Biomechanical Analysis of Weeding Labor in Mexican Farmers Through the Simultaneous Use of Photogrammetry and Accelerometry

Abstract

The purpose of the paper is to study the biomechanics of sickle weeding, thus this study becomes an analytical tool for understanding the causes of injuries. Ten people with experience in sickle weeding were studied. Photogrammetry was used to define the start and end of the movement cycle under study, and accelerometry was also used to obtain the dynamic behavior of the 3D movement for sickle weeding. Accelerations recorded in the neck, cervical, trunk, and lumbar regions are characterized by movements that begin with slight oscillations. The curve moved up to reach two peaks of acceleration approximately at the 25% and the 80% of the cycle. The average acceleration for these points was fenced to 1.3 g. The highest acceleration was at the lumbar vertebra. Farmers took a bending position with the back arched up most of the time during weeding. That position provoked compression at the front of the intervertebral discs and that configuration combined with the time that they remained in this position could be an important factor in the development of low back pain.