Evaluation of Power Assistance Chair for Aged Person by Motion and Myoelectric Signal Measurement

抄録

A chair with the power assistance function was developed by a Japanese company for training and rehabilitation of aged person. Developers aimed to help aged person to stand up easily without other person's support. However, its effect of the function is not yet sufficiently evaluated. To evaluate the power assistance function of the chair, it is important to measure user's motion and change of muscle force. The power assistance function of the chair can be produced by using commercial parts of frame structure. The assist function of this chair is evaluated to design the optimum mechanism that provides effective support. So, the motion of user and assist mechanism of the chair were measured by using motion capture system in this study, and the muscle force was evaluated by acquisition of myoelectric signal at the same time. The experiment was executed by using a chair with the assistance function and a chair with no assistance function in the case of standing up and sitting down motions.As results, the relation between the behavior of test subject and the seat motion of the assistance chair was clarified by motion capture, and the muscle force of test subject were obtained by myoelectric signal. By means of simultaneous measurement of motion and myoelectric signal, the muscle activity against the timing of motion was well understood.