Publication: Cobot – assisted rehabilitation: reducing work-related musculoskeletal disorder risk on physiotherapists
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Date
2024-07-01
Authors
Wong Yong Jie
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Abstract
Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are prevalent among
physiotherapists due to the physically demanding work. This study evaluates the
efficacy of collaborative robot (cobot) in mitigating potential threat of WMSD posed
by physiotherapists during manual rehabilitation sessions. Seven male simulated
physiotherapists were recruited to perform passive range of motion (PROM) tasks for
lower extremity rehabilitation with and without cobot’s assistance. A UR16e cobot held
patients' limbs during exercises through the utilization of a custom-made end effector.
Full body motion tracking with the Xsens wearable inertial measurement unit (IMU)
system analysed the motion and body segment activities of the simulated
physiotherapists. Ergonomic risks were assessed using the automated Rapid Entire
Body Assessment (REBA) tool, which adopts kinematic data from the IMUs. Muscle
activation was assessed via surface electromyography (sEMG) from iMotion 9.0, with
bipolar Ag/AgCl electrodes on the erector spinae and bicep brachii muscles. L5-S1
lumbar loading was estimated using the 3D Static Strength Prediction Program (3D
SSPP), with data synchronized from a Bertec force plate and Xsens system. Statistical
analysis, including the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test and Spearman’s Correlation, was
conducted using IBM SPSS version 27. Results showed significant reductions in muscle
activation with cobot assistance: left bicep brachii activation during hip abduction and
adduction decreased from 63.95% ± 26.10 %MVIC to 6.09% ± 5.13 %MVIC, and right
erector spinae activation during hip flexion decreased from 54.97% ± 27.82 %MVIC to
8.35% ± 5.03 %MVIC. REBA scores decreased significantly from 8.57 ± 0.74 to 3.79
± 0.39 during hip flexion and from 8.77 ± 1.50 to 3.68 ± 0.36 during knee flexion and
extension tasks. The most significant reduction in lumbar compression forces (L5-S1)
was from 3276.57 ± 109.90 N to 1176.29 ± 40.87 N during knee flexion and extension
tasks. All p-values were < 0.05, indicating significant differences between approaches.
In conclusion, the cobot effectively reduces the risk of WMSDs in physiotherapists
during lower-limb rehabilitation.