IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 2018 Aug;65(8):1674-1680. doi: 10.1109/TBME.2017.2761455. Epub 2017 Oct 9.
The purpose of this study was: 1) to design and fabricate a biomechanically-assistive garment which was sufficiently lightweight and low-profile to be worn underneath, or as, clothing, and then 2) to perform human subject testing to assess the ability of the garment to offload the low back muscles during leaning and lifting.
We designed a prototype garment which acts in parallel with the low back extensor muscles to reduce forces borne by the lumbar musculature. We then tested eight healthy subjects while they performed common leaning and lifting tasks with and without the garment. We recorded muscle activity, body kinematics, and assistive forces.
The biomechanically-assistive garment offloaded the low back muscles, reducing erector spinae muscle activity by an average of 23-43% during leaning tasks, and 14-16% during lifting tasks.
Experimental findings in this study support the feasibility of using biomechanically-assistive garments to reduce low back muscle loading, which may help reduce injury risks or fatigue due to high or repetitive forces.
Biomechanically-assistive garments may have broad societal appeal as a lightweight, unobtrusive, and cost-effective means to mitigate low back loading in daily life.
本研究的目的是：1）设计并制作一种生物力学辅助服装，其足够轻便且外形低，可穿在衣服下面或作为衣服穿着，然后 2）进行人体测试，以评估该服装在倾斜和抬起时减轻下背部肌肉负担的能力。
我们设计了一种原型服装，它与下背部伸肌协同作用，以减少腰部肌肉承受的力。然后，我们让 8 名健康受试者在穿着和不穿该服装的情况下进行常见的倾斜和抬起任务。我们记录了肌肉活动、身体运动学和辅助力。
生物力学辅助服装减轻了下背部肌肉的负担，在倾斜任务中，竖脊肌的活动减少了 23-43%，在举重任务中减少了 14-16%。
本研究的实验结果支持使用生物力学辅助服装来减轻下背部肌肉的负荷，这可能有助于减少由于高或重复的力而导致的受伤风险或疲劳。
生物力学辅助服装作为一种轻便、不显眼且具有成本效益的减轻日常生活中下背部负荷的方法，可能具有广泛的社会吸引力。
