Investigating the Relationship Between an Intelligent Trunk Exoskeleton and Its Wearer as a Basis for Improved Assistance and Rehabilitation

研究智能躯干外骨骼与其佩戴者之间的关系，作为改善辅助和康复的基础

• 批准号: 2151465
• 负责人: Vesna Novak
• 金额: $ 52.49万
• 依托单位: University of Cincinnati Main Campus
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-10-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2151465&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Investigating; Relationship; Between; Intelligent; Trunk

Low back pain (LBP) is a leading cause of disability and a significant contributor to reduced work productivity and wage loss. Intelligent, adaptive trunk exoskeletons are a novel class of wearable robotic systems that reduce or redistribute the load on the spine and trunk muscles, thereby offering a nonsurgical and nonpharmaceutical LBP intervention that may be more effective that standard spinal orthoses because intelligent exoskeletons will have the capability to adapt their mechanical support to the changing activities and needs of the wearer. The research objective of this project is to characterize the bidirectional adaptations that will promote useful and comfortable interactions between an intelligent trunk exoskeleton and its wearer. The project offers three "work packages", which will develop fundamental knowledge about the effects a trunk exoskeleton has on human movement and physiology in a variety of activities performed in and out of the research lab. The project will also increase knowledge about how intelligent exoskeletons can adapt themselves to the wearer in an activity-specific manner, and how the wearer's exoskeleton usage patterns evolve over time. The project will promote the nation's health and prosperity by advancing the effective design and deployment of trunk exoskeletons, which will have broad impact on human health and productivity. For example, intelligent trunk exoskeletons could help workers in occupations like agriculture and materials handling to lift heavier loads with lower risk of injury. Broader impacts of the project include the integration of project technology and results into undergraduate and graduate courses, as well as outreach to K-12 and community college students, individuals with low back pain, and to the general public.The project's Intellectual Merit is advanced through three sets of human subject experiments organized into "work packages". The first determines the effects of the exoskeleton's compression and stiffness on various aspects of the wearer's trunk biomechanics, metabolic load, task completion strategy, and perceived comfort during low-intensity, high-intensity, and unpredictable laboratory-based activities. The results will provide insight into how exoskeleton compression and stiffness can be adjusted to enhance task performance and comfort. The second work package integrates sensors and actuators into the exoskeleton, thereby allowing an intelligent algorithm to infer the wearer's posture and intended task, and to reconfigure the exoskeleton's fit in a task-appropriate manner. Additionally, a smartphone app will let users manually adjust the exoskeleton's configuration using a simple user interface. The automatic and manual approaches will be compared in lab-based experiments involving participants with and without LBP. The third work package performs a 2-week, home-based, unsupervised evaluation of the adaptive trunk exoskeleton to examine how the user?s relationship with the exoskeleton evolves over time, such as whether users develop new usage strategies as they gain experience with the device. Supervised laboratory evaluations will be performed before, during, and after the 2-week evaluation period to determine how extended experience with the exoskeleton affects its effectiveness.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

腰痛（LBP）是残疾的主要原因，也是降低工作生产力和工资损失的重要原因。智能，自适应的树干外骨骼是一系列新颖的可穿戴机器人系统，可减少或重新分配脊柱和树干肌肉的负载，从而提供非外科和非药物LBP干预措施，可以更有效地更有效地，因为智能外骨骼可以适应其机械的能力，以使其适应既有智能的脊髓骨骼，并且可以适应各种活动。该项目的研究目的是表征双向改编，这些改编将促进智能的外部外骨骼及其佩戴者之间有用和舒适的互动。该项目提供了三个“工作包”，这些项目将在研究实验室内外进行的各种活动中对树干外骨骼对人类运动和生理的影响产生影响的基本知识。该项目还将增加有关智能外骨骼如何以特定于活动的方式适应佩戴者的知识，以及佩戴者的外骨骼使用模式如何随着时间的推移而发展。该项目将通过推进树干外骨骼的有效设计和部署来促进国家的健康和繁荣，这将对人类健康和生产力产生广泛的影响。例如，智能的树干外骨骼可以帮助农业和材料处理等职业的工人增加受伤风险较低的重负荷。该项目的更广泛的影响包括将项目技术和结果整合到本科和研究生课程中，以及向K-12和社区大学生，腰痛的人以及公众的宣传。首先确定了外骨骼的压缩和刚度对佩戴者行李箱生物力学的各个方面，代谢负荷，任务完成策略以及在低强度，高强度和不可预测的实验室基于实验室的活动中的舒适性的影响。结果将提供有关如何调整外骨骼压缩和刚度以提高任务性能和舒适度的洞察力。第二个工作包将传感器和执行器集成到外骨骼中，从而允许智能算法推断佩戴者的姿势和预期的任务，并以任务处理方式重新配置外骨骼的拟合度。此外，智能手机应用程序将允许用户使用简单的用户界面手动调整外骨骼的配置。将在涉及有或没有LBP的参与者的基于实验室的实验中比较自动和手动方法。第三个工作包进行了为期2周的家庭基于家庭的，无监督的评估，对自适应式外骨骼进行了检查，以检查用户与外骨骼的关系如何随着时间的流逝而演变，例如用户是否会随着获得设备的经验而开发新的用法策略。在为期2周的评估期之前，期间和之后，将进行监督的实验室评估，以确定外骨骼的扩展经验如何影响其有效性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的审查标准来通过评估来获得的支持。

项目成果

Prelanding Knee Kinematics and Landing Kinetics During Single-Leg and Double-Leg Landings in Male and Female Recreational Athletes

男性和女性休闲运动员单腿和双腿着陆时的着陆前膝关节运动学和着陆动力学

• DOI: 10.1123/jab.2022-0147
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: Journal of Applied Biomechanics
• 影响因子: 1.4
• 作者: Li, Ling;Song, Yu;Jenkins, Maddy;Dai, Boyi
• 通讯作者: Dai, Boyi

Using trunk kinematics to predict kinetic asymmetries during double-leg jump-landings in collegiate athletes following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

利用躯干运动学预测大学运动员前十字韧带重建后双腿跳跃落地时的动力学不对称性

• DOI: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2023.03.003
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: Gait & Posture
• 影响因子: 2.4
• 作者: Song, Yu;Li, Ling;Jensen, Megan A.;Dai, Boyi
• 通讯作者: Dai, Boyi

A Systematic Review of in Vivo Anterior Cruciate Ligament Loading During Static, Slow-Speed and Athletic Tasks

• DOI: 10.1007/s42978-022-00211-y
• 发表时间: 2024-02-01
• 期刊: JOURNAL OF SCIENCE IN SPORT AND EXERCISE
• 作者: Li，Ling;Song，Yu;Dai，Boyi
• 通讯作者: Dai，Boyi

Trunk Neuromuscular Function and Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries: A Narrative Review of Trunk Strength, Endurance, and Dynamic Control

躯干神经肌肉功能和前十字韧带损伤：躯干力量、耐力和动态控制的叙述回顾

• DOI: 10.1519/ssc.0000000000000727
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Strength & Conditioning Journal
• 影响因子: 2.5
• 作者: Song, Yu;Li, Ling;Dai, Boyi
• 通讯作者: Dai, Boyi

Effects of the Auxivo CarrySuit occupational exoskeleton when carrying front and side loads on a treadmill

Auxivo CarrySuit 职业外骨骼在跑步机上承载正面和侧面负载时的效果

• DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2023.111692
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: Journal of Biomechanics
• 影响因子: 2.4
• 作者: Goršič, Maja;Novak, Vesna D.
• 通讯作者: Novak, Vesna D.