Using active or functional range of motion as a further indicator to detect hand osteoarthritis. A preliminary study.

Purpose: Propose further indicators for helping to detect hand osteoarthritis (HOA) using either active or functional ranges of motion (AROM or FROM).

Method: Hand kinematics data of 16 hand joint angles from previous studies were used, taken from healthy participants and HOA patients with differently affected joints and distinct levels of compromise. Data consisted of: (i) AROM (extreme values and ranges); (ii) FROM while performing the Sollerman Hand Function Test (mean, extreme percentiles and ranges).

Using Sensorized Gloves and Dimensional Reduction for Hand Function Assessment of Patients with Osteoarthritis.

Sensorized gloves allow the measurement of all hand kinematics that are essential for daily functionality. However, they are scarcely used by clinicians, mainly because of the difficulty of analyzing all joint angles simultaneously. This study aims to render this analysis easier in order to enable the applicability of the early detection of hand osteoarthritis (HOA) and the identification of indicators of dysfunction.

Variability of the Dynamic Stiffness of Foot Joints: Effect of Gait Speed.

Background: Comparison of dynamic stiffness of foot joints was previously proposed to investigate pathologic situations with changes in the properties of muscle and passive structures. Samples must be controlled to reduce the variability within groups being compared, which may arise from different sources, such as gait speed or Foot Posture Index (FPI).

Methods: Variability in the measurement of the dynamic stiffness of ankle, midtarsal, and metatarsophalangeal joints was studied in a controlled sample of healthy men with normal FPI, and the effect of gait speed was analyzed.

Evaluation of hand motion capture protocol using static computed tomography images: application to an instrumented glove.

There has been a marked increase in the use of hand motion capture protocols in the past 20 yr. However, their absolute accuracies and precisions remain unclear. The purpose of this technical brief was to present a method for evaluating the accuracy and precision of the joint angles determined by a hand motion capture protocol using simultaneously collected static computed tomography (CT) images.

Premolars restored with posts of different materials: fatigue analysis.

Previous works studied the effect of the material and the dimensions of the post on the biomechanical performance (fracture strength and stress distribution) of restored teeth, under static loads. The aim of this work was to study the effect of the post material (glass fibre and stainless steel) on restored teeth, which have the final crown, under dynamic conditions. The use of a biomechanical model, including a fatigue analysis from FEA, is presented as a powerful method to study the effect of the material of the intraradicular post.

Perception of products by progressive multisensory integration. A study on hammers.

The aim of this work is to determine the influence of multisensory (visual-haptic) integration and the level of interaction (seeing photographs, seeing the actual product, touching it and using it) on the perception of products, including perceived ergonomics. The product selected for the experiment was the hammer, as this will help to establish whether emotional design studies can also apply to 'commercial' products. Subjective opinions of users were evaluated through semantic differential tests.