Investigation of tendon strains and carpal tunnel pressure during hand held power tool operation

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Hand-held DC power tools are used repetitively by workers in many industries to secure threaded fasteners. Tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome are common repetitive strain injuries and the users of hand held power tools suffer from such injuries. The Industrial partner, Honda Canada manufacturing has come up with a concept of an ergonomic device called "Ergo Arm". The device consists of an inflatable cuff that inflates when the DC tool is on (thus stabilizing the wrist) and deflates when the DC tool is off. Direct evidence of the effect of this device is needed and optimization of its design is required before it is widely used. The goal of this project is to characterize the wrist tendon strains and carpal tunnel pressure during DC Hand tool operation and to study the effect of the Ergo Arm device in stabilizing the wrist during such operation. The project also intends to optimize the design of the device so that it has maximum effectiveness. Several cadaver hands will be dissected and instrumented with sensors to measure tendon strain and carpal tunnel pressure. A dynamic hand simulator will be developed which could apply muscular forces into the tendons of the cadaver arms and apply the same external loads seen during DC hand tool operation. Simulations will be run without and with Ergo Arm device mounted on the wrist. Various design parameters of the device will be varied to find the optimal combination of variables that could result in maximum reduction in tendon strain and carpal tunnel pressure. The project will result in better understanding of wrist loads during manufacturing operations and investigates ways to prevent injuries. The Project could reduce health care costs to the industrial partner and improve the productivity. It could help increase the quality of life for Canadians.