABLE ROBOT FOR REDUCING LOW BACK DISORDERS DURING REBAR WORK
复制标题
DOI：
10.36680/j.itcon.2021.050
复制
发表时间：
2021-01-01
影响因子：
3.5
通讯作者：
Nnaji, Chukwuma A.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Gonsalves, Nihar J.;Ogunseiju, Omobolanle R.;Nnaji, Chukwuma A.
腰背部疾病在建筑工人中仍然很普遍，特别是经常重复弯腰的钢筋工人。可穿戴机器人，外骨骼，是目前建筑业探索的最新人体工学干预措施，有可能通过增加用户的身体部位和减少对背部的需求来降低下腰痛的风险。本文介绍了一种商业上可用的被动式可穿戴机器人Backx的评估，该机器人旨在减少钢筋工人的腰部疾病。这项研究从任务表现和生理条件两个方面对外骨骼进行了评估。结果指标如完成时间被用来评估外骨骼对任务绩效的影响，而脊直肌和背阔肌的激活以及身体各部分的感觉不适则被用来评估外骨骼的生理影响。结果表明，外骨骼对肌肉激活的影响是混合的。尽管结果显示外骨骼可以减少背阔肌的肌肉活动，但脊直肌的混合效应被观察到，尤其是在前屈任务中。在钢筋任务中，外骨骼减少了50%的完成时间。背部的不适感也减少了100%，但当佩戴外骨骼时，胸部区域的不适感增加了两倍。这项研究揭示了外骨骼在减少下背部疾病和提高螺纹钢工人生产率方面的潜力。然而，意外的后果，如增加胸部区域的不适和肌肉的激活，突显出需要改进现有的外骨骼设计，用于建筑工作。
Low back disorder continues to be prevalent amongst construction workers, especially the rebar workers who are often engaged in repetitive stooping postures. Wearable robots, exoskeletons, are recent ergonomic interventions currently explored in the construction industry that have potentials of reducing the risks of low back pain by augmenting users' body parts and reducing demands on the back. This paper presents the assessment of a commercially available passive wearable robot, BackX, designed for reducing low back disorder amongst rebar workers. The study evaluated the exoskeleton in terms of task performance and physiological conditions. Outcome measures such as completion time were employed to evaluate the effect of the exoskeleton on task performance, while activations of Erector Spinae and Latissimus Dorsi muscles, and perceived discomfort across body parts were employed to assess the physiological effects of the exoskeleton. The results indicated mixed effects of the exoskeleton on muscle activations. Although the results revealed that the exoskeleton can reduce muscle activations across the Latissimus Dorsi, mixed effects were observed for the Erector Spinae especially during the forward bending tasks. The exoskeleton reduced completion time by 50% during the rebar tasks. There was also a 100% reduction in perceived discomfort on the back, but discomfort was tripled at the chest region when the exoskeleton was worn. This study reveals the potentials of the exoskeleton for reducing low back disorder and improving productivity amongst the rebar workers. However, the unintended consequences such as increased discomfort at the chest region and activations of the muscles highlight the need for improving existing exoskeleton designs for construction work.