The dissertation was defended at the public meeting of the Dissertation Defense Council of the Scientific Field of Mechanical Engineering in the Aula Doctoralis Hall of Vilnius Gediminas Technical University at 10 a.m. on 11 February 2025.
The dissertation analyses the ergonomics issues faced by healthcare professionals through experimental measurements, and numerical, and statistical modeling. The primary object of this research is the kinematic movements of people working in the health and social care sectors and the parameters defining these movements. The analysis enhances existing standards and safe lifting guidelines by providing data on under-researched body segments. The main objective of the research is to quantitatively assess workplace injury and disorder risks using biomechanical models of human musculoskeletal motion analysis. The practical value of the research lies in conducting statistically significant measurements on a sample, presenting data from various perspectives, and enabling their use in future research or decision-making. The dissertation offers recommendations for reducing chronic musculoskeletal injuries and introduces a statistical model that incorporates parametric criteria of performed techniques. The work aims to solve three tasks. The first task determine the biomechanical parameters of healthcare professionals' musculoskeletal systems during patient transfer using the developed methodology. The second assesses the critical mechanical values of the neck, shoulders, and arms during transfer and provides recommendations. The third is to create a model for musculoskeletal disorder risks and apply it to the experimental sample. The dissertation consists of an introduction, three chapters, general conclusions, three appendices and a list of references. The introduction outlines the research problem, its relevance, the research object, objectives, and tasks. It describes the research methodology, scientific novelty, practical significance of the results, and the defended statements. It concludes with a list of the author's publications on the dissertation topic. The first chapter provides a literature review, covering motion analysis methodologies, systems, and models. It describes the features of the investigated motions and the ergonomic challenges associated with them. The second chapter details the experiment and calculation processes, including the methodology, tools, and sequence of actions. It explains the foundation of the developed numerical and statistical models and justifies the chosen approaches. The third chapter presents the results obtained during the experiment, processed using numerical and statistical models. Characteristic and significant parameters are highlighted, and the accuracy of the model is determined. The dissertation concludes with general findings, practical recommendations, and a discussion of its contribution to the field.
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