Evaluation and Modification of Surgeon Ergonomics in the Operation Room Using Artificial Intelligence Analytics

November 19, 2025 updated by: University of Florida
The study is working to identify actions of surgeons in the operating room that can contribute to work-related musculoskeletal disorders. This includes poor positioning and time spent in poor positioning while working in the operating room. The study is also looking to determine if fatigue plays a role in work-related musculoskeletal disorders and whether an education intervention will change ergonomic risk.

Study Overview

Status

Enrolling by invitation

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The study is working to identify actions of surgeons in the operating room that can contribute to work-related musculoskeletal disorders. This includes poor positioning and time spent in poor positioning while working in the operating room. The study is also looking to determine if fatigue plays a role in work-related musculoskeletal disorders.

Employing within-subject pre-post design to assess 1) patterns of aggregate risk data from video analysis in the OR for resident and attending surgeons over time and for different types of surgical tasks, 2) concurrent reliability assessment of the Rapid Upper Limb Assessment and Rapid Entire Body Assessment scores calculated from the software and visual analysis, 3) changes in pain data after review of the SOTER Task ergonomic outputs. The feasibility of using the system in the OR will also be assessed for open and laparoscopic surgery.

The study team will collect data, perform assessments, collect information from self-proctored surveys, and video record surgeon activities in the operating room on 20 surgeons. The video recordings will take measurements to assess risk factors for work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Following the fifth surgical case, the study team complete an education intervention by reviewing measurements established in the video recordings and supply a brief presentation on Ergonomics for Surgeons. A summary of observed body positioning for each subject is provided. Post intervention, five additional surgical cases will be observed in the manner of the previous cases to identify change in ergonomic risk.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

30

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Florida
      • Gainesville, Florida, United States, 32610
        • UF Health at Shands hospital
      • Gainesville, Florida, United States, 32610
        • UF Health Shands Hospital at the University of Florida

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Any general surgery operative case by a surgeon from the Division of Acute Care Surgery. These cases will be conducted in what has been designated as the "Acute Care Surgery OR" for the day.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Any operative case in which the surgical attending or resident has not signed informed consent to record this individual during the case.
  • Any operative case that the surgical attending feels is inappropriate for video recording or when filming could interfere with surgical procedures

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Other: Acute Care Surgery Attending and Resident Surgeons

Participants will be asked to perform their normal operative work for 5 cases while being filmed. Data will be collected using the SoterTask™ software which calculates momentary data on risk and an aggregate risk level. Two standard ergonomic risk assessments: Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) or the Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) are also calculated. Both assessments are current best practice standard for determining the level of ergonomic risk. The RULA and REBA data calculated by SoterTask will be compared to scores assessed by the research team from the same video recordings of the work tasks.

Following the fifth operative case, participants will view an educational presentation of surgical ergonomics and review the data summarized from the ergonomic measurement system with video of their movement with a visual guideline highlighting high-risk angles and movements including legs, arms, neck and back.
Behavioral: Education presentation of surgical ergonomics
During an individual meeting with participant, a brief presentation will be supplied for review.
Behavioral: Summary of Ergonomic Measurement System
Participant will view a video of their movements with a visual guideline highlighting high-risk angles and movements.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Determine Ergonomic Risk Through Video-based Analysis calculated by an artificial intelligence software and evaluator assessment of Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) and Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA)
Time Frame: 1 year
determine the ergonomic risk experienced by surgical attendings and residents during open and laparoscopic surgery measured through video-based analysis of
1 year

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Ergonomic Risk After Reviewing Video Capture and Risk Data
Time Frame: 1 year
determine if there is any change in ergonomic risk after reviewing video capture and risk data collated through artificial intelligence algorithms
1 year

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Florida

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Philip Efron, MD, University of Florida

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

October 21, 2024

Primary Completion (Estimated)

October 15, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 31, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 21, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 27, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

August 28, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

November 20, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 19, 2025

Last Verified

November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • IRB202301655

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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