Development of a Neural Efficiency Metric to Assess Human-Exoskeleton
Interactions
Abstract
Passive exoskeletons have been introduced to alleviate loading on the
lumbar spine while increasing the wearerâ\euro™s productivity.
However, few studies have examined the neurocognitive effects of
short-term human-exoskeleton adaptation. The objective of the study was
to develop a novel neural efficiency metric to assess short-term human
exoskeleton adaptation during repetitive lifting. Twelve participants
(gender-balanced) performed simulated asymmetric lifting tasks for a
short duration (phase: early, middle, late) with and without a passive
low back exoskeleton on two separate days. Phase, exoskeleton condition,
and their interaction effects on biomechanical parameters, neural
activation, and the novel neural efficiency metric were examined. Peak
L5/S1 superior lateral shear forces were found to be significantly lower
in the exoskeleton condition than the control condition, however other
biomechanical and neural activation measures were comparable between
conditions. The temporal change of neural efficiency metric was found to
follow the motor adaptation process. Compared to the control condition,
participants exhibited lower efficiency during the exoskeleton assisted
lifting condition over time. The neural efficiency metric was capable of
tracking the short-term task adaptation process during a highly
ambulatory exoskeleton-assisted manual handling task. The
exoskeleton-assisted task was less efficient and demanded longer
adaptation period than the control condition, which may impact
exoskeleton acceptance and/or intent to use.