Abstract
Wearable passive upper-limb exoskeletons have been proposed and commercialized as tools to improve the ergonomics of workers in repetitive or physically demanding tasks. In the study presented here, an innovative upper-limb exoskeleton is presented, along with experimental tests with human subjects. The device, called proto-MATE, is characterized by two distinguishing design features: a highly ergonomic human-robot kinematics architecture and bioinspired assistance, created to partially compensate for the user's arm weight. Experimental tests investigated the device's effects on the physical strain of eight upper-limb muscles. These tests also quantified the kinematic coupling between the device and the user by means of specific kinematics-related parameters. The protocol included overhead tasks that are representative of the target application and tasks that generalize nontargeted upperlimb movements and may occur in real working conditions.
Highlights
According to the Sixth European Working Conditions Survey, work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMDs) are the most common occupational illnesses in Europe
Most disorders on record are related to repetitive movements; of these, 44% are related to overhead tasks [3] and awkward body postures [1]
In all tasks (i.e., AP movements, internal medial– lateral (i-ML), external medial–lateral (e-ML), and circumference), the anterior or medial deltoid, trapezius ascendens, and pectoralis major showed significantly lower activations in the EXO condition compared to the FREE condition (−18 – −42%, p ≤ 0.05)
Summary
According to the Sixth European Working Conditions Survey, WRMDs are the most common occupational illnesses in Europe. Nearly 50% of European workers (75– 80 million) suffer from back, neck, or upper-limb disorders [1], causing significant health and cost issues [2]. These health issues cause a huge financial burden for companies and healthcare systems. Companies must manage the costs of replacing and training workers as well as the related reduced productivity, while healthcare systems need to address the costs for all compensation claims made [2]. Most disorders on record are related to repetitive movements (which account for 61% of the workers); of these, 44% are related to overhead tasks [3] and awkward body postures (which account for 43% of WRMDs cases) [1]
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