Episode details:

In this episode, we explore how ergonomic risk can be measured in surgical and procedural environments, and why simply asking surgeons whether they are experiencing pain or discomfort may not tell the whole story.

About Our Guest:

Dr. Ali Golabchi is the Chief Technology Officer and Director of Research at EWI Works International, Inc., Western Canada's leading ergonomics and wellness company. Ali joined EWI Works in 2016, where he oversees the development and adoption of technology-based, data-powered, science-driven solutions to improve health, safety, and productivity. His work focuses on bridging the gap between academic research and real-world application, using emerging technologies to address practical ergonomic challenges.

In this episode, you'll learn:

- Why measuring ergonomic risk is important instead of relying solely on surgeons' reports of pain or discomfort.

- The difference between qualitative and quantitative approaches to measuring ergonomic risk.

- What RULA and REBA are, how these observational tools work, and some of their limitations in surgical environments.

- Why the operating room presents unique challenges for ergonomic measurement, including sterility, limited space, complex workflows, PPE, privacy, and multiple people in the surgical field.

- The difference between marker-based, wearable sensor, and markerless motion capture systems.

- How AI and computer vision can be used to analyze posture and movement from a standard video recording.

- The story behind the development of PoseCheckerTM and how it evolved from research technology into a practical tool for ergonomic assessment.

- How vision-based motion capture can potentially be used to evaluate ergonomic interventions by comparing risk before and after changes to equipment, workflow, or technique.

- What Ali sees as the future of ergonomic risk assessment, including AI-powered tools, exoskeletons, wearable robots, and more proactive approaches to ergonomics.

Resources Mentioned

• RULA (Rapid Upper Limb Assessment)
• REBA (Rapid Entire Body Assessment)
• PoseChecker by EWI Works

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