A force transducer to measure individual finger loads during activities of daily living.
A new six-degree-of-freedom force transducer has been manufactured, with the sensitivity to measure forces in the range +/-100 N and moments of up to +/-5 Nm. The transducer incorporates two mechanical components: shear forces and bending moments are measured via a strain-gauged tubular section whilst axial forces are transmitted to a cantilevered load cell. Both components are instrumented with 350 ohms strain gauge full bridge circuits and are temperature compensated. After calibration, measurement errors are less than +/-0.3 N for direct forces and +/-0.03 Nm for applied moments. In order to measure sub-maximal finger loads during activities of daily living, the transducer has been incorporated into several housings representing objects in domestic use: a jar, a tap, a key in a lock and a jug kettle.
Bioengineering unit, Wolfson Centre, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK. nicola.fowler@strath.ac.uk
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D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002138:Calibration; D004548:Elasticity; D004867:Equipment Design; D005384:Finger Joint / Q000502:physiology*; D018737:Hand Strength / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D014159:Transducers; D016474:Weight-Bearing / Q000502:physiology*