Computer simulation for ergonomic improvements in laparoscopic surgery

Workflow and New Concepts in Surgery

“…Especially in the course of laparoscopic interventions a high contribution of critical static working postures could be determined, mostly caused by a disadvantageous arrangement of the equipment in the operating theatre (video monitor, instrument tables, operating team…) and the patient positioning. Other studies confirmed these findings and also suggested approaches for improvement [3,4].…”

“…Especially in the course of laparoscopic interventions a high contribution of critical static working postures could be determined, mostly caused by a disadvantageous arrangement of the equipment in the operating theatre (video monitor, instrument tables, operating team…) and the patient positioning. Other studies confirmed these findings and also suggested approaches for improvement [3,4].In this context we created a virtual OR environment to address the problem of adequate OR table positioning in different phases of interventions (e.g. insertion of laparoscopic instruments and afterwards handling of the inserted instruments) and surgeon's body height.…”

Kinematical analysis of the trunk, upper limbs and fingers during minimal access surgery when using an armrest

“…The designs of surgical instruments such as graspers and scissors may also improve operation efficiency (Kolwadkar et al 2011;Trejo et al 2007). Computer-assisted-analysis has been carried out in whole operation posture (Marcos et al 2006), wrist and instrument tip motions (Gonzalez et al 2007;Kolwadkar et al 2011), and visual -motor misalignment (Rogers et al 2012;Zhang and Cao 2012). Many other topics have also been investigated.…”

Knowledge-based ergonomic assessment of working conditions in surgical ward – A case study

“…The outcomes of such research are published inter alia in: Trejoa et al (2007), where it is presented the results from a comparative analysis of two laparoscopic instruments in terms of physical workload of wrists; (Marcos et al, 2006;Wichert et al, 2004) which contain the results of research on using computer-aided tools: CATIA, PCMAN, RAMSIS for analysing and designing an operating room dedicated to perform laparoscopic surgery; (Albayrak et al, 2007) where is described the design of special equipment for body support which reduces the loads in spine and neck during surgery; (Xiao et al, 2012) which aim was to investigate the influence of ergonomic factors on task performance during laparoscopic training, and to evaluate the trainee posture under two ergonomic conditions: optimal and non-optimal. This paper is dedicated to the equally important issue of open surgery, although less accentuated in the research.…”