Influence of exoskeleton stiffness on primary afferent feedback during stretch perturbations of isolated muscle-tendon unit

Exoskeletons assist and augment human movement, but their effects on proprioceptive feedback remain poorly understood. We examined how parallel exoskeleton stiffness influences primary muscle spindle firing. In an anesthetized rat preparation, controlled stretches of the medial gastrocnemius were applied with springs (0-0.5 N/mm) attached in parallel to the muscle-tendon unit (MTU) to simulate passive exoskeleton assistance. Fascicle length was measured with sonomicrometry, force and MTU length with a servo motor, and spindle instantaneous firing rate (IFR) with dorsal root recordings. Increasing exoskeleton stiffness decreased biological muscle force (3.1 {+/-} 0.6 N to 1.6 {+/-} 0.6 N, p < 0.001) and stiffness (4.4 {+/-} 1.5 N/mm to 2.3 {+/-} 1.3 N/mm, p < 0.01), while fascicle length increased (7.9 {+/-} 1.3 mm to 8.3 {+/-} 1.5 mm, p < 0.005). Despite these altered mechanics, spindle firing did not significantly change, and showed weak correlations with muscle length, velocity, force, and yank (R2 [&le;] 0.14). These results indicate that exoskeleton stiffness modifies fascicle dynamics without altering spindle firing. Previously proposed models of primary afferent firing did not sufficiently explain these results. This is the first in situ investigation of exoskeleton effects on primary afferent feedback during active contractions.