Using inertial sensors for the generation of REBA and RULA reports in functional colonoscopy simulations

Suboptimal ergonomics during colonoscopy procedures can lead to physical discomfort, fatigue and musculoskeletal conditions for the endoscopist. Measurement of possible risks is usually done using subjective ergonomic reports or involving trained observers who follow methods such as RULA and REBA. This paper introduces the use of IMUs for gathering motion data from colonoscopy practitioners and generating RULA and REBA reports automatically. Eight endoscopists performed two simulated functional colonoscopy procedures while wearing an inertial-magnetic motion tracker suit, the MTw Awinda by Xsens. The procedure was recorded while IMUs tracking data was captured and processed by the Xsens MotionCloud for automatic REBA and RULA report generation. Physicians also answered a NASA-TLX questionnaire to subjectively measure comfort and workload. Automatic REBA and RULA reports show higher ergonomic risk for novices, while subjective questionnaire results mismatch. The experiment indicates the usability of the system for automatic RULA and REBA generation.