How exoskeletons can improve ergonomics in the OR with Dr. Jackie Cha

Dr. Jackie Cha is the Patricia Flatley Brennan Assistant Professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Her research focuses on measuring physical human-robot interactions, particularly in healthcare environments, to improve worker performance, safety, and system efficiency. Her team investigates applications of robotics – both surgical robotic systems and wearables – in clinical environments and the changes of physical and cognitive interactions between human teams and robots. Prior to joining UW-Madison, she served as an assistant professor at Clemson University. Her research has been funded by several sponsors such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) (including the NSF CAREER award), National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

In this episode Dr. Cha:

- Explains what exoskeletons are and the difference between active and passive exoskeletions

- Shares how exoskeletons have been used to reduce strain in industrial sectors (as PPE)

- Describes why adapting exoskeletons to the OR is especially challenging i.e. due to the large physical and cognitive load intrinsic to OR work

- Shares the work she and others have done evaluating exoskeletons for the OR both in the simulation environment and in actual OR rooms

- Discusses the pros and cons of currently available exoskeletons in terms of adapting them to surgical work

The Society of Surgical Ergonomics webinar on exoskeletons can be found here:https://www.societyofsurgicalergonomics.org/copy-of-video-library

The recent study with qualitative and objective data with use of a neck/back exoskeleton can be found here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40201977/

Dr. Jackie Cha can be reached via Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackiecha/

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