Physiological Evaluation of a Wheeled Assistive Device for Load Carriage.
Carrying heavy weight imposes high physiological strain on the human body, which can adversely affect physical performance. This is especially important for soldiers whose physical performance level may influence mission completion and survival. Recently, wheel-based devices (WBDs), designed to reduce the load on the soldier, have been suggested as a possible solution. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the physiological effects of a proposed WBD prototype. Ten volunteers performed 3 exercise protocols on a treadmill as follows: without carrying any load, with a military backpack, and with the WBD. While using both modalities, they carried 40% of their body weight. Data acquisition included heart rate, body core temperature, oxygen consumption, and subjective comfort. Postural sway was also measured to evaluate the effect of WBD on standing balance. There were no significant differences between the physiological measures while using both modalities. Subjective comfort evaluation showed that the WBD may be more comfortable, yet it raises difficulty in maintaining balance while walking, as can be explained by the postural sway results. We suggest that the similarity in physiological strain while using the WBD was due to reduced walking efficiency in an attempt to maintain balance. It appears that the WBD may have some biomechanical advantages in reducing the subjective pain and pressure at the shoulder region, a matter that should be further examined together with other biomechanical measures.
1The Warrior Health Research Institute, Israel Defense Forces, Medical Corps, Tel Hashomer, Israel; 2Heller Institute of Medical Research, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel; 3Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; 4The Center of Advanced Technologies in Rehabilitation, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel; 5Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; and 6Gondal Brain Research Center, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel.
Itay
I
Ketko
Ran
R
Yanovich
Meir
M
Plotnik
Amit
A
Gefen
Yuval
Y
Heled
D000328:Adult; D001831:Body Temperature; D005080:Exercise Test; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000502:physiology; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology; D012656:Self-Help Devices; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*; D016474:Weight-Bearing / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult