Evaluation and Test Methods of Industrial Exoskeletons In Vitro, In Vivo, and In Silico: A Critical Review

Details

• Journal Article:
  Crit Rev Biomed Eng
• Personal Author:
  Zheng, Liying ; Lowe, Brian D. ; Hawke, Ashley L. ; Wu, John Z.
• Description:
  Industrial exoskeletons have been used to assist workers during occupational activities, such as overhead work, tool-use, mobility, stooping/squatting, and/or load carrying in various industries. Despite the promise of reducing the risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorders, there is a lack of sufficient evidence to support the safe and effective use of industrial exoskeletons. To assess the merits and residual risks of various types of exoskeletons in different work settings, more comprehensive evaluation procedures are needed. This review study aims to provide an overview of the existing viable and promising methods for evaluating the effectiveness of industrial exoskeletons. The different evaluation methods are organized into three categories-in vitro, in vivo, and in silico studies. The limitations and challenges in different types of evaluation approaches are also discussed. In summary, this review sheds light on choosing appropriate evaluation approaches and may help with decision-making during the development, evaluation, and application of industrial exoskeletons.
• Subjects:
  Exoskeleton Device Musculoskeletal System
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Musculoskeletal Disorders; Industrial Exoskeleton; Evaluation Equipment Design; Robotics; Industrial Equipment; Musculoskeletal Disorders; MSD; Equipment Testing; Biomedical Engineering; Wearable Technologies; Exoskeletons;
• Source:
  Crit Rev Biomed Eng. 49(4):1-13
• Pubmed ID:
  35695600
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC9199587
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  HELD - Health Effects Laboratory Division ; DFSE - Division of Field Studies and Engineering
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  15 pdf pages
• Volume:
  49
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20064865
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2021
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:49007f76a0f1c94846787e6c814160ac37895d794df33983734b13acfc8918c10a5ba08f3cadb87f994288e6f9573b1220c585869db14b337f4a2590dd8e18fd
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/119269/cdc_119269_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 243.11 KB ]