Optimization of Hip-exoskeleton Weight Attributes

N/ACompletedNCT05120115

University of Texas at Austin21 enrolled

Overview

The investigators are examining how weight distribution affects the way people walk, in terms of joint kinematics, kinetics, and muscle activity. The investigators are measuring these quantities while people walk while wearing a weighted belt. The investigators distribute the weights and walk for specified periods. They hypothesize that greater weight will have a greater effect on walking.

The purpose of this study is to examine how the amount and distribution of weight on the pelvis affects how people walk. The investigators two factors, weight and placement. They are examining how these factors affect muscle activation, joint motions and foot forces. The investigators plan to recruit 40 healthy adult individuals. Each of the 20 experimental conditions (3x3 factorial and one control condition with no weight) will be recorded immediately in a single session. The investigators hypothesize that weight amount, gait speed and weight distribution will all affect how people walk, which will lead towards optimized design of hip exoskeletons.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

Conditions

Healthy Gait, Frontal

Interventions

Weight beltOTHER

Wearing belt around waist with various weights attached.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 65 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Willing to commit to the full experimental session Exclusion Criteria: * Functionally relevant lower limb musculoskeletal injury * Functionally relevant osteoarthritis and weight bearing restrictions * Severe respiratory problems that restrict the wearer from using a metabolic rate apparatus * Patients with cardiac issues may be included, but the cardiac issue will be noted in the health history questionnaire

Locations (1)

University of Texas at Austin

Austin, Texas, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Pelvic Obliquity

Amount of pelvic obliquity in response to weighted belt measured using optical motion capture

Time frame: One day

Secondary Outcomes

Knee Flexion Angle During Swing Phase

Knee flexion angle range of motion measured using optical motion capture

Time frame: One Day

Integrated Gastrocnemius Muscle Activity During Preswing Phase of Walking

EMG signals were normalized via the mean-dynamic method (Burden and Bartlett, 1999), centering the EMG signal around 1. For data analysis, the EMG signal was integrated along each gait phase to calculate the integrated EMG (iEMG) values. For the gastrocnemius, we extrated the iEMG during the pre-swing phase only. The iEMG was normalized to average during walking, resulting in arbitrary units.

Time frame: One day

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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