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Background Various upper limb activities were speculated to be associated with the development of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Nonetheless, there are currently no standardization on the uses of parameters in CTS assessments, nor are there any conclusive findings regarding the usefulness of various sonographic measurements in studies of different upper limb activities. In this review, we intend to evaluate the methodology of assessing Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) induced by upper limb activities with ultrasonographic technique and provide corresponding suggestions. Methods Clinical studies on the association between upper limb activities and prevalence of CTS using ultrasonography were recruited in a database research on the basis of a procedural selection criteria and reviewed. The following qualitative items were extracted: characteristics of studies, scanning methods, selection of sonographic parameters and related article findings. Results Eleven studies were qualified for this review. Three studies were computer keyboard typing-related, five studies were electronic device-related, and three studies were wheelchair-related. All sampled articles included cross-sectional area (CSA) at the pisiform level. The swelling ratio (SR) and flattening ratio (FR) at the hamate level are also used in most studies in addition to the CSA at the pisiform level. The effectiveness of such parameters are subjected to various confounding factors such as age, weight, BMI and wrist anthropometrics, suggesting CSA and SR with sufficient levels had significant values as sonographic parameters. Values of parameters were found affecting symptomatic signs and hand dominance. Conclusion Ultrasound scan is a suitable tool to assess the relationship between upper limb activity and CTS. CSA at the pisiform level, SR and the FR at the hamate levels are generally suitable in upper limb associated-CTS investigations. Specific study designs are required to eliminate different confounding factors accordingly.

This paper presents a classification method using Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) in order to classify six human upper limb activities. The study was also carried out to investigate whether theses activities are being performed normally or abnormally using two different neural networks: Artificial neural network (ANN) and convolutional neural network (CNN). Human activities that were included in the study: arm flexion and extension, arm pronation and supination, shoulder internal and external rotations. Before activities categorization, training data was obtained by the means of an IMU sensor fixed on an armband worn around the forearm. The training data obtained were positions, velocities, accelerations and jerks around x, y and z axes. Training samples of 264 have been collected from 10 participants, 2 women and 8 men from ages 19 to 23. Then, 204 features were extracted from IMU data, nonetheless, 15 features only have been used as inputs to the proposed neural networks because they were the most distinguished ones. After all, the networks classify the data into one of 6 classes and their results were compared. Furthermore, these proposed methods of classification have been validated by real experiments showing that ANN network gives the best performance.

TMJ malfunction is quiet common in swimmers. This study is done to understand the prevalence of the disorders associated with swimming in paediatric age group. According to previous studies there is a high demand on neck rotation and upper limb activities for the propulsion of the body inside the water and which negative synchronized activities of jaw and mastication structure. There is no studies have been attempted to find out the prevalence of TMD among competitive swimmers through there is a greater demand on TMJ structure due to their swimming mechanics.

Weight bearing (WB) activity is important for healthy skeletal development. The magnitude of loading during WB activities, especially upper limb impacts, has yet to be quantified in children. This study quantifies ground reaction forces (GRF) experienced by children performing WB activities and examines the contribution of body weight (BW) to GRF. Fifty children, aged 8-12 were recruited (34 males). GRF were measured using force plates during 20 upper and lower limb activities (such as landing on the feet and hands). Sex differences in GRF and associations between peak force and BW were examined using independent sample t-tests and linear regressions (p 0.05), respectively. Lower limb GRF varied from 2-6x BW with no significant sex differences. GRF during upper limb activities varied from 1/3-1.7x BW with males experiencing significantly greater GRF for 25% of activities. BW was significantly associated with peak force in almost all activities; however, GRF variation explained by BW was wide-ranging across activities and not dependent on limb or activity type (static vs dynamic). Therefore, factors other than BW, such as technique, may be important in determining forces experienced by children performing WB activity and should be considered when choosing activities for WB activity interventions.

Previous studies have shown that postural orientations of the neck, such as flexed or forward head postures, are associated with heightened activity of the dorsal neck muscles. While these studies describe the impact of variations in neck posture alone, there is scant literature regarding the effect of neck posture on muscle activity when combined with upper limb activities such as lifting. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of three different neck postures on the activity of the different layers of the dorsal neck muscles during a lifting task. Ultrasound measurements of dorsal neck muscle deformation were compared over two time points (rest, during lift) during a lifting task performed in three different neck postural conditions (neutral, flexed and forward head posture) in 21 healthy subjects. Data were analysed by post-process speckle tracking analysis. Results demonstrated significantly greater muscle deformation induced by flexed and forward head postures, compared to the neutral posture, for all dorsal neck muscles at rest (p

The aim of the study was to analyse values of the maximal forces of pushing, lifting, handgrip and torques of pronation and supination as well as to develop predictive equations expressing maximal force in relation to upper limb posture for four upper limb activities (pushing, lifting, pronation and supination). Twelve right-hand dominant men participated in the experimental study. All of them were healthy and had no history of hand dysfunction. They exerted maximal forces of the above-mentioned five different upper limb activities in 24 upper limb postures. Each upper limb posture was defined by seven angles. The analysis showed an influence of each of the seven angles on the exerted force. On the basis of the measurements obtained in the experimental study, predictive equations of the maximal force of pushing and lifting as well as torques of pronation and supination, in relation to the seven angles defining upper limb posture, were established. They make it possible to calculate maximal forces or torques in relation to upper limb posture and the type of upper limb activity. They can help designers in designing a workplace and therapists in measuring and comparing patients’ capabilities. Relevance to industry Values of maximum force obtained by calculations on the basis of predictive equations can contribute to normative data of maximum forces. The values of maximum forces of different types and for different upper limb postures are very crucial for the design as well as the assessment of work stands.

The aim of this prospective longitudinal multi centric study was to evaluate the correlation between the Hammersmith Functional Motor Scale and the 20 item version of the Motor Function Measure in non ambulant SMA children and adults at baseline and over a 12 month period. Seventy-four non-ambulant patients performed both measures at baseline and 49 also had an assessment 12 month later. At baseline the scores ranged between 0 and 40 on the Hammersmith Motor function Scale and between 3 and 45 on the Motor Function Measure 20. The correlation between the two scales was 0.733. The 12 month changes ranged between -11 and 4 for the Hammersmith and between -11 and 7 for the Motor Function Measure 20. The correlation between changes was 0.48. Our results suggest that both scales provide useful information although they appeared to work differently at the two extremes of the spectrum of abilities. The Hammersmith Motor Function Scale appeared to be more suitable in strong non ambulant patients, while the Motor Function Measures appeared to be more sensitive to capture activities and possible changes in the very weak patients, including more items capturing axial and upper limb activities. The choice of these measures in clinical trials should therefore depend on inclusion criteria and magnitude of expected changes.

Many researches show that the progress of the upper limb function of patients with more than one year apoplexy appears to be Learned Nonuse. This research takes concepts of the Constraint-induced Movement Therapy and User-Centered Design and develops the combing hair assistive device to increase the upper limb activities for female Hemiplegia. We adopt the AD-TOWS (Assistive Devices-Threats, Opportunities, Weaknesses, and Strengths) matrix to develop 33 design concepts among which 4 concepts are screened to make models, and then invite 5 participators in the experiment. By analyzing the results of upper limb lifting angle, the upper limb movement angle forced by the “Joint Adjustable Device” is the biggest, which is followed by the “Comb Convertible Device”, and then is the “Comb Convertible Lengthening Device”. The upper limb average angle of operating the above mentioned three assistive devices are bigger than that of operating the existing devices. By the result of the part unable to be combed, we find that the most difficult action to users who use the existing long-handled comb is to comb their sutural bone and occipital bone, however, the “Double-Handled Device” is good at improving the action unable to be done.

The objective of the work is to investigate the classification of different movements based on the surface electromyogram (SEMG) pattern recognition method. The testing was conducted for four arm movements using several experiments with artificial neural network classification scheme. Six time domain features were extracted and consequently classification was implemented using back propagation neural classifier (BPNC). Further, the realization of projected network was verified using cross validation (CV) process; hence ANOVA algorithm was carried out. Performance of the network is analyzed by considering mean square error (MSE) value. A comparison was performed between the extracted features and back propagation network results reported in the literature. The concurrent result indicates the significance of proposed network with classification accuracy (CA) of 100% recorded from two channels, while analysis of variance technique helps in investigating the effectiveness of classified signal for recognition tasks.

In enduring a posture in actual living conditions, spontaneously appearing posture changes are considered to play an important role, In this paper, patterns of subsidiary postural changes while working sustaining a certain posture for hours were discussed by analyzing the factors leading to increase of those changes. During a prolonged experimental work period of numeral inspection that demanded short-term memories, variations in frequency of posture changes were apparently dependent on the day's condition and changes in alertness. The rate of those postural changes which recurred at variable intervals of one to several minutes was revealed to be greatly influenced by when and how long the state of sustained attention was affected. In the case of printing workers working while continuously standing, the patterns of posture changes differed between different types of standing conditions. Postural changes enabling resting of the lower extremities or active muscle groups increased during later hours in the afternoon as a result of compensating fatigue, the leg motion rate being significantly related with the rate of subsidiary upper limb activities, whereas the spontaneous leg motions of workeres inserting work-oriented steppings were less frequent and had no correlation with upper limb motions. Postural changes of sitting key-hoard operators were much less and related with other types of subsidiary behavior. These results indicate that the patterns of postural changes are a function of complex factors of the task performing situation that requires a surtained position, and that changes in the central nervous system and in orienting behavior being relevant to motor control functions should be taken into account. Further studies are needed to elucidate conditions of provoking spontaneous changes in human posture in order to discuss their relevance to the mechanism of sustaining an erect standing or a sitting posture for a long period.