#Japan #Tachikawa #BioNet Research #PosCheck-101 #Back Pain Prevention

Introduction

The innovative system for preventing back pain using multi-camera technology has been adopted by the Tokyo Strategic Innovation Promotion Project. This project, a collaboration between Tokyo Metropolitan University and BioNet Research, aims to develop this advanced system over three years, from 2025 to 2027.

The system is designed to install cameras in the corners of a workspace, covering an area of up to 10m x 10m. It provides several important functionalities:

• - 3D Detection and Tracking: The system strings together data from multiple cameras to detect and track the postures of several workers simultaneously.
• - Evaluation of Physical Strain: It assesses the strain of work postures in conjunction with potential environmental factors related to specific workspaces.
• - Objective Risk Assessment: It enables objective evaluation of hidden risks for lower back pain, facilitating the provision of a safe and secure working environment.

Purpose

As of 2023, the number of employed seniors aged 65 and older reached 9.14 million, marking an all-time high and accounting for 13.5% of the entire workforce. With this increase, occupational accidents among older workers have also risen significantly. Back pain now constitutes about 60% of occupational diseases that lead to more than four days of work absence.

This innovative system eliminates the need for wearable sensors, as it can track individual movements and three-dimensional postures within the designated measurement area. When a worker adopts a high-strain posture, the system triggers a warning. Moreover, it can highlight risky postures based on measurement results. Setting up dangerous zones in advance allows the system to issue alerts when a worker approaches these areas. In the future, integrating this system could lead to comprehensive monitoring of human movements within factories, prevent accidents in care facilities, and enable automatic detection of falls.

System Composition

The system consists of cameras positioned at the four corners of a room, coupled with a dedicated PC for monitoring (illustrated in Figure 1). The work postures of multiple workers are continuously measured and displayed as quantified stress levels on the monitoring PC. Thanks to the expertise developed through PosCheck-101, this system can measure intricate details, such as the degree of back tilt or whether both hands are above shoulder height for individual workers (shown in Figure 2).

Back Pain Prevention

By monitoring work environments, the system identifies which tasks impose the greatest physical strains. It visualizes not only how often a worker assumes particular postures but also the extent of these postures. Consequently, the system confirms which methods are necessary to mitigate workload, enabling the development of a quantifiable measurement system that contributes to back pain prevention.

Product Overview

For more information, visit the product page: BioNet's PosCheck.

Company Information

Company Name: BioNet Research, Inc.
Address: 2F Moritadao Building, 3-19-1 Takamatsu-cho, Tachikawa, Tokyo
CEO: Takuro Niikawa
Website: BioNet Research
Email: [email protected]
Phone Number: 042-512-9021

Contact Person: Junichi Eguchi
Email: [email protected]
Phone Number: 042-512-9021