TY - JOUR PY - 2020// TI - Safety considerations for forward falls JO - Journal of musculoskeletal and neuronal interactions A1 - Abdolshah, Saeed A1 - Rajaei, Nader A1 - Akiyama, Yasuhiro A1 - Yamada, Yoji A1 - Okamoto, Shogo SP - 176 EP - 184 VL - 20 IS - 2 N2 - OBJECTIVE: Forward falls are among the most frequent causes of upper extremity fractures. This study investigated the safety considerations to prevent wrist injuries during bimanual forward falls. METHODS: A biomechanical model was developed with two separated arms to facilitate investigation of asymmetrical contact and predict the impact force applied to each hand separately. To validate the developed model, a series of fall experiments were conducted in which one hand collided with a hard surface, while the other collided with a soft surface. RESULTS: The results show that the impact force applied to each hand is independent of the other. Using these results and our model, the safety aspects of human forward falls were analyzed with a view to preventing injuries. Specifically, we sought to determine the safe range of surface stiffness and damping to ensure that the occurrence of forward falls does not lead to trauma. CONCLUSION: The results of this study can be applied in the design of compliant flooring to ensure the safety of people in environments with potential fall hazards. From a robotics viewpoint, the results are applicable in the design of compliant flooring for shared workplaces, where robots collaborate with people and collisions between humans and robots may cause falls.
Language: en
LA - en SN - 1108-7161 UR - http://dx.doi.org/ ID - ref1 ER -