5 research outputs found

    Validation of Body Volume Acquisition by Using Elliptical Zone Method

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    The elliptical zone method (E-Zone) can be used to obtain reliable body volume data including total body volume and segmental volumes with inexpensive and portable equipment. The purpose of this research was to assess the accuracy of body volume data obtained from E-Zone by comparing them with those acquired from the 3D photonic scanning method (3DPS). 17 male participants with diverse somatotypes were recruited. Each participant was scanned twice on the same day by a 3D whole-body scanner and photographed twice for the E-Zone analysis. The body volume data acquired from 3DPS was regarded as the reference against which the accuracy of the E-Zone was assessed. The relative technical error of measurement (TEM) of total body volume estimations was around 3% for E-Zone. E-Zone can estimate the segmental volumes of upper torso, lower torso, thigh, shank, upper arm and lower arm accurately (relative TEM<10%) but the accuracy for small segments including the neck, hand and foot were poor. In summary, E-Zone provides a reliable, inexpensive, portable, and simple method to obtain reasonable estimates of total body volume and to indicate segmental volume distribution

    A study of stakeholders' experience of the architectural design process to stimulate an interactive form of communication

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    The architectural design process involves the input of many stakeholders. Communication between them is crucial as it ensures an effective design process. The practice of architecture has been transformed by advances in hardware and software technologies, to the point where both the workflow and the design process are changing. These technologies have also impacted on the methods of representing and communicating design work. At present, traditional communication uses 2D and 3D drawings, as well as digital media such as animation, computer gaming or graphic design, which have impacted on architectural representations. While these tools are very useful, problems in communication between stakeholders are revealed. For instance, differences in architectural background knowledge and requirements lead to misunderstanding the design, confusion caused by working on inconsistent information, and use of incompatible software which causes difficulties in accessing work. This research project attempts to identify and analyse issues relating to communication within the design process in order to improve it. The study is undertaken using a number of key questions to guide the development and progress of the research. The extent of communication via digital media in the design process, in contemporary architectural practice, is examined, along with the perceived value of digital technology by stakeholders. Architectural design work would benefit from exploiting digital media and the Internet to provide an effective form of communication for enabling a user/stakeholder-oriented involvement in the design process. The work presented revisits the conventional methods of communication in design work, between various interested parties in any given project (stakeholders: architects, engineers, planners and clients), with a view to formulating an outline for a potential system that facilitates communication as part of a participatory design process. This study puts forward suggestions to improve communication in the design process, through a storyboard represents users’ experiences in using an interactive communication system. The suggestions are being tested through a mock-up of the web application, which is then presented to participants to receive feedback. Three guiding principles inform the development of the final system: interaction (to allow fast input and feedback); accessibility (to ensure any particular design software is able to interact with the system); and inclusivity (to allow both specialists and lay people to use the system)

    Comparing the Kinematic and Kinetic Outputs from Digital Human Modeling Tools to a Lab-Based Rigid-Link Model for the Investigation of Musculoskeletal Disorder Hazards During Patient Handling

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    Patient repositioning tasks expose healthcare providers (HCPs) to high bone-on-bone forces, resulting in the development of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) (Fragala,2011). Researchers have been able to estimate biomechanical exposures during patient turning using kinematic and kinetic data collected from HCPs (e.g., Marras et al., 1999); however, many of these laboratory-based studies require considerable time and resources to execute and it also remains challenging to gather reliable data (Jäger et al., 2013). Digital human modeling (DHM) may offer unique advantages over direct measurement to estimate biomechanically relevant exposures. Investigators have used DHM to evaluate MSD hazards (Cao et al., 2013; Potvin, 2017); however, there is limited evidence on the fidelity of their outputs. The objective of this study was to compare the kinematic and kinetic outputs produced by two commercial DHM software packages against those generated using a lab-based motion-capture driven approach when analyzing HCPs performance of patient turns. Twenty-five (25) HCPs (eight males) performed a patient turn in the laboratory using a hospital bed with a live 82kg male patient. Whole body kinematics and sagittal plane video were collected. External peak hand force was measured using a force gauge. An accelerometer was placed on the sternum of the patient to identify point of initial patient motion which was assumed to represent the time-point of peak hand force application. Whole body kinematics were used to drive a rigid linked segment model for each participant using Visual3D (C-Motion Inc., Germantown, USA). Measured peak hand force was divided by two and applied to the model at the grip center of each hand at the frame of peak force application. A top down modeling approach was used to calculate trunk and shoulder joint angles and L4-L5 and shoulder joint moments about the flexion/extension axis. These outputs were extracted and compared against DHM software outputs. Siemens Jack (V 8.4) and Santos Pro DHM software packages were used to simulate the patient turn. The static patient turn posture used by the HCP was modeled using the manual joint manipulation, posture prediction and motion capture data importing approaches available in both software. Anthropometrics and peak hand force gathered from the laboratory experiment were inputted into the digital models. trunk and shoulder joint angles and L4-L5 and shoulder joint moments were computed and extracted about the flexion/extension axis from each digitally modeled posture. RMANOVAs, Pearson Product Moment correlation coefficients and Bland Altman analyses were used to compare DHM outputs to the lab-based model outputs. Results from this investigation indicate that the use of Siemens Jack’s (V 8.4) manual joint manipulation approach estimated low back and shoulder kinematics and kinetics that were in agreement with lab-based model outputs. The kinematics and kinetics computed using the posture prediction and motion capture driven approaches to modeling the patient repositioning task, using both Siemens Jack (V 8.4) and Santos Pro were not in agreement with the lab-based outputs. This may have been a result of differences in kinematic modeling assumptions related to the structure of skeletal linkage models, joint decompositions, degrees of freedom in each model and anthropometrics used in DHM software. The use of DHM tools for biomechanical analyses of patient repositioning tasks has the possibility to aide in the investigation of MSD exposures; however, it is important for investigators to understand the purpose of each DHM modeling approach as well as the underlying assumptions of digital human models that may affect kinematic and kinetic outputs used to quantify the exposure to MSDs

    Safety and Reliability - Safe Societies in a Changing World

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    The contributions cover a wide range of methodologies and application areas for safety and reliability that contribute to safe societies in a changing world. These methodologies and applications include: - foundations of risk and reliability assessment and management - mathematical methods in reliability and safety - risk assessment - risk management - system reliability - uncertainty analysis - digitalization and big data - prognostics and system health management - occupational safety - accident and incident modeling - maintenance modeling and applications - simulation for safety and reliability analysis - dynamic risk and barrier management - organizational factors and safety culture - human factors and human reliability - resilience engineering - structural reliability - natural hazards - security - economic analysis in risk managemen
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