User Involvement, Device Safety, and Outcome Measures During Development of Walking Exoskeletons: Current Practices

The main purpose of this study was to identify outcome measures that developers working in the area of wearable robots utilize during different phases of product development. Experts in the field were invited to complete a short, anonymous, online survey. The results presented in this study focus on answers that engineers working on exoskeletons for walking gave for three user relevant questions of that survey. The main results indicate that validation of exoskeletons developed for walking and for use in rehabilitation and functional assistance/augmentation does involve user-centered outcomes. However, a variety of outcomes are used, and those used to capture feedback from users are less likely to be based on validated measures. Guidelines as to tests on safety of exoskeletons also seem to lack standardization. Development of exoskeletons should involve the use of a set of standardized methods that take into account the needs and safety of the intended user during each iteration of the process.