Park Sung-Jin, Chae Seongok, Park Hyung-Soon
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, Republic of Korea.
Wearable Technol. 2025 Aug 26;6:e43. doi: 10.1017/wtc.2025.10022. eCollection 2025.
Passive wearable devices are widely used for fitness and have also become fashionable. There is increasing interest in adding functionality, such as knee stability, to these compact devices, which are more convenient for daily wear than separate devices like braces or exoskeletons. This study designed and assessed flexion taping passive wearable devices (FTPW). The design emphasized providing adequate flexion moment capacity and controlling varus/valgus movement to prevent knee injuries. In this research, 20 healthy women performed single leg drop (SLD) and step-up (SU) tests with and without muscle fatigue. Knee joint angle, muscle activation, metabolic cost, and blood flow were measured across FTPW, passive wearable devices without flexion taping (PW), and control shorts (Ctrl). In the SLD test after muscle fatigue, FTPW produced a significantly larger knee flexion angle during landing. In the SU test, before and after fatigue, knee varus angle was notably higher with FTPW. Additionally, FTPW showed reduced knee flexor fatigue, indicated by smaller median frequency shifts, and improved blood flow compared to PW. No significant differences in respiratory exchange ratio were detected among the three conditions. Overall, FTPW demonstrated strong potential to enhance knee kinematics, muscle activation, and blood flow, pointing to benefits for both performance improvement and injury prevention. By delivering focused support in a compact format, FTPW may serve as an innovative passive wearable solution that supports daily movement, comfort, and daily activities. This emphasizes the device's promise as an alternative to bulkier knee aids, merging style and functionality effectively.
被动式可穿戴设备广泛应用于健身领域，且已成为时尚之选。人们越来越有兴趣在这些紧凑的设备上增加诸如膝盖稳定性等功能，相较于诸如护膝或外骨骼等单独的设备，它们在日常佩戴时更为方便。本研究设计并评估了屈曲贴扎被动式可穿戴设备（FTPW）。该设计着重于提供足够的屈曲力矩能力，并控制内翻/外翻运动以预防膝盖损伤。在本研究中，20名健康女性在有和没有肌肉疲劳的情况下进行了单腿下蹲（SLD）和上台阶（SU）测试。在佩戴FTPW、无屈曲贴扎的被动式可穿戴设备（PW）以及对照短裤（Ctrl）的情况下，测量了膝关节角度、肌肉激活情况、代谢成本和血流量。在肌肉疲劳后的SLD测试中，FTPW在着地时产生了显著更大的膝关节屈曲角度。在SU测试中，无论疲劳前后，佩戴FTPW时的膝盖内翻角度均显著更高。此外，与PW相比，FTPW显示出膝盖屈肌疲劳减轻，表现为较小的中位频率变化，且血流量有所改善。在三种情况下未检测到呼吸交换率的显著差异。总体而言，FTPW在增强膝盖运动学、肌肉激活和血流量方面展现出强大潜力，这表明其对提高运动表现和预防损伤均有益处。通过以紧凑的形式提供针对性的支撑，FTPW可作为一种创新的被动式可穿戴解决方案，支持日常活动、舒适度和日常行动。这凸显了该设备作为笨重膝盖辅助器具替代品的前景，有效地融合了时尚与功能。
