TY - JOUR
T1 - Development of an ergonomic four-finger-push manual pipette design
AU - Kim, Eunsik
AU - Aqlan, Faisal
AU - Freivalds, Andris
N1 - Funding Information:
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. The authors would like to acknowledge Petar Dotchev for CAD renderings of assembled pipettes.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2020/5
Y1 - 2020/5
N2 - The purpose of this study was to develop a new pipette design in which the pipette is operated by four fingers, taking into account the anatomy and anthropometry of the hand. The proposed new pipette designs were compared with a traditional thumb-push pipette based on muscle activity, wrist posture, subjective discomfort ratings for upper extremities, and user preference. The results of the study revealed that the four-finger, ergonomic pipette design reduced muscle exertion (25% reduction for aspiration and 35% reduction for dispensing), awkward wrist posture (33% reduction in wrist flexion, radial and ulnar deviation), and perceived discomfort in the wrist, hand and lower arm. Furthermore, most participants (9 of 10) who used a pipette in their daily work preferred the new pipette designs to a traditional thumb-push pipette design. Thus, we expect that this study will contribute to the reduction of WMSDs risk factors and pain.
AB - The purpose of this study was to develop a new pipette design in which the pipette is operated by four fingers, taking into account the anatomy and anthropometry of the hand. The proposed new pipette designs were compared with a traditional thumb-push pipette based on muscle activity, wrist posture, subjective discomfort ratings for upper extremities, and user preference. The results of the study revealed that the four-finger, ergonomic pipette design reduced muscle exertion (25% reduction for aspiration and 35% reduction for dispensing), awkward wrist posture (33% reduction in wrist flexion, radial and ulnar deviation), and perceived discomfort in the wrist, hand and lower arm. Furthermore, most participants (9 of 10) who used a pipette in their daily work preferred the new pipette designs to a traditional thumb-push pipette design. Thus, we expect that this study will contribute to the reduction of WMSDs risk factors and pain.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.apergo.2020.103045
DO - 10.1016/j.apergo.2020.103045
M3 - Article
C2 - 32174341
AN - SCOPUS:85077916897
VL - 85
JO - Applied Ergonomics
JF - Applied Ergonomics
SN - 0003-6870
M1 - 103045
ER -