Exoskeletons for workers: A case series study in an enclosures production line

This case-series study aims to investigate the effects of a passive shoulder support exoskeleton on experienced workers during their regular work shifts in an enclosures production site. Experimental activities included three sessions, two of which were conducted in-field (namely, at two workstations of the painting line, where panels were mounted and dismounted from the line; each session involved three participants), and one session was carried out in a realistic simulated environment (namely, the workstations were recreated in a laboratory; this session involved four participants). The effect of the exoskeleton was evaluated through electromyographic activity and perceived effort. After in-field sessions, device usability and user acceptance were also assessed. Data were reported individually for each participant. Results showed that the use of the exoskeleton reduced the total shoulder muscular activity compared to normal working conditions, in all subjects and experimental sessions. Similarly, the use of the exoskeleton resulted in reductions of the perceived effort in the shoulder, arm, and lower back. Overall, participants indicated high usability and acceptance of the device. This case series invites larger validation studies, also in diverse operational contexts

The bacterial skin microbiome in psoriatic arthritis, an unexplored link in pathogenesis: challenges and opportunities offered by recent technological advances.

The resident microbial community, harboured by humans in sites such as the skin and gastrointestinal tract, is enormous, representing a candidate environmental factor affecting susceptibility to complex diseases, where both genetic and environmental risk factors are important. The potential of microorganisms to influence the human immune system is considerable, given their ubiquity. The impact of the host-gene-microbe interaction on the maintenance of health and the development of disease has not yet been assessed robustly in chronic inflammatory conditions. PsA represents a model inflammatory disease to explore the role of the microbiome because skin involvement and overlap with IBD implicates both the skin and gastrointestinal tract as sources of microbial triggers for PsA. In parallel with genetic studies, characterization of the host microbiota may benefit our understanding of the microbial contribution to disease pathogenesis-knowledge that may eventually inform the development of novel therapeutics

Efficacy of wrist robot-aided orthopedic rehabilitation: a randomized controlled trial

Background: In recent years, many studies focused on the use of robotic devices for both the assessment and the neuro-motor reeducation of upper limb in subjects after stroke, spinal cord injuries or affected by neurological disorders. Contrarily, it is still hard to find examples of robot-aided assessment and rehabilitation after traumatic injuries in the orthopedic field. However, those benefits related to the use of robotic devices are expected also in orthopedic functional reeducation. Methods: After a wrist injury occurred at their workplace, wrist functionality of twenty-three subjects was evaluated through a robot-based assessment and clinical measures (Patient Rated Wrist Evaluation, Jebsen-Taylor and Jamar Test), before and after a 3-week long rehabilitative treatment. Subjects were randomized in two groups: while the control group (n = 13) underwent a traditional rehabilitative protocol, the experimental group (n = 10) was treated replacing traditional exercises with robot-aided ones. Results: Functionality, assessed through the function subscale of PRWE scale, improved in both groups (experimental p = 0.016; control p < 0.001) and was comparable between groups, both pre (U = 45.5, p = 0.355) and post (U = 47, p = 0.597) treatment. Additionally, even though groups\u2019 performance during the robotic assessment was comparable before the treatment (U = 36, p = 0.077), after rehabilitation the experimental group presented better results than the control one (U = 26, p = 0.015). Conclusions: This work can be considered a starting point for introducing the use of robotic devices in the orthopedic field. The robot-aided rehabilitative treatment was effective and comparable to the traditional one. Preserving efficacy and safety conditions, a systematic use of these devices could lead to decrease human therapists\u2019 effort, increase repeatability and accuracy of assessments, and promote subject\u2019s engagement and voluntary participation. Trial Registration ClinicalTrial.gov ID: NCT04739644. Registered on February 4, 2021\u2014Retrospectively registered, https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/study/NCT04739644

A Novel Torque-Controlled Hand Exoskeleton to Decode Hand Movements Combining Semg and Fingers Kinematics: A Feasibility Study

This study presents a novel torque-controlled hand exoskeleton, named HandeXos-gamma, which uses a series-elastic actuator (SEA)-based architecture to allow a compliant actuation of the hand joints, and an intention decoding algorithm that combines surface electromyography (sEMG) signals with kinematic information from the exoskeletons encoders. The algorithm was developed offline using data acquired from healthy subjects who performed two grasping movements (lateral and power grasp) under different operating conditions while wearing the exoskeleton. Performance was evaluated for three variants of the algorithm: one using sEMG signals only, another using kinematic data only, and the last combining sEMG and kinematic data. Results indicated that the combination of the two modalities conferred greater algorithm performance than sEMG alone, thus supporting a new paradigm for adaptive robotic hand rehabilitation

Assessment of human wrist rigidity and pain in post-traumatic patients

The aim of this work is to present a novel robot-based method to assess the sources of a lack of functionality in patients with recent traumatic wrist injuries. Post-traumatic patients experience limited range of motion as well as strength and proprioceptive deficits. These dysfunctions are related to different complications that usually follow the injuries: pain, increased rigidity, lack of movement fluency and loss of stability could arise differently, according to the severity, site and kind of lesion. Their quantitative evaluation could be essential to target rehabilitation treatments to the specific problem and to optimize and speed up the functional recovery. The use of robotic devices for assessment not only ensures objectivity and repeatability, but could also help to estimate the goodness of the evaluation itself, in terms of reliability and patient's engagement. Ten subjects with different types of wrist injuries were enrolled in this study and required to perform passive robot-guided reaching movements. Forces and angular positions were used to evaluate subject's range of motion, rigidity and pain that, considered together, allowed a comprehensive characterization of the level of healing and functionality achieved by each subject