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Measures of Surgeon Muscle Activity Throughout Live Hernia Repair Surgery Considering Shoulder-Support Exoskeletons

DescriptionOpen hernia repair surgeries are physically demanding for surgeons and put them at risk of developing work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs). Previous work has investigated surgeons’ physical exposures but often summarizes a complex hours-long procedure as one observation. Further, wearable interventions such as exoskeletons have been emerging as a potential intervention for surgeons, but work is needed to identify how these devices can support the dynamic physical demands throughout surgery. This work aims to 1) identify physical demands across specific segments of open hernia repair procedures and 2) identify the effects of exoskeletons during these segments to support surgeons. Shoulder and back muscle activity, through electromyography sensors, was gathered from two surgeons over 26 procedures while either donning a shoulder-support exoskeleton or without an exoskeleton (control). The segments with the highest muscle activity was “Site dissection” and “Dissection to site” for the back and “Assisting” for the shoulders. During “Dissection to site”, there was a decrease of up to 6% in shoulder muscle activity when wearing the exoskeleton compared to control. This work demonstrates that shoulder-support exoskeletons may be a feasible intervention to support the most demanding steps of open hernia repair procedures and reduce the risk of developing WMSDs.

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