Every day, NIU’s College of Engineering and Engineering Technology (CEET) celebrates the many ways that biomechanics improves the quality of life for humans. But on National Biomechanics Day on April 6, 2022, a day of celebration across the globe for high school students and teachers, CEET is celebrating the research conducted in its biomedical engineering labs.
Research that aims to protect workers in various occupations, such as agriculture, construction, forestry, manufacturing, and mining, from the harmful effects of prolonged exposure to commonly used vibratory tools, such as jackhammers, chain saws, nut runners, grinders, drills, and rivet guns.
Donald R. Peterson, Ph.D., NIU’s Dean of CEET and Professor of Mechanical Engineering, along with Post-Doctoral Fellow, Simon Kudernatsch, Ph.D., and Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Ting Xia, Ph.D., study human exposure to vibration. They are currently testing vibration-reducing gloves that can lower worker exposure to the effects of vibrating machinery that can potentially cause irreversible damage to nerves, blood vessels, and hard and soft tissues in the body.
Dr. Peterson explained that workers having, or have had, prolonged exposures to intense vibratorytools over long periods of time can develop Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS). “HAVS sufferers may have symptoms of pain, numbness, tingling, loss of sensory perception in the fingertips, and potentially the loss of dexterity and function in the arms, hands, wrists, fingers, and/or thumbs,” he stated. He also went on to state that “Vibration White Finger (VWF) is a vascular aspect of HAVS and is considered a secondary form of Raynaud’s Syndrome, where a VWF sufferer can experience blanching (whitening) of the fingers due to the loss of finger blood flow, as well as severe finger pain when in a cold environment.”
Dr. Kudernatsch explains that a common example of human response to vibration exposure can occur when using a backyard weed trimmer. “If you use it for a while and then let it go, you will likely feel numbness and weakness in hands and fingers from holding this vibrating tool,” he said. “If you experience this once a week, then symptoms likely go away in a matter of minutes, but, if you use vibrating equipment every day all day, then after a while these symptoms remain permanent, which to this day remains incurable and is a very costly hazard among workers.”
That’s where vibration-reducing gloves can offer help by absorbing some of the vibrations to protect the body. A large part of the research is dedicated to evaluating the performance of vibration-reducing gloves to understand the level of protection they offer for various vibration exposures and in different body postures.
Incidentally, this group is also studying if exoskeleton devices that are used widely in manufacturing along with vibratory tools lessen or worsen the effects of vibration exposures to the body. “It has been shown that exoskeleton devices can alter human performance, and this change in performance can in turn change the levels of vibration exposures along the upper extremity. It is extremely important that we understand these processes to better protect our workers,” said Dr. Kudernatsch.
The glove research is “in good hands” with state-of-the-art facilities and a high level of expertise among the researchers. Gloves currently marketed as vibration-reducing are being tested in the Biodynamics Lab at NIU, which is one of only a few labs in the US that is focused on hand-arm vibration research. The research team has developed a specialized set-up for the testing that includes vibration shakers, powered and non-powered vibrating tools, and even a shaker suspended from the ceiling that more accurately simulates the same exposure and posture at which a worker would wear the gloves while using vibrating tools. To the group’s knowledge, the Biodynamics Lab is currently the only lab in the world executing this type of overhead posture testing, as well as the testing of wearing exoskeletons while using vibratory tools.
In addition to the impressive Biodynamics Lab, the researchers themselves have expert credentials. Dr. Peterson’s research has led to participation and leadership in national and international standards development with ANSI, ISO, and ASTM, and participation in keynotes, workshops, and panels. He is currently serving as the Chair of ANSI S2, S3 WG39 on Human Exposure to Mechanical Vibration and Shock and serves as a US delegate on the ISO Technical Committee (ISO/TC) 108/SC4 on Human Exposure to Mechanical Vibration and Shock. He is also the current Chair of the ASTM International Committee F48 on Exoskeletons and Exosuits.
Dr. Peterson has also been active on Capitol Hill helping legislators understand the technology and theneed for standards to ensure worker safety. Dr. Kudernatsch recently completed his dissertation work that focused on an integrated approach for exoskeleton device and development, and he is currently working on vibration exposure-related research and is preparing a publication on the performance of current commercially available vibration-reducing gloves. Dr. Xia’s research has included the effects of whole-body vibration exposure on musculoskeletal diseases and human performance.
CEET offers bachelor’s degrees in biomedical engineering. For more information, visit niu.edu/ceet.