scholarly journals Biomechanical and Metabolic Effectiveness of an Industrial Exoskeleton for Overhead Work

Author(s):  
Thomas Schmalz ◽  
Jasmin Schändlinger ◽  
Marvin Schuler ◽  
Jonas Bornmann ◽  
Benjamin Schirrmeister ◽  
...  

Overhead work activities can lead to shoulder pain and serious musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD), such as rotator cuff injury and degeneration. Recently developed exoskeletons show promising results in supporting workers in such activities. In this study, a novel exoskeleton was investigated for two different overhead tasks with twelve participants. To investigate the effects of the device, electromyographic (EMG) signals of different shoulder and adjacent muscles as well as kinematic and metabolic parameters were analyzed with and without the exoskeleton. The mean EMG amplitude of all evaluated muscles was significantly reduced when the exoskeleton was used for the overhead tasks. This was accompanied by a reduction in both heart rate and oxygen rate. The kinematic analysis revealed small changes in the joint positions during the tasks. This study demonstrated the biomechanical and metabolic benefits of an exoskeleton designed to support overhead work activities. The results suggest improved physiological conditions and an unloading effect on the shoulder joint and muscles which are promising indicators that the exoskeleton may be a good solution to reduce shoulder WMSD among workers who carry out overhead tasks on a regular basis.

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (11_suppl3) ◽  
pp. 2325967114S0019
Author(s):  
Hakan Çift ◽  
Feyza Ünlü Özkan ◽  
Ali Şeker ◽  
Mehmet İşyar ◽  
Erman Ceyhan ◽  
...  

Objectives: As subacromial bursa injection is widely used for pain relief and functional improvements in patients with periarticular shoulder disorder, we aimed to present our results of subacromial tenoxicam injection in the treatment of impingement syndrome. Methods: Patients presented to the Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Istanbul Medipol University with the primary complaints of shoulder pain from January 2012 to June 2013 were selected. Those who met the following inclusion criteria were finally considered: 1) who had a clinical sign of a painful arc and positive in Hawkins test and/or Neer impingement sign; 2) who had a precise rotator cuff injury including partial cuff tears, or subacromial bursitis detected during ultrasonography or MRI. The exclusion criteria were as follows: 1) who underwent shoulder surgery; 2) who had full thickness rotator cuff rupture; 3) who had hemiplegic shoulder pain; and 4) who displayed any suspected fracture on X-ray or had a recent shoulder trauma; 5) who showed limited active ROM and stiffness due to adhesive capsulitis. Thirty one shoulders out of thirty patients were treated with subacromial tenoxicam injection. Ten of them were left shoulders. Fifteen of the patients were women.. Patients had a mean age of 51.6 (30-73). Patients were evaluated 4 times. Before the first injection, 1 week after the first injection, 2 weeks after the second injection and 3 weeks after the third injection. In every injection 20 mg tenoxicam was performed. Results: In order to relieve the pain; two patients were given only one injection, thirteen patients were given two injections and “3 injections protocol” were done to fifteen patients. The mean pre- and posttreatment VAS scores were 7.9 (between, 7-9) and 2.7 (between, 2-4) points respectively. The average pre and posttreatment DASH scores were 59.41 (between, 45-80) and 14 (between, 8.3-25.8) points respectively. The mean pre and posttreatment range of motion were 106.1 (between, 80-130 and 170i7 (between, 140-180) degrees respectively. Differences between all pre- and post-treatment parameters were statistically significant (p<0.05). Conclusion: Tenoxicam is a cheap NSAID and an analgesic of the oxicam class, is closely related to proxicam, and has a long half-life, which enables it to be administrated once daily. It also readily penetrates the synovial fluid and intraarticular intravenous administration provides superior postoperative analgesic benefits. Tenoxicam also has the ability to prevent adhesion formation. Besides it has no detrimental effect on cartilage structure. It can be safely administrated intraarticularly. Given the positive therapeutic effects of subacromial tenoxicam injection, it can be used as an alternative treatment option.


Author(s):  
Dr. Chaturbhuj Prasad Swarnkar ◽  
Dr. Shiv Raj Meena

Background- Rotator cuff tears are one of the most common causes of shoulder pain for which patients seek treatment. As in our daily work, the shoulder joint is the most frequently used, there is higher chance of having shoulder joint injury. The aim of the study is to compare the efficacy of MRI in diagnosing shoulder pathologies in comparison to arthroscopy, considering arthroscopy as the gold standard. Methods- 30 Patient with suspected rotator cuff injury patients, between 18-80 years of age was included in the study. MRI of the shoulder joint was done followed by shoulder arthroscopy. The data collected was analysed for the significant correlation between MRI of shoulder and arthroscopic findings by kappa statistics. Results- The accuracy of MRI in diagnosis of rotator cuff partial tears, was 90%, while sensitivity and specificity was 100.00%, 78.57% and positive predictive value was 84.21% and negative predictive value was 100.00% and accuracy of MRI in diagnosis of rotator cuff full tears, was 86.67%, while sensitivity and specificity was 63.64%, 100.00%) and positive predictive value was 100.00% and negative predictive value was 82.61% in our study. Conclusion- Our study demonstrates a high sensitivity and specificity for the MRI diagnosis of both partial and full thickness rotator cuff tears and good correlation with arthroscopic findings. Keywords: Rotator cuff, Shoulder pain, Arthroscopy, MRI.


QJM ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 113 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M M N Elaassar ◽  
A Emadeldin ◽  
D Z Zidan ◽  
H M Sakr ◽  
H Abdelazim

Abstract Background Shoulder pain is a common and disabling complaint. It is responsible for approximately 16 % of all musculoskeletal disorders1 Shoulder pain is defined as chronic when it has been present for longer than six months, regardless of whether the patient has previously sought treatment2. The most common causes of chronic shoulder pain are reported to be rotator cuff disorders, acromioclavicular joint (ACJ) disease and glenohumeral joint (GHJ) disorders3 Aim of the Work The aim of this study is to evaluate the role of both ultrasonography and conventional MRI imaging in diagnosing various causes of chronic shoulder pain not caused by trauma. Patients and Methods 101 patients were evaluated for chronic shoulder pain ranging in age from 20 to 70-years-old. They were referred to the radiology department (Ultrasound unit and MRI unit) at Ain Shams University hospitals during the period between September 2016 and June 2018, from orthopaedic, rheumatology and physical medicine departments. Once a patient satisfied the inclusion and exclusion criteria for this study, an elaborate history was taken from all the patients which was followed by a thorough clinical evaluation, in which duration of symptoms, affected side, dominant hand, range of movement was checked. Patients were subjected to sonographic evaluation of the shoulder joint followed by MRI of the affected shoulder with mean interval between sonography and MRI about 10 days (range, 5-15 days). Results Total of 101 patients with chronic shoulder joint pain were enrolled in our study. 58 % of the patients were in the age group of 41-55 years with mean age of 48 years. Majority (42 %) of patients had chronic shoulder pain over 6-9 months. Complaints mainly resided in the form of tenderness (65 %) and night pain (25 %). Females constituted most of the patients around 68% of the cases. Majority (72%) patients in our study had right hand dominance. 57 % of the sampled patients gave positive history of heavy use of the affected shoulder. 78 % of patients demonstrated acromion morphological changes that had a direct impact on the rotator cuff findings. Amongst the rotator cuff tendons, Supraspinatus tendon was the most common tendon to be involved in our study in both USG and MRI. USG detected 92 patients and MRI detected 96 patients with supraspinatus tendon pathologies which included tendinosis, tears and calcifications and other non-rotator-cuff related findings. Total of 53 were diagnosed as rotator cuff-tear, followed by subacromial-subdeltoid bursitis (n = 32), supraspinatus impingement (n = 14), calcific tendinitis (n = 7) respectively. Supraspinatus tendinopathy was the most common diagnoses (n = 51) followed by Partial thickness tear of supraspinatus (n = 19) then full thickness of supraspinatus (n = 17). USG showed a sensitivity of 52.6% and specificity of 87.8 %, NPV of 88.9 % and PPV of 50 % with 78.8 % MRI agreement for partial thickness tears. USG showed 88 % sensitive, 97% specific, had 97 % PPV, 100% NPV, and was 96 % accurate in diagnosing complete tendon tear. MRI had a higher efficacy for both full thickness as well as partial thickness tears, whereas USG had a higher efficacy for full thickness tears only. Our study shows MRI to be a highly sensitive as well as specific technique for differentiation among different shoulder pathologies.


2005 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis Moledo de Souza Abessa ◽  
Letícia Pires Zaroni ◽  
Eduinetty Ceci Pereira Moreira de Sousa ◽  
Marcia Regina Gasparro ◽  
Camilo Dias Seabra Pereira ◽  
...  

The physiological conditions of mussels from Ubatuba and Santos and also of organisms transplanted from Ubatuba to Santos were studied by using different techniques. Assays for lysosomal stability were conducted on the haemolymph. Heart rate activity was monitored for 6h. The embryonic development of larvae obtained from the collected mussels was analysed. For all the compared groups of mussels, no significant differences were observed for the cardiac activity monitoring and the embryonic bioassays. The mean Neutral Red (NR) retention time was similar for the animals from Santos and Ubatuba, whereas the organisms transplanted to Santos showed a reduction in the retention time of the dye, indicating damage in the lysosomal membranes. These differences were possibly due to environmental factors, but further investigations are required to confirm this hypothesis.


1998 ◽  
Vol 37 (08) ◽  
pp. 272-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Gratz ◽  
G. Köster ◽  
T. Behr ◽  
R. Vosshenrich ◽  
E. Grabbe ◽  
...  

Summary Aim: In order to evaluate the diagnostic efficiency of arthroscintigraphy in suspected rotator cuff ruptures this new imaging procedure was performed 20 times in 17 patients with clinical signs of a rotator cuff lesion. The scintigraphic results were compared with sonography (n = 20), contrast arthrography (n = 20) and arthroscopy (n = 10) of the shoulder joint. Methods: After performing a standard bone scintigraphy with intravenous application of 300 MBq 99m-Tc-methylene diphosphonate (MDP) for landmarking of the shoulder region arthroscintigraphy was performed after an intraarticular injection of 99m-Tc microcolloid (ALBURES 400 μCi/5 ml). The application was performed either in direct combination with contrast arthrography (n = 10) or ultrasound conducted mixed with a local anesthetic (n = 10). Findings at arthroscopical surgery (n = 10) were used as the gold standard. Results: In case of complete rotator cuff rupture (n = 5), arthroscintigraphy and radiographic arthrography were identical in 5/5. In one patient with advanced degenerative alterations of the shoulder joint radiographic arthrography incorrectly showed a complete rupture which was not seen by arthroscintigraphy and endoscopy. In 3 patients with incomplete rupture, 2/3 results were consistant. A difference was seen in one patient with a rotator cuff, that has been already revised in the past and that suffered of capsulitis and calcification. Conclusion: Arthroscintigraphy is a sensitive technique for detection of rotator cuff ruptures. Because of the lower viscosity of the active compound, small ruptures can be easily detected, offering additional value over radiographic arthrography and ultrasound, especially for evaluation of incomplete cuff ruptures.


2020 ◽  
Vol 91 (10) ◽  
pp. 785-789
Author(s):  
Dongqing Wen ◽  
Lei Tu ◽  
Guiyou Wang ◽  
Zhao Gu ◽  
Weiru Shi ◽  
...  

INTRODUCTION: We compared the physiological responses, psychomotor performances, and hypoxia symptoms between 7000 m and 7500 m (23,000 and 24,600 ft) exposure to develop a safer hypoxia training protocol.METHODS: In altitude chamber, 66 male pilots were exposed to 7000 and 7500 m. Heart rate and arterial oxygen saturation were continuously monitored. Psychomotor performance was assessed using the computational task. The hypoxic symptoms were investigated by a questionnaire.RESULTS: The mean duration time of hypoxia was 323.0 56.5 s at 7000 m and 218.2 63.3 s at 7500 m. The 6-min hypoxia training was completed by 57.6% of the pilots and 6.1% of the pilots at 7000 m and at 7500 m, respectively. There were no significant differences in pilots heart rates and psychomotor performance between the two exposures. The Spo2 response at 7500 m was slightly severer than that at 7000 m. During the 7000 m exposure, pilots experienced almost the same symptoms and similar frequency order as those during the 7500 m exposure.CONCLUSIONS: There were concordant symptoms, psychomotor performance, and very similar physiological responses between 7000 m and 7500 m during hypoxia training. The results indicated that 7000-m hypoxia awareness training might be an alternative to 7500-m hypoxia training with lower DCS risk and longer experience time.Wen D, Tu L, Wang G, Gu Z, Shi W, Liu X. Psychophysiological responses of pilots in hypoxia training at 7000 and 7500 m. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2020; 91(10):785789.


Author(s):  
Happiness Anulika Aweto ◽  
Oluwatoyosi Babatunde Owoeye ◽  
Korede Sunday Adegbite

Background: Highway sanitary workers are exposed to various health hazards in the course of duty. This study investigated the prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) among highway sanitary workers in Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), Lagos, Nigeria.Method: Two hundred fifty highway sanitary workers (46 males and 204 females) of LAWMA selected from four Local Government Areas of Lagos State, Nigeria completed a 26-item questionnaire that collected information on WMSDs.Results: The 12-month prevalence of WMSDs among the workers was 24.8%. The most commonly affected body part was the lower back (22.0%). Thirty-seven (59.7%) of the respondents reported gradual onset of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) while 25 (40.3%) reported sudden onset. The mean years of working experience was 3.22 + 0.23 years with 111 (44.4%) of the respondents having worked for 4 years and 7 (2.8%) having worked for 1year. The three major job risk factors identified were: continuing to work when injured (87.2%), working in the same position for long periods (53.6%) and lifting heavy materials (52.4%). Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient analysis showed that there were significant relationships between prevalence of WMSDs and age (r = 0.42, p = 0.001*) and years on the job (r = 0.17, p = 0.01*).Conclusion: There was a low prevalence of WMSDs among highway sanitary workers of LAWMA. The most commonly affected body part was the lower back. Increasing age and years of working experience are significant factors that can contribute to the development of WMSDs among these workers.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 4162
Author(s):  
Lucrezia Tognolo ◽  
Alfredo Musumeci ◽  
Andrea Pignataro ◽  
Nicola Petrone ◽  
Michael Benazzato ◽  
...  

Manual wheelchair use may determine shoulder joint overload and rotator cuff injury. Chronic shoulder pathologies can also influence the propulsion ability of wheelchair athletes with spinal cord injury (SCI) during sport activities. However, the relationship between shoulder pathology and wheelchair performances has never been explored. Therefore, the study aimed to investigate the correlation between shoulder pathologic findings with clinical tests and ultrasonography evaluation and the results of wheelchair performance tests. Nineteen quadriplegic wheelchair rugby players were evaluated to investigate the association between clinical and ultrasound shoulder pathologic findings and their correlation with the performance of field-based selected wheelchair skills tests (WSTs). The outcome measures were the International Wheelchair Rugby Classification Score, dominant and non-dominant Physical Examination Shoulder Score, and dominant and non-dominant Ultrasound Shoulder Pathology Rating Scale (USPRS). The WST was measured at the beginning and at one-year follow-up. A statistically significant correlation was found between the time since SCI and dominant USPRS (p < 0.005). The non-dominant USPRS was strongly related to WST at the beginning (p < 0.005) and the end of the study (p < 0.05). Data suggest that the severity of the non-dominant shoulder pathology detected on the ultrasound is related to lower performance on the WST. Chronic manual wheelchair use could be responsible for dominant SCI shoulder joint and rotator cuff muscle damage, while non-dominant USPRS could be related to performance on the WST.


Sports ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 18
Author(s):  
Atsushi Aoyagi ◽  
Keisuke Ishikura ◽  
Yoshiharu Nabekura

The aim of this study was to examine the exercise intensity during the swimming, cycling, and running legs of nondraft legal, Olympic-distance triathlons in well-trained, age-group triathletes. Seventeen male triathletes completed incremental swimming, cycling, and running tests to exhaustion. Heart rate (HR) and workload corresponding to aerobic and anaerobic thresholds, maximal workloads, and maximal HR (HRmax) in each exercise mode were analyzed. HR and workload were monitored throughout the race. The intensity distributions in three HR zones for each discipline and five workload zones in cycling and running were quantified. The subjects were then assigned to a fast or slow group based on the total race time (range, 2 h 07 min–2 h 41 min). The mean percentages of HRmax in the swimming, cycling, and running legs were 89.8% ± 3.7%, 91.1% ± 4.4%, and 90.7% ± 5.1%, respectively, for all participants. The mean percentage of HRmax and intensity distributions during the swimming and cycling legs were similar between groups. In the running leg, the faster group spent relatively more time above HR at anaerobic threshold (AnT) and between workload at AnT and maximal workload. In conclusion, well-trained male triathletes performed at very high intensity throughout a nondraft legal, Olympic-distance triathlon race, and sustaining higher intensity during running might play a role in the success of these athletes.


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