CPEJ Newsletter March, 2020

investigated the load on the musculoskeletal
system. From this, I realized that there was a risk
in using an assistance robot or device, which I
would like to explain herein.
As you are aware, the trunk is supported by
the spine, and posture is maintained using theabdominal and the back muscles. For easier

Newsletter

understanding here, I will avoid using technicalterms for the muscles and bones. If you bend yourCommittee on Certification of Professional
Ergonomists
March, 2020
CPEJ Newsletter Editorial board

lower back to lean your body forward, your backmuscle is activated to support your body; however,
if force is applied to your spine simultaneously,
this will put pressure on your intervertebral discs.

A Plenary Meeting/Lecture Meeting was held

If you carry something heavy and adopt a forward-

at the CPEJ in April 2019. Newsletters No.59 toleaning posture, you will produce much greater

No.62 were issued, and practical examples ofmuscular force than if you were not carrying

ergonomics were reported. Some of the articles

anything, and the intervertebral discs of yourwithin the newsletters have been translated intospine will be pressed by a significant force. Even

this English version.

if a robot or device attached to the body andsupporting the lower back can suppress the loadon the back muscle, it will be unable to decrease

Report from Professional Ergonomist

Development of an assistance device forthe lower backthe pressure on the intervertebral discs. However,

Ryojun Ikeura (Mie University)with rubber across the back, the type that thein contrast to the type of support that you pullauthor has created, which produces support by

I specialize in mechanical engineering, with ausing torque around the lower back, has been

particular focus on robot engineering. When I wasshown to cause less pressure on the intervertebral

a student, I was interested in ergonomics;

discs. Additionally, it is possible to reduce

therefore, I studied the interaction between

pressure on the intervertebral discs by increasing

humans and robots. As part of this, I would like tothe pressure on the abdomen in a manner similar

discuss the assistance device for the back, into that of a corset. However, compressing thewhose development I am currently involved.

abdomen can be painful. Of course, if you can use

In recent years, the development of robots

a robot that you could get on and manipulate, suchand devices that assist in work by being attached

as a “Gundam” robot, you would not face any ofto the body has flourished, and some of these havethese problems. However, this is obviously not

been

also

practical. When you feel pain in your back muscle,

developing a device that supports the lower backyou know that a load has been placed on it; but in(see diagram). It achieves this by placing a flexible

the case of the intervertebral disc, people are often

material from the back to the legs, with the result

unaware of pain until it has been damaged.

being that the bending force generates a torque

Therefore,around the lower back to reduce the burden on theintervertebral disc damage is worse than thatlowercaused by the back muscle, and there is often nocommercialized.

back.

In

The

developing

authorthisisdevice,

I
1

lower

back

pain

causedby

CPEJ Newsletter March, 2020

simple treatment.

Self-introduction by the author

With the above considerations, as assistance

Ryojun Ikeura:robots or equipment attached to the body cannot

I completed my PhD at Tohoku University

reduce pressure on the intervertebral discs, it is

Graduate School in 1991. Following that, I became

important that these are not so easy to use thatapeople put excessive trust in them. Without the

Department of Mie University Graduate School inuse of assistance equipment, people with pain in

2007, which is my current post. I am engaged in

the back muscle naturally refrain from excessive

research on the development of collaborative

exercise. However, if assistance is used, people

controls between humans and robots, driving

who do not really feel pain in the back muscle may

assistance for drivers, and power-assisted devices.

professor

intheEngineering

Research

continue to exercise excessively and damage theirintervertebral discs even if excessive pressure isplaced on the intervertebral discs. Given this, theReport from Professional Ergonomist

equipment should not be used for delivery work

Attempts at early detection of dementia
using smell

with heavy objects: their use should be limited to

Keisuke Suzuki (Kagawa University)

author considers that assistance robots andback support, such as when it is necessary toadopt a forward-leaning posture for long periods

Medical examinations by interview are widelyof time.

used in the diagnosis of dementia. In domestic

The use of these devices would not be adementia tests, questionnaires called the HDS-R

problem if we could develop an assistance device(Hasegawa Dementia Scale-Revised) and MMSE

that can be easily attached, and which can reduce(Mini Mental State Examination) are prevalent.

the pressure on the intervertebral disc without

By evaluating the scores obtained from these tests,

placing a burden on the body as a whole. I truly

it is possible to predict the severity of dementia.

hope that such a device will be developed in the

However, as the content includes questions that

future.

any healthy person would be able to answer, suchas a patient’s own name, the date, and location,
there is a concern that this may damage the selfesteem of the patient and that they may not wish
to continue with the tests.
It has been confirmed that the initial-stage
symptoms of Alzheimer’s dementia and Lewy bodydementia, which account for the majority ofdementia cases, involve the decline of functions
related to olfactory stimulation. If we canestablish a method of simply detecting dementia
based on the decline in the olfactory function, it
may be possible to detect more than half of alldementia cases at an early stage. Additionally, as
tests using aromas are unlikely to be considered
methods of screening for dementia, they can

Assistance device for the lower backpossibly reduce the patient’s resistance toward

being developed by the author
2

CPEJ Newsletter March, 2020

the examination.

including mild dementia, it should be possible to

Our research team has focused on the declineofthe olfactory

functionandscreen for dementia at an early stage.

demonstrated

examples of screening for dementia in a way thatplaces less burden on the body and mind. To
achieve this, we developed a method of screening
for the onset of dementia based on the results ofthe patient sniffing seven different aromas andthen selecting the aroma that they have smelledfrom among several options. It was consideredthat as only a short amount of time is required forthis test, because it is unlikely to be considered atest for dementia, and because the fragrances areunlikely to cause a sense of discomfort or distaste,
the pressure felt by the test subject with respect
to the test would be reduced. In proposing thismethod, we selected seven different aromas, andRelationship between symptoms and number oftargeted the study at 102 people considered tocorrect answers in the olfactory test

suffer from dementia, as well as healthy people.
We divided the subjects into three groups: healthyelderly people, patients suffering from mild
dementia, and patients suffering from moderate tosevere dementia. We then compared the numberof correct answers scored by each group on theolfactory test. The results revealed that as thedementia symptoms worsened, there was asignificant decrease in the number of correct
answers. Moreover, thresholds that enabled us toroughly categorize the subjects according to theseverity

of

their

symptoms

werederived.

Furthermore, we confirmed that the significant
decrease in the number of correct answers in theolfactory test was not a result of aging but
represented a decline in cognitive ability withrespect to smells, based on the severity ofdementia.
As this method was based on the results of asurvey covering 102 people who were consideredto suffer from dementia or to be healthy, we plan
to further validate the appropriateness of themethod of screening for dementia using aromas by

Aroma stick and answer panel

increasing the amount of verification data. By
3

CPEJ Newsletter March, 2020

ReferencesSora

develop a method for evaluating comfort when

Kobayashi,

KeisukeSuzuki,

Masayukiriding an ultra-high-speed railway.” At first

Karaki, Motomi Tanaka: Method of screening forglance, this was a reasonable request. However, if

dementia using aromas–2nd report，Collection ofdifferent evaluation methods were required for

Journals from

Life Support

each type of usage, there would be no end to it. I

Engineering，Vol. 29，No. 3, pp. 81–87, September

pondered: what was it that we were trying to2017measure? Actually, it was not only differences in

the Society ofvehicle vibration but also the “feelings of humans.”
Self-introduction by the author

That being the case, we should be able to create a

Keisuke Suzuki:

method of evaluation that can be widely used if weIcompleted

EngineeringadoctoralResearchcoursefrom

Department ofthecan accurately express human feelings regarding

Seikeivibrations.

University in 1996, following which I was engaged

The

previous

methodin the estimation of the efficiency and evaluationinternationalof the usability of various driver-support devices

experiments

at the Japan Automobile Research Institutevibration system (Fig) in which I evaluated(JARI). In 2000, I was a visiting researcher at the

feelings

Swedish Transport Administration (VTI). Since

frequency. In promoting this research, I stuck to

2009, I have been engaged in research related to

two things: “estimating ride comfort of real

the optimization of various device interfaces based

passengers in response to vibrations while riding

on the theme of human support at Kagawa

the railway” and “developing a practical method of

University. My hobbies include restoring old

evaluation that anyone can use.” These were to bevehicles, motor sports, the overhaul of silver

helpful in making improvements and devising

halide cameras, and skin diving.

countermeasures. Therefore, in the experiments,

standards,
using

a

was
but

3-axis

based
I

on

startedelectrodynamic

about vibrations depending

on

the

certain restrictions were imposed: a railway seatwith a complex vibration system was used and theacceleration measurement point was limited toReport from Professional Ergonomist

A story that have been adventurously
stuck to the goals of research

one area on the floor.
The result of this was that a diverse range ofChizuru Nakagawa

factors were intertwined, and experiments lacking(Railway Technical Research Institute)in beauty in terms of research were accumulated
over several years. I was unsure, for example,

I have been researching the numericalabout whether it was worth researching vibration

quantification of feelings of discomfort due tosensitivity again, despite the fact that therailway vibrations for nearly 10 years. The

vibration sensitivity curve had already been

starting point for this research was feedback fromdefined in ISO2631, or whether the impact of

the technicians in charge that the previous

differences in seat types could be excluded. The

method of evaluation, which had been in existence

more I considered it objectively, the more mysince the national railway era, did not match theanxiety grew; however, I wanted to numericallyfeeling produced by ultra-high-speed railways,

express the feeling of comfort felt by a railway

wherein vibrations increase to 30 Hz or more.

passenger. I considered it my role to communicate

The Ergonomic Laboratory was requested “tothe feelings of humans to technicians, so I
4

CPEJ Newsletter March, 2020

persisted. Fortunately, the impact of the seat type

Report from Professional Ergonomist

was limited, and I was able to propose a method of

Toward ease of use for all people

evaluation. When this method was applied to

Yuka Yamazaki (Integrated Design Center,buses in addition to the railway, the subjective

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation)

evaluation had a correlation of 0.8 or above.
However, this method has not yet been completed

I like “people.”as “a practical method of evaluation that anybody

I first became aware of the discipline known

could use”. I am painfully aware every day of theas ergonomics when I became engaged in work

difficulty of making research practical.

involving the evaluation of the usability of
products.

Usability

evaluations

relatedtohardware design and interface design as anindustrial designer were the starting point for mygrowing interest in this field. Some time after this,I was given charge of universal design, and my
range

of

visionbroadenedtoincludemanufacturing.
The protagonists causing this increase in myrange of vision were a wide variety of users.
Because of a low birth rate and aging society, forexample, there has been an increase in thenumber of elderly workers even at professionalsites, and there has been a diversification of users
across all fields. Furthermore, in terms of the
products handled by Mitsubishi Electric, the users
Image of the experimentsof a variety of products, such as electricalusing the electrodynamic vibration systemappliances, public products, telecommunications,(Inbuilt shaking and sound evaluation simulator)and factory devices and equipment have become
highly diversified. Through my experience of

Self-introduction by the author

coming into contact with a wide variety of device

Chizuru Nakagawa:users, ranging from those who utilize rice cookers

I

completedcourseinto heavy electrical machinery and defense systems,

doctoratein

I have realized anew that the same nucleus, thatengineering at Keio University. I am also the headis, people, goes beyond the field of manufacturing.

of the Ergonomic Laboratory of the Railway

We pursue the ideal design. We provide

biomedical

anundergraduate

engineering

andaTechnical Research Institute. I am engaged infunctionality

that

evaluating feelings of discomfort due to vibrations,determine standards for this purpose. The former

motion sickness detection based on physiologicalonly takes form when we observe people and are

indices, and research on estimates of driver status.

interested in people. We explain the progress

Hobbies: Activities related to the expansion of

toward that form in ways that anyone canenvironments in which children can play in a truly

understand using ergonomics. The attainment ofchild-like manner.

aqualificationasactualizes

antechnology.

accreditedWe

ergonomic

specialist last year was an opportunity to review
5

CPEJ Newsletter March, 2020

the things I had been involved with thus far.
As

part

Self-introduction by the authorofenlightening

peopleabout

anddisseminating

concepts

andI am a member of the Solution Design Department

knowledge related to the field, we are currentlyof the Integrated Design Center, Mitsubishi

conducting training on universal design withinElectric Corporation. My areas of expertisethe company. People with a wide range of ages andinclude industrial design, usability, and universal

experience are taking the course, and when

design. I am working toward visualizing concepts

lookingandsuch as the evaluation of results in an artistic way,understanding the course content, I feel thatand mutual understanding with the development

interest in people is an important element in the

team.

ergonomics

at

ways

of

interacting

withYuka Yamazaki:

utilization of ergonomics.
As a company, our concept of universal design＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

involves “Creating user-friendly products andenvironments that make life more comfortable forContact informationas many people as possible.” People who use

e-mail：cpenewsletter@ergonomics.jp

products use them in diverse situations, with

CPEJ Newsletter editorial board

variousJapan Ergonomics Society

objectives,

and

are

highlydiversethemselves. At a certain exhibition, a visually-

2-10-16, Akasaka, Minato-ku

impaired person said when touching our rice

Tokyo, 107-0052, JAPANcooker, “with this, I can do what I wanted to do.”

【Editorial board】

This rice cooker was developed by the usability

Keita Matsumoto (Editor-in-Chief), Kazuo Aoki,

evaluator, designer, and technician all listening to

Emiko Kido, Susumu Saito, Shinichi Fukuzumi,

the people concerned and repeatedly evaluating

Yushi Fujita, Ryoji Yoshitake, Eriko Wanibe

the product’s usability. Our products are madebased on an interest in people, and we willcontinue to pursue our activities with the aim ofmaking many people happy.

https://www.ergonomics.jp/cpe/en
https://www.ergonomics.jp/cpe/en/e-publication

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