Review of Scientific Instruments 76, 054301 (2005)

 

Received 25 October 2004; accepted 21 February 2005; published online 15 April 2005

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Biomechanical hand-functionality measurement system

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William C. Paske, PhD, KaDa Research, Inc., Sugar Land, TX

Charles L. Metzger, MD, Greater Houston Orthopaedic Specialists, Houston, TX

Jeffrey M. Sutherland, KaDa Research, Inc., Sugar Land, TX

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Abstract:

Functional assessment of the hands may now be accomplished via a biomechanical handset designed to repeatably and reproducibly aid in the identification of fine motor performance issues which may be present in either or both hands of the test subject. The test is accomplished by monitoring the force triangle defined by the thumb (digit I), index finger (digit II), and small finger (digit V) as they maintain a grip on a hand sensor throughout several repetitive exercises. The sensor consists of three independent load cells built into a single block. The three independently applied forces are sampled every 4 ms. These forces are evaluated as a function of time and test parameters are then derived for use as diagnostic aids. © 2005 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.1896946]