TY - JOUR A2 - Roh, Jinsook AU - Chiavenna, Andrea AU - Scano, Alessandro AU - Malosio, Matteo AU - Molinari Tosatti, Lorenzo AU - Molteni, Franco PY - 2018 DA - 2018/06/03 TI - Assessing User Transparency with Muscle Synergies during Exoskeleton-Assisted Movements: A Pilot Study on the LIGHTarm Device for Neurorehabilitation SP - 7647562 VL - 2018 AB - Exoskeleton devices for upper limb neurorehabilitation are one of the most exploited solutions for the recovery of lost motor functions. By providing weight support, passively compensated exoskeletons allow patients to experience upper limb training. Transparency is a desirable feature of exoskeletons that describes how the device alters free movements or interferes with spontaneous muscle patterns. A pilot study on healthy subjects was conducted to evaluate the feasibility of assessing transparency in the framework of muscle synergies. For such purpose, the LIGHTarm exoskeleton prototype was used. LIGHTarm provides gravity support to the upper limb during the execution of movements in the tridimensional workspace. Surface electromyography was acquired during the execution of three daily life movements (reaching, hand-to-mouth, and hand-to-nape) in three different conditions: free movement, exoskeleton-assisted (without gravity compensation), and exoskeleton-assisted (with gravity compensation) on healthy people. Preliminary results suggest that the muscle synergy framework may provide valuable assessment of user transparency and weight support features of devices aimed at rehabilitation. SN - 1176-2322 UR - https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/7647562 DO - 10.1155/2018/7647562 JF - Applied Bionics and Biomechanics PB - Hindawi KW - ER -