The Effects of Unilateral Slope Loading on Lower Limb Plantar Flexor Muscle EMG Signals in Young Healthy Males

TL;DR

This study examines how unilateral slope loading affects lower limb muscle activity in young healthy males, providing data to improve assistive exoskeleton systems and terrain recognition capabilities.

Contribution

It offers new data on muscle EMG responses under unilateral slope loading, aiding development of lower limb assistive devices.

Findings

Unilateral slope loading increases soleus muscle activity.

Load weight and slope angle significantly affect muscle EMG signals.

Data supports design improvements for exoskeletons and terrain adaptation.

Abstract

Different loading modes can significantly affect human gait, posture, and lower limb biomechanics. This study investigated the muscle activity intensity of the lower limb soleus muscle in the slope environment of young healthy adult male subjects under unilateral loading environment. Ten subjects held dumbbells equal to 5% and 10% of their body weight (BW) and walked at a fixed speed on a slope of 5 degree and 10 degree, respectively. The changes of electromyography (EMG) of bilateral soleus muscles of the lower limbs were recorded. Experiments were performed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) to examine the relationship between load weight, slope angle, and muscle activity intensity. The data provided by this research can help to promote the development of the field of lower limb assist exoskeleton. The research results fill the missing data when loading on the slope side, provide data support for future assistance systems, and promote the formation of relevant data sets, so as to improve the terrain recognition ability and the movement ability of the device wearer.