Human Factors Approaches to the Design of Tools and Non-Invasive Treatments for Repetitive Strain Injuries

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The goal of this proposal is the development of human factors approaches to the design of tools and non-invasive treatments for repetitive strain injuries. The first research objective will use my new 6 DOF heavy mobile equipment simulator (funded using NSERC RTI 1 and Accelerator grants) housed in my newly expanded motion capture laboratory. The simulator makes use of our extensive library of field based vibration profiles to drive a hexapod robotic platform while an operator manipulates joystick controllers. We have published widely in this area and have amassed one of the most diverse catalogs in the world of off-road 6 DOF vehicle vibration field profiles. In order to best mimic actual working conditions, the simulator incorporates visual as well as haptic feedback such as would be seen and felt in an operating piece of heavy, mobile machinery. Accelerator funds were also used to purchase a pair of haptic controls coupled with a virtual reality head mount display and eye tracking as was software which allows us to create virtual environments. The simulator facility allows us to simultaneously investigate combinations of biomechanical, physiological, and psychophysical basic and applied research questions under realistic operating conditions. The first project to be pursued in this proposal will be the development and dynamic validation of a spatial 5-bar model of a joystick and operator's upper limb. Once the model is developed, it will be validated using the simulator to assess how well it can predict the kinematic and kinetic variables for the operator's arm and joystick. In the available literature, to my knowledge, no other research group in the world has suggested the development of a human-joystick linkage model to virtually design a joystick. These joystick design protocols could lead to design and assessment software for industrial use thus helping industry to minimize the number of prototypes that need to be built. The second project will log location and speed (via GPS) as well as rotational and translational accelerations from a working vehicle chassis in order to collect field data for an off road mobile machine such as a forestry skidder. GPS position data will then be combined with satellite images to be used with Geographic Information Software. The processed information including the vibration data will then be merged and implemented using previously developed vibration modeling techniques on the heavy equipment simulator to create location specific interactive virtual reality simulations. This will allow new devices such as joysticks, armrests and heavy equipment seats to be tested in the lab to ensure that they will work effectively when they are installed in working heavy equipment that will be used in specific locations and terrains. The second research objective involves the development of increasingly more realistic finite element models of the hand and wrist with the ultimate goal of being able to virtually predict internal wrist stress and strain in order virtually assess tools before they are built as well as to design non-surgical treatments for things such as carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). One project will create linear elastic FE models for two wrist postures in order to quantify carpal tunnel volume and stresses in the transverse carpal ligament. The next project will expand upon this by including more soft tissue components such as nerves, muscles, tendons, fat and skin. CTS splints will also be designed virtually and evaluated through these FE models to establish which splints result in the lowest TCL stress and largest carpal tunnel volume thus helping to guide non-invasive splinting treatment methods for CTS. The final project will develop viscoelastic FE models of the hand and wrist.