PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Versatile knee exo for safer lifting

Helping out the quad muscles kept study participants lifting safely despite fatigue, with an algorithm that smoothly shifts between lifting and carrying tasks

2024-09-18
(Press-News.org) Images

A set of knee exoskeletons, built with commercially available knee braces and drone motors at the University of Michigan, has been shown to help counteract fatigue in lifting and carrying tasks. They helped users maintain better lifting posture even when tired, a key factor in defending against on-the-job injuries, the researchers say.

 

"Rather than directly bracing the back and giving up on proper lifting form, we strengthen the legs to maintain it," said Robert Gregg, U-M professor of robotics and corresponding author of the study in Science Robotics. "This differs from what's more commonly done in industry."

 

Already workers who lift regularly, such as in construction and manufacturing, may use back braces. Back exoskeletons, which use springs or motors to help with lifting, are an emerging technology. But devices supporting the back assume unsafe lifting, or stooping, and back exoskeletons tend to be cumbersome devices that must be deactivated to allow motions that aren't part of the lifting task, Gregg said.

 

The Michigan team says their knee exoskeletons are the first to support the quadriceps muscles instead, which provide the bulk of the force in safe squat lifting, as a less intrusive way to help protect workers from back injuries. Study participants tested them out with lifting and carrying tasks using a 20 lb kettlebell.

 

The tasks included lifting the weight off the ground and setting it down again, and lifting and carrying the weight on flat ground, up and down an incline, and up and down stairs. The study found that, after becoming fatigued, the participants kept better posture with the help of the exoskeleton, and they also lifted faster—just 1% slower than their pre-fatigued paces, versus 44% slower without the aid of the exoskeletons. 

 

"This is especially important when a worker has to keep up with a conveyor belt. Usually, when a worker is fatigued, they'll keep up with that rate, but with a compromised posture. They'll bend their back more, and that's when injuries are most likely," said Nikhil Divekar, a postdoctoral research fellow in robotics at U-M and first author of the study. 

 

The participants felt the benefit, too—they mainly said they were quite or very satisfied, with the exception of walking on level ground, for which they were more or less satisfied. This tracks with the small amount of assistance required by the quadriceps during this relatively easy task; Gregg described it as just enough support to counteract the weight of the exoskeleton.

 

One of the keys to making the exoskeleton so wearable is the motors and the way that they are geared, which enables users to swing their knees freely for a natural gait. The other is the software, which predicts what kind of assistance the user needs by measuring the angle of the knee joint, the orientations of the thigh and lower leg, and the force picked up by a sensor in the user's shoe. 

 

With these three measurements from both legs, it's possible to work out what motion the user is trying to do, and how much assistance to give. These measurements were taken 150 times per second, enabling the exos to move seamlessly between activities. 

 

This approach is in contrast to many exo controllers, which follow predefined patterns for a limited set of tasks. Switching tasks can be a problem for these controllers, and they may need a full second to figure out what the user is trying to do, Gregg said.

 

"If your exo is trying to walk upstairs, and you're trying to walk downstairs, that could be a problem, right?" he said.

 

The new controller also pairs a physics model with machine learning, which prevents the exoskeleton from making unexpected moves if the user begins behaving differently than any activity included in the controller's training data.

 

The lab prototypes cost about $4,000 per pair, so Gregg anticipates that if the exoskeletons were produced at scale, they might cost about $2,000 per pair.

 

The 10 study participants, five women and five men, did all the tasks on two different days, one day fresh and the other fatigued. To induce fatigue, each participant performed a series of squat lifts with the kettlebell until they couldn’t continue without a long break between repetitions. All participants had experience with proper squat lifting techniques. 

 

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

 

The team has applied for patent protection with the assistance of U-M Innovation Partnerships and is seeking partners to bring the technology to market.

 

Study: A versatile knee exoskeleton mitigates quadriceps fatigue in lifting, lowering, and carrying tasks (DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.adr8282)

 

END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

NIH-led studies point to potential development of a cataract drug

NIH-led studies point to potential development of a cataract drug
2024-09-18
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and their collaborators have identified a protein, known as RNF114, that reverses cataracts, a clouding of the eye’s lens that occurs commonly in people as they age. The study, which was conducted in the 13-lined ground squirrel and rats, may represent a possible surgery-free strategy for managing cataracts, a common cause of vision loss.  The study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. “Scientists have long searched for an alternative to cataract surgery, which is effective, but not without risk. Lack of access to cataract surgery is a barrier to care in some ...

Artificial intelligence grunt work can be outsourced using a new blockchain-based framework developed by Concordians

Artificial intelligence grunt work can be outsourced using a new blockchain-based framework developed by Concordians
2024-09-18
Tomorrow’s workplace will be run on mind-boggling amounts of data. To make sense of it all, businesses, developers and individuals will need better artificial intelligence (AI) systems, better trained AI workers and more efficient number-crunching servers. While big tech companies have the resources and expertise to meet these demands, they remain beyond the reach of most small and medium-sized enterprises and individuals. To respond to this need, a Concordia-led international team of researchers has developed a new framework to make complex AI tasks more accessible ...

Mental health challenges faced by children with cystic fibrosis are the focus of a major, multisite study led by UB

Mental health challenges faced by children with cystic fibrosis are the focus of a major, multisite study led by UB
2024-09-18
BUFFALO, N.Y. — A University at Buffalo psychiatrist who has played a critical role in getting mental health screening and treatment integrated into routine care for adults and adolescents with cystic fibrosis (CF) has been awarded $3 million from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to focus on the mental health of children with the disease.   Led by UB and launched this summer, the new study is an outgrowth of The International Depression Epidemiological Study (TIDES), which began in 2014 and was the largest study of mental health in adolescents and adults with CF. As a result of TIDES, ...

UC3M and Universia obtain an ENIA Chair in artificial intelligence in data economy

UC3M and Universia obtain an ENIA Chair in artificial intelligence in data economy
2024-09-18
The Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) is one of 22 institutions that have been selected by the Ministry for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service to create an ENIA Chair to further the development of artificial intelligence (AI)-based applications. The AImpulsa UC3M-Universia Chair, as it is called, will be the only one of its kind in Spain in the area of Data Economy and will collaborate with Universia-Banco Santander, through Santander Universities. The ENIA Chairs' objectives, which depend on the Secretary of State for Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence of the Ministry for Digital Transformation and ...

Why petting your cat leads to static electricity

Why petting your cat leads to static electricity
2024-09-18
Anyone who has ever pet a cat or shuffled their feet across the carpet knows that rubbing objects together generates static electricity. But an explanation for this phenomenon has eluded researchers for more than two millennia. Now, Northwestern University scientists have finally uncovered the mechanics at play.  When an object slides, the front and back parts of that object experience different forces, researchers found. This difference in forces causes different electrical charges to build up on the front and back parts of the object. And the difference in electrical charges creates a current, leading to a light zap. The study was published yesterday (Sept. 17) in the journal ...

UC San Diego Health maintains top quality care status by Vizient

2024-09-18
UC San Diego Health has been honored as a top performer for Vizient’s 2024 Bernard A. Birnbaum, MD, Quality Leadership Performance Award, marking the sixth consecutive year the health system has achieved this prominent distinction. This award places UC San Diego Health among the top academic medical centers in the nation, highlighting its exceptional commitment to delivering high-quality, patient-centered care. This sustained excellence recognizes the region’s only academic medical center’s mission of advancing health care standards and outcomes at the highest level. “Being named a Vizient top performer for the sixth year in a row underscores ...

If you build it, will they come? Wildlife corridors need smarter design

2024-09-18
As human population and development continue to expand, it’s more important than ever to set aside corridors of undeveloped land where wildlife can travel safely, helping to ensure their long-term survival. However, a recent study by the University of Maryland reveals that current methods of designing and evaluating wildlife corridors may not be adequate to ensure wildlife protection, and suggests that Best Management Practices should include analyzing corridors with a smarter and more thorough framework. University researchers tested different ...

Sea surface temperature record in the southwestern Pacific: Coral colony from Fiji reveals warmest temperatures in over 600 years

Sea surface temperature record in the southwestern Pacific: Coral colony from Fiji reveals warmest temperatures in over 600 years
2024-09-18
The sea surface temperature in the Fijian archipelago in the southwestern Pacific is now at its maximum for more than 600 years. This is the result of an international research team's evaluation of a new coral record providing further evidence for unprecedented warming in the western Pacific Ocean. According to this, the year 2022 was the warmest year in the region since 1370. The scientists used the giant coral Diploastrea heliopora colony in Fiji to obtain the data for the new reconstruction. These unique and long-lived massive corals record long-term climatic and ...

Homemade ‘play-putty’ can read the body’s electric signals, find UMass researchers

Homemade ‘play-putty’ can read the body’s electric signals, find UMass researchers
2024-09-18
AMHERST, Mass. – A new study by University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers demonstrates the effectiveness of homemade play putty at reading brain, heart, muscle and eye activity. Published in Device, the research outlines the conductive properties of this material, so-named “squishy circuits.”  “[Squishy circuits] are literally child’s play putty, that is also conductive” describes Dmitry Kireev, assistant professor of biomedical engineering and senior author on the paper.   The conductive squishy ...

Magnifying deep space through the “carousel lens”

Magnifying deep space through the “carousel lens”
2024-09-18
In a rare and extraordinary discovery, researchers have identified a unique configuration of galaxies that form the most exquisitely aligned gravitational lens found to date. The Carousel Lens is a massive cluster-scale gravitational lens system that will enable researchers to delve deeper into the mysteries of the cosmos, including dark matter and dark energy. “This is an amazingly lucky ‘galactic line-up’ – a chance alignment of multiple galaxies across a line-of-sight spanning most of the observable universe,” said David Schlegel, a co-author of the study and a senior scientist in Berkeley Lab’s Physics Division. "Finding one such alignment is ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Arthropods dominate plant litter decomposition in drylands

World-renowned organic chemists attend inaugural science symposium hosted by Rice’s Global Paris Center

The trees of Miami’s future

MIT team takes a major step toward fully 3D-printed active electronics

Accelerated three-year medical school students perform as well as peers in traditional four-year programs

SwRI-developed instruments will study potential habitability of Jupiter’s moon Europa

Proposed scoring system may enhance equity in organ transplantation, increase transplant rates and improve patient survival

Survivors of childhood brain cancer are more likely to be held back in school

Updating offshore turbine designs to reflect storms’ complexity is key

Hospital strain during the COVID-19 pandemic and outcomes in older racial and ethnic minority adults

Scientists unveils key role of “selfish DNA” in early human development

Bonobos may be more vulnerable than previously thought, suggests genetics study

Scripps Research scientists discover chemical probes for previously “undruggable” cancer target

Giant Magellan telescope begins primary mirror support system testing

Experimental cancer drug eliminates bone metastases caused by breast cancer in lab models

Political candidates who fight climate change stand to benefit in election

Stand up to Cancer announces new grants supporting pioneering research in six cancer types

Researchers awarded $1.3M to help military Veterans battling Acute Myeloid Leukemia

New hub for high-energy astrophysics — CTAO Science Data Management Centre opens at DESY in Zeuthen

JMIR publications CEO and Executive Editor Gunther Eysenbach achieves #1 ranking as most cited researcher in Medical Informatics for fifth consecutive year

ERC grant for groundbreaking wearable health tech

NIH announces winners of prize competition to improve postpartum maternal health and health equity through innovative diagnostics

APS and SPR honor Dr. Cynthia F. Bearer with the 2025 Mary Ellen Avery Neonatal Research Award

Election delays and voter trust

US air pollution monitoring network has gaps in coverage, say researchers

Continuous monitoring of fatigue in factory workers

Farmer ants’ wearable bacteria

Political polarization and trust

Study uncovers how silkworm moth's odor detection may improve robotics

New study links obesity to elevated hypertension risk among young middle eastern women

[Press-News.org] Versatile knee exo for safer lifting
Helping out the quad muscles kept study participants lifting safely despite fatigue, with an algorithm that smoothly shifts between lifting and carrying tasks