ERGONOMIC STUDY OF ALTERNATIVE KEYBOARD DESIGNS

在这两个国家中，与职业相关的问题日益严重 制造业和服务业是手腕累积型产业 创伤障碍(CTD)，其中腕管综合征(CTS)是最常见的 广为宣传。人们普遍认为CTD与 手和手腕的重复和/或用力用力 工作环境。CTDS的发病率和成本每年都在上升- -超过50%的受伤和受伤报告给美国政府 是由于反复创伤造成的，平均费用为2万美元。 CTD在美国的文书服务部门一直很麻烦， 它拥有超过1800万人的就业基础(统计。的摘要 美国，1992年)。许多文书工作人员每个月都要敲击5万到10万次键盘 天。最近，针对中国的诉讼案件接踵而至。 声称拥有CTD的用户制造的计算机键盘 受伤。而导致键盘职业性CTDS的确切原因 使用者不知道，似乎是手腕和前臂姿势偏离 (尺偏和旋前)由标准的设计规定 扁平键盘与职业性CTDS的病因学有关。在 在过去的几年里，制造商推出了几种新的替代键盘 设计已经进入市场，每个人都声称他们的键盘减少了 操作者的肌肉骨骼压力。通常，这些替代方案 键盘被一分为二，并在水平面上旋转以 减少尺骨偏斜，在垂直平面上向下倾斜以减少 前臂旋前。然而，几乎没有关于以下方面的量化数据 这些键盘的基本设计是否真的减少了偏差 手腕和前臂姿势，减轻肌肉骨骼压力。 这项研究的具体目的是确定 替代键盘的基本设计对 上肢的运动学运动模式--即是否 使用其他键盘的操作员具有较少的破坏性运动模式 而不是标准平面键盘的用户。这样做的另一个目的是 研究是为了确定键盘的设计是否会影响 CTS早期操作者的运动模式不同于 健康的操作员。 这项研究的长期目标是提高安全性和 通过降低键盘操作员的发病率、严重性和 计算机工作环境中肌肉骨骼疾病的成本。这 研究不仅可以提高键盘使用者的生活质量，而且 还可以降低医疗成本，这将使员工、雇主、 和国家经济。

One of the growing occupationally-related problems in both the manufacturing and service industries is that of hand and wrist cumulative trauma disorders (CTDs), of which carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the most widely publicized. It is widely accepted that CTDs are related to repetitive and/or forceful exertions of the hand and wrist performed in work environments. The incidence and costs of CTDs are rising every year - - over 50% of the injuries and iilnesses reported to the U.S. Government are due to repeated trauma, with an average cost of $20,000. CTDs have been troublesome in the clerical service sector in the U.S., which has an employment base of over 18,000,000 (Stat. Abstract of the U.S., 1992). Many clerical workers exert 50,000 to 100,000 key strokes per day. Recently, there has been an onslaught of legal cases against manufacturers of computer keyboards by users who have claimed CTD injuries. While the exact cause of occupationally-induced CTDs in keyboard users is not known, it appears that the deviated wrist and forearm posture (ulnar deviation and pronation) dictated by the design of the standard flat keyboard is implicated in the etiology of occupational CTDs. Within the past few years, manufacturers of several new alternative keyboard designs have entered the market, each one claiming their keyboard reduces the musculoskeletal stress on the operator. Typically, these alternative keyboards are split into halves and rotated in the horizontal plane to reduce ulnar deviation and are declined in the vertical plane to lessen forearm pronation. However, little quantitative data are available as to whether the fundamental design of these keyboards actually reduce deviated wrist and forearm posture and lessen musculoskeletal stress. The specific aim of this research study is to determine whether the fundamental designs of alternative keyboards have a beneficial effect on the kinematic motion patterns in the upper extremity -- i.e. whether operators of alternative keyboards have less injurious motion patterns than those of users of the standard flat keyboard. Another aim of this research is to determine whether the design of the keyboard affects the motion patterns of operators in the early stage of CTS differently than healthy operators. The long term objective of this research is to improve the safety and health of keyboard operators by reducing the incidence, severity, and costs of musculoskeletal disorders in computer work environments. This research could not only enhance the quality of life of keyboard users, but also reduce health care costs, which would benefit employees, employers, and the national economy.