Abstract
A new car seat design, which allows the back part of the seat (BPS) to lower down while a protruded cushion supports the lumbar spine, was quantitatively tested to determine its effectiveness in reducing whole-body vibration (WBV) in automobile drivers. Results on 12 drivers show that, by reducing contact between the seat and the ischial tuberosities (ITs), the new seating design reduced both contact pressure and amplitude of harmful vibrations transmitted through the body. Significant reduction of WBV, in terms of RMS and VDV, was found as large as 30% by this seating design (P<0.05), especially at lumbar spine region. This reduction in WBV allows more sustained driving than permitted by conventional seating devices, by around 2 hours daily, before reaching harmful WBV levels. The new seating design also promotes improved posture by restoring normal spinal curvature. Such seating devices, implemented in cars, buses, large trucks, and other high-vibration vehicles, may effectively reduce the risk of musculoskeletal disorders among long term drivers.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 5111-5114 |
| Number of pages | 4 |
| Journal | Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology - Proceedings |
| Volume | 26 VII |
| State | Published - 2004 |
| Event | Conference Proceedings - 26th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBC 2004 - San Francisco, CA, United States Duration: Sep 1 2004 → Sep 5 2004 |
Keywords
- Car seat
- Ergonomics
- Whole-Body vibration
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Signal Processing
- Biomedical Engineering
- Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
- Health Informatics