New ergonomic guidelines for laparoscopic instruments

Abstract

Most laparoscopic instrument development is technology-driven. In this approach to instrument design, the physical and emotional comfort of the users is not always considered, leading to a user-unfriendly product design. One reason for this flaw in the design of instruments is the lack of standards in this field. Our study presents a new set of design guidelines for one type of instruments used in laparoscopic surgery, namely 'instruments for intensely manipulating tissue'. These guidelines cover technical comfort, user friendliness and the emotional comfort of the user-group. In situ and pelvi-trainer tests were performed to illustrate the poor performance of the instruments and equipment that are currently being used. The three comfort areas were studied both objectively and subjectively, and guidelines for instrument function groups were set up and validated. New instruments are designed and tested according to these new guidelines. The results of our studies show that our new instruments score better on all three levels than currently available instruments. Therefore, our conclusion is that products should not be designed exclusively according to technical guidelines and new technologies; the physical, cognitive and emotional comfort of the users should also be considered, to create an optimal human-product interaction.

Training in minimally invasive surgery in urology: European Association of Urology/International Consultation of Urological Diseases consultation

“…Although meta‐analyses of several aspects of BTs have been conducted, the randomized controlled trials included in these meta‐analyses are of variable quality . Large meta‐analyses are currently available in simulation training and include evidence on BTs and virtual reality (VR) trainers . Simulation training in comparison with no intervention seemed to be effective regardless of the outcome, level of learner, study design or the laparoscopic task.…”

Improvement of the laparoscopic needle holder based on new ergonomic guidelines

“…11 The necessary closing force on the hand or fingers may not be more than 15 N. 12 Specific grooves in a handle for positioning the fingers must be avoided. 13 The handle of the needle holder has to support a ''force-precision grip.'' decrease (p < 0.001) in the extreme ulnar deviation of the wrist position.…”

“…General ergonomic guidelines for the design of hand tools are not specific enough and are therefore insufficient for use in the design of laparoscopic instruments [10]. Therefore, it was decided to develop new design guidelines tuned to instrument function groups in the field of MIS [10,12,13].…”

Ergonomic handle for an arthroscopic cutter

“…The use of a large number of these punches has a number of negative side effects, the most important of which are unnecessary instrument exchanges. These are potentially harmful to healthy tissue, since they bear the risk of introducing bacteria into the joint cavity, and the surgeon has to exert high forces with his/her wrist in a¯exed position to reach a portion of the meniscus, which can cause chronic wrist pain [6][7][8].…”