manugraphy® – Hand assessment.
The manugraphy system* is an accurate and reliable system to measure the hand forces while gripping. Up to now, functional hand assessment could only quantify the total force, for example with a dynamometer.
The manugraphy system developed by novel offers a key advantage over the conventional systems: It is able to determine the force of each single finger and even the phalanges. The individual force contributed by each part of the hand – the finger, phalanx, or palm – is measured separately. These detailed information enable to achieve a truly objective biomechanical analysis of the hand.
In order to measure the local forces underneath the hand, 896 highly accurate force sensors are applied to the surface of two cylinders of different diameters, suitable for different hand sizes. Each single sensor is sampled 20 times per second by the manugraphy analyser, and the measured forces are allocated to the respective fingers, phalanges, ball of the hand, and thumb. In a dynamic measuring mode, it is possible to identify the current local forces as well as the average forces per gripping sequence. Subsequently, the whole measuring process in its dynamic course can be reproduced.
The data are displayed in 2D, 3D and in isobars, showing the absolute force of each sensor element. An acoustic signal that tells the subject when to grip and release allows for a standardised test procedure. With these detailed and objective functional analyses of the different hand areas, the user is able to compare different grasping actions.
