Three-dimensional measurement system for functional arm motion study.

An easy-to-use and inexpensive system for studying human movement is described and applied to the study of arm movement during feeding. A typical time to produce kinematic data for an experiment is one hour, including the experiment. System error was found to be less than three per cent.

Normal functional range of motion of upper limb joints during performance of three feeding activities.

This study was designed to quantify the range of upper limb joint motion required during the performance of a specific type of functional activity. Ten able-bodied men were studied as they performed three feeding tasks--eating with a spoon, eating with a fork, and drinking from a handled cup. Three shoulder joint rotations, one elbow joint rotation, one forearm joint rotation, and three wrist joint rotations were quantified simultaneously using a three-dimensional measurement system.