A virtual testing platform for analyses of repetitive motion disorders of the human hand
Abstract
The objective of this work was to develop a virtual test bed for the analysis of repetitive motion disorders of the hand. The test bed allows the user to visualize the motion and the forces in the tendons of the hand during a given activity. Knowledge of the loading patterns in the tendons of the hand can be a useful tool in determining the etiology of repetitive motion disorders. The test bed is a combination of two models. The first is a geometric model that was determined from medical image reconstruction. A bone model was created using a reconstruction of CT data and a tendon model was created using a reconstruction of MRI data. The second model in the testbed is a biomechanical model that computes the displacements of the hand as well as the internal forces of the hand. Inputs to the test bed are determined from a subject performing the given activity. The subject wears a glove instrumented with a number of infrared diodes and force sensing resistors. An optical measurement system is used to track the location of the markers throughout the given activity. The force sensing resistors provides information about the external forces at the finger tips. These two inputs are used in the virtual test bed. The test bed computes the displacements of the joints in the hand using the information from the markers. The displacements are then used along with the external force information to compute the loads in the tendons throughout the activity. A final viewer was used to visualize the data from the activity. The user can focus on specific areas of the activity and design modifications to the activity to decrease the tendon loads at critical points.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Hillberry, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Biomedical research|Mechanical engineering
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