Quantifying force through a sonography transducer to assist in injury prevention

What is it about?

Sonography professionals have a high-rate of work injuries. A key risk factor identified by sonographers is the amount of force that is used when holding and pressing the transducer into the body in order to complete abdominal and vascular exams. This issue is increasingly problematic as the population becomes more obese. This study pilot tested a high-resolution force-measuring probe capable of precisely measuring forces applied thlough the transducer by sonographers.

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Why is it important?

This study demonstrates feasibility for using a device to measure forces and identifies average forces being applied across both novice and experienced sonographers, as well as across patients with varied BMIs. Forces applied during abdominal imaging varied widely, were significantly higher when scanning subjects with high BMI, and were not related to sonographer years of experience. This force measurement system has the potential to provide an additional quantitative data point to explore the impact of applied forces on sonographer related musculoskeletal injury, particularly in conjunction with various body positions, exam types and force durations.