Enhancing sit-to-stand transitions and walking efficiency in older adults with a soft robotic suit

Enhancing sit-to-stand transitions and walking efficiency in older adults with a soft robotic suit | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Enhancing sit-to-stand transitions and walking efficiency in older adults with a soft robotic suit Xiaohui Zhang, Enrica Tricomi, Marios Stefanakis, Nathalie Gierden, and 6 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8860894/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Age-related declines in muscle strength and neuromuscular control make sit-to-stand transitions and walking progressively more difficult, compromising mobility and independence. Although wearable assistive technologies have been proposed to alleviate these challenges, few have demonstrated clear benefits in facilitating sit-to-stand movements for community-dwelling older adults who retain a degree of independent mobility. Here, we introduce a soft tendon-driven hip exosuit designed to assist both sit-to-stand transitions and walking activities. In a feasibility study with ten older adults (mean age 78 years), the exosuit improved sit-to-stand performance during the 1-minute sit-to-stand test by up to 4 repetitions compared with the unassisted condition, with an average increase of 1.8 repetitions and a 9.2% reduction in cycle duration across participants. Additionally, the exosuit lowered the metabolic cost of walking by 13.6% on average. These improvements were achieved while preserving lower-limb stability, natural kinematics, and maintaining a strong sense of agency (a self-reported mean score of 6.07 out of 7 on a Likert scale). These findings demonstrate that a soft exosuit can enhance sitting and walking performance in older adults without compromising biomechanical naturalness or user autonomy, highlighting textile-based soft robotic systems as a promising pathway toward practical, home-integrated mobility assistance for ageing populations. Physical sciences/Engineering/Biomedical engineering Health sciences/Health care Wearable Robotics Exosuits Lower Limb Assistance Ageing Sit-to-stand Walking Metabolic Cost Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files Supplementaryvideo1.mp4 Supplementary Video SupplementaryInformation.pdf Supplementary Information Supplementarydata1.zip Supplementary Data Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8860894","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":592754660,"identity":"7eb1b4d8-20ba-46a3-86bd-f059ea6dda81","order_by":0,"name":"Xiaohui Zhang","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA4UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACZjCSACMGhgqwmAEpWs4YEKEFoosBooWxjQgtBseZHz4ubLNgkJ/d/Ozh13l/Etc2MG98gE+LZDObsfHMNgkGxjnHzI1ltxkkbjvAVozXGn5mBjNpXqAWZokEM2lJsBYeMwl8WtiY2b+BtbBJpH+TlpwD1mL+A78tPBBbeCRyzCQ/NkBswacD6BeeYmOecxI8EhI5ZdIMx4yNtx1mK8brMIPzxzc+5imrk5Ofkb5N8keNnOy2480bP+C1Bgp4QAQzhCRGPQww4vX2KBgFo2AUjFgAAGa8PQXsPqDpAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8438-546X","institution":"Technical University of Munich","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xiaohui","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhang","suffix":""},{"id":592754661,"identity":"ff9d5797-a307-4aa8-b661-aff21a3f9bba","order_by":1,"name":"Enrica Tricomi","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Technical University of Munich","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Enrica","middleName":"","lastName":"Tricomi","suffix":""},{"id":592754662,"identity":"e362286d-0863-443d-900f-38e650a1edb1","order_by":2,"name":"Marios Stefanakis","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Heidelberg University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Marios","middleName":"","lastName":"Stefanakis","suffix":""},{"id":592754663,"identity":"290507a1-5fa7-42e9-91d0-68c127c51925","order_by":3,"name":"Nathalie Gierden","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Technical University of Munich","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Nathalie","middleName":"","lastName":"Gierden","suffix":""},{"id":592754664,"identity":"493e8618-3dfc-407d-9e1e-32c0a4d724b3","order_by":4,"name":"Theresa Buchner","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Heidelberg University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Theresa","middleName":"","lastName":"Buchner","suffix":""},{"id":592754665,"identity":"d6c1dfac-c5b7-481d-80ef-0b3c6c4cef40","order_by":5,"name":"Luka Miskovic","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Technical University of Munich","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Luka","middleName":"","lastName":"Miskovic","suffix":""},{"id":592754666,"identity":"c3aad61a-11de-455e-923f-cc6ab3cc454e","order_by":6,"name":"Jürgen M. 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