Design and evaluation of a smart passive dynamic arm support for robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery

Surgeons performing robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery experience physical stress and overuse of shoulder muscles due to sub-optimal arm support during surgery. The objective is to present a novel design and prototype of a dynamic arm support for robotic laparoscopic surgery to evaluate its ergonomics and performance on the AdLap-VR...

A Multi-Modal Feedback Communication Interface for Human Working Posture Adjustments

This paper studies non-physical feedback mechanisms to guide human workers toward ergonomic body postures. Specifically, the focus is to solve the tasks that involve no direct physical interaction between the human and the robotic system, therefore tactile guidance by the robot body is not feasible. We propose a multi-modal ergonomic posture...

Factors influencing road safety compliance among food delivery riders: An extension of the job demands-resources (JD-R) model

On-demand food delivery involves transport services based on gig-economy models. Food delivery services rely on motorcycles in many jurisdictions, resulting in safety risks. Motorcycles are generally-two-wheeled and therefore inherently unstable. They also lack rider restraint or roll cage to minimise the consequences of a collision. Given the...

Towards Personalised Dementia Care: Approaches, Recommendations and Tools from Design

According to Person-Centred Care, as far as possible, people with dementia should be cared for in a way that takes into account their personality, life experiences and preferences. Personalisation is hence the core of Person-Centred Care, yet the approaches, recommendations and tools are lacking for this purpose. Therefore, the author...

Know-me: A toolkit for designing personalised dementia care

Personalisation is a crucial element in providing person-centred care for people with de-mentia. This paper presents the development and evaluation of a design toolkit to facilitate the work of designers and healthcare professionals in personalising dementia care. This toolkit, named “Know-me”, was grounded in the findings of Ergonomics in...

Measuring handrim wheelchair propulsion in the lab: A critical analysis of stationary ergometers

There are many ways to simulate handrim wheelchair propulsion in the laboratory. Ideally, these would be able to, at least mechanically, simulate field conditions. This narrative review provides an overview of the lab-based equipment used in published research and critically assesses their ability to simulate and measure wheelchair propulsion...

Where ergonomics meets geriatrics: The connection between comprehensive geriatric assessment and design for ageing

Object-alignment performance in a head-mounted display versus a monitor

Ergonomic Factors during Laparoscopic Surgery Training

With the introduction of minimally invasive surgery (MIS), the patient experiences the benefits of less pain, a more rapid recovery and a shorter stay in hospital. However, MIS provides many challenges to surgeons and they need extensive training to acquire this new technique. This training consists of developing cognitive, clinical, and...

A simplified, qualitative strategy for the assessment of occupational risks and selection of solutions: Control Banding

The main objective of this thesis is determining whether the simplified, qualitative risk assessment models and solutions initiatives of Control Banding (CB) can be integrated within the multidisciplinary requirements of occupational risk management. This was achieving practical primary prevention that assists non-experts in obtaining the...

Ergonomic assessment of neck posture in the minimally invasive surgery suite during laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Background With the expanding implementation of minimally invasive surgery, the operating team is confronted with challenges in the field of ergonomics. Visual feedback is derived from a monitor placed outside the operating field. This crossover trial was conducted to evaluate and compare neck posture in relation to monitor position in a...