Design of a kinematic-compatible passive spinal exoskeleton with parallelepiped units

Area of Science:

• Biomechanics
• Rehabilitation Engineering
• Medical Device Design

Background:

• Prolonged stooping causes significant spinal loading and low back pain (LBP).
• Existing passive exoskeletons lack kinematic compatibility and sufficient degrees of freedom (DOF), limiting their effectiveness.
• There is a need for advanced assistive devices to mitigate spinal loads during demanding physical activities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and validate a novel kinematic-compatible passive spinal exoskeleton (KC-PSE).
• To achieve complete gravity compensation and enhance kinematic compatibility for LBP reduction.
• To provide a viable engineering-medical strategy for reducing spinal loads.

Main Methods:

• Design of a KC-PSE utilizing parallelepiped units for multi-DOF motion.
• Derivation of complete gravity compensation conditions based on potential energy conservation.
• Numerical simulations and prototype testing to validate performance and kinematic compatibility.

Main Results:

• The proposed KC-PSE demonstrates multiple degrees of freedom, adapting to sagittal and coronal spinal motions.
• Numerical simulations confirmed full gravity compensation for a 4-unit design.
• Prototype tests validated effective gravity compensation and motion tracking, confirming enhanced kinematic compatibility.

Conclusions:

• The novel KC-PSE offers superior kinematic compatibility and effective gravity compensation compared to existing solutions.
• This exoskeleton represents a promising approach for reducing spinal loads and potentially alleviating low back pain.
• The developed mechanism and framework offer a new engineering-medical strategy for spinal load management.