Hand-arm vibration, noise, temperature and static load--an experimental study of peripheral circulation while operating chain-saws.

From the viewpoint of elucidating the etiological mechanism of vibration-induced white finger (VWF), a model experiment was designed using a chain-saw under laboratory conditions. Finger skin temperature and finger blood flow were measured simultaneously as indicators of peripheral circulatory movement, using a thermister and an apparatus for measuring tissue blood flow based on the thermal diffusion method. In the first project (Experiment A), five healthy subjects operated a chain-saw at a high working speed with-out actually cutting anything. In the second project (Experiment B), seven healthy subjects were exposed to three different kinds of experiments with combinations of hand-arm vibration, noise and tool weight at about 15 degrees C room temperature. In the third project (Experiment C), the effects of tool weight and grip force were examined. In the fourth project (Experiment D), patients suffering from vibration disease were exposed to hand-arm vibration and the noise of a chain-saw for 2 minutes. In experiment A, the mean value of the normalized finger skin temperature decreased gradually with cyclic changes corresponding to each exposure and break period. Changes in finger blood flow had almost the same pattern as the changes of skin temperature, but the recovery of blood flow during a 30 sec break period was notable and a slight elevation of the base line was observed. In experiment B, the mean value for the normalized finger skin temperature decreased much more when the subjects operated a chain-saw at a high working speed than when they operated the chain-saw with the noise isolated by double hearing protection. On the other hand, the results obtained in experiment C indicated that the effect of tool weight should be considered as an important factor for investigating the acute changes in peripheral circulation. In experiment D, some patients showed an unusual pattern in the change of blood flow during a post exposure period which was not seen in healthy subjects.