Physiological consequences of using an upper limb exoskeleton during manual handling tasks

Theurel, Jean; Desbrosses, Kévin; Roux, Terence; Savescu, Adriana

doi:10.1016/j.apergo.2017.10.008

Cited by 161 publications

(169 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…This illustrates the importance of matching an exoskeleton system appropriately to the task characteristics. While upper extremity exoskeleton devices have been shown to decrease muscle loading on the shoulder, there may be broader physiological consequences on the body such as increased antagonist muscle activity, postural strains, cardiovascular demand, and modified kinematics . For instance, in a study involving eight subjects, upper‐extremity exoskeleton devices did not reduce the total load on the worker, but rather shifted the load from the shoulders to the lower back and legs .…”

Section: Potential Risksmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They may then lead to the reduction of the WMSD symptoms and, possibly, WMSD incidence rates. However, intervention studies to date have involved only small numbers of participants (many studies with <15 participants) which makes it more difficult to draw firm conclusions about the benefits of industrial exoskeletons despite the expectations about their role in injury prevention …”

Section: Potential Benefitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Industrial exoskeletons: Need for intervention effectiveness research

Howard

Murashov

Lowe

et al. 2019

American J Industrial Med

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Exoskeleton devices are being introduced across several industry sectors to augment, amplify, or reinforce the performance of a worker's existing body components-primarily the lower back and the upper extremity. Industrial exoskeletons may play a role in reducing work-related musculoskeletal disorders arising from lifting and handling heavy materials or from supporting heavy tools in overhead work. However, wearing an exoskeleton may pose a number of risks that are currently not well-studied. There are only a few studies about the safety and health implications of wearable exoskeletons and most of those studies involve only a small number of participants. Before the widespread implementation of industrial exoskeletons occurs, there is need for prospective interventional studies to evaluate the safety and health effectiveness of exoskeletons across various industry sectors. Developing a research strategy to fill current safety and health knowledge gaps, understanding the benefits, risks, and barriers to adoption of industrial exoskeletons, determining whether exoskeleton can be considered a type of personal protective equipment, and advancing consensus standards that address exoskeleton safety, should be major interests of both the occupational safety and health research and practice communities. K E Y W O R D S exoskeleton, human augmentation, intervention effectiveness, PPE

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Section: Potential Risksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Potential Benefitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Industrial exoskeletons: Need for intervention effectiveness research

Howard

Murashov

Lowe

et al. 2019

American J Industrial Med

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show abstract

“…Future efforts need to address the design and the development of new instrumental prototypes of active-power assistive equipment, especially designed for ageing workers, by escaping the creation of too expensive, unreliable and oversized equipment (Davies 2015). Here, the development and implementation of a new generation of comfortable and wearable exoskeletons to assist operators during manual handling tasks and awkward positions will play the major role (Spada et al 2017;Theurel et al 2018). One of the major challenging tasks will be to keep the exoskeleton weight and power consumption to a minimum, overcoming the traditional rigid structure, while promoting comfort and a soft-use of the system, especially for elderly workers.…”

Section: Research Area 2: Design and Testing Of New Age-friendly Suppmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ageing workforce management in manufacturing systems: state of the art and future research agenda

Calzavara

Battini

Bogataj

et al. 2019

International Journal of Production Research

134

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The workforce ageing phenomenon is recently affecting most of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries, due to a general ageing of their populations and a higher average retirement age of the workforce. In this paper, the topic of ageing workforce management is addressed from a production research standpoint, with the aim of understanding how older workers can be supported and involved in a manufacturing system. First, the current state of the art related to the ageing workforce in production systems is presented. This is structured according to four main topics: (1) analysis and evaluation of ageing workers' functional capacities, (2) consideration of ageing workers' capacities in industrial system modelling and management, (3) analysis and exploitation of ageing workers' expertise, (4) acknowledgement, analysis, design and integration of supporting technologies. Next, the discussion on the impact of the ageing workforce on manufacturing systems' performances leads to the comparison of some technological advances that are related to the Industry 4.0 paradigms. Finally, a future research agenda on this topic is proposed, based on the same topics classification proposed for the literature analysis. Five different research areas are derived, suggesting future directions for appropriate research concerning the employ of older workers in production environments.

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“…Nine papers analyzed the effects of passive exoskeletons (Alabdulkarim & Nussbaum, 2019;Huysamen et al, 2018;Kim et al, 2018aKim et al, , 2018bKim & Nussbaum, 2019;Liu et al, 2018;Park & Cho, 2017;Smets, 2019;Theurel, Desbrosses, Roux, & Savescu, 2018). There was a moderate level of evidence supporting a significant decrease in muscle activity in the AD and middle deltoid (MD) when tasks were performed with the passive exoskeleton compared to without, based on controlled laboratory studies.…”

Section: Passive Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Considerations for Industrial Use: A Systematic Review of the Impact of Active and Passive Upper Limb Exoskeletons on Physical Exposures

McFarland¹,

Fischer²

2019

IISE Transactions on Occupational Ergonomics and Human Factors

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This paper synthesizes the current literature on industrial-use, active and passive upper-limb exoskeletons, as an aid to health and safety specialists, ergonomics practitioners, and policy-makers that may be considering or regulating their use. Reported here are the effects of exoskeleton use on muscular activity; endurance and fatigue; kinematics and range of motion; productivity and quality; discomfort and pain; and usability and subjective feedback. A moderate level of evidence emerged, supporting the efficacy of passive upper limb exoskeletons in reducing muscular demands on the anterior and middle deltoid during occupational tasks, primarily those tasks involving overhead work. Given the nascence of research in this area, however, there is insufficient evidence to support the efficacy of active upper limb exoskeletons. Practitioners are encouraged to explore the effectiveness of passive exoskeleton use to reduce musculoskeletal disorder risk, particularly for overhead work. However, more research on the efficacy of active exoskeletons is recommended prior to field trials.

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Physiological consequences of using an upper limb exoskeleton during manual handling tasks

Cited by 161 publications

References 27 publications

Industrial exoskeletons: Need for intervention effectiveness research

Industrial exoskeletons: Need for intervention effectiveness research

Ageing workforce management in manufacturing systems: state of the art and future research agenda

Considerations for Industrial Use: A Systematic Review of the Impact of Active and Passive Upper Limb Exoskeletons on Physical Exposures

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