Postural and Musculoskeletal Advantages to Ultrasound Practitioners

Ultrasound scanning has been shown to cause a wide range of work related injuries. Indeed, according to recent studies, 70 - 80% of sonographers suffer work related pain (The Society of Radiographers, 1997, Arrowsmith, 2000) and industry standards suggest that 20% of sonographers in the UK are actually forced to end their career (Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography, 2003). Poor equipment design is cited as one of the main contributory factors (Feather, 2001, Grant and Cattell, 2002). Consequently, Toshiba Medical Systems has developed a new hand-held remote control device (IASSIST) which is capable of operating the ultrasound scanner from any position in the room. This is the first time that such flexibility has been possible. The purpose of this report is to examine the postural and musculoskeletal advantages of this device for the user, and to begin to quantify the benefits of it.