Development and Evaluation of an Ergonomically Optimized Scope‐Holder for Flexible Endoscopy (With Video)
Shinnosuke Nagano, Kota Momose, Yuji Ishii, Shuhei Yamaguchi, Shigeto Nakai, Takaomi Hagi, Kotaro Yamashita, Takuro Saito, Koji Tanaka, Tomoki Makino, Tsuyoshi Takahashi, Yukinori Kurokawa, Hidetoshi Eguchi, Yuichiro Doki, Kiyokazu NakajimaABSTRACT
Objectives
Growing endoscopy demand has increased physical workload and injury risk among endoscopists, while current ergonomic solutions remain limited. We developed a newly motion‐optimized endoscope‐holding device (scope‐holder) designed to reduce muscular burden, allowing each operator to adjust the scope position according to individual preference. This study assessed its ergonomic impacts in a simulated setting.
Methods
Clinical endoscopists and nonmedical participants without any medical background were recruited to collect data. Each participant performed a simulated endoscopic marking task with and without the scope‐holder. We compared the procedure time of the task, evaluated muscle efforts in the upper arm, forearm, and shoulder using wireless electromyography, as well as mental workload using NASA‐TLX across the two settings.
Results
A total of 26 participants, including 17 clinical endoscopists and 9 nonmedical participants, were enrolled. In the overall cohort, the scope‐holder assisted group significantly reduced activation of biceps brachii ( p < 0.001), trapezius ( p < 0.001), flexor carpi ulnaris ( p = 0.049) muscles and NASA‐TLX scores ( p = 0.003). Additionally, the assisted group achieved a shorter procedure time ( p = 0.018) compared with the non‐assisted group. Subgroup analysis showed reduced muscle load in both clinical endoscopists and nonmedical participants ( p < 0.05), with additional improvements in mental workload ( p = 0.004) and the procedure time ( p = 0.027) observed only in nonmedical participants, whereas clinical endoscopists showed no significant difference in mental workload ( p = 0.299) and procedure time ( p = 0.229).
Conclusions
Our newly developed scope‐holder, designed to accommodate the operator's natural scope motion, effectively reduced physical and mental workload. It offers a practical solution to improve ergonomics in endoscopic clinical practice.