Using infrared imaging for assessment of muscular activity in the forearm of surgeons in the performance of laparoscopic tasks

Abstract

Surgeons working in laparoscopic surgery are subjected to hard working conditions because of the poor ergonomic characteristics of the workplace. The improvement in the working conditions requires the use of reliable techniques for the assessment of muscular activity. In this article infrared imaging is used and compared with electromyography for the evaluation of muscle activity in the performance of laparoscopic surgical tasks. Electromyography has been widely used for the evaluation of the electrical activity produced by the muscles in the performance of surgery. On the contrary, infrared imaging is an innovative technique that has not been sufficiently explored. An experimental evaluation was carried out using a thermography camera and recording the infrared images from volunteers in different tests. Pearson’s correlation was obtained between the electromyography and thermographic measurements in two stages: Endurance Stage (best value: ρ = 0.8401 with p < 0.01) and Surgical Task (best value: ρ = 0.8309 with p < 0.01). The article demonstrates that infrared imaging is a valuable technique for the evaluation of muscle activity in laparoscopic surgery, and it can be compared with electromyography. The main advantages of infrared imaging are that it allows remote measurement and provides activity information in the whole area of interest. However, drawbacks such as delayed response of the infrared imaging due to thermal conductivity of the skin should be considered. Electromyography only provides information in the location of the electrodes, but it is a real-time response. For these reasons, the techniques complement each other.

The Automatization of a New Thermography Method Using Invasive Nociceptive Stimulation to Confirm an Autonomic Phenomenon within a Trigger Point Referred Pain Zone

“…In pain medicine, the ADT utility has been indicated for neural diseases, musculoskeletal diseases, inflammatory diseases, and vascular diseases. High IRT reliability has also been confirmed for muscle examination [4][5][6]. Recently, an increasing interest in using an infrared thermography camera as a tool for an objective confirmation of trigger points (TrPs) has been observed [7][8][9].…”