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

手持式直流电动工具被许多行业的工人重复使用，以固定螺纹紧固件。肌腱炎和腕管综合征是常见的反复拉伤，手持电动工具的使用者也会遭受此类损伤。工业合作伙伴本田加拿大制造公司提出了一种名为“ERGO ARM”的人体工程学设备的概念。该设备包括一个充气袖口，当DC工具打开时会充气(从而稳定手腕)，当DC工具关闭时会放气。在广泛使用之前，需要对这种装置的效果进行直接证据，并对其设计进行优化。本项目的目的是研究直流手动工具操作过程中腕肌腱张力和腕管压力的特征，并研究ERGO臂装置在此类操作中稳定手腕的效果。该项目还打算优化设备的设计，使其具有最大的有效性。几具身体的手将被解剖并安装传感器，以测量肌腱应变和腕管压力。将开发一种动态手模拟器，它可以将肌肉力量施加到身体手臂的肌腱中，并施加与直流手动工具操作时相同的外部载荷。模拟将在没有安装和使用安装在手腕上的Ergo ARM设备的情况下运行。该装置的各种设计参数将有所不同，以找到变量的最佳组合，从而最大限度地降低肌腱应变和腕管压力。该项目将导致更好地了解制造操作过程中的手腕载荷，并研究防止受伤的方法。该项目可以降低产业合作伙伴的医疗成本，提高生产率。它可以帮助提高加拿大人的生活质量。

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.