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Künzler M, Herger S, De Pieri E, Egloff C, Mündermann A, Nüesch C. Effect of load carriage on joint kinematics, vertical ground reaction force and muscle activity: Treadmill versus overground walking. Gait Posture 2023; 104:1-8. [PMID: 37263066 DOI: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2023.05.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2022] [Revised: 05/15/2023] [Accepted: 05/17/2023] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Previous studies have investigated the effect of either different load or different surface conditions, such as overground or treadmill walking, on human biomechanics. However, studies combining these two aspects are scarce. RESEARCH QUESTION The purpose of this study was to quantify the difference in spatiotemporal parameters, lower extremity joint kinematics, vertical ground reaction forces (vGRF) and muscle activity between normal bodyweight (100 %BW) and 20 % increased bodyweight (120 %BW) during overground and treadmill walking. METHODS Ten healthy young adults walked overground at self-selected speed and on an instrumented treadmill set to the overground speed. Spatiotemporal parameters, 3-dimensional lower extremity kinematics, vGRF and muscle activity were measured and compared between conditions. RESULTS The stance phase was longer for 120 %BW than 100 %BW in both overground and treadmill walking. Further, the stance phase was longer and cadence higher in treadmill than overground walking for both load conditions. Knee flexion angles were more than 3° greater in the second half of swing in treadmill than in overground walking. The vGRF was higher for 120 %BW compared to 100 %BW on both surfaces (treadmill, first peak: +18.6 %BW; second peak: +13.5 %BW; overground, first peak: +22.2 %BW; second peak: +19.8 %BW). Differences between conditions greater than 20 % were observed in short periods during the gait cycle for vastus medialis, vastus lateralis and semitendinosus. SIGNIFICANCE Results regarding the effects of carrying additional load using a weight vest on joint kinematics during treadmill walking may be translated to overground walking but some changes in muscle activation can be expected.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marina Künzler
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Department of Spine Surgery, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Department of Clinical Research, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Simon Herger
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Department of Spine Surgery, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Department of Clinical Research, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Enrico De Pieri
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Laboratory for Movement Analysis, University of Basel Children's Hospital, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Christian Egloff
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Annegret Mündermann
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Department of Spine Surgery, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Department of Clinical Research, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Corina Nüesch
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Department of Spine Surgery, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Department of Clinical Research, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
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Liang J, Zhang Q, Liu Y, Wang T, Wan G. A review of the design of load-carrying exoskeletons. SCIENCE CHINA. TECHNOLOGICAL SCIENCES 2022; 65:2051-2067. [PMID: 36032505 PMCID: PMC9392988 DOI: 10.1007/s11431-022-2145-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2022] [Accepted: 07/07/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The increasing necessity of load-carrying activities has led to greater human musculoskeletal damage and an increased metabolic cost. With the rise of exoskeleton technology, researchers have begun exploring different approaches to developing wearable robots to augment human load-carrying ability. However, there is a lack of systematic discussion on biomechanics, mechanical designs, and augmentation performance. To achieve this, extensive studies have been reviewed and 108 references are selected mainly from 2013 to 2022 to address the most recent development. Other earlier 20 studies are selected to present the origin of different design principles. In terms of the way to achieve load-carrying augmentation, the exoskeletons reviewed in this paper are sorted by four categories based on the design principles, namely load-suspended backpacks, lower-limb exoskeletons providing joint torques, exoskeletons transferring load to the ground and exoskeletons transferring load between body segments. Specifically, the driving modes of active and passive, the structure of rigid and flexible, the conflict between assistive performance and the mass penalty of the exoskeleton, and the autonomy are discussed in detail in each section to illustrate the advances, challenges, and future trends of exoskeletons designed to carry loads.
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Affiliation(s)
- JieJunYi Liang
- State Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074 China
| | - QinHao Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074 China
| | - Yang Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074 China
| | - Tao Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074 China
| | - GuangFu Wan
- State Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074 China
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Turpin NA, Uriac S, Dalleau G. How to improve the muscle synergy analysis methodology? Eur J Appl Physiol 2021; 121:1009-1025. [PMID: 33496848 DOI: 10.1007/s00421-021-04604-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2020] [Accepted: 01/10/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Muscle synergy analysis is increasingly used in domains such as neurosciences, robotics, rehabilitation or sport sciences to analyze and better understand motor coordination. The analysis uses dimensionality reduction techniques to identify regularities in spatial, temporal or spatio-temporal patterns of multiple muscle activation. Recent studies have pointed out variability in outcomes associated with the different methodological options available and there was a need to clarify several aspects of the analysis methodology. While synergy analysis appears to be a robust technique, it remain a statistical tool and is, therefore, sensitive to the amount and quality of input data (EMGs). In particular, attention should be paid to EMG amplitude normalization, baseline noise removal or EMG filtering which may diminish or increase the signal-to-noise ratio of the EMG signal and could have major effects on synergy estimates. In order to robustly identify synergies, experiments should be performed so that the groups of muscles that would potentially form a synergy are activated with a sufficient level of activity, ensuring that the synergy subspace is fully explored. The concurrent use of various synergy formulations-spatial, temporal and spatio-temporal synergies- should be encouraged. The number of synergies represents either the dimension of the spatial structure or the number of independent temporal patterns, and we observed that these two aspects are often mixed in the analysis. To select a number, criteria based on noise estimates, reliability of analysis results, or functional outcomes of the synergies provide interesting substitutes to criteria solely based on variance thresholds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolas A Turpin
- IRISSE (EA 4075), UFR SHE-STAPS Department, University of La Réunion, 117 Rue du Général Ailleret, 97430, Le Tampon, France.
| | - Stéphane Uriac
- IRISSE (EA 4075), UFR SHE-STAPS Department, University of La Réunion, 117 Rue du Général Ailleret, 97430, Le Tampon, France
| | - Georges Dalleau
- IRISSE (EA 4075), UFR SHE-STAPS Department, University of La Réunion, 117 Rue du Général Ailleret, 97430, Le Tampon, France
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