TY - JOUR
T1 - A novel passive neck orthosis for patients with degenerative muscle diseases
T2 - Development & evaluation
AU - Mahmood, Mohammad Nauzef
AU - Tabasi, Ali
AU - Kingma, Idsart
AU - van Dieën, Jaap H.
PY - 2021/4
Y1 - 2021/4
N2 - The current study evaluated the effect of a passive neck orthosis, developed for patients suffering from progressive muscular diseases, on neck muscle activity in 10 adult healthy participants. The participants performed discrete head movements involving pure neck flexion (−10 to 30°), pure neck rotation (up to 30° left and right) and combined neck flexion-rotation (−10 to 30°) in steps of 10° by moving a cursor on a screen to reach predefined targets and staying on target for 10 s. Surface electromyography (EMG) was recorded from upper trapezius and sternocleidomastoid muscles and amplitudes were averaged over the static phases in trials with and without the orthosis. Moreover, the variability in head position and time required to perform the tasks were compared between conditions. Wearing the orthosis caused significant reductions (p = 0.027) in upper trapezius activity (a change of 0.2–1.5% EMGmax) while working against gravity. The activity level of the sternocleidomastoid muscle increased (p ≤ 0.025) by 0.3–1.0% EMGmax during pure and combined rotations without any pain reported. The orthosis showed potential to reduce the activity level of the upper trapezius muscle, the main load bearing muscle of the neck. Further study will be carried out to evaluate the effect in different patient groups.
AB - The current study evaluated the effect of a passive neck orthosis, developed for patients suffering from progressive muscular diseases, on neck muscle activity in 10 adult healthy participants. The participants performed discrete head movements involving pure neck flexion (−10 to 30°), pure neck rotation (up to 30° left and right) and combined neck flexion-rotation (−10 to 30°) in steps of 10° by moving a cursor on a screen to reach predefined targets and staying on target for 10 s. Surface electromyography (EMG) was recorded from upper trapezius and sternocleidomastoid muscles and amplitudes were averaged over the static phases in trials with and without the orthosis. Moreover, the variability in head position and time required to perform the tasks were compared between conditions. Wearing the orthosis caused significant reductions (p = 0.027) in upper trapezius activity (a change of 0.2–1.5% EMGmax) while working against gravity. The activity level of the sternocleidomastoid muscle increased (p ≤ 0.025) by 0.3–1.0% EMGmax during pure and combined rotations without any pain reported. The orthosis showed potential to reduce the activity level of the upper trapezius muscle, the main load bearing muscle of the neck. Further study will be carried out to evaluate the effect in different patient groups.
KW - Assistive device
KW - Degenerative muscle diseases
KW - Exoskeleton
KW - Neck muscle weakness
KW - Neck orthosis
KW - Passive head support
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85099206545&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85099206545&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jelekin.2021.102515
DO - 10.1016/j.jelekin.2021.102515
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85099206545
VL - 57
SP - 1
EP - 8
JO - Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology
JF - Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology
SN - 1050-6411
M1 - 102515
ER -