Thesis (M.App.Sc.) - Carleton University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 117-124). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Orientador: Erika Veruska Paiva Ortolan / Resumo: A mão é um órgão que está envolvido em praticamente todas as nossas atividades da vida diária, apresentando assim uma variedade de funções, e para seu perfeito funcionamento necessita de completa harmonia entre os vários tecidos que a compõem. A principal função da mão é sua capacidade de realizar os mais diferentes tipos de pinça, preensão e sensibilidade. Isso se deve aos movimentos harmônicos e independentes dos dedos e à oposição do polegar.A avaliação da função da mão nas atividades da vida diária e profissional colabora na determinação do grau de deficiência do ponto de vista laboral, indica o grau de independência do paciente, detecta necessidade do uso de órteses para facilitar ou possibilitar a realização de tarefas e colabora na indicação de tratamento, além deavaliar os resultados após as intervenções terapêuticas.Objetivo:Verificar a correlação entre a avaliação física dos punhos e mãos e o Questionário de Qualidade de Vida SF-36; entre a avaliação física e o Questionário DisabilitiesoftheArm, ShoulderandHand (Dash); entre o DisabilitiesoftheArm, ShoulderandHand (Dash) e o Questionário de Qualidade de Vida SF-36.Método: 139 pacientes, com afecções do punho ou da mão foram selecionados prospectivamente no ambulatório de Cirurgia da Mão do Hospital das Clinicas da FMB-UNESP, durante o período de setembro de 2010 a agosto de 2011. Todos foram avaliados clinicamente, durante consulta de rotina, não sendo foco da avaliação se os pacientes haviam recebido tratamento cir... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Introduction: The hand is an organ that is involved in almost all our daily activities, thus presenting a variety of functions, and flawless performance that requires harmony between the various tissues that compose it. The main function of the hand is its ability to carry out the most different types of tweezers and hold. This is due to harmonics and independent movements of the fingers and thumb of the opposition. The assessment of hand function in activities of daily life and work assists in determining the degree of disability of the labor standpoint, indicates the degree of patient independence, detects the need for orthosis to facilitate or enable the execution of tasks and collaborates the indication for treatment and to evaluate the results after therapeutic interventions. Objective: To investigate the correlation between physical assessment of the wrists and hands and the Quality of Life Questionnaire SF- 36; between physical assessment and questionnaire Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (Dash); between the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (Dash) and the Quality of Life Questionnaire SF-36. Results: We evaluated 139 patients, 71 were women and 68 men with a mean age of 42.8 years (18-84 years). 128 were right-handed and left-handed 11, 73 patients had diseases in the right wrist or hand, 47 in left and 19 bilateral, 71 patients had conditions on the dominant side. Statistical analysis performed using the Pearson correlation coefficient showed a sig... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

O objetivo neste estudo foi avaliar a possível relação entre os estágios de maturidade óssea avaliados em radiografias de mão e punho e das vértebras cervicais em telerradiografias em norma lateral, em indivíduos com idade média de 13 anos e 6 meses e desvio padrão de 2 anos e 3 meses (variando de 8 anos e 6 meses a 16 anos e 11 meses). A casuística foi composta por 209 conjuntos radiográficos (radiografias de mão e punho e telerradiografias em norma lateral) tomados na mesma data para cada indivíduo . Dois avaliadores, devidamente treinados e calibrados classificaram por estágios de maturidade óssea todas as radiografias, as de mão e punho segundo Helm et al, e a avaliação das vértebras cervicais nas telerradiografias em norma lateral, segundo O’Reilly e Yaniello (1988) e Baccetti, Franchi e McNamara (2002). Considerando a classificacão de Helm et al (1971) como padrão áureo, teste de correlação de Spearman foi aplicado para verificar relação com os dois métodos que avaliam as vértebras cervicais. Os resultados indicam que houve forte correlação entre os métodos de avaliação das vértebras cervicais e de mão e punho (Rs= 0,906 para O’Reilly e Yaniello(1988) e Helm et al. (1971) e Rs= 0,889 para Baccetti, Franchi e McNamara Jr (2002) e Helm et al. (1971), para todos p<0,001). A análise estatística descritiva indicou que houve maior número de ocorrências concordantes na identificação do início e do pico máximo do surto. Com base nesses resultados pode-se concluir que a avaliação da maturidade óssea pelas vértebras cervicais oferece confiabilidade para a identificação do início e pico do surto de crescimento puberal, mas não para a identificação dos estágios na fase descendente, portanto, continuar usando a radiografia de mão e punho ainda se faz imprescindível quando é necessária a identificação de algum potencial de crescimento restante . / The purpose of this study was to evaluate the possible relationship between the stages of skeletal maturation analyzed by means of hand-wrist radiography and cervical vertebrae in lateral cephalograms, from individuals with mean age of 13 years and 6 months, S.D. 2 years and 3 months (ranging from 8 years and 6 months to 16 years and 11 months). The sample was composed by 209 radiography sets (hand-wrist radiography and lateral cephalograms) taken in the same date for each individual. Two investigators, properly trained and calibrated, classified all the hand-wrist radiography relating them to the skeletal maturation according to Helm et al. The cervical vertebrae evaluation was performed in lateral cephalograms by means of the O'Reilly and Yaniello and Baccetti, Franchi and McNamara method. Considering the classification of Helm et al as “gold standard’, Spearman test correlation was applied to verify relationship with the two methods that evaluate the cervical vertebrae. The results indicated that there was strong correlation among the methods of evaluation of the cervical vertebrae and hand-wrist radiography (Rs =0,906 for O'Reilly and Yaniello and Helm et al and Rs = 0,889 for Baccetti et al and Helm et al, for all p <0,001). The descriptive statistical analysis indicated that there was larger number of concordant occurrences in the identification of the onset and maximum peak of the adolescent growth spurt. Based on these results, it can be concluded that the evaluation of the skeletal maturation by means of the cervical vertebrae method can offer reliability only for the identification of the onset and peak of adolescent growth spurt. Thus, is still indispensable to continue using the hand-wrist radiography when it is necessary the identification of some potential remaining growth.

A compliant force/torque sensor for robot force control has been developed. This thesis presents methods of designing, testing, and implementing the sensor on a robotic system. The sensor uses an orthoplanar spring equipped with Hall-effect sensors to measure one component of force and two moment components. Its unique design allows for simple and cost effective manufacturing, high reliability, and compactness. The device may be used in applications where a robot must control contact forces with its environment, such as in surface cleaning tasks, manipulating doors, and removing threaded fasteners. The compliant design of the sensor improves force control performance and reduces impact forces. Sensor design considerations are discussed, followed by a discussion of the proposed design concept. Theoretical compliance and stress analysis of the orthoplanar spring is presented that allows for rapid design calculations; these calculations are validated via finite element analysis. A mechanical design method is given which uses the results of the compliance and stress analysis. Transducer design is then addressed by developing a model of the sensor. The design methods are used to design a prototype sensor which is tested to determine its instrument uncertainty. Finally, the sensor is implemented on a robotic platform to test its performance in force control.

This thesis presents the development of an instrumented compliant wrist mechanism which serves as an interface between robotic platforms and their environments in order to detect surface positions and orientations. Although inspired by similar existing devices, additional features such as noncontact distance estimations, a simplified physical structure, and wireless operation were incorporated into the design. The primary role envisioned for this mechanism was for enabling robotic manipulators to perform surface following tasks prior to contact as this was one requirement of a larger project involving inspection of surfaces. The information produced by the compliant wrist system can be used to guide robotic devices in their workspace by providing real-time proximity detection and collision detection of objects. Compliance in robotic devices has attracted the attention of many researchers due to the multitude of benefits it offers. In the scope of this work, the main advantage of compliance is that it allows rigid structures to come into contact with possibly fragile objects. Combined with instrumentation for detecting the deflections produced by this compliance, closed-loop control can be achieved, increasing the number of viable applications for an initially open-loop system. Custom fabrication of a prototype device was completed to physically test operation of the designed system. The prototype incorporates a microcontroller to govern the internal operations of the device such as sensor data collection and processing. By performing many computation tasks directly on the device, robotic controllers are able to dedicate more of their time to more important tasks such as path planning and object avoidance by using the pre-conditioned compliant device data. Extensive work has also gone into the refinement of sensor signals coming from the key infrared distance measurement sensors used in the device. A calibration procedure was developed to decrease inter-sensor variability due to the method of manufacturing of these sensors. Noise reduction in the signals is achieved via a digital filtering process. The evaluation of the performance of the device is achieved through the collection of a large amount of sensor data for use in characterisation of the sensor and overall system behavior. This comes in the form of a statistical analysis of the sensor outputs to determine signal stability and accuracy. Additionally, the operation of the device is validated by its integration onto a manipulator robot and incorporating the data generated into the robot’s control loop.

This study analyzed the relationships present between grip strength, wrist flexion, arm length, partial and total, and throwing velocity. Thirty-one subjects were tested to obtain the data on these variables. A multiple linear regression equation produced a significant F ratio for the relationship between grip strength and throwing velocity. Neither wrist flexion nor arm length obtained a significant F ratio to throwing velocity. A stepwise multiple regression equation again displayed a significant F ratio for grip strength and throwing velocity. Wrist flexion and arm length did not produce a significant F ratio for their relationships to throwing velocity. This study concludes that of the variables tested, only grip strength displayed a significant relationship to throwing velocity. This study indicates that throwing velocity can be predicted at a moderate level from the measurement of grip strength.

Climbing is a rapidly growing sport, and the inclusion in the 2021 Olympics will further push the popularity.  The numerous originalities of Sport climbing (SC) is the intense use of finger, hands and forearms to displace the body on vertical to fully overhangning wall profiles. Therefore, climbers are prone to specific injuries different from many other sports, mainly located in the fingers and hand. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between finger flexion (FF) and wrist extension (WE) for force max (F-max) and force average (F-avg). Another aim of the study was to analyse the ratio between FF and WE in regards of injuries. A total of 26 climbers were tested on two separate occasions for underarm capacities in FF in a half crimped position and WE.  Isometric contraction was measured for F-max during a three sec interval and anaerobic power, F-avg, during a 30 sec interval. Correlation between variables were analysed by linear regression and one way ANOVA was used to analyse previously injured vs non injured groups. Statistical significance was set at P = 0.05. This study found that climbers showed a significant relationship between FF and WE for both the F-max and 30s F-average tests R² &gt; 0.30, P &lt; 0.004. This can be valuable information for climbers and coaches for training. Furthermore an increased ratio was seen in more experienced climbers, and the same group also showed a higher prevalence of injuries than moderate climbers.

This master´s thesis is focused on biomechanical study of wrist. There is a literature search on this theme in the beginning of this work. The thesis is described in detail anatomy of bones in the wrist. Subsequent the stress-strain analysis of physiological wrist is implemented in a neutral position. The model of geometry of wrist is created on base of CT data. To create calculation model and the solution is implemented in the computer system ANSYS Workbench.

Den nuvarande metoden för att behandla handledsfrakturer, specifikt reponeringen (återföring till rätt position) av enklare frakturer, kräver idag två till tre personer med en behandlingstid på cirka 20 minuter. 25 000 personer drabbas av handledsfrakturer varje år i Sverige, där majoriteten är just av den enklare sorten som inte kräver operation. Denna metod ansågs för tidskrävande och dessutom för smärtsam för patienten enligt Rami Elias, ortopedisk kirurg på Specialistcenter Scandinavia. Ett hjälpmedel utvecklades utifrån dessa problem och krav från uppdragsgivaren. En funktionell prototyp byggdes och blev testad. Det nya hjälpmedlet gav prov på en minskad tidsåtgång och skonsammare behandling för patienten. / The current method for treating wrist fractures, specifically reduction (repositioning the bones) of simple fractures, require two to three people with a treatment time of about 20 minutes. 25,000 people are affected by wrist fractures each year in Sweden, where the majority of these are of the simpler variety that does not require surgery. This method was considered too time consuming and also too painful for the patients according to Rami Elias, orthopedic surgeon at Specialistcenter Scandinavia. An assistance tool was developed based on these issues and demands of the client. A functional prototype was built and tested. The new tool showed evidence of providing reduced treatment time and being less harmful to the patients.

An experiment was performed to evaluate the relations between active range of motion (ROM) and upper limb anthropometric dimensions. Eight anthropometric dimensions, forearm length, distal and proximal forearm circumferences, wrist breadth, wrist thickness, wrist circumference, hand breadth, and hand length in combination with gender, wrist position, and direction of motion or exertion were evaluated to determine their effects on instant center of rotation (ICOR) and the magnitude of force exertion. The knowledge gained from analysis of the study data will be the first step in the formulation of a biomechanical model of wrist flexion and extension. Such a model would predict forces and torques at specific wrist postures and be employed to reduce cumulative trauma disorders of the wrist. Sixty right-hand dominant subjects (30 male, 30 female) between 20 and 30 years of age all reporting no prior wrist injury and good to excellent overall physical condition, were employed in this study. The upper limb anthropometric dimensions and ROM were measured and recorded for each subject. The anthropometric dimensions were compared to tabulated data. The measured active ROM values were compared with values in the literature. Correlation coefficients between pairs of anthropometric variables (by gender) were calculated. The mean active ROM measures, 164.0 deg for females and 151.8 deg for males, were significantly different (<i>Z</i> = 2.193, <i>p</i> = 0.014). The relationships between the anthropometric variables and active ROM were analyzed by three methods: correlation between ROM and each anthropometric dimension, prediction (regression) equations, and analysis of variance (ANOVA). No correlation coefficient between ROM and any anthropometric dimension was greater than 0.7. No prediction equation, based upon linear and quadratic combinations of anthropometric dimensions variables, was above the threshold of acceptability (<i>R²</i> ≥ 0.5). The results of the ANOVA showed a significant effect for gender. The ICOR had been hypothesized to be either in the head or neck of the capitate. The Method of Reuleaux was employed to locate the leOR points for flexion and extension (over the ROM) of the wrist with three load conditions, i.e., no-load, palmar resistance, and dorsal resistance. Analysis of the data, using ANOYA, showed that wrist position was the only significant variable. Thus, in future wrist models, the assumption cannot be made that the wrist is a pin-centered joint for flexion and extension. The static maximal voluntary contractile forces that can be generated by recruiting only the six wrist-dedicated muscles in various wrist positions were measured. There was a significant gender difference for the mean flexion force (<i>Z</i> = 4.00, <i>p</i> = 0.0001) and for the mean extension force (<i>Z</i> = 4.58, <i>p</i> = 0.0001). Females averaged 76.3 percent of the mean male flexion force and 72.4 percent for extension. The force data, categorized by gender, were then analyzed using three methods: correlation of variable pairs, regression equations, and ANOVA. None of the eight anthropometric dimensions and ROM was correlated with flexion or with extension force at an acceptable level. The prediction equations, linear and quadratic combinations of all possible subsets of anthropometric dimension values, ROM, and wrist position did not meet the minimum acceptable level of <i>R²</i> ≥ 0.5. The ANOVA procedure showed gender, wrist position, direction of force exertion, and the wrist position interaction with direction to have significant effects upon maximal force exertion. / Ph. D.