Correlative Evaluation of Mental and Physical Workload of Laparoscopic Surgeons Based on Surface Electromyography and Eye-tracking Signals

Sheng-Lin Liu,Jian-Yang Zhang,Qing-Min Feng,Jia-Qi Gao,Qiang Zhang

doi:10.1038/s41598-017-11584-4

Sheng-Lin Liu, Jian-Yang Zhang + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-11584-4

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Abstract

Surgeons’ mental and physical workloads are major focuses of operating room (OR) ergonomics, and studies on this topic have generally focused on either mental workload or physical workload, ignoring the interaction between them. Previous studies have shown that physically demanding work may affect mental performance and may be accompanied by impaired mental processing and decreased performance. In this study, 14 participants were recruited to perform laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) procedures in a virtual simulator. Surface electromyography (sEMG) signals of the bilateral trapezius, bicipital, brachioradialis and flexor carpi ulnaris (FCU) muscles and eye-tracking signals were acquired during the experiment. The results showed that the least square means of muscle activity during the LC phases of surgery in an all-participants mixed effects model were 0.79, 0.81, and 0.98, respectively. The observed muscle activities in the different phases exhibited some similarity, while marked differences were found between the forearm bilateral muscles. Regarding mental workload, significant differences were observed in pupil dilation between the three phases of laparoscopic surgery. The mental and physical workloads of laparoscopic surgeons do not appear to be generally correlated, although a few significant negative correlations were found. This result further indicates that mental fatigue does markedly interfere with surgeons’ operating movements.

Highlights

Surgeons’ mental and physical workloads are major focuses of operating room (OR) ergonomics, and studies on this topic have generally focused on either mental workload or physical workload, ignoring the interaction between them
Surgeons’ mental and physical workloads have been a focus of operating room (OR) ergonomics over the last few decades
We found that the Surface electromyography (sEMG) and eye-tracking measurements during the different phases were uncorrelated

Summary

Introduction

Surgeons’ mental and physical workloads are major focuses of operating room (OR) ergonomics, and studies on this topic have generally focused on either mental workload or physical workload, ignoring the interaction between them. The mental and physical workloads of laparoscopic surgeons do not appear to be generally correlated, a few significant negative correlations were found This result further indicates that mental fatigue does markedly interfere with surgeons’ operating movements. Metrics used to assess surgeon workload include subjective measures of workload, physiological indices of workload, objective performance, and other methods including comprehensive evaluations Scales and questionnaires, such as the NASA Task Load Index scale[13] and the Subjective Workload Assessment Technique scale, have become among the most popular tools, especially for surgical procedures[14,15,16]. Various physiological indices, such as heart rate, blood pressure, eye movements, EMG, and EEG signals, etc. These different workload evaluation methods each have their own advantages, and physiological indices of workload are more prominent in accuracy and objectivity

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