Measure Muscle Activity Research Articles

A computational method for estimating trunk muscle activations during gait using lower extremity muscle synergies.

One of the surgical treatments for pelvic sarcoma is the restoration of hip function with a custom pelvic prosthesis after cancerous tumor removal. The orthopedic oncologist and orthopedic implant company must make numerous often subjective decisions regarding the design of the pelvic surgery and custom pelvic prosthesis. Using personalized musculoskeletal computer models to predict post-surgery walking function and custom pelvic prosthesis loading is an emerging method for making surgical and custom prosthesis design decisions in a more objective manner. Such predictions would necessitate the estimation of forces generated by muscles spanning the lower trunk and all joints of the lower extremities. However, estimating trunk and leg muscle forces simultaneously during walking based on electromyography (EMG) data remains challenging due to the limited number of EMG channels typically used for measurement of leg muscle activity. This study developed a computational method for estimating unmeasured trunk muscle activations during walking using lower extremity muscle synergies. To facilitate the calibration of an EMG-driven model and the estimation of leg muscle activations, EMG data were collected from each leg. Using non-negative matrix factorization, muscle synergies were extracted from activations of leg muscles. On the basis of previous studies, it was hypothesized that the time-varying synergy activations were shared between the trunk and leg muscles. The synergy weights required to reconstruct the trunk muscle activations were determined through optimization. The accuracy of the synergy-based method was dependent on the number of synergies and optimization formulation. With seven synergies and an increased level of activation minimization, the estimated activations of the erector spinae were strongly correlated with their measured activity. This study created a custom full-body model by combining two existing musculoskeletal models. The model was further modified and heavily personalized to represent various aspects of the pelvic sarcoma patient, all of which contributed to the estimation of trunk muscle activations. This proposed method can facilitate the prediction of post-surgery walking function and pelvic prosthesis loading, as well as provide objective evaluations for surgical and prosthesis design decisions.

Upper Extremity Joint Torque Estimation Through an Electromyography-Driven Model

Abstract Cerebrovascular accidents like a stroke can affect the lower limb as well as upper extremity joints (i.e., shoulder, elbow, or wrist) and hinder the ability to produce necessary torque for activities of daily living. In such cases, muscles’ ability to generate forces reduces, thus affecting the joint’s torque production. Understanding how muscles generate forces is a key element to injury detection. Researchers have developed several computational methods to obtain muscle forces and joint torques. Electromyography (EMG) driven modeling is one of the approaches to estimate muscle forces and obtain joint torques from muscle activity measurements. Musculoskeletal models and EMG-driven models require necessary muscle-specific parameters for the calculation. The focus of this study is to investigate the EMG-driven approach along with an upper extremity musculoskeletal model to determine muscle forces of two major muscle groups, biceps brachii and triceps brachii, consisting of seven muscle-tendon units. Estimated muscle forces are used to determine the elbow joint torque. Experimental EMG signals and motion capture data are collected for a healthy subject. The musculoskeletal model is scaled to match the geometric parameters of the subject. Then, the approach calculates muscle forces and joint moment for two tasks: simple elbow flexion extension and triceps kickback. Individual muscle forces and net joint torques for both tasks are estimated. The study also has compared the effect of muscle-tendon parameters (optimal fiber length and tendon slack length) on the estimated results.

Alterations in the Functional Knee Alignment Are Not an Effective Strategy to Modify the Mediolateral Distribution of Knee Forces During Closed Kinetic Chain Exercises.

Pain felt while performing rehabilitation exercises could be a reason for the low adherence of knee osteoarthritis patients to physical rehabilitation. Reducing compressive forces on the most affected knee regions may help to mitigate the pain. Knee frontal plane positioning with respect to pelvis and foot (functional knee alignment) has been shown to modify the mediolateral distribution of the tibiofemoral joint contact force in walking. Hence, different functional knee alignments could be potentially used to modify joint loading during rehabilitation exercises. The aim was to understand whether utilizing different alignments is an effective strategy to unload specific knee areas while performing rehabilitation exercises. Eight healthy volunteers performed 5 exercises with neutral, medial, and lateral knee alignment. A musculoskeletal model was modified for improved prediction of tibiofemoral contact forces and used to evaluate knee joint kinematics, moments, and contact forces. Functional knee alignment had only a small and inconsistent effect on the mediolateral distribution joint contact force. Moreover, the magnitude of tibiofemoral and patellofemoral contact forces, knee moments, and measured muscle activities was not significantly affected by the alignment. Our results suggest that altering the functional knee alignment is not an effective strategy to unload specific knee regions in physical rehabilitation.

Rectus abdominis muscle thickness change and activation increase during planks performed on different surfaces.

The plank is a common exercise used to evaluate core function. Surface electromyography (sEMG) and ultrasound can be used simultaneously to measure muscle activity. We aimed to compare the %-thickness and %-activation during the plank performed on three surfaces and to determine agreement and relationship between rectus abdominis (RA) %-thickness of a rested tabletop position and %-activation normalized to quiet tabletop position during the plank on three surfaces. In this cross-sectional study, ultrasound and sEMG measured RA muscle function during the first 5-s and last 5-s of a plank performed on a table, yoga mat, and fitness ball. A repeated measures ANOVA compared differences in %-thickness change and Friedman's tests compared differences in %-activation, alpha set a priori p ≤ 0.05. Bland-Altman plots measured agreement between instruments. Spearman's rho determined relationships between instruments. There was no difference between %-thickness change across surfaces during the first 5-s or last 5-s, or between %-activation during the last 5-s. The %-activation of the RA during the first 5-s performed on the fitness ball was higher than the table and yoga mat (p < 0.001). Ultrasound and sEMG had weak relationships across all surfaces (ρ = - 0.078 to 0.116). The first 5-s of the plank performed on the fitness ball requires a greater RA activation. Ultrasound could not detect changes in %-thickness of the RA during the plank which may be influenced by the type of contraction. Comparison between these measurement tools during isometric exercise should be used with caution.

Wearable super-resolution muscle-machine interfacing.

Muscles are the actuators of all human actions, from daily work and life to communication and expression of emotions. Myography records the signals from muscle activities as an interface between machine hardware and human wetware, granting direct and natural control of our electronic peripherals. Regardless of the significant progression as of late, the conventional myographic sensors are still incapable of achieving the desired high-resolution and non-invasive recording. This paper presents a critical review of state-of-the-art wearable sensing technologies that measure deeper muscle activity with high spatial resolution, so-called super-resolution. This paper classifies these myographic sensors according to the different signal types (i.e., biomechanical, biochemical, and bioelectrical) they record during measuring muscle activity. By describing the characteristics and current developments with advantages and limitations of each myographic sensor, their capabilities are investigated as a super-resolution myography technique, including: (i) non-invasive and high-density designs of the sensing units and their vulnerability to interferences, (ii) limit-of-detection to register the activity of deep muscles. Finally, this paper concludes with new opportunities in this fast-growing super-resolution myography field and proposes promising future research directions. These advances will enable next-generation muscle-machine interfaces to meet the practical design needs in real-life for healthcare technologies, assistive/rehabilitation robotics, and human augmentation with extended reality.

Functional and neuromuscular changes induced via a low-cost, muscle-computer interface for telerehabilitation: A feasibility study in chronic stroke.

Stroke is a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. High doses of repeated task-specific practice have shown promising results in restoring upper limb function in chronic stroke. However, it is currently challenging to provide such doses in clinical practice. At-home telerehabilitation supervised by a clinician is a potential solution to provide higher-dose interventions. However, telerehabilitation systems developed for repeated task-specific practice typically require a minimum level of active movement. Therefore, severely impaired people necessitate alternative therapeutic approaches. Measurement and feedback of electrical muscle activity via electromyography (EMG) have been previously implemented in the presence of minimal or no volitional movement to improve motor performance in people with stroke. Specifically, muscle neurofeedback training to reduce unintended co-contractions of the impaired hand may be a targeted intervention to improve motor control in severely impaired populations. Here, we present the preliminary results of a low-cost, portable EMG biofeedback system (Tele-REINVENT) for supervised and unsupervised upper limb telerehabilitation after stroke. We aimed to explore the feasibility of providing higher doses of repeated task-specific practice during at-home training. Therefore, we recruited 5 participants (age = 44-73 years) with chronic, severe impairment due to stroke (Fugl-Meyer = 19-40/66). They completed a 6-week home-based training program that reinforced activity of the wrist extensor muscles while avoiding coactivation of flexor muscles via computer games. We used EMG signals to quantify the contribution of two antagonistic muscles and provide biofeedback of individuated activity, defined as a ratio of extensor and flexor activity during movement attempt. Our data suggest that 30 1-h sessions over 6 weeks of at-home training with our Tele-REINVENT system is feasible and may improve individuated muscle activity as well as scores on standard clinical assessments (e.g., Fugl-Meyer Assessment, Action Research Arm Test, active wrist range of motion) for some individuals. Furthermore, tests of neuromuscular control suggest modest changes in the synchronization of electroencephalography (EEG) and EMG signals within the beta band (12-30 Hz). Finally, all participants showed high adherence to the training protocol and reported enjoying using the system. These preliminary results suggest that using low-cost technology for home-based telerehabilitation after severe chronic stroke is feasible and may be effective in improving motor control via feedback of individuated muscle activity.

Biomechanical Effects of Adding an Ankle Soft Actuation in a Unilateral Exoskeleton.

Stroke disease leads to a partial or complete disability affecting muscle strength and functional mobility. Early rehabilitation sessions might induce neuroplasticity and restore the affected function or structure of the patients. Robotic rehabilitation minimizes the burden on therapists by providing repetitive and regularly monitored therapies. Commercial exoskeletons have been found to assist hip and knee motion. For instance, unilateral exoskeletons have the potential to become an effective training system for patients with hemiparesis. However, these robotic devices leave the ankle joint unassisted, essential in gait for body propulsion and weight-bearing. This article evaluates the effects of the robotic ankle orthosis T-FLEX during cooperative assistance with the AGoRA unilateral lower-limb exoskeleton (hip and knee actuation). This study involves nine subjects, measuring muscle activity and gait parameters such as stance and swing times. The results showed a reduction in muscle activity in the Biceps Femoris of 50%, Lateral Gastrocnemius of 59% and Tibialis Anterior of 35% when adding T-FLEX to the AGoRA unilateral lower-limb exoskeleton. No differences were found in gait parameters. Nevertheless, stability is preserved when comparing the two legs. Future works should focus on evaluating the devices in ground tests in healthy subjects and pathological patients.

P.84 Gait analysis of patients with Pompe disease using a portable system

The development of new outcome measures that can identify changes in muscle function is an unmet need for patients with neuromuscular diseases. We have used a new portable device to assess gait features of a cohort of patients with late onset Pompe disease (LOPD) and compare it with gender and age matched controls. We performed a cross-sectional study analyzing different features of gait in LOPD patients and controls. We used the new device, Ephion mobility, consisting of a set of commercial wearables interconnected within a platform that permits to register a complete cluster of biomechanical data out of the functional test performed. The connected wearables include inertial measurement units (IMU), electromyography (EMG) sensors and plantar pressure sensors embedded in shorts and insoles that allow measurement of kinematics, spatio-temporal, plantar pressure, muscle activity and cardiovascular features. Individuals wore the sensors while performing the six minute walk test (6MWT) and the 10 meter walk/run (10M). We included 18 LOPD patients (10 women) patients with a genetic diagnosis of LOPD and 27 controls. All LOPD patients were symptomatic and treated with enzyme replacement therapy. Distance walked in the 6MWT was significantly shorter for LOPD (423±103.5m) compared to controls (655±140m). We observed significant differences in the gait pattern between both groups across kinematics, spatio-temporal, plantar pressure, and EMG signals. We observed that LOPD had an increase oscillation of the trunk and pelvis during stance phase associated to a longer extension of the knee during stance and an inversion of the foot. Moreover, there are significant differences between muscle strength of the knee flexors and gluteus muscles both at rest and when walking. We observed longer co-contraction of the knee flexor and extensors while walking compared to control. There was a decrease in the ground reaction force (GRF) in the heel strike and an increase in the mid-stance resulting in a flattened GRF profile. The Ephion mobility device is an easy-to-use measurement to study different features of gait. We observed significant differences between the gait pattern of LODP patients and controls in this cross-sectional study suggesting multiple potential outcome measurements to distinguish between these two populations. Longitudinal studies are needed to identify if these measurements can capture disease progression over time.

Sex Differences in Muscle Activity During Drop-Jump Landing Motion

This study investigated the effect of hip joint muscles' activity on dynamic knee-joint valgus angle during one-leg drop-jump landing motion in male and female subjects. Twenty-four healthy university students (11 males and 13 females) participated in the study. Surface electromyography was used to measure muscle activity during a one-leg landing motion. A gender difference was observed: males showed greater activity in the gluteus medius muscle compared to the adductor magnus muscle, whereas females showed greater activity in the rectus femoris muscle. A correlation between lower limb muscle activity and knee-joint valgus angle was found in male subjects but not in female subjects, suggesting that factors other than muscle activity are necessary for controlling knee joint valgus in females. Therefore, factors other than muscle activity should be investigated in the future to prevent female anterior cruciate ligament injuries.

The facilitation of trunk muscles by abdominal bracing during walking in chronic low back pain patients

Walking is known to be beneficial for chronic low back pain (LBP) patients and fast walking recruits more trunk muscles. Abdominal bracing has also been shown to improve LBP and facilitate several trunk muscles. We aimed to investigate the effects of walking velocity and abdominal bracing on the activation of trunk muscles in chronic LBP patients during walking. Forty-six volunteers with chronic LBP underwent walking exercise on the treadmill without (“non-braced walking”) and with abdominal bracing (“braced walking”) at speeds of 4, 5, and 6 km/h, with the surface electrodes placed on their trunk muscles to measure muscle activity. The root mean square values of the surface electromyography amplitude data were obtained at the multifidus of lower (ML) and upper lumbar (MU), erector spinae of lower lumbar (EL) and thoracic (ET), rectus abdominis (RA), and external oblique (EO). All muscles activated significantly more at faster walking. The “braced walking” facilitated the ET and RA significantly more than the “non-braced walking”. The interaction between the walking speed and abdominal bracing was significant at ML, MU, and RA. The increase in muscle activation observed at lower speed diminished as speed increased. Since “braced walking” seems to additionally facilitate the trunk muscles especially at slower gait speeds, patients who cannot walk fast may still be able to train their muscles by “braced walking.”

Assessments of Core Fitness

Apply It! By reading this feature article, readers will learn: • The assessment of core muscle strength, endurance, and coordination is important for training and health because the core is a crucial foundation for torque production and the transfer of loads from the limbs, pelvic, and shoulder girdles. • Although clinical core assessments tend to emphasize the measurement of muscle activation, a wide array of functional assessments are effective for monitoring core strength when sustaining or completing a variety of positions (isometric) or tasks/movements (dynamic). • In accord with training specificity, common movements such as squats, jumps, push-ups, and others are visually inspected to detect core dysfunctions (e.g., movement compensations, trunk buckling, and others). Many of these functional tests as well as balance tests do not solely evaluate core function. • There are very few dynamic tests that measure core strength or power associated with the spectrum of human movement and specific to different sports (e.g., soccer, basketball, etc.), and this is a crucial area for future research.

Analysis of Muscle Activity in the Sit-to-Stand Motion When Knee Movability is Disturbed

Sit-to-stand motion is an important daily activity, and disability of motion can significantly reduce quality of life. Therefore, it is important to understand the mechanism of sit-to-stand motion in order to prevent such scenarios. The sit-to-stand motion was found to be generated by four muscle groups, through muscle synergy. However, it is unclear how muscle synergy can be controlled. Human sit-to-stand motion may be planned based on body condition before motion. In this study, we aimed to clarify the relationship between body condition and muscle activity during the sit-to-stand motion. Accordingly, we measured the muscle activity when knee movability was disturbed as a condition of body change. We also measured the muscle activity during normal sit-to-stand motion and sit-to-stand motion with disturbed knee movability using surface electromyography. Subsequently, we extracted the muscle synergy from the measured muscle activity and compared the activity levels of muscle synergy. The results revealed that muscle activity contributing to forward bending increased and that contributing to the rise of the hip and stabilization decreased when knee movability was disturbed. These results suggest that humans compensate for disturbed knee movability with forward momentum and bending motion. Moreover, this implies that humans adjust their motion to various environments or body conditions by adjusting the level of forward bending activity.

Design Validation of a Low-Cost EMG Sensor Compared to a Commercial-Based System for Measuring Muscle Activity and Fatigue.

Electromyography (EMG) sensors have been used for measuring muscle signals and for diagnosing neuromuscular disease. Available commercial EMG sensor are expensive and not easily available for individuals. The aim of the study is to validate our designed low-cost sensor against a well-known commercial system for measuring muscle activity and fatigue assessment. The evaluation of the designed system was done through a series of dynamic exercises performed by volunteers. Our low-cost EMG sensor and the commercially available system were placed on the vastus lateralis muscle to concurrently record the signal in a maximum voluntary contraction (MVC). The signal analysis was done using two validation indicators: Spearman’s correlation, and intra-class cross correlation on SPSS 26.0 version. For the muscle fatigue assessment, the root mean square (RMS), mean absolute value (MAV) and mean frequency (MNF) indicators were used. The results at the peak and mean level muscle contraction intensity were computed. The relative agreement for the two systems was excellent at peak level muscle contraction range (ICC 0.74–0.92), average 0.83 and mean level muscle contraction intensity range (ICC 0.65–0.85) with an average of 0.74. The Spearman’s correlation average was 0.76 with the range of (0.71–0.85) at peak level contraction, whiles the mean level contraction average was 0.71 at a range of (0.62–0.81). In determining muscle fatigue, the RMS and MAV showed increasing values in the time domain, while the MEF decreased in the frequency domain. Overall, the results indicated a good to excellent agreement of the two systems and confirmed the reliability of our design. The low-cost sensor also proved to be suitable for muscle fatigue assessment. Our designed system can therefore be implemented for rehabilitation, sports science, and ergonomics.

Silent Sound Technology

In this paper we approach to which could help people who lose voices to speak, and allow people to make silent calls without bothering others, rather than making any sounds, your handset would decipher the movements your mouth makes by measuring muscle activity, then convert this into speech that the person on the other end of the call can hear. So, basically, it reads our lips. Another important benefit of this technology is that it allows you to communicate to any person in the world as the electrical pulse is universal, it can be converted into any language depending upon the users choice.

Distributed Full Synchronized System for Global Health Monitoring Based on FLSA

In modern medicine, smart wireless connected devices are gaining an increasingly important role in aiding doctors' job of monitoring patients. More and more complex systems, with a high density of sensors capable of monitoring many biological signals, are arising. Merging the data offers a great opportunity for increasing the reliability of diagnosis. However, a huge problem is constituted by synchronization. Multi-board wireless-connected monitoring systems are a typical example of distributed systems and synchronization has always been a challenging issue. In this paper, we present a distributed full synchronized system for monitoring patients' health capable of heartbeat rate, oxygen saturation, gait and posture analysis, and muscle activity measurements. The time synchronization is guaranteed thanks to the Fractional Low-power Synchronization Algorithm (FLSA).

Immediate Effects of Cervical Spine Manipulation Compared With Muscle Energy Technique on Neck Muscle Activity and Range of Motion in Asymptomatic Participants: A Randomized Study

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to investigate the immediate effects of cervical spine manipulation (SM) compared with muscle energy technique (MET) on neck muscle activity and range of motion in asymptomatic people. MethodsA randomized parallel-group study was conducted at a chiropractic teaching clinic in Durban, South Africa. Fifty asymptomatic participants between 18 and 35 years of age were randomly assigned into group 1 or group 2. Group 1 received cervical SM, and group 2 received MET. Participants were blinded to group allocation only. Baseline and post-test measurements consisted of resting upper trapezius and posterior cervical muscle activity and cervical spine range of motion (ROM) in lateral flexion and extension. ResultsA significant difference was found in cervical ROM within groups (P < .001), with no significant difference observed between the 2 groups. The right posterior cervical muscles showed a significant difference in group 1 only (P = .012). No significant muscle activity changes occurred in group 2. Resting muscle activity measures showed no statistically significant changes between groups. ConclusionA single application of SM and MET to the cervical spine immediately increased cervical ROM. Neither cervical SM nor MET changed resting posterior cervical and upper trapezius muscle activity.

Evaluating Muscle Synergies With EMG Data and Physics Simulation in the Neurorobotics Platform.

Although we can measure muscle activity and analyze their activation patterns, we understand little about how individual muscles affect the joint torque generated. It is known that they are controlled by circuits in the spinal cord, a system much less well-understood than the cortex. Knowing the contribution of the muscles toward a joint torque would improve our understanding of human limb control. We present a novel framework to examine the control of biomechanics using physics simulations informed by electromyography (EMG) data. These signals drive a virtual musculoskeletal model in the Neurorobotics Platform (NRP), which we then use to evaluate resulting joint torques. We use our framework to analyze raw EMG data collected during an isometric knee extension study to identify synergies that drive a musculoskeletal lower limb model. The resulting knee torques are used as a reference for genetic algorithms (GA) to generate new simulated activation patterns. On the platform the GA finds solutions that generate torques matching those observed. Possible solutions include synergies that are similar to those extracted from the human study. In addition, the GA finds activation patterns that are different from the biological ones while still producing the same knee torque. The NRP forms a highly modular integrated simulation platform allowing these in silico experiments. We argue that our framework allows for research of the neurobiomechanical control of muscles during tasks, which would otherwise not be possible.

Ultrasonographic evaluation of the effect of splint therapy on masseter muscle and blood flow in patients with bruxism.

To investigate the effect of splint therapy on masseter muscle and blood flow in patients with bruxism using ultrasonography (USG). Twenty female patients with bruxism receiving splint treatment were studied. Masseter thickness and elasticity were assessed using gray-scale USG and shear-wave elastography (kPa) at rest and maximum clenching. Blood flow parameters of external carotid artery (ECA), maxillary, facial, mental artery were examined using Doppler USG before and after splint application. Thickness and elasticity of masseter muscle was statistically significantly decreased at rest after splint therapy (p < 0.05). Significant difference was determined only in some parameters of ECA and maxillary artery in Doppler USG before and after splint (p < 0.05); there was no difference for facial and mental artery (p > 0.05). Thickness and elasticity of masseter muscle were significantly decreased after splint therapy. USG can measure muscle activity and blood flow in bruxism patients.

Muscle coordination retraining inspired by musculoskeletal simulations reduces knee contact force

Humans typically coordinate their muscles to meet movement objectives like minimizing energy expenditure. In the presence of pathology, new objectives gain importance, like reducing loading in an osteoarthritic joint, but people often do not change their muscle coordination patterns to meet these new objectives. Here we use musculoskeletal simulations to identify simple changes in coordination that can be taught using electromyographic biofeedback, achieving the therapeutic goal of reducing joint loading. Our simulations predicted that changing the relative activation of two redundant ankle plantarflexor muscles—the gastrocnemius and soleus—could reduce knee contact force during walking, but it was unclear whether humans could re-coordinate redundant muscles during a complex task like walking. Our experiments showed that after a single session of walking with biofeedback of summary measures of plantarflexor muscle activation, healthy individuals reduced the ratio of gastrocnemius-to-soleus muscle activation by 25 ± 15% (p = 0.004, paired t test, n = 10). Participants who walked with this “gastrocnemius avoidance” gait pattern reduced late-stance knee contact force by 12 ± 12% (p = 0.029, paired t test, n = 8). Simulation-informed coordination retraining could be a promising treatment for knee osteoarthritis and a powerful tool for optimizing coordination for a variety of rehabilitation and performance applications.

Evaluation of Upper Limb Muscle Activation Using Musculoskeletal Model with Wearable Assistive Device.

In recent years, wearable assistive device has been used to support upper arm movement training for rehabilitation purposes. A wearable assistive device could affect the muscle output during motor tasks to support upper limb disorder rehabilitation training. However, the investigation of muscle activity with the given assistive force is not widely investigated. In this study, the evaluation of upper limb muscle activities using musculoskeletal simulation systems with the developed wearable cable-driven assistive device has been carried out. An experimental protocol consisting of a series of motions was executed with five healthy subjects. Muscle activation on the brachioradialis, biceps, and triceps muscles was measured by using surface electromyography (EMG) and analyzed. The simulations with a musculoskeletal model to estimate muscle output with and without a wearable assistive device were performed for three tasks. An assistive upper arm device was integrated into the musculoskeletal model, and the desired assistive force is translated to the arm joint along with a tendon routing structure. Assisting movement by the wearable device was evaluated by measuring muscle activation with-assist and without-assist conditions. The results show that the use of the wearable assistive device can effectively assist in arm movement. Comparisons of measured EMG muscle data and the musculoskeletal model revealed that muscle force was generated throughout the arm. The integrated musculoskeletal model results show that muscle force values for two primary muscles (biceps and brachioradialis) were reduced during the simulated task when wearing the assistive device. These results are congruent with expectations, with the assistive device that supports the upper limb movement, providing practical assistance. The results highlight the importance of evaluating muscle output for the developed wearable assistive device to support the assistive movement. Lastly, the musculoskeletal simulation system could reduce the resource-intensive, and time consumed with the experimental testing could be achieved.