Wearable Textile Creates Extra Layer of Muscles

Researchers at ETH Zurich’s Sensory-Motor Systems Lab have developed a wearable device designed to increase upper body strength and endurance in people with restricted mobility. Although hospitals have a number of physical therapy devices, they are often expensive and unwieldy. And what about when there is little access to technical aids when going about everyday life or performing exercises at home? It is common for people who lack muscle strength and endurance to compensate in ways that create poor posture and strain.

To better support people with a range of upper body strength and mobility, researchers designed a wearable exomuscle vest equipped with cuffs for the upper arms and accompanied by a small control box. The creation is known as Myoshirt, and it works via sensors embedded in the fabric to detect both the wearer’s desired movements and the amount of force required to perform them. A motor shortens a cable in the fabric that runs parallel to the wearer’s muscles, acting as a kind of artificial tendon to support the motion

A prototype of the Myoshirt was recently tested on twelve participants: ten people without any physical impairments, one person with muscular dystrophy, and one person with a spinal cord injury. All participants showed improved endurance thanks to the exomuscle, and were able to lift their arms and objects for much longer than without. The increase was roughly a third in the group of ten participants and about 60% for the participant with muscular dystrophy. The participant with a spinal cord injury was able to perform exercises for three times as long.

A video posted by the lab shows some of these tests, and a paper detailing the research was recently published by Nature. The design goal is to develop the device collaboratively with potential users to truly support their needs, and assistance can be tailored to individual preferences. Users are able to maintain control and override the device at any time.

While the initial results are promising and the participants found using the device to be intuitive, it will be a while before the research produces a market-ready product. For longer-term use, the vest and its components need to be reduced in size and weight. The next step for the team is to perform tests outside of the laboratory environment, using data obtained to make further improvements.