🚨 New study from Mayo Clinic on the risk reduction benefits of a neck #exoskeleton for surgeons

⚡️ Background: "Surgeons are at a considerable risk of developing neck pain and related injuries. Passive exoskeletons are a potential intervention to support surgeons’ body parts and alleviate strain and discomfort."

🔎 Methods: "The NekSpine (a passive neck exoskeleton) was trialed on twelve surgeons (seven male, five female) across six specialties. Each surgeon performed four surgical procedures, two with the exoskeletons and two without (baseline)... Surgeons completed surveys that included the NASA-TLX and usability questions before and after surgical procedures to evaluate body part discomfort, overall fatigue, workload, and potential disruptions to the surgical workflow. Surgeons also wore inertial measurement units (IMUs) to objectively record their upper arms, neck, and torso postures."

📊 Results: "Use of the exoskeleton yielded significant decreases in discomfort in the neck, left shoulder, right shoulder, and left arm. Reductions in percent surgical duration in Risk 4 (extreme risk postures) coupled with increases spent in Risk 2 (moderate risk postures) for the neck and torso were noted. Surgeons reported overall favorable usability results with the exoskeleton not interfering with the surgical workflow, and most stated that they would use the exoskeleton again."

🎯 Conclusion: "While this exoskeleton is not expected to be a solution to solve every surgical ergonomic issue, it appears to be a step in the right direction in potentially alleviating neck discomfort and may be beneficial in reducing long-term injuries and improving surgical ergonomics."

👇🏽 Check out the full publication in the Annals of Surgery linked below.

#ergonomics #biomechanics #safetytech