Soft exoskeletons apply compressive forces at the limbs via connection cuffs to actuate movement or stabilise joints. To avoid excessive mechanical loading, the interface with the wearer's body needs to be carefully designed. The purpose of this study was to establish the magnitude of circumferential compression at the lower limb during walking that causes discomfort/pain. It was hypothesized that the thresholds differ from those during standing. A cohort of 21 healthy participants were tested using two sizes of pneumatic cuffs, inflated at the thigh and calf in a tonic or phasic manner. The results showed lower inflation pressures triggering discomfort/pain at the thigh, with tonic compression, and wider pneumatic cuffs. The thresholds were lower during walking than standing still. Deep tissue oxygenation increased during phasic compression and decreased during tonic compression. According to the findings, circumferential compression by soft exoskeletons is preferably applied at anatomical sites with smaller volumes of soft tissue, using narrow connection cuffs and inflation pressures below 14 kPa.

中文翻译：

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步行过程中下肢周围组织的压迫及其对不适，疼痛和组织氧合的影响：应用于软性外骨骼设计。

柔软的外骨骼通过连接袖口在四肢上施加压力，以促成运动或稳定关节。为了避免过度的机械负载，需要精心设计与穿戴者身体的界面。这项研究的目的是确定步行过程中下肢引起不适/疼痛的圆周压缩幅度。假设阈值不同于站立时的阈值。对21名健康参与者的队列进行了测试，使用了两种大小的充气袖带，以强直或分阶段的方式在大腿和小腿充气。结果表明，较低的充气压力会导致大腿不适/疼痛，并伴有强直性紧张和更宽的充气袖带。步行过程中的阈值低于静止状态。深层组织氧合在相压期间增加，而在强直压迫期间减少。根据这些发现，最好使用狭窄的袖带和低于14 kPa的充气压力，在软组织体积较小的解剖部位施加由软外骨骼进行的圆周压缩。