Fyp Proposal Presentation

What is Electromyography ?  Study of the electro-physiological characteristics of muscles during contraction and rest. (Mills,K.R , The basics of Electromyography 2005 , p32)

 Measures the action potentional’s of the nerves.  Visual depiction of the firing rates in the form of a graph on a pc monitor.  The device is called an Electromyograph [EMG]  The recording is called an Electromyogram.

“An EMG study of different rubber tapper tools”

2

How is it performed ? Electrodes are either inserted or attached to the surface of muscles to record the firing rates which are interfaced with an electromyograph such as Powerlab® from ADInstruments® . The weak signals are amplified and then produced on a monitor using a chart software. The electromyograph processes the signals so that it can be visualized on the pc monitor. “An EMG study of different rubber tapper tools”

3

Why is it performed ? Clinical Application – To determine integrity of nerves and their pathways. – To distinguish between muscular or neural damage. – Sports Science.

Ergonomic Application – As in the case of this experiment. – To determine exactly how much stress is put on which muscle groups while performing a task. “An EMG study of different rubber tapper tools”

4

A Sample Electromyogram •Peaks Represent muscular activity. •There amplitude and frequency determine the force of the contraction.

Adapted from (Mills,K.R , The basics of Electromyography 2005 , p33 , Fig 1) “An EMG study of different rubber tapper tools”

5

•When the muscle is at rest there will be no peaks in the graph.

Mechanism of Muscular Contractions Nerves responsible for muscular contraction are called motor neurons. Those muscles which one particular nerve innervates is termed as a motor unit. When a motor unit is activated via an action potential , it triggers a sequence of stages that cause the muscular fibers to contract. The electromyograph records this electrical activity. “An EMG study of different rubber tapper tools”

6

What is Ergonomics ? The process of fitting the job to the worker instead of worker to the job. (Kominski.L , “Workplace Ergonomics” ,Labor Occupational Safety & Health Program, UCLA website)

Matching the design of the tools , controls and equipments to the safety needs of the workers. (Kominski.L , “Workplace Ergonomics” ,Labor Occupational Safety & Health Program, UCLA website)

“An EMG study of different rubber tapper tools”

7

Malaysian Rubber Industry • Malaysia is still one of the largest producers on natural rubber in the world with a steady growth in its demand. • Properties of natural rubber outweigh its synthetic form fuelling its enormous industrial need. • There are more than 100,000 rubber tappers who actively work in the huge rubber plantations throughout Malaysia. (Arutchelvan,S ,2003 “Malaysian Plantation Workers and judicial recourse” V34, p1) “An EMG study of different rubber tapper tools”

8

Overview of rubber tapping(extracting) process

Rubber is extracted from rubber trees (Hevea Brasilensis) (Tapping Management in Rubber , Open Academy for Philippine Agriculture , Web Article). The rubber tapper makes an appropriate excision on the bark of the tree to collect the latex for processing into rubber. Various methods exist today for the process of tapping but the manual process is still the most economic and commonly used. “An EMG study of different rubber tapper tools”

9

Half Spiral method of Rubber tapping still being used today (adapted from Rubber Tapping , http://www.bio.ilstu.edu/armstrong/syllabi/rubber/rubtree2.htm ) “An EMG study of different rubber tapper tools”

10

Commonly Used Rubber Tapping Tools

These are the commonly used rubber tapping tools used today by rubber tappers , The different designs are for whether a downward motion is being used or an upward motion is being used to make the excisions in the trees. (Adapted from Rubber tapping Knives , http://www.alibaba.com/catalogs/142003/Hand_Tools.html)

“An EMG study of different rubber tapper tools”

11

Risk Factors associated with Rubber Tapper Workers Manual rubber tapping is a very repetitive process in which the tappers will excise 200 to 300 trees in a single day. (Tapping Management in Rubber , Open Academy for Philippine Agriculture , Web Article)

Run the risk of developing Carpal Tunnel Syndrome(CTS) due to repetitive stress on the wrist. Bending of the wrist termed as either ulnar or radial deviation will lead to development of CTS and other wrist problems. “An EMG study of different rubber tapper tools”

12

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) • Repetitive strain injury. (Smith , E , “Its All in the wrist”, 2005 , Vol 7 No 1)

• Cumulative Traumatic Disorders (CTD’s) • Impairment of motor and sensory function of the median nerve as it traverses the carpal tunnel. (Browning.P , “Carpal Tunnel Syndrome” E-Medicine Journal,Web Article) – Caused due to the swelling of the nerve. – Extrinsic compression by the various surrounding structures.

• Leads to pain , numbness , loss of sensation in the palms and wrist. “An EMG study of different rubber tapper tools”

13

CTS Characteristics

(Image Retrieved from Google Image Search – Key Word “Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Illustration”)

“An EMG study of different rubber tapper tools”

14

Research Objectives 1. A statistical comparative study of the electromyograms obtained from the experiment. 2. To determine which tools offers the least amount of strain and injury by determining the angle of deviation of the wrist. 3. To obtain data that would be used in the development of more ergonomically designed rubber tapping tools. “An EMG study of different rubber tapper tools”

15

Research Methodology 1. Simulation of actual rubber tapping process on an object that possesses characteristics similar to the tree. 2. EMG electrodes will be placed on the belly(fleshy contractile part of the muscle) of the muscles which have been identified to be involved during the rubber tapping process. 3. Study would be conducted on 10 Males and 10 Females simulating the extraction process. “An EMG study of different rubber tapper tools”

16

(Image generated using Adobe Illustrator CS3©) “An EMG study of different rubber tapper tools”

17

Data Analysis Use of Root Mean Square (RMS) Formula to translate the graphical data into numerical form – A routine that has to be programmed into the chart software. – Or Use of Excel or SPSS to run the Analysis – RMS is a statistical measure of the magnitude of a varying quantity with positive or negative values such as a wave (Root Mean Square 2007, Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia)

“An EMG study of different rubber tapper tools”

18

Proposed Schedule Week #

1

2

3

July

4

5

August

6

7

8

September

Literature review [5 weeks] Proposal Writing [4 weeks] Experimentaion [5 weeks] Result Analysis [5 weeks] Thesis Preparation [8 weeks]

“An EMG study of different rubber tapper tools”

9

19

10

11

12

13

October

14

15

Significance of the Research To enhance the occupational safety of rubber tapper workers. The number of rubber tappers in Malaysia are in excess of 100,000. (Arutchelvan,S ,2003 “Malaysian Plantation Workers and judicial recourse” V34, p1)

To Determine which tools being marketed today is more ergonomically efficient. Make recommendations towards the design of more ergonomic tapping tools. “An EMG study of different rubber tapper tools”

20

“An EMG study of different rubber tapper tools”

21