A Review of Wearable Back-Support Exoskeletons for Preventing Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders.

Abstract

Long-term manual material handling (MMH) work leads to the trend of the younger onset of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs), with low back pain (LBP) being the most common, which causes great trouble for both society and patients. To effectively prevent LBP and provide support for workers engaged in MMH work, wearable lumbar assistive exoskeletons have played a key role in industrial scenarios. This paper divides wearable lumbar assistive exoskeletons into powered, unpowered, and quasi-passive types, systematically reviews the research status of each type of exoskeleton, and compares and discusses the key factors such as driving mode, mechanical structure, control strategy, performance evaluation, and human-machine interaction. It is found that many studies focus on the assistive performance, human-machine coupling coordination, and adaptability of wearable lumbar assistive exoskeletons. At the same time, the analysis results show that there are many types of performance evaluation indicators, but a unified and standardized evaluation method and system are still lacking. This paper analyzes current research findings, identifies existing issues, and provides recommendations for future research. This study provides a theoretical basis and design ideas for the development of wearable lumbar assistive exoskeleton systems.