The Ergonomics Report™

  Hospital Bed Research to Improve Patient and Nurse Safety and Performance

February 6, 2013
Researchers have devised new methodologies and metrics to analyze patient migration while laying in hospital beds. The results of the study reviewed here should help hospital bed designers better understand patient migration patterns and influence new designs that will reduce migration, as well as reducing the pressure ulcers and skin tears migration can cause, and reducing the caregiver patient repositioning tasks that lead to high rates of back injury among nurses.

  Thumb Reach Distances and Envelopes for Handheld Devices

January 30, 2013
Applied researchers Otten, Karn and Parsons where tasked with designing a handheld consumer camera requiring thumb operated controls. They were surprised to find that very little data was available for such devices, so they embarked on a collaborative research and design project to collect their own data, which they later shared in the published journal Human Factors. Peter Budnick reviews their work, describing it as a good example of "informed design," which he describes requiring an ergonomic, human-centered approach. The researchers also used novel techniques to collect thumb reach distance and envelope data, and also applied the "Mr. Potato Head" method to investigate control location preferences.

  Complex Anthropometry Made Simple

January 18, 2013
Anthropometry is a primary consideration in ergonomics, yet it is often misunderstood and misapplied in the design of equipment and systems. In this example of why ergonomics is not always "common sense," guest contributor Bruce Bradtmiller, a leading anthropometry expert, explains why it's important to understand the complexity of anthropometry, and provides an explanation of one technique called multivariate accommodation modeling (MAM) using principal component analysis (PCA). Sound complicated? Bradtmiller cuts through the complexity and provides a simplified understanding that will make you appreciate anthropometry in a new way next time you sit in a chair or peek into the cockpit of an airplane as you board. Creating a good fit is not as easy as some might think.

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