Ergonomic Design of a Tube Head Unit (THU) for Radiographers in Digital X-Ray Environment

The ergonomic design of a tube head unit (THU) in a digital radiography (DR) system has been developed in order to reduce work-related musculoskeletal disorders and improve working efficiency operated by radiologic technologists (RT). In this paper, the five ergonomic design guidelines have been studied for a new type of the THU design considering: (1) the height of a table based on knuckle height of 5th percentile female RTs to maintain appropriate posture of table top operation, (2) viewing distance and eye-touchscreen coordination to reduce the shoulder and neck musculoskeletal fatigue and to define the elements of user interface, (3) the type and angle of a hand grip of the THU to operate with less effort, (4) the thickness of handle for strong hand grip, and (5) the range of the THU movement by one or two hand operation. The new type of THU has been designed to minimize the size and weight including a circular type handle with controllers to feel comfortable with soft handling and natural posture without physical overexertion of wrists and shoulders caused by repeated THU movements. The User Interface for the new THU provides consistent user experiences for both landscape and portrait mode to maintain same screen layouts when it rotates. It is expected that the conceptualized THU design could provide RTs with less musculoskeletal disorders and higher working efficiency.