Diagnostic Medical Sonography News February 2020 | Page 2

How can we ensure the transfer
of proper ergonomic scanning
techniques from the classroom/
lab to the clinical site?
I think we can try to implement proper ergonomic scanning techniques by
analyzing the environment of our clinical sites. As observers, we probably will not
have the freedom to rearrange the ultrasound machine within the room, but we
can adjust the chair and/or the patient’s bed. For example, the bed should be set
up differently for a thyroid exam than it would be for a uterine exam (downward
toward the patient’s feet for a thyroid protocol versus upward toward the
patient’s head for a transvaginal protocol).
We can make sure our arms do not extend too far past 90 degrees, move our
arms away from our bodies and focus on holding the probe without flexing our
wrists. To avoid overextending the arm, the sonographer should also keep the
patient close to the right side of their body. Equipment such as an arm brace can
help with long cords, which should never be placed around the neck. The monitor
should be kept at eye level (or up to 10% below eye level).
Once those things have been addressed, we can also preview our patients’ charts.
What protocol has been ordered? What is the patient’s age, size and weight?
Keeping these ergonomic guidelines in mind will ensure efficient, precise scanning
for a long time to come – without doing harm to our own bodies.
Nadja Alfonso Jean-Denis
Diagnostic
Medical
Sonography