Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39736717›Full record

ArticleJournal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation2024

Evaluation of an assistive exosuit for alleviating neck and shoulder muscle fatigue during prolonged flexed neck posture.

Hang Man Cho, Jae-Ryeong Choi, Jung-Hwan Moon, Kyu-Jin Cho, Seung-Won Kim

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Hang Man ChoCenter for Healthcare Robotics, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul, 02792, Republic of Korea.
Jae-Ryeong ChoiDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Republic of Korea.
Jung-Hwan MoonCenter for Healthcare Robotics, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul, 02792, Republic of Korea.
Kyu-Jin ChoDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Republic of Korea.
Seung-Won KimCenter for Healthcare Robotics, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul, 02792, Republic of Korea. swkim16@kist.re.kr.

Funding

Korea Institute of Science and Technology 2E32983Ministry of Science and ICT, South Korea RS-2023-00208052
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionNeck pain affects 203 million people globally and is prevalent in various settings due to factors like poor posture, lack of exercise, and occupational hazards. Therefore, addressing ergonomic issues with solutions like a wearable robotic device is crucial. This research presents a novel assistive exosuit, characterized by its slim and lightweight structure and intuitive control without the use of hands, designed to mitigate muscle fatigue in the neck and shoulders during prolonged flexed neck posture. The efficacy of the exosuit was confirmed through human experiments and user surveys.

methodsThe preliminary feasibility experiment was conducted with five subjects for 15 min to verify the effect of supporting the weight of the head with a wire on reducing neck muscle fatigue. The prime experiment was conducted with 26 subjects for 15 min to quantitatively evaluate the reduction in muscle fatigue achieved by wearing the exosuit and to assess its qualitative usability from the user's perspective. For all experiments, surface electromyography (sEMG) data was measured from upper trapezius (UT) and splenius capitis (SC) muscles, the two representative superficial muscles responsible for sustaining flexed neck posture. The analysis of the device's efficiency utilized two parameters: the normalized root mean square value (nRMS), which was employed to assess muscle activity, and the normalized median frequency (nMDF), which was utilized to gauge the extent of muscle fatigue. These parameters were statistically analyzed with the IBM SPSS statistic program.

resultsWhen wearing the exosuit, the nMDF of UT and SC increased by 7.18% (p < 0.05) and 5.38% (p < 0.05), respectively. For the nRMS, no significant differences were observed in either muscle. The nMDF slope of UT and SC increased by 0.63%/min (p < 0.01) and 0.34%/min (no significance). In the context of the nRMS slope, UT exhibited a reduction of 0.021% MVC/min (p < 0.05), while SC did not demonstrate any statistically significant outcomes. The exosuit received an average system usability scale score of 66.83.

conclusionsBased on both qualitative and quantitative evaluations, our proposed assistive exosuit demonstrated that it promises the significant reduction of muscle fatigue in the neck and shoulders.

Indexed as

ElectromyographyExoskeleton DeviceMuscle FatigueNeck MusclesPostureShoulderAdultFeasibility StudiesFemaleHumansMaleNeckNeck PainYoung AdultAssistive wearable deviceClutchExosuitFlexed neck postureMedian frequencyMuscle fatigueSplenius capitis muscleSurface EMGUpper trapezoid muscle

Identifiers

PMID39736717
PMCPMC11687197

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.