PhD thesis - Annemarie Laudanski
This project aims to develop a monitoring system for high knee flexion postures within occupational settings based on IMU and EMG data collected during simulated childcare postures within a laboratory setting. The developed system's sensitivity to muscle fatigue and load variability will additionally be explored.
Childcare workers spend significant portions of their working hours in deep knee bending postures and commonly report knee pain yet the link between these is not well understood. Due to the active nature of childcare and security needs of the children being cared for, a non-video based measurement tool is needed to measure the postures associated with increased physical injury risk. We therefore have designed a study to simulate childcare knee bending postures within a laboratory setting from which a wearable sensor based monitoring system can be developed.
Participants will be invited to perform a series of knee bending postures within our laboratory while their muscle activity and limb motion are measured. These postures will be performed with and without additional weight, as well as after their muscles have been tired through a series of squats. The data collected will be used to develop and validate the proposed monitoring system in order to apply it to on-the-job measurements. The system will ultimately provide accurate data on how long and how often knee bending postures are assumed by childcare providers, information which is essential in the assessment of injury risk in the workplace.
Annemarie will soon be seeking participants, so please feel free to contact her or Dr. Acker below if you are interested in participating.