Saskia Baltrusch

192 Chapter 7 3.3 Muscle Activity The mean muscle activity in the back muscles, averaged over one lifting cycle, significantly decreased when wearing the exoskeleton, compared to the control condition, for M. Longissimus Thoracis (19.37 % (7.07) vs. 17.39 % (5.48); p=0.03), M. Iliocostalis Lomborum (22.69 % (11.28) vs. 18.96 % (8.62); p=0.01) and M. Longissimus Lomborum (26.22 % (9.00) vs. 22.55 % (5.91); p=0.04) (Figure 8). The muscle activity in the abdominal muscles did not change when wearing the exoskeleton (Figure 9). Figure 8: Muscle activity of the back muscles with and without the exoskeleton, averaged over all participants. N=8. Error bars indicate standard deviations. Black lines indicate individual responses. *Significant difference in mean acitivity between control condition (without) and exoskeleton condition (with). Figure 9: Muscle activity of the abdominal muscles with and without the exoskeleton, averaged over all participants. N=8. Error bars indicate standard deviations. Black lines indicate individual responses.