Interdependency of the maximum range of flexion–extension of hand metacarpophalangeal joints

Abstract

Mobility of the fingers metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints depends on the posture of the adjacent ones. Current Biomechanical hand models consider fixed ranges of movement at joints, regardless of the posture, thus allowing for non-realistic postures, generating wrong results in reach studies and forward dynamic analyses. This study provides data for more realistic hand models. The maximum voluntary extension (MVE) and flexion (MVF) of different combinations of MCP joints were measured covering their range of motion. Dependency of the MVF and MVE on the posture of the adjacent MCP joints was confirmed and mathematical models obtained through regression analyses (RMSE 7.7°).

Keywords:

• Interdependent limits
• finger metacarpophalangeal joint
• range of movement
• hand biomechanical models

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Erratum

Acknowledgment

We are grateful to the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness for funding through its project DPI2014-52095-P, as well as to the Universitat Jaume I through its project P1-1B2013-33, in which this research is partially included. We also thank the graduate student Lourdes Perez Valiente for her collaboration in data collection.