scholarly journals An Online Method to Detect and Locate an External Load on the Human Body with Applications in Ergonomics Assessment

Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (16) ◽  
pp. 4471
Author(s):  
Marta Lorenzini ◽  
Wansoo Kim ◽  
Elena De Momi ◽  
Arash Ajoudani

In this work, we propose an online method to detect and approximately locate an external load induced on the body of a person interacting with the environment. The method is based on a torque equilibrium condition on the human sagittal plane, which takes into account a reduced-complexity model of the whole-body centre of pressure (CoP) along with the measured one, and the vertical component of the ground reaction forces (vGRFs). The latter is combined with a statistical analysis approach to improve the localisation accuracy, (which is subject to uncertainties) to the extent of the industrial applications we target. The proposed technique eliminates the assumption of known contact position of an external load on the human limbs, allowing a more flexible online body-state tracking. The accuracy of the proposed method is first evaluated via a simulation study in which various contact points on different body postures are considered. Next, experiments on human subjects with three different contact locations applied to the human body are presented, revealing the validity of the proposed methodology. Lastly, its benefit in the estimation of human dynamic states is demonstrated. These results add another layer to the online human ergonomics assessment framework developed in our laboratory, extending it to more realistic and varying interaction conditions.

2019 ◽  
pp. 3-13
Author(s):  
Alexandru Cîtea ◽  
George-Sebastian Iacob

Posture is commonly perceived as the relationship between the segments of the human body upright. Certain parts of the body such as the cephalic extremity, neck, torso, upper and lower limbs are involved in the final posture of the body. Musculoskeletal instabilities and reduced postural control lead to the installation of nonstructural posture deviations in all 3 anatomical planes. When we talk about the sagittal plane, it was concluded that there are 4 main types of posture deviation: hyperlordotic posture, kyphotic posture, rectitude and "sway-back" posture.Pilates method has become in the last decade a much more popular formof exercise used in rehabilitation. The Pilates method is frequently prescribed to people with low back pain due to their orientation on the stabilizing muscles of the pelvis. Pilates exercise is thus theorized to help reactivate the muscles and, by doingso, increases lumbar support, reduces pain, and improves body alignment.


2019 ◽  
Vol 98 (7) ◽  
pp. 761-765 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. I. Prokhorov ◽  
V. I. Dontsov ◽  
Vyacheslav N. Krutko ◽  
T. M. Khodykina

The widespread formation of unfavorable environmental, the swiftness of modern life with large information and psycho-emotional loads and extremely natural and climatic cataclysms, as well as harmful addictions and wrong way of life of modern human, lead to the development of stress and disruption of the mechanisms of adaptation of the human body and its accelerated wear. This stimulates the development of research on the creation of new methods of integrated assessment of health and quantitative assessment of the aging processes of the body systems and the whole body, as well as the possibilities of new methods of risk assessment of climatic and environmentally related pathological and age-related diseases. The aim of the work was to consider the methodology of quantitative assessment of individual health and the rate of aging of the human body on the basis of the system index of Biological age (BA); description of its essence and structure, requirements for tests - biomarkers of aging used as the index of BA, definition of possibilities and scope of application of the BA method in modern practice of Biomedicine. The use of modern methods of scientific analysis - a systematic approach to the analysis of the processes of human aging and determine its quantitative side - the value of BA, allows a reasonable approach to the choice of the number of BM, to take into account their information content and precision, and the cost of diagnostics and availability for different users, to take into account the specific objectives of the researcher. The use of the index-partial BA allows individual approaching the choice of biomarkers and create personalized panels for the definition of BA programs for the prevention of aging in personalized preventive medicine. The complexity of the content and calculation of indices of BA requires automation and the use of methods of modern computer science and computer calculations and programs. For this purpose, we have created special computer software for diagnosing aging by calculating the BA indices with the possibility of choosing BM and automatic calculation of indicators and conclusions.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myo Min Zaw ◽  
Manpreet Singh ◽  
Ronghui Ma ◽  
Liang Zhu

In this study, we first develop a whole body model based on measurements of a human body, with realistic boundary conditions incorporated before and after a person jumps into a hot tub. For the transient heat transfer simulation, the initial condition is the established steady state temperature field of the human body with appropriate clothing layer to ensure the thermal equilibrium of the body with its surroundings. Once the person is inside a hot tub, the Pennes bioheat equation is used to simulate the transient temperature elevations of the body, and the rising of the arterial blood temperature is solved by an energy balance equation modeling thermal exchange between body tissue and the blood in the body. The safe duration of soaking in hot tubs is then determined as affected by the hot tub water temperatures.


Author(s):  
Hui Liu ◽  
Baoshuai Liu ◽  
Ziyong Han ◽  
Yechen Qin ◽  
Xiaolei Ren ◽  
...  

During patrol and surveillance tasks, attitude control is crucial for improving the terrain adaptability of unmanned wheel-legged hybrid vehicles. This paper proposes an attitude control strategy for unmanned wheel-legged hybrid vehicles, considering the contact of the wheels and ground. The proposed method can naturally achieve torque control efficiently of each joint actuator and wheel-side actuator and avoid the discrepancy between off-road terrain and stability. First, an inverse kinematics model is established to resolve the body and each joint rotation angle, and the dynamic model is built based on the multi rigid body theory, considering the contact points planning of wheel and ground. Considering the nonholonomic constraint of the structure scheme, a hierarchical real-time attitude controller for a wheel-legged vehicle is proposed. The upper layer calculates the contact points of each wheel and the ground through the quadratic programming algorithm, and the lower layer is divided into a legged motion generator and a wheel motion generator by a mathematical analysis method. Finally, the proposed method is applied to achieve the tracking and control of the whole-body trajectory. The proposed strategy can achieve the decoupling of wheeled motion generator and legged motion generator, and improve control efficiency.


1987 ◽  
Vol 109 (3) ◽  
pp. 210-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farid M. L. Amirouche

A computer-automated approach for studying the human body vibration is presented. This includes vertical, horizontal, and torsional vibration. The procedure used is based on Finite Segment Modeling (FSM) of the human body, thus treating it as a mechanical structure. Kane’s equations as developed by Huston et al. are used to formulate the governing equations of motion. The connective tissues are modeled by springs and dampers. In addition, the paper presents the transient response of different parts of the body due to a sinusoidal forcing function as well as an impulse function applied to the lower torso in the vertical direction.


2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daisuke Yamada ◽  
Alperen Değirmenci ◽  
Robert D. Howe

Abstract To characterize the dynamics of internal soft organs and external anatomical structures, this paper presents a system that combines medical ultrasound imaging with an optical tracker and a vertical exciter that imparts whole-body vibrations on seated subjects. The spatial and temporal accuracy of the system was validated using a phantom with calibrated internal structures, resulting in 0.224 mm maximum root-mean-square (r.m.s.) position error and 13 ms maximum synchronization error between sensors. In addition to the dynamics of the head and sternum, stomach dynamics were characterized by extracting the centroid of the stomach from the ultrasound images. The system was used to characterize the subject-specific body dynamics as well as the intrasubject variabilities caused by excitation pattern (frequency up-sweep, down-sweep, and white noise, 1–10 Hz), excitation amplitude (1 and 2 m/s2 r.m.s.), seat compliance (rigid and soft), and stomach filling (empty and 500 mL water). Human subjects experiments (n = 3) yielded preliminary results for the frequency response of the head, sternum, and stomach. The method presented here provides the first detailed in vivo characterization of internal and external human body dynamics. Tissue dynamics characterized by the system can inform design of vehicle structures and adaptive control of seat and suspension systems, as well as validate finite element models for predicting passenger comfort in the early stages of vehicle design.


Author(s):  
Somayajulu D. Karamchetty

Engineers and scientists are able to understand and analyze the behavior of complex engineering systems in a wide range of critical technologies through hierarchical modeling followed by simulation of the model operation. This process results in a high fidelity integrated model as each level in the hierarchy is modeled in sufficient detail. The overall objective of this effort is to develop a sophisticated hierarchical model of the human body, followed by simulation of the model operation. In this initial research phase, the feasibility of the concept is explored and a framework for the model is described. A six-level model consisting of the whole body as a system, system of systems, organs, tissues, cells, and molecules is proposed and described. This paper explains that the human body is amenable to such hierarchical modeling and describes the benefits that can be achieved. The systems in the body deal with numerous processes: electrical, chemical, biochemical, energy conversion, transportation, pumping, sensing, communications, and so on. Control volume models for the organs in the body capture the mass and energy balance and chemical reactions. Tissue can be represented similar to structural components made of various biomaterials. Cells can be represented as a manufacturing and maintenance workforce assisted by molecular reactions. Following the representation of a healthy body, simulation runs by inserting faults and/or deficiencies in the operational parameters into the model could reveal the causes for specific diseases and illnesses. Such modeling and simulation will benefit medical, pharmaceutical, nutritional specialists, and engineers in designing, developing, and delivering products and services to enable humans to lead healthy lives.


2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-222
Author(s):  
Fangfang Zhang ◽  
Trevor John Little

Purpose 3D garment design technology is developing rapidly thereby creating a need for different approaches to developing the patterns. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the 3D dynamic ease distribution for a 3D garment design. Design/methodology/approach Standard garments were created from Size 2 to Size 14 for ten human subjects. Landmarks location on both human body and the standard garment under dynamic postures are recorded, and he fit and comfort evaluation of the standard garment were collected from the ten human subjects. Finally, these data were used to evaluate the 3D dynamic ease distribution for a 3D garment design. Findings 3D dynamic ease evaluation is challenging and the findings showed that the upper-arm design is a core element of the whole 3D garment design. The upper arm is not only a connecting part for both front and back pieces of the garment, but is also the main active part of the body, so it is the essential element to affect the comfort and fit of the garment under dynamic postures. Originality/value This research provides a novel 3D ease evaluation by analyzing the landmarks location of both human body and standard garment, and fit and comfort evaluation of the standard garment, which are all carried under dynamic postures.


2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (S2) ◽  
pp. 935-935
Author(s):  
R. Krishnadas ◽  
A. Nicol ◽  
S. Champion ◽  
S. Pimlott ◽  
J. Stehouwer ◽  
...  

Levels of serotonin in the body are regulated by the serotonin transporters (SERT), which are predominantly located on the presynaptic terminals of serotonin-containing neurons. Alterations in the density of SERT have been implicated in the pathophysiology of many neuropsychiatric disorders.AimTo evaluate 123-I mZIENT (2(S)-[(S)-2b-carbomethoxy-3b-[3′-((Z)-2-iodoethenyl)phenyl]nortropane), a novel radiopharmaceutical for imaging SERT. The bio-distribution of the radiopharmaceutical in humans was investigated and dosimetry performed.MethodsThe study includes three healthy volunteers and three patients receiving SSRIs. Whole body images obtained on a gamma camera at 10 minutes, 1, 2, 3, 6, 24 and 48 hours post administration. Dosimetry was performed. ROIs were drawn over the brain, heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, salivary glands, spleen, thyroid and intestines. Blood was sampled at 5, 15, & 30 minutes and 1, 2, 3, 6, 24 and 48 hours post administration. Urine was collected at 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 24 and 48 hours. Brain SPECT images were obtained using a neuroSPECT scanner at 4 hours, evaluated visually and analysed using ROI analysis.ResultsHigh quality SPECT images can be obtained after 100–150 MBq 123-ImZEINT. Regional brain uptake was observed in midbrain and basal ganglia in healthy volunteers, consistent with the known distribution of SERT. Biodistribution images demonstrated highest uptake in the lungs, brain, liver and intestines. The effective dose was within range of other commonly used ligands and is acceptable for clinical imaging.Conclusion123-ImZIENT is a promising agent for imaging SERT in humans with acceptable dosimetry.


2021 ◽  
Vol 100 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-59
Author(s):  
Nikolay A. Kashuba

Introduction. One of the features of lead is its high ability to disintegrate and significantly contaminate the environment. The contamination of hands or the whole body with lead creates a high probability of penetrating micro- and nanoparticles through the skin into the body. Nowadays, this process is not sufficiently studied. There is evidence that inorganic compounds or metallic particles of lead can penetrate through the skin into a human body. Material and methods. centrifuge 10000 rpm, laser emitter (wavelength 625-740 nm), optical microscope, voltampermetric analyzer ABA-2, Analysette 12 Dyna Sizer, magnetic stirrer, distiller, Na2S solution. The studies were conducted in 2017-2018 among the workers of battery sections of technical service stations in Ternopol - 17 people. The research results were processed by the statistical package SPSS 19. Results. The process of mechanical contamination by the skin with lead, rejection of micro particles from the surface of lead, and, to a lesser extent, ultrafine nanoparticles, which can penetrate the sweat glands, was established to occur. The studies have shown in the washings from the palms particles’ skin are detected mainly in the size of 1 μm - 100 nm. In the process of finding the particles of lead in the sweat glands, their length decreases to Nanoscale, allowing them freely entering the body. The decrease in particle size in the sweat glands occurs due to the formation of soluble lead compounds. Presumably, the main chemical contributing to this process is lactic acid. With increasing exposure, the size of lead particles in the sweat glands decreases. Intensive cleaning of the skin surface by mechanical methods, and detergents, followed by contamination with lead, promotes the penetration of lead particles into the sweat glands and its further spread in the body. The intense physical activity was established to contribute to a decrease in particle size, which suggests chemical interaction of lead with lactic acid and the formation of soluble lead lactate. The assumption is confirmed by studies of the composition of sweat, which is detected lead lactate. Conclusion. The lead ability to penetrating a human body transcutaneously in the form of nanoparticles and soluble compounds has been proven. Intense physical activity facilitates the penetration of lead into the body.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document