banner.jpg Lumbar Disc Compression Forces in Manual Patient Lifting: A Pilot Study in Two-Person Lift with Four Different Techniques C. Jiemjai1, N. Charoenporn2, S. Khruakhorn3 and P. Kooncumchoo3 1Field of Human Factors in engineering and Ergonomics, Medical Engineering Program,, Faculty of Engineering, Thammasat University, Thailand . 2Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Thammasat University, Thailand. 3Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Ailled Health Science,Thammasat University,Thailand. ABSTRACT

Back injuries; muscles pain, herniated intervertebral disc are major problems in manual human lifting. The problems mentioned above are widely learned that result from awkward postures and high compression forces acting on the spinal discs, especially at L4/L5 or L5/S1. There are many studies about disc compression forces in manual material lifting, but manual human lifting are less researched. The purpose of this study was to compare L4/L5 compression forcess in four manual human lifting techniques. Method: Two subjects lifted a 58 kilogram person in four lifting techniques. Eight cameras were installed in different angle of views to record subject movement. The subject postures in each technique were captured for measuring body joint angles. The data of body joint angles were used to predict spinal disc compression forcess via 3DSSPP program. Results and discussion: The predicted L4/L5 compression forces were 1,967-5,158 N.

Keywords: Lumbar spine, Compression forces, Lifting.

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