The DOI matches its Crossref record; 72 of the 73 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Physiological impact of powered back-support exoskeletons in construction: Analyzing muscle fatigue, metabolic cost, ergonomic risks, and stability
Open accessAbstract
Powered back-support exoskeletons (BSEs) are emerging as ergonomic interventions in construction to reduce musculoskeletal injuries by actively enhancing user strength . However, their adoption remains slow due to limited understanding of potential physiological impacts, including muscle fatigue, metabolic cost, joint hyperextension , and fall risk. This paper empirically investigates the potential physiological risk associated with the powered BSEs during construction tasks. A user-centered experiment assessed the impact of powered BSEs on muscle fatigue, metabolic cost, ergonomic posture, and stability during common construction activities. The results indicated that the powered BSEs significantly decreased muscle activity for back and abdominal muscle groups by an average of 60 %, reduced metabolic costs by 17 %, and lowered ergonomic risks by 50 % without impacting stability. This study contributes to the understanding of the physiological impacts of powered BSEs in construction, providing empirical evidence of their effectiveness in reducing muscle fatigue, metabolic costs, and enhancing ergonomic safety.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“Capture bioelectrical signals (e.g., EMG) and | bioelectrical impedance (BI) variations via | electrodes 6,207 .”
From Recent advances in intelligent wearable systems: from multiscale biomechanical features towards human motion intent prediction (2026) · cites this paper as [208]
Citations
Cites
Development of recommendations for SEMG sensors and sensor placement procedures
Hermens, H. J., Freriks, B., Disselhorst-Klug, C., & Rau, G. (2000) · Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology · doi:10.1016/s1050-6411(00)00027-4 · Cited by 7,213
A practical method for calculating largest Lyapunov exponents from small data sets
Rosenstein, M. T., Collins, J. J., & Luca, C. J. D. (1993) · Physica D Nonlinear Phenomena · doi:10.1016/0167-2789(93)90009-p · Cited by 3,557
Rapid entire body assessment (REBA)
Hignett, S., & McAtamney, L. (2000) · Applied Ergonomics · doi:10.1016/s0003-6870(99)00039-3 · Cited by 2,260
Exoskeletons for industrial application and their potential effects on physical work load
de Looze, M. P., Bosch, T., Krause, F., Stadler, K. S., & O'Sullivan, L. W. (2015) · Ergonomics · doi:10.1080/00140139.2015.1081988 · Cited by 1,093
Contributing factors in construction accidents
Haslam, R. A., Hide, S., Gibb, A., Gyi, D. E., Pavitt, T. C., Atkinson, S., & Duff, A. R. (2005) · Applied Ergonomics · doi:10.1016/j.apergo.2004.12.002 · Cited by 1,013
Bosch, T., van Eck, J., Knitel, K., & de Looze, M. P. (2016) · Applied Ergonomics · doi:10.1016/j.apergo.2015.12.003 · Cited by 469
Low Back Exercises: Evidence for Improving Exercise Regimens
McGill, S. M. (1998) · Physical Therapy · doi:10.1093/ptj/78.7.754 · Cited by 348
Huysamen, K., de Looze, M. P., Bosch, T., Ortiz, J., Toxiri, S., & O'Sullivan, L. W. (2017) · Applied Ergonomics · doi:10.1016/j.apergo.2017.11.004 · Cited by 317
Kermavnar, T., Vries, A. W. D., de Looze, M. P., & O'Sullivan, L. W. (2020) · Ergonomics · doi:10.1080/00140139.2020.1870162 · Cited by 280
Risk Assessment of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders in Construction: State-of-the-Art Review
Wang, D., Dai, F., & Ning, X. (2015) · Journal of Construction Engineering and Management · doi:10.1061/(asce)co.1943-7862.0000979 · Cited by 274
Research works printed but not linked: 15
- Kim, 2019, 7, 185
- Breneman, 2023, 2024, 763
- Del Ferraro, 2020, The effects of upper-body exoskeletons on human metabolic cost and thermal response during work tasks—a systematic review, Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 17, 7374, 10.3390/ijerph17207374 · DOI
- Gonzalez, 2022, Assessment of a powered ankle exoskeleton on human stability and balance, Appl. Ergon., 103, 10.1016/j.apergo.2022.103768 · DOI
- Passmore, 2019, Severity of U.S. Construction Worker Injuries, 2015–2017, vol. 97
- Alemi, 2020, Effects of two passive back-support exoskeletons on muscle activity, energy expenditure, and subjective assessments during repetitive lifting, human factors, J. Human Factors Ergon. Soc., 62, 458, 10.1177/0018720819897669 · DOI
- Rayssiguie, 2022, vol. 22
- Park, 2022, Effects of back-support exoskeleton use on gait performance and stability during level walking, Gait Posture, 92, 181, 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2021.11.028 · DOI
- He, 2017, vol. 10, 89
- Gonzalez, 2022, Assessment of a powered ankle exoskeleton on human stability and balance, Appl. Ergon., 103, 10.1016/j.apergo.2022.103768 · DOI
- Park, 2021, Effects of two passive back-support exoskeletons on postural balance during quiet stance and functional limits of stability, J. Electromyogr. Kinesiol., 57, 10.1016/j.jelekin.2021.102516 · DOI
- Antwi-Afari, 2017, Biomechanical analysis of risk factors for work-related musculoskeletal disorders during repetitive lifting task in construction workers, Autom. Constr., 83, 41, 10.1016/j.autcon.2017.07.007 · DOI
- Walter, 2023, Active exoskeleton reduces erector spinae muscle activity during lifting, Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol., 11, 1143926, 10.3389/fbioe.2023.1143926 · DOI
- Brockway, 1987, Derivation of formulae used to calculate energy expenditure in man, human nutrition, Clin. Nutr., 41, 463
- Liu, 2023, 2024, 331
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Li, Z., Yu, Y., Zeng, N., Tian, F., Zhang, S., Sun, H., & Li, Q. (2025) · Automation in Construction · doi:10.1016/j.autcon.2025.106566 · Cited by 21
Oh, J., Cho, G.-Y., & Kim, H. (2025) · Applied Sciences · doi:10.3390/app15073808 · Cited by 18
Explainable AI-Enhanced Human Activity Recognition for Human–Robot Collaboration in Agriculture
Benos, L. T., Tsaopoulos, D. E., Tagarakis, A. C., Katerıs, D., Busato, P., & Bochtis, D. (2025) · Applied Sciences · doi:10.3390/app15020650 · Cited by 18
Psychophysiological impacts of working with powered exoskeletons on construction sites
Ojha, A., Shayesteh, S., Liu, Y., Jebelli, H., & Akanmu, A. A. (2025) · Automation in Construction · doi:10.1016/j.autcon.2025.106312 · Cited by 14
Self-citationQin, R., Cui, P., & Muhsin, J. (2024) · Buildings · doi:10.3390/buildings14123789 · Cited by 13
Metadata
- Authors
- Ojha, A., Gautam, Y., Jebelli, H., & Akanmu, A.
- Affiliations
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
- Virginia Tech (US)
- Corresponding author
- Jebelli, Houtan
- Venue
- Automation in Construction
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2024-12
- Volume
- 168
- Pages
- 105742
- ISSN
- 0926-5805 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4402478459
- Cited by
- 39
- References
- 73
- Citations by year
- 2026: 23 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 1
- FWCI
- 4.29
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Automation in Construction (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (IIS-2410255, IIS-2221166)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Prosthetics and Rehabilitation Robotics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Occupational Health and Performance
- Social Sciences › Human Factors and Ergonomics › Ergonomics and Musculoskeletal Disorders
- Keywords
- construction workers, muscle fatigue, metabolic cost, musculoskeletal injury prevention, ergonomic posture, stability, fall risk, back muscle activity, abdominal muscle activity, wearable robotics
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
How to cite
Cite CoChat for the checks on this page, and the paper for its own findings.
- This page
- CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Physiological impact of powered back-support exoskeletons in construction: Analyzing muscle fatigue, metabolic cost, ergonomic risks, and stability. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1016/j.autcon.2024.105742
- The paper
- Ojha, A., Gautam, Y., Jebelli, H., & Akanmu, A. (2024). Physiological impact of powered back-support exoskeletons in construction: Analyzing muscle fatigue, metabolic cost, ergonomic risks, and stability. Automation in Construction. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2024.105742
