An Instrumented Glove for Real Time Feedback on Hand Gripping Pressure and Bending a Pilot Study

Abstract

Previous research has shown that prolonged hand grips, forceful grips, or grips with awkward postures are associated with many kinds of upper limb musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). For many years, different preventive measures have been taken to reduce the risk of upper limb MSDs. All these preventive measures require the hand tool or the task to be carefully analyzed. This study presented an instrumented glove based on the Force Sensitive Resistors (FSRs) and bending sensors that can provide real time feedback on hand gripping pressure and bending. This paper introduced the system design of this instrumented glove. And a pilot study with a camera gripping testing was followed. The results showed that the instrumented glove can provide quantitative data for real time analysis for different hand gripping tasks. Thus, this instrumented glove can be used for ergonomic analysis of hand tools or tasks. It can be implemented to help minimize risk of repetitive strain injuries of upper limbs in the future.