加拿大皇后大学Qingguo Li、Michael Shepertycky等研究人员合作发现，用外骨骼消除能量可减少步行的新陈代谢成本。这一研究成果发表在2021年5月28日出版的国际学术期刊《科学》上。

据研究人员介绍，进化压力导致人类以一种节约能量的高效方式行走，这使得外骨骼难以降低行走的代谢成本。尽管面临挑战，但一些外骨骼已经设法通过增加或储存和返回能量来减少步行的代谢消耗。

研究人员发现，外骨骼的使用能够在步态周期的摆动期间消除动能，从而可以将健康男性使用者的步行代谢成本降低 2.5 ± 0.8%，同时将去除的能量转化为 0.25 ± 0.02 瓦的电能。通过比较两个负荷曲线，研究人员证明能量去除的时间和幅度对于成功降低代谢成本至关重要。

附：英文原文

Title: Removing energy with an exoskeleton reduces the metabolic cost of walking

Author: Michael Shepertycky, Sarah Burton, Andrew Dickson, Yan-Fei Liu, Qingguo Li

Issue&Volume: 2021/05/28

Abstract: Evolutionary pressures have led humans to walk in a highly efficient manner that conserves energy, making it difficult for exoskeletons to reduce the metabolic cost of walking. Despite the challenge, some exoskeletons have managed to lessen the metabolic expenditure of walking, either by adding or storing and returning energy. We show that the use of an exoskeleton that strategically removes kinetic energy during the swing period of the gait cycle reduces the metabolic cost of walking by 2.5 ± 0.8% for healthy male users while converting the removed energy into 0.25 ± 0.02 watts of electrical power. By comparing two loading profiles, we demonstrate that the timing and magnitude of energy removal are vital for successful metabolic cost reduction.

DOI: 10.1126/science.aba9947

Source: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/372/6545/957