Assistive Product Myoshirt

Researchers at the Sensory-Motors Systems Lab at ETH Zurich have developed a Myoshirt, which is a soft, wearable exomuscle for the upper body. It is designed to give people with limited mobility more strength and endurance in the upper body. The shirt consists of a kind of vest with cuffs for the upper arms and a small box containing all the technology that is not directly needed on the body.

An intelligent algorithm uses sensors in the fabric to detect what kind of movement the wearer wants to perform and how much strength is needed to do it. A motor then shortens a cable running parallel to the muscles in the fabric - a kind of artificial tendon - to support the movement. The support is always in line with the movement being performed and can be adjusted to individual preferences. The people using the device are always in control and can override the device at any time.