Optimization of Hip-exoskeleton Weight Attributes

Evaluating Optimal Weight Design Parameters of a Hip Exoskeleton Designed for Rehabilitation.

The investigators are examining how weight distribution affects the way people walk, in terms of joint kinematics, kinetics, and muscle activity. The investigators are measuring these quantities while people walk while wearing a weighted belt. The investigators distribute the weights and walk for specified periods. They hypothesize that greater weight will have a greater effect on walking.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Healthy; Gait, Frontal
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Weight belt

Detailed Description

The purpose of this study is to examine how the amount and distribution of weight on the pelvis affects how people walk. The investigators two factors, weight and placement. They are examining how these factors affect muscle activation, joint motions and foot forces. The investigators plan to recruit 40 healthy adult individuals. Each of the 20 experimental conditions (3x3 factorial and one control condition with no weight) will be recorded immediately in a single session. The investigators hypothesize that weight amount, gait speed and weight distribution will all affect how people walk, which will lead towards optimized design of hip exoskeletons.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 21
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Texas
    • Austin, Texas, United States, 78712
      • University of Texas at Austin

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Willing to commit to the full experimental session

Exclusion Criteria:

• Functionally relevant lower limb musculoskeletal injury

  • Functionally relevant osteoarthritis and weight bearing restrictions
  • Severe respiratory problems that restrict the wearer from using a metabolic rate apparatus
• Patients with cardiac issues may be included, but the cardiac issue will be noted in the health history questionnaire

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• 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: Weight distribution and placement; Changing where weight is distributed on belt around pelvis, specifically, bilaterally, 4th lumbar area, unilaterally on the left side. Also changing amount of weight at 0, 4, 6 and 8 kg.	Other: Weight belt; Wearing belt around waist with various weights attached.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Pelvic Obliquity	Amount of pelvic obliquity in response to weighted belt measured using optical motion capture	One day

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Knee Flexion Angle During Swing Phase	Knee flexion angle range of motion measured using optical motion capture	One Day
Integrated Gastrocnemius Muscle Activity During Preswing Phase of Walking	EMG signals were normalized via the mean-dynamic method (Burden and Bartlett, 1999), centering the EMG signal around 1. For data analysis, the EMG signal was integrated along each gait phase to calculate the integrated EMG (iEMG) values. For the gastrocnemius, we extrated the iEMG during the pre-swing phase only. The iEMG was normalized to average during walking, resulting in arbitrary units.	One day

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Texas at Austin
• Collaborators: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 7, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 6, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): May 6, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 11, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 2, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): November 15, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 29, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 6, 2023
• Last Verified: November 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Nervous System Diseases; Neurologic Manifestations; Gait Disorders, Neurologic
• Other Study ID Numbers: STUDY00001245; R01HD100416 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Drug and device information, study documents

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