Department of Mechanical Systems Engineering, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan.
J Musculoskelet Neuronal Interact. 2020 Jun 1;20(2):176-184.
Forward falls are among the most frequent causes of upper extremity fractures. This study investigated the safety considerations to prevent wrist injuries during bimanual forward falls.
A biomechanical model was developed with two separated arms to facilitate investigation of asymmetrical contact and predict the impact force applied to each hand separately. To validate the developed model, a series of fall experiments were conducted in which one hand collided with a hard surface, while the other collided with a soft surface.
The results show that the impact force applied to each hand is independent of the other. Using these results and our model, the safety aspects of human forward falls were analyzed with a view to preventing injuries. Specifically, we sought to determine the safe range of surface stiffness and damping to ensure that the occurrence of forward falls does not lead to trauma.
The results of this study can be applied in the design of compliant flooring to ensure the safety of people in environments with potential fall hazards. From a robotics viewpoint, the results are applicable in the design of compliant flooring for shared workplaces, where robots collaborate with people and collisions between humans and robots may cause falls.
向前摔倒时上肢骨折最常见的原因之一。本研究探讨了预防双手向前摔倒时手腕受伤的安全注意事项。
建立了一个具有两个分离臂的生物力学模型，以方便研究不对称接触，并分别预测施加到每个手上的冲击力。为了验证所开发的模型，进行了一系列摔倒实验，其中一只手与硬表面碰撞，而另一只手与软表面碰撞。
结果表明，施加到每个手上的冲击力彼此独立。利用这些结果和我们的模型，分析了人体向前摔倒的安全方面，以防止受伤。具体来说，我们试图确定表面刚度和阻尼的安全范围，以确保向前摔倒不会导致创伤。
本研究的结果可应用于设计柔顺地板，以确保潜在摔倒危险环境中的人员安全。从机器人学的角度来看，这些结果适用于共享工作场所的柔顺地板设计，在这些场所中，机器人与人类协作，人类与机器人之间的碰撞可能导致摔倒。
