Center for Advanced Orthopaedic Studies, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, United States; Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.
Center for Advanced Orthopaedic Studies, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, United States.
J Biomech. 2024 Nov;176:112322. doi: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2024.112322. Epub 2024 Sep 11.
Exosuits have the potential to mitigate musculoskeletal stress and prevent back injuries during industrial tasks. This study aimed to 1) validate the implementation of a soft active exosuit into a musculoskeletal model of the spine by comparing model predicted muscle activations versus corresponding surface EMG measurements, and 2) evaluate the effect of the exosuit on peak back and hip muscle forces. Fourteen healthy participants performed squat and stoop lift and lower tasks with boxes of 6 and 10 kg, with and without wearing a 2.7 kg soft active exosuit. Participant-specific musculoskeletal models, which included the exosuit, were created in OpenSim. Model validation focused on the back and hip extensors, where temporal agreement between EMG and model estimated muscle activity was generally strong to excellent (average cross-correlation coefficients ranging from 0.84 to 0.98). Root mean square errors of muscle activity (0.05-0.10) were similar with and without the exosuit, and compared well to prior model validation studies without the exosuit (average root mean square errors ranging from 0.05 to 0.19). In terms of performance, the exosuit reduced the estimated peak erector spinae forces during lifting and lowering phases across all lifting tasks but reduced peak hip extensor muscles forces only in a squat lift task of 10 kg. These reductions in total peak muscle forces were approximately 1.7-4.2 times greater than the corresponding exosuit assistance force, which were 146 ± 19 N and 102 ± 14 N at the times of peak erector spinae forces in lifting and lowering, respectively. Overall, the results support the hypothesis that exosuits reduce soft tissue loading, and thereby potentially reduce fatigue and injury risk during manual materials handling tasks. Incorporating exosuits into musculoskeletal models is a valid approach to understand the impact of exosuit assistance on muscle activity and forces.
外骨骼有可能减轻肌肉骨骼的压力，并防止在工业任务中背部受伤。本研究旨在：1）通过比较模型预测的肌肉激活与相应的表面肌电图测量值，验证软式主动外骨骼在脊柱肌肉骨骼模型中的实施，2）评估外骨骼对背部和臀部肌肉峰值力的影响。14 名健康参与者使用 6 公斤和 10 公斤的箱子进行深蹲和弯腰升降任务，穿着和不穿着 2.7 公斤的软式主动外骨骼。在 OpenSim 中创建了参与者特定的肌肉骨骼模型，其中包括外骨骼。模型验证主要集中在背部和臀部伸肌上，EMG 和模型估计的肌肉活动之间的时间一致性通常很强到很好（平均互相关系数范围从 0.84 到 0.98）。肌肉活动的均方根误差（0.05-0.10）在有无外骨骼的情况下相似，与没有外骨骼的先前模型验证研究相比（平均均方根误差范围从 0.05 到 0.19）比较好。就性能而言，外骨骼减少了所有提升任务中提升和降低阶段估计的竖脊肌峰值力，但仅在 10 公斤的深蹲提升任务中减少了臀部伸肌的峰值力。这些总峰值肌肉力的减少大约是外骨骼辅助力的 1.7-4.2 倍，分别在提升和降低时达到竖脊肌峰值力的时间点，外骨骼辅助力为 146±19 N 和 102±14 N。总的来说，这些结果支持了外骨骼减轻软组织负荷的假设，从而有可能减少手动搬运任务中的疲劳和受伤风险。将外骨骼纳入肌肉骨骼模型是一种有效的方法，可以了解外骨骼辅助对肌肉活动和力量的影响。
