Sustained-till-exhaustion effects of firefighter helmets on neck muscle fatigue mechanism.

IF 2.4 3区工程技术 Q3 ENGINEERING, INDUSTRIAL

Ergonomics Pub Date : 2025-08-19 DOI:10.1080/00140139.2025.2548004

Leonardo H Wei, Gustavo M Paulon, Pramiti Sarker, Suman K Chowdhury

引用次数: 0

Abstract

This study investigates how helmet inertial properties-mass and centre of mass (COM)-influence neck muscle fatigue to support the biomechanical design of firefighter helmets. Thirty-six firefighters (18 males, 18 females) performed sustained neck flexion and extension tasks under three conditions: no-helmet, US, and European-style (EU) helmets. Neck angles, endurance time, discomfort ratings, and electromyography (EMG) data from eight neck muscles were collected. Fatigue was assessed as an increase in normalised mean absolute value (NMAV) and decrease in median frequency (MF) of EMG signals, segmented into four intervals (0-25%, 26-50%, 51-75%, 76-100%).Piece-wise regression and ANOVA analyses of NMAV and MF slopes for each interval showed that the US helmet led to greater muscle activation, faster fatigue, and reduced endurance. These findings highlight the importance of optimising COM location-not just the weight-when designing a helmet to reduce neck injury risks.

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消防员头盔持续至衰竭对颈部肌肉疲劳机制的影响。

本研究探讨头盔惯性特性-质量和质心（COM）对颈部肌肉疲劳的影响，以支持消防员头盔的生物力学设计。36名消防员（18名男性，18名女性）在三种条件下进行持续的颈部屈伸任务：无头盔，美国和欧洲风格（EU）头盔。收集颈部八块肌肉的颈部角度、耐力时间、不适评分和肌电图（EMG）数据。疲劳被评估为肌电信号的归一化平均绝对值（NMAV）的增加和中位数频率（MF）的减少，分为四个区间（0-25%,26-50%,51-75%,76-100%）。对每个间隔的NMAV和MF斜率的分段回归和方差分析表明，美国头盔导致更大的肌肉激活，更快的疲劳和更低的耐力。这些发现强调了在设计头盔以减少颈部损伤风险时优化颈部位置的重要性，而不仅仅是重量。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Ergonomics 工程技术-工程：工业

CiteScore

4.60

自引率

12.50%

发文量

147

审稿时长

6 months

期刊介绍： Ergonomics, also known as human factors, is the scientific discipline that seeks to understand and improve human interactions with products, equipment, environments and systems. Drawing upon human biology, psychology, engineering and design, Ergonomics aims to develop and apply knowledge and techniques to optimise system performance, whilst protecting the health, safety and well-being of individuals involved. The attention of ergonomics extends across work, leisure and other aspects of our daily lives. The journal Ergonomics is an international refereed publication, with a 60 year tradition of disseminating high quality research. Original submissions, both theoretical and applied, are invited from across the subject, including physical, cognitive, organisational and environmental ergonomics. Papers reporting the findings of research from cognate disciplines are also welcome, where these contribute to understanding equipment, tasks, jobs, systems and environments and the corresponding needs, abilities and limitations of people. All published research articles in this journal have undergone rigorous peer review, based on initial editor screening and anonymous refereeing by independent expert referees.