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Biomechanical evaluation of wrist-driven flexor hinge orthosis in persons with spinal cord injury. Yeoun-Seung Kang, MD, PhD, CPO; Yoon-Ghil Park, MD, PhD; Bum-Suk Lee, MD; Hyung-Soon Park, PhD. Aim
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Biomechanical evaluation of wrist-driven flexor hinge orthosis in persons with spinal cord injury Yeoun-Seung Kang, MD, PhD, CPO; Yoon-Ghil Park, MD, PhD; Bum-Suk Lee, MD; Hyung-Soon Park, PhD
Aim • Assess effectiveness and biomechanical properties of wrist-driven flexor hinge orthosis (WDFHO) in 24 persons with cervical levels 6–7 tetraplegia who have severely impaired hand function. • Relevance • WDFHO is device used to restore hand function in persons with tetraplegic spinal cord injury by furnishing three-point prehension.
Method • Introduced mechanical operating model to assess efficiency of WDFHO.
Results • Pinch force: • Increased significantly after using WDFHO. • Correlated positively with wrist extensor muscle strength. • However, when strength of wrist extensors acting on the WDFHO was greater, reciprocal wrist and finger motion generating three-point prehension was less effective.
Conclusion • Reliable and valid biomechanical evaluation of WDFHO could improve our understanding of its biomechanics.