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Limited Manual Dexterity Anthropometry Study

Finger range of motion measured with a finger goniometer

Finger size measured with a sliding caliper

Pinch strength measured with a hydraulic pinch gauge

The word "anthropometry" comes from the Greek origin, "anthropos," meaning man, and "metron," meaning "measure." It literally means the "measurement of humans." Anthropometry is the field of the human sciences that concerns the measuring of human physical traits such as size, mobility, and strength. Anthropometric data is vital in industrial design, clothing design, ergonomics, and architecture, where the data is used to optimize the design of everyday products and systems.

Today, standard anthropometric data about the human hand is scant and limited, although the number of handheld products is increasing dramatically due to technological advances. Almost every product we use requires the use of our hands. In addition, anthropometric data about persons with limited manual dexterity and strength is even more scarce.

For these reasons, CATEA decided to conduct a study of manual dexterity with persons who have limited manual strength and flexibility. The limited manual dexterity anthropometry study gathered measurement data of persons with limited flexibility in their hands, and persons of age 55 and older. Measurements of hand strength, range of motion, and size were collected for this study. All measurements were taken from the subject’s right hand, because traditional anthropometry measurements are all taken on the right side of the body. Volunteers were recruited through the CATEA Consumer Network (CCN) and related groups

In order to make the data usable and readily available, we created the Comprehensive Hand Anthropometry Database (CHAD) website . Currently, a total of 32 participants have been measured, and their measurement data was included in the database for users to search through and generate statistical reports.

Comprehensive Hand Antropometry Database(CHAD) data available at http://www.workrerc.org

This research was conducted as part of the WorkRERC, which is supported by grant #H133E020720 from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) of the U.S. Department of Education.

Contact

Doria Kung, Graduate Research Assistant, CATEA, WorkRERC
doria@gatech.edu