{"title":"Implementation of a passive bi-articular ankle-knee exoskeleton during maximal squat jumping.","authors":"Logan Wade, Glen Lichtwark, Dominic Farris","doi":"10.1098/rsos.240390","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Owing to the unexplored potential to harness knee extension power during jumping, the current study aimed to examine how joint mechanics were altered with a biologically inspired, passive bi-articular ankle-knee exoskeleton, which could potentially facilitate greater jump height by increasing work production about the knee and ankle. Twenty-five participants (16 males and 9 females, 175.2 ± 8.2 cm, 72.9 ± 10.3 kg, 24.0 ± 3.4 years) performed maximal squat jumping with and without the exoskeletal device and we compared jump height, joint moment and joint work of the lower limbs. Despite a low exoskeleton stiffness and therefore a limited capacity to store energy, the bi-articular device resulted in decreased jump height (1.9 ± 3.1 cm, <i>p</i> = 0.006), decreased net work about the knee (0.23 J/kg, <i>p</i> < 0.001) and no increase in ankle joint work (<i>p</i> = 0.207), compared with jumping with no exoskeleton. Based on our findings, to mimic unassisted ankle joint moment profiles, a future bi-articular device would need increased elastic element slack length, greater stiffness and a larger moment arm about the ankle. Future designs could also employ attachment sites that have minimal overlying soft tissue, such as the pelvis, to improve comfort of the device.</p>","PeriodicalId":21525,"journal":{"name":"Royal Society Open Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.9000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11288684/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Royal Society Open Science","FirstCategoryId":"103","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.240390","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/7/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Owing to the unexplored potential to harness knee extension power during jumping, the current study aimed to examine how joint mechanics were altered with a biologically inspired, passive bi-articular ankle-knee exoskeleton, which could potentially facilitate greater jump height by increasing work production about the knee and ankle. Twenty-five participants (16 males and 9 females, 175.2 ± 8.2 cm, 72.9 ± 10.3 kg, 24.0 ± 3.4 years) performed maximal squat jumping with and without the exoskeletal device and we compared jump height, joint moment and joint work of the lower limbs. Despite a low exoskeleton stiffness and therefore a limited capacity to store energy, the bi-articular device resulted in decreased jump height (1.9 ± 3.1 cm, p = 0.006), decreased net work about the knee (0.23 J/kg, p < 0.001) and no increase in ankle joint work (p = 0.207), compared with jumping with no exoskeleton. Based on our findings, to mimic unassisted ankle joint moment profiles, a future bi-articular device would need increased elastic element slack length, greater stiffness and a larger moment arm about the ankle. Future designs could also employ attachment sites that have minimal overlying soft tissue, such as the pelvis, to improve comfort of the device.
期刊介绍:
Royal Society Open Science is a new open journal publishing high-quality original research across the entire range of science on the basis of objective peer-review.
The journal covers the entire range of science and mathematics and will allow the Society to publish all the high-quality work it receives without the usual restrictions on scope, length or impact.