Clinical trial NCT05097612: Evaluation of a Soft Exoskeleton to Support Forward Leaning and Lifting
Official title: "Evaluation of a Soft Exoskeleton With Parallel Springs and Its Ability to Reduce Physical Load During Lifting and Leaning"
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Occupational Exposure
Lead sponsor: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Auxivo AG
First posted: 2021-10-28
Enrollment: 30
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 65
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: NA
Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: In this study the LiftSuit version 2.0 designed by Auxivo AG will be used. The LiftSuit is a soft wearable device that is designed to support workers perform physically demanding tasks including repetitive lifting and working in forward leaning positions. It is put on like a backpack and attached to the body using fabric bands and cuffs. Besides soft fabric parts the LiftSuit contains elastics elements. The elastic elements can be flexibly exchanged by the experimenter. For this experiment elastic elements of known stiffness will be hooked into the fabric frame.

Detailed description: In a first step participants will try on the LiftSuit exoskeleton and adjust it to their body under supervision of the experimenter. When the LiftSuit exoskeleton is adjusted to the participant it is taken off to allow placement of sensors. The sensors used to record heart rate (Polar H9 heart rate monitor, Polar Electro Europe AG, Germany), muscle activity from 8 muscles in the back and hip region (Delsys Trigno, Delsys Europe, United Kingdom) and movement kinematics (OptiTrack motion capture system, NaturalPoint Inc., USA) will be placed by the experimenter (or participant him/herself). To verify that the electromyography sensors, are working and to obtain normalization values, participants will be instructed to conduct maximal voluntary contractions of each muscle that are being recorded. If needed single sensors can be replaced. After this the exoskeleton will be put back on.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Included will be volunteers of both sexes within working age (18 to 65 years).

Exclusion Criteria:

* Participants will be excluded if they cannot perform the tasks (squat lifting and forward leaning) due to physical limitations. Furthermore, people who report acute joint or muscle pain or stiffness, or a self-reported history of such problems will be excluded.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Change in muscle activity of hip extensor muscles (placebo comparator - low support experimental intervention)
timeFrame: 2 hours
measure: Change in muscle activity of back extensor muscles (placebo comparator - low support experimental intervention)
timeFrame: 2 hours
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Change in muscle activity of hip extensor muscles related to stiffness level of the Elastic Energy Storages (low, medium, high stiffness).
timeFrame: 2 hours
measure: Change in muscle activity of back muscles related to stiffness level of the Elastic Energy Storages (low, medium, high stiffness).
timeFrame: 2 hours
Other outcomes:
measure: Change in muscle activity of abdominal muscles (placebo comparator - experimental intervention)
timeFrame: 2 hours
measure: Change in hip angle kinematics (placebo comparator - experimental intervention)
timeFrame: 2 hours
Locations:
city: Zurich
country: Switzerland
facility: ETH Zurich, Rehabilitation Engeineering Laboratory
Study officials:
affiliation: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
name: Olivier Lambercy, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: