Quantitative analysis of the effect of lumbar orthosis on trunk muscle strength and muscle activity in normal subjects

We studied the effect of lumbar orthosis on trunk muscle strength and muscle activity during flexion-extension bending of the trunk in 31 male volunteers. Trunk muscle strength was measured with a kinetic measurement system. Peak torque was calculated by using the mean torque of five repetitions. Trunk muscle activity was measured with commercially available equipment that has portable EMG data-collection units. The maximum level of the EMG signal was evaluated by employing the analyzing part of the computer's measuring program. With the application of the lumbar orthosis, the strength of the abdominal muscle and the back muscle increased; conversely, the activities of both muscles were decreased significantly. This might imply that lumbar orthosis reduces the load of the trunk muscles during performance.