Research Unit of Biomedical Robotics and Biomicrosystems, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Rome, Italy.
Research Unit of Biomedical Robotics and Biomicrosystems, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Rome, Italy.
Appl Ergon. 2020 Jan;82:102950. doi: 10.1016/j.apergo.2019.102950. Epub 2019 Sep 19.
Repetitive and intensive exercises during robot-aided rehabilitation may expose patients to inappropriate and unsafe postures. The introduction of a sensory feedback can help the subject to perform the rehabilitation task with an ergonomic posture. In this work, the introduction of visual and vibrotactile feedback in a robotic platform for upper limb rehabilitation has been proposed to ensure ergonomic posture during rehabilitation. The two feedback modalities have been used to provide information about incorrect neck and trunk posture. Ten healthy subjects have been involved in this study. Each of them performed 3D reaching movements with the aid of the robotic platform in three different conditions, i.e. without feedback, with visual feedback and with vibrotactile feedback, and a comparative analysis has been carried out to evaluate feedback effectiveness, acceptance and performance. Experimental results show that in case of no feedback the subjects reach and maintain configurations that can lead to incorrect neck and trunk configurations and therefore, if repeated, to musculoskeletal disorders. Conversely, with visual or vibrotactile feedback, the subjects tend to correct inappropriate posture with both trunk and head during task performing.
在机器人辅助康复过程中，重复和高强度的运动可能会使患者处于不适当和不安全的姿势。引入感觉反馈可以帮助患者以符合人体工程学的姿势进行康复任务。在这项工作中，我们在用于上肢康复的机器人平台中引入了视觉和振动触觉反馈，以确保康复过程中的符合人体工程学的姿势。这两种反馈方式用于提供有关不正确的颈部和躯干姿势的信息。十名健康受试者参与了这项研究。他们每个人都在三种不同的条件下借助机器人平台完成了 3D 伸展运动，即没有反馈、有视觉反馈和有振动触觉反馈，并进行了对比分析，以评估反馈的有效性、接受程度和性能。实验结果表明，在没有反馈的情况下，受试者达到并保持的姿势可能导致不正确的颈部和躯干姿势，如果重复，则会导致肌肉骨骼疾病。相反，有视觉或振动触觉反馈时，受试者在执行任务时往往会纠正头部和躯干的不适当姿势。
