Ergonomics of the Operative Field in Paediatric Minimal Access Surgery

Imperial Users onl

Evaluation of Posture, Muscle Activity and Comfort during Portable Computer Use

With increased popularity of portable devices and their use outside of a traditional workstation becoming increasingly widespread, it is essential to expand on the limited research available concerning their ergonomic exposures. The goal of this study was to quantify how spine posture, muscle activation, and comfort varied depending on workstation layout, device type, and task. Twenty university aged participants completed two tasks, reading-typing and swiping, for 15-minutes blocks in eight different combination of workstation layout and device. Mean angles, muscle activation, and discomfort ratings were measured. Participants showed an increased head, neck, upper thoracic, and lumbar flexion in the lap setting. When participants used the tablet, greater head flexion was observed. Additionally, participants elicited greater muscle activation in the trapezius during the reading-typing task. Portable computer users should be conscious of the postures they adopt and consider the impact of workstation layout, device type, and task in fixed computing environments

Mental and physical workload in laparoscopic surgery

Imperial Users onl

The effects of blue light from digital displays on visual fatigue

With the ever-increasing viewing time of digital displays, the potential effects of blue light emitted from these displays on eye health and eye fatigue are a real concern. This study presents a literature review of six laboratory studies conducted between 2014 and 2022 on the effect of using filters to attenuate the harmful effects of blue light. The review delves into smartphone and computer screen effects, recent literature reviews on blue light, and potential hazards associated with short-wavelength light. Although the majority of the studies recommended blue light filters, only three of the six laboratory studies (Shi et al. 2021, Tu et al. 2021, Lin et al. 2017) found significant positive effects. A pilot study was conducted with six participants, focusing on the immediate effects of blue light exposure from an 18-inch screen of a laptop computer, while playing a graphic-based and a text-based game with three filter conditions, no-filter, an eyeglass filter, and a digital filter. Eye fatigue symptoms of tired eyes, sore eyes, dry eyes, and blurred vision showed a reduction of perceived ratings when blue light filters were used. Symptoms of tired eyes, and dry eyes reached a significant level of p-value ,\u3c 0.5 improvement over no filter. The digital filter, which has not been tested before for computer screens, provided a statistically significantly better rating than the eyeglass filter. While the results suggest an improvement for those using blue light filter technologies and may help to advocate for more blue light blocking technology in workplace design, the overall conclusion underscores the ongoing need for comprehensive research, considering limitations such as the small sample size of the pilot study and the absence of long-term effects research

A Comparative Assessment of Ergonomic Risk Factors in University Personnel Using RULA and REBA Aiming to Study the Cause and Effect Relationship

The aim of this research was to conduct an ergonomic assessment of working postures and the design of computer workstations of the employees in Louisiana State University. The purpose of the study was threefold- (1) to determine the major ergonomic issues in university employees while working on computer workstations, (2) to compare the two ergonomic assessment tools (RULA and REBA) to see how similarly or differently they assess the risks present in the same working condition and (3) to develop a model that correlates between working condition, work posture and computer workstation design with their effects on musculoskeletal system. This research was constituted of a comprehensive survey (5 minutes) and a quantitative risk assessment session (20 minutes) conducted over 72 participants and their workstations in the university workplace. Along with the pre-assessment questionnaire; the Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire (CMDQ) and two ergonomic assessment tools REBA (Rapid Entire Body Assessment) and RULA (Rapid Upper Limb Assessment) were used to quantify the ergonomic risk factors. To evaluate the computer work stations “OSHA Computer Workstations eTool - Evaluation Checklist” was used. The most number of participants (75.71%) reported to suffer from upper and lower back pain. Next to it was shoulder and upper arm (45.71%) and then forearm and wrist (42.85%) discomfort. Average RULA score (5) was more than that of REBA (4) making RULA an assessment tool with better consistency while evaluating activities of upper limb, as working on computer workstation. In 85.48% of cases RULA score was the same or more than that of REBA which indicates the strenuous work of office employees cause a disorder more in the upper limbs than that of the lower limbs. Proportional odds ordinal regression model was used to identify the most significant factors contributing towards the WMSD symptoms which are, (1) inappropriate positioning of computer monitor and exposure to prolonged awkward posture of the (2) trunk or torso, (3) shoulder-upper arm, (4) forearm-elbows and (5) wrist and hand. Three equations were developed for predicting the probabilities of a user having slightly, moderately or very uncomfortable pain when the postural and design factors are given

Socio-Cognitive and Affective Computing

Social cognition focuses on how people process, store, and apply information about other people and social situations. It focuses on the role that cognitive processes play in social interactions. On the other hand, the term cognitive computing is generally used to refer to new hardware and/or software that mimics the functioning of the human brain and helps to improve human decision-making. In this sense, it is a type of computing with the goal of discovering more accurate models of how the human brain/mind senses, reasons, and responds to stimuli. Socio-Cognitive Computing should be understood as a set of theoretical interdisciplinary frameworks, methodologies, methods and hardware/software tools to model how the human brain mediates social interactions. In addition, Affective Computing is the study and development of systems and devices that can recognize, interpret, process, and simulate human affects, a fundamental aspect of socio-cognitive neuroscience. It is an interdisciplinary field spanning computer science, electrical engineering, psychology, and cognitive science. Physiological Computing is a category of technology in which electrophysiological data recorded directly from human activity are used to interface with a computing device. This technology becomes even more relevant when computing can be integrated pervasively in everyday life environments. Thus, Socio-Cognitive and Affective Computing systems should be able to adapt their behavior according to the Physiological Computing paradigm. This book integrates proposals from researchers who use signals from the brain and/or body to infer people's intentions and psychological state in smart computing systems. The design of this kind of systems combines knowledge and methods of ubiquitous and pervasive computing, as well as physiological data measurement and processing, with those of socio-cognitive and affective computing

Ocular biomechanics modelling for visual fatigue assessment in virtual environments

The study objectively quantifies visual fatigue caused by immersion in virtual reality. Visual fatigue assessment is done through ocular biomechanics modelling and eye tracking to analyse eye movement and muscle forces into a visual fatigue index

Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A continuing bibliography with indexes (supplement 141)

This special bibliography lists 267 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in April 1975

The effect of personalised adjustments to computer workstations on the efficiency and physical comfort of computer operators

The present study sought to investigate the effects of a Standard workstation, designed for “average” users, on an anthropometrically diverse sample of computer operators, and to assess whether physical and perceptual responses, as well as performance efficiency were dependent on stature. Further investigation assessed the influence of personalised adjustments to the Standard workstation, based on the anthropometric characteristics of the subjects, as well as the introduction of a custom-designed ‘floating’ wrist support, on subject responses. All subjects (n=30) were tested in each of the three workstations: Standard, Personalised and Wrist Support. For analysis of responses in the Standard workstation, subjects were divided into three groups depending on their stature: Short (1800mm). The musculoskeletal responses indicated that Tall subjects were forced to adopt the most awkward general body postures as a result of the low computer screen. However, the low screen allowed for the Short subjects to adopt the most natural general body postures, although levels of muscular activity in the upper trapezius suggest that the muscular load imposed on both Short and Tall subjects was significantly greater than that imposed on the Medium subjects. In addition, the Medium subjects’ perceptions of the Standard workstation dimensions support the fact that this workstation was better suited to users with “average” morphologies. The responses elicited in the Personalised and Wrist Support workstations were improved significantly when compared to the Standard workstation. Joint angles were more natural, upper trapezius EMG was reduced, standard of performance improved and perceptual responses indicated a diminished incidence of body and visual discomfort, as well as greater perceived satisfaction with these workstation dimensions. The improved physical responses suggest a decrease in the risk of developing cumulative trauma disorders. Although subjects were unaccustomed to the wrist support device, this workstation demonstrated a further reduction in the range of wrist angles, as well as a general positive attitude towards the concept