Department of Industrial Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, South Korea.
School of Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering, Oregon State University, Corvalli, OR, USA; Environmental and Occupational Health, Oregon State University, Corvalli, OR, USA.
Appl Ergon. 2023 May;109:103965. doi: 10.1016/j.apergo.2023.103965. Epub 2023 Jan 14.
Overhead work can pose substantial musculoskeletal stress in many industrial settings. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of passive upper-limb exoskeletons in reducing muscular activity and subjective discomfort ratings. In a repeated-measures laboratory experiment, 20 healthy male participants performed 10-min drilling tasks with and without two passive upper-limb exoskeletons (VEX and Airframe). During the tasks, muscle activity in eight muscles (upper limb - upper trapezius, middle deltoid, biceps brachii, triceps brachii; low back - erector spinae; lower limb - rectus femoris, biceps femoris, tibialis anterior) was collected using electromyography as a physical exertion measure. Subjective discomfort rating in six body parts was measured using the Borg's CR-10 scale. The results showed that muscle activity (especially in the upper-limb muscles) was significantly decreased by 29.3-58.1% with both exoskeletons compared to no exoskeleton condition. The subjective discomfort ratings showed limited differences between the conditions. These findings indicate that passive upper-limb exoskeletons may have potential as an effective intervention to reduce muscular loading and physical exertion during overhead work.
在许多工业环境中， overhead 工作会给肌肉骨骼系统带来很大的压力。本研究旨在评估被动式上肢外骨骼在减少肌肉活动和主观不适评分方面的效果。在一项重复测量的实验室实验中，20 名健康男性参与者在使用和不使用两种被动式上肢外骨骼（VEX 和 Airframe）的情况下进行了 10 分钟的钻孔任务。在任务过程中，使用肌电图收集了八块肌肉（上肢-上斜方肌、中三角肌、肱二头肌、肱三头肌；下背部-竖脊肌；下肢-股四头肌、股二头肌、胫骨前肌）的肌肉活动作为体力活动的衡量标准。使用 Borg 的 CR-10 量表测量了六个身体部位的主观不适评分。结果表明，与没有外骨骼的情况相比，两种外骨骼都能使肌肉活动（尤其是上肢肌肉）显著降低 29.3-58.1%。主观不适评分显示各条件之间差异有限。这些发现表明，被动式上肢外骨骼可能是一种有效的干预措施，可减少 overhead 工作中的肌肉负荷和体力消耗。
