Assessment of Two Passive Back-Support Exoskeletons in a Simulated Precision Manual Assembly Task

摘要

Low back pain (LBP) remains the most prevalent and costly work-related disability in the United States, accounting for -40% of annual musculoskeletal disorders (BLS, 2018) and imposing an economic burden of over $50 billion (Davis, 2012). Many intervention approaches have been explored to reduce the physical requirements of occupational tasks. Examples include training in work methods, modifying work stations, re-organizing work processes, and using mechanical aids such as cranes and power-lift tables (Chaffin et al, 1999; Lavender et al., 2013; Madinei et al., 2018). While these approaches can be effective, they can also be excessively costly or even infeasible for certain work environments (Graham et al., 2009). Industrial back-support exoskeletons (BSEs) - designed to augment the back and hip muscles -have been introduced as an alternative intervention to reduce the physical demands on the back muscles and consequently mitigate the risk of LBP (De Looze et al., 2016).