The Effect of a Wearable Hip Assist Robot on Cardiopulmonary Metabolic Efficiency During Stair Ascent in Elderly Adults

The aim of this study was to identify the assistance effect of the new wearable hip assist robot, gait enhancing mechatronic system (GEMS) developed by Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (Samsung Electronics Co, Ltd., Korea) during stair ascent by comparing the energy expenditure of elderly adults with and without the GEMS.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Health Behavior; Gait, Unsteady
• Intervention / Treatment: Device: Wearable hip assist robot

Detailed Description

Primary objective of this study is to demonstrate the effect of a wearable hip assist robot on cardiopulmonary metabolic efficiency during stair ascent in elderly adults.

Fifteen elderly adults participated in this study. The stair ascent trials were designed to climb stairs from the first basement level to the fourth floor of the Proton Therapy Center, Samsung Medical Center, Korea. The metabolic energy expenditure was measured using a portable cardiopulmonary metabolic system (Cosmed K4b², Rome, Italy) while participants performed randomly assigned two different conditions consecutively:, free ascent without the GEMS (NoGEMS) or robot-assisted ascent with the GEMS (GEMS). Participants rested for 10 minutes between the two trial conditions.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 15
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Korea, Republic of
  • Seoul, Korea, Republic of
    • Samsung Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 65 years to 84 years (Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Elderly adults who absence of a history of musculoskeletal or central nervous system diseases
• High levels of physical performance (SPPB > 8)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Elderly adults who absence of the ability to walk independently due to visual field defects, fractures, or severe muscle weakness
• Severe dizziness that might lead to falls
• Cognitive disorders that might be difficult to understand accurately in this study

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Elderly adults; Stair climbing with and without a wearable hip assist robot	Device: Wearable hip assist robot; All participants climbed stairs from the first basement level to the fourth floor of the Proton Therapy Center, Samsung Medical Center, Korea with and without a wearable hip assist robot. During climbing stairs, the metabolic energy expenditure of all participants was measured using a portable cardiopulmonary metabolic system (Cosmed K4b², Rome, Italy).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change on metabolic energy expenditure in GEMS condition compared with NoGEMS condition	All participants stood in a comfortable position for 5 minutes to obtain baseline variables before stair ascent. Participants were then asked to climb stairs from the first basement level to the fourth floor of the Proton Therapy Center, Samsung Medical Center, Korea, in a step-over-step manner under two different conditions, GEMS and NoGEMS. The GEMS and NoGEMS conditions were conducted in a random order, and just before the second condition, participants stood for 2～3 minutes to obtain baseline variables once more.	1 hour

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Samsung Medical Center

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Kim DS, Lee HJ, Lee SH, Chang WH, Jang J, Choi BO, Ryu GH, Kim YH. A wearable hip-assist robot reduces the cardiopulmonary metabolic energy expenditure during stair ascent in elderly adults: a pilot cross-sectional study. BMC Geriatr. 2018 Sep 29;18(1):230. doi: 10.1186/s12877-018-0921-1.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 16, 2017
• Primary Completion (Actual): November 10, 2017
• Study Completion (Actual): November 10, 2017

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 26, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 26, 2017
• First Posted (Actual): January 3, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): January 3, 2018
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 26, 2017
• Last Verified: December 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Metabolic energy expenditure; Elderly adult; Wearable hip assist robot; Stair ascent
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Nervous System Diseases; Neurologic Manifestations; Gait Disorders, Neurologic
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2017-08-028

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No