MULTIBODY MODEL OF THE HUMAN HAND FOR THE DYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF A HAND REHABILITATION DEVICE

Agnieszka

Key information

Authors:

Agnieszka (Agnieszka Musiolik)

Supervisors:

Miguel Pedro Tavares da Silva (Miguel Pedro Tavares da Silva)

Published in

06/26/2008

Abstract

This thesis describes the development of a mathematical model of the human hand using a planar multibody formulation with natural coordinates. The multibody model correctly describes the motion and inertial characteristics of the hand as well as its interaction with a hand rehabilitation device under development. The use of non-invasive multibody dynamic tools allows the calculation of the moments-of-force and internal forces at the joints of the hand during the rehabilitation task. A brief description of the anatomy, physiology and of the most common pathologies and injuries of the human hand is also provided for the sake of understanding the mathematical model, the associated rehabilitation device and the main concepts driving its design. The mathematical model is thoroughly described under the scope of the multibody formulation with natural coordinates, in which the position and orientation of the anatomical segments are represented using the Cartesian coordinates of points located in relevant anatomical landmarks of the hand, such as joints and extremities. The kinematic data describing the hand flexion-extension movement was acquired in the movement analysis laboratory and the coordinates of the referred relevant points reconstructed and filtered using a 2nd order Butterworth low-pass filter. Two multibody computational codes were developed in Matlab: one that performs the kinematic analysis of the acquired motion and other that performs its dynamic analysis. The results obtained present biomechanical relevance and can be used in the actual design phase of the rehabilitation device.