Injury risk assessment of microtome manipulation using kinematic analysis

Barbosa, Inês; Maduro, Ana; Mendonça, Paula

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.21/22442

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Authors

Barbosa, Inês

Maduro, Ana

Mendonça, Paula

Abstract(s)

To study human tissue for the diagnosis of diseases or to evaluate the effectiveness of a treatment, a very thin sample of tissue must be obtained using a microtome. The movement associated with the manipulation of most microtomes is cyclical and leads to a continuous repetition of the movement during the workday. This repeated motion, associated with inadequate postures, increases the risk of musculoskeletal injuries. The use of kinematics is proposed to assess this risk by obtaining the acceleration and velocity profiles of the movement. This characterization of the movement is very important to define the different phases and positions, gaining information on critical points of the movement that might be related to the potential of injury. In this work, the movement performed by a laboratory technician using a microtome was captured during a regular workday session. The kinematics of the movement was obtained, and its characterization was attained. High accelerations in the elbow and wrist, associated with the high frequency of the motion, suggest a potential for injury at these locations. Moreover, the inclination of the neck is within the range of risk of injury.

Keywords

Biomechanics of movement Histological tissue preparation Injury Kinematics Microtome manipulation

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.21/22442

Citation

Barbosa I, Maduro A, Mendonça P. Injury risk assessment of microtome manipulation using kinematic analysis. In: The 9th European Congress on Computational Methods in Applied Sciences and Engineering - ECCOMAS Congress 2024, Lisbon (Portugal), June 3–7, 2024.