Development of Muscle-Power Measuring and Training System by Utilizing Electric Dynamometer for Aged Senior

Abstract

The ratio of aged senior in Omuta, that author's institute locates in, is increasing. Currently it is nearly 30%, one of the highest levels in Japan. Therefore to guarantee senior's healthy retired life is an important issue for the local government. Thus one of the important missions is to understand their physical health. Generally, in order to evaluate physical performance, Physical Measurement is adopted in Japan. According to "New Physical Measurement" (1) which is edited by Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, and Science and Technology, Activity of Daily living (ADL) screening is utilized to evaluate the physical performance of senior who is over age-65. In this screening, grasping-force measurement is also utilized as a criteria to evaluate of muscle performance since muscle performances (Maximum Muscle Force) of a person's whole body is in proportion to his grasping-force statistically. Currently Smedley type measuring instrument is used to measure grasping-force. Because it is economy and easy to use. This instrument, however, is based on Hook's law to measure the grasping-force. Therefore in the case to apply it for senior, Senior can tend to do bearing-down action that a person tries to perform his maximum muscle-power with his extreme muscle-tension as possible. This can lead the subject to be under physically stressful and dangerous situation.