Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39292806›Full record

ArticleScience robotics2024

A versatile knee exoskeleton mitigates quadriceps fatigue in lifting, lowering, and carrying tasks.

Nikhil V Divekar, Gray C Thomas, Avani R Yerva, Hannah B Frame, Robert D Gregg

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Science robotics, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Optimal Energy Shaping and Force Amplification Framework for Task-Agnostic, Biomimetic Ankle Exoskeletons.IEEE transactions on robotics : a publication of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Compact and Foldable Hip Exoskeleton With High Torque Density Actuator for Walking and Stair-Climbing Assistance in Young and Older Adults.IEEE/ASME transactions on mechatronics : a joint publication of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society and the ASME Dynamic Systems and Control Division · 2025
    Article
  5. Human-Interface Dynamics of Knee Exoskeletons with Lateral and Anteroposterior Attachment.IEEE ... International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics : [proceedings] · 2025
    Article
  6. A Task-Agnostic Knee Exoskeleton for Reducing Osteoarthritis Pain Across Activities of Daily Life: A Pilot Study.IEEE ... International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics : [proceedings] · 2025
    Article
  7. A Task-Agnostic Hip Exoskeleton for Osteoarthritis Pain Relief: Energetic Control Across Activities of Daily Life.IEEE ... International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics : [proceedings] · 2025
    Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Nikhil V DivekarUniversity of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-8683-4828
Gray C ThomasUniversity of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-4466-3466
Avani R YervaUniversity of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.ORCID 0009-0003-7413-6672
Hannah B FrameUniversity of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Robert D GreggUniversity of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-0729-2857

Funding

Understanding Personalized Control with Modular Powered OrthosesR01EB031166 · NIBIB · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI Robert D Gregg · 2021 to 2026
$2.5M
NIBIB NIH HHS R01 EB031166
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The quadriceps are particularly susceptible to fatigue during repetitive lifting, lowering, and carrying (LLC), affecting worker performance, posture, and ultimately lower-back injury risk. Although robotic exoskeletons have been developed and optimized for specific use cases like lifting-lowering, their controllers lack the versatility or customizability to target critical muscles across many fatiguing tasks. Here, we present a task-adaptive knee exoskeleton controller that automatically modulates virtual springs, dampers, and gravity and inertia compensation to assist squatting, level walking, and ramp and stairs ascent/descent. Unlike end-to-end neural networks, the controller is composed of predictable, bounded components with interpretable parameters that are amenable to data-driven optimization for biomimetic assistance and subsequent application-specific tuning, for example, maximizing quadriceps assistance over multiterrain LLC. When deployed on a backdrivable knee exoskeleton, the assistance torques holistically reduced quadriceps effort across multiterrain LLC tasks (significantly except for level walking) in 10 human users without user-specific calibration. The exoskeleton also significantly improved fatigue-induced deficits in time-based performance and posture during repetitive lifting-lowering. Last, the system facilitated seamless task transitions and garnered a high effectiveness rating postfatigue over a multiterrain circuit. These findings indicate that this versatile control framework can target critical muscles across multiple tasks, specifically mitigating quadriceps fatigue and its deleterious effects.

Indexed as

Exoskeleton DeviceLiftingMuscle FatigueQuadriceps MuscleTorqueAdultBiomechanical PhenomenaEquipment DesignFemaleHumansKneeKnee JointMalePostureRoboticsTask Performance and Analysis

Identifiers

PMID39292806
PMCPMC11507003

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.