Thermal imaging-based muscular activity in the biomechanical study of surgeons

Abstract

The use of minimally invasive surgery has introduced many modifications in surgical procedures. Despite the advantages that this kind of surgery provides, surgeons have to confront many ergonomic problems during their interventions. In fact, the poor ergonomic characteristics of the workplace reduce the efficiency of the interventions and produce undesirable effects such as physical fatigue or musculoskeletal injuries. Electromyography has been used traditionally for measurement of the muscular effort in the workplace. However, in recent studies thermal imaging has been highlighted as a valuable alternative in the determination of muscular activity. One of the main advantages of using thermal imaging is that there is no necessary to foresee the muscular groups activated in the performance of surgery. In this paper thermal imaging is used to evaluate the muscular effort of surgeons and the results are compared with electromyography. The paper shows the features of this technique and the relationship with electromyography.