Université de Lorraine, CNRS, Inria, LORIA, Nancy, France.
Ergonomics. 2023 Jun;66(6):859-873. doi: 10.1080/00140139.2022.2129097. Epub 2022 Oct 5.
Low-back pain is a major concern among healthcare workers. One cause is the frequent adoption of repetitive forward bent postures in their daily activities. Occupational exoskeletons have the potential to assist workers in such situations. However, their efficacy is largely task-dependent, and their biomechanical benefit in the healthcare sector has rarely been evaluated. The present study investigates the effects of a passive back support exoskeleton in a simulated patient bed bathing task. Nine participants performed the task on a medical manikin, with and without the exoskeleton. Results show that working with the exoskeleton induced a significantly larger trunk forward flexion, by 13 deg in average. Due to this postural change, using the exoskeleton did not affect substantially the muscular and cardiovascular demands nor the perceived effort. These results illustrate that postural changes induced by exoskeleton use, whether voluntary or not, should be considered carefully since they may cancel out biomechanical benefits expected from the assistance. Low-back pain is a major concern among nurses, associated with bent postures. We observed that using a passive back-support exoskeleton during the typical patient bed bathing activity results in a larger trunk flexion, without changing muscular, cardiovascular or perceived physical effort.
下背痛是医护人员主要关注的问题之一。其原因之一是他们在日常活动中频繁采取重复的前屈姿势。职业外骨骼有潜力帮助工人应对这种情况。然而,它们的效果在很大程度上取决于任务,而且它们在医疗保健领域的生物力学益处很少得到评估。本研究调查了在模拟病人床上沐浴任务中使用被动背部支撑外骨骼的效果。九名参与者在医疗人体模型上进行了有和没有外骨骼的任务。结果表明,使用外骨骼会导致躯干向前弯曲明显增加,平均增加 13 度。由于这种姿势的改变,使用外骨骼并没有显著影响肌肉和心血管需求以及感知的用力。这些结果表明,无论是否自愿,外骨骼使用引起的姿势变化都应仔细考虑,因为它们可能会抵消预期的辅助生物力学益处。下背痛是护士们主要关注的问题之一,与弯腰姿势有关。我们观察到,在典型的病人床上沐浴活动中使用被动背部支撑外骨骼会导致躯干更大的弯曲,而不会改变肌肉、心血管或感知的体力消耗。