The Walkstation is a treadmill based workstation that has been introduced into our radiology department for routine image review and interpretation. The treadmill-based workstation offers radiologists the opportunity to perform their work while enjoying the well-documented benefits of increased daily activity which include improved physical and mental health. Previous studies have suggested an increase in energy expenditure from 72 kcal/h while sitting to 191 kcal/h when walking at 1.1 mph and an increase in metabolic rate by as much as 154%.

The Walkstation has a three monitor configuration and utilizes a treadmill that can be set at speeds from 0.3 to 2.0 miles per hour.  The treadmill is especially designed to be quiet in order to minimize distraction from noise and the potential negative impact on speech recognition.  Initial studies at our institution have not been able to document any decrease in accuracy in the interpretation of imaging studies when using the Walkstation and multiple previous studies (not in the imaging literature) have suggested a positive impact of low level exercise on memory and concentration.  Subjective impressions of this workstation have been positive.  Attendees will be given a warm-up period and then will be given a task to find lung nodules on a series of ten chest radiographs while sitting, standing, and walking at 1 mph.

Initial studies of a treadmill based workstation in other domains outside of medical imaging have been positive and the sedentary workday of most radiologists could be ameliorated with an hour or more per day on this unique radiologist workstation.  We plan to perform additional testing including cardiovascular and metabolic monitoring of radiologists at our facility as well as blood flow studies to further evaluate the impact of the Walkstation from a physiologic as well as cognitive perspective.

Initial results suggest the Walkstation may play a role in providing an opportunity for low level exercise without significantly decreasing productivity or accuracy.  Additional evaluation should be performed of this promising addition to the reading room.