Part Of Finger Research Articles

Effectivenes of Gliding Exercise Therapy In Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) Patients : Literature Review

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) is a condition characterized by pain, numbness, and tingling in the hand, particularly in the thumb, index finger, middle finger, and part of the ring finger. This condition occurs due to compression of the median nerve passing through the carpal tunnel in the wrist. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of gliding exercises in improving CTS symptoms and the functional status of patients. The method used is a literature review, with inclusion criteria for research articles from 2013 to 2023. The results from the five selected studies indicate that gliding exercises can significantly reduce pressure on the median nerve, thereby alleviating symptoms and enhancing the functional capacity of the hand in CTS patients. These exercises were performed once a week for 30 minutes over a period of 3 to 8 weeks, depending on the patient's condition. Gliding exercises have been proven effective as a non-medical intervention in the management of CTS, though some controversy regarding the potential risk of shifting the involved anatomical structures should be considered.

A 72-year-old Woman with Dyspnea and Thrombocytosis

<p>原發性血小板增多症的臨床表徵並不典型且早期診斷不易，往往多數病人於診斷前已發生動靜脈血栓形成及出血併發症。本個案一位72歲女性，有高血壓及胃食道逆流病史並按時門診追蹤服藥，五天前注射新冠疫苗後，呼吸喘、乾咳併胸悶至診所就醫未改善，於急診初步診斷急性支氣管炎。入院後感心悸且胸悶，藉由病史詢問、檢驗及理學檢查，顯示心肌酵素正常但心電圖呈現陣發性心室上心搏過速，安排冠狀動脈血管攝影攝影後排除急性心肌梗塞，但呼吸急促未見好轉呈現低血氧，經胸腔電腦斷層為肺栓塞。疑似新冠疫苗後引起的免疫併發症，直到右手食指及中指末梢腫、痛且發紺症狀出現，筆者再次重新檢視病史資料，發現血小板異常，透過骨髓穿刺切片是發現巨核細胞（megakaryocyte）增生，病理報告判斷為骨髓增生性腫瘤，基因檢測結果為JAK2V617F 突變，最後確診是原發性血小板增多症併發肺栓塞，接受Hydroxyurea合併口服抗凝血劑治療，症狀改善且血小板數值趨於穩定。藉此案例分享提醒當發現病人有不明血栓產生時須考慮將相關血液疾病列入鑑別診斷，期能及早發現疾病，掌握治療時機。</p> <p> </p><p>The clinical symptoms of essential thrombocythemia are not typical and early diagnosis is difficult.Most patients have arteriovenous thrombosis and bleeding complications before diagnosis. In this case, a 72-year-old woman had a history of hypertension and gastroesophageal reflux and was taking medication regularly at the outpatient clinic. After being injected with the COVID-19 vaccine five days ago, her breathing, dry cough, and chest tightness did not improve when she went to the clinic. She was initially diagnosed with acute bronchitis in the emergency department. After being admitted to the hospital, she felt palpitations and chest tightness. The medical history, examination and physical examination showed that myocardial enzymes were normal, but the electrocardiogram showed Parox-ysmal supraventricular tachycardia. Coronary angiography was arranged to rule out acute myocardial infarction, but the shortness of breath persisted with hypoxemia, and the computed tomography of the chest showed pulmonary embolism. Immune complications caused by the COVID-19 vaccine were suspected, symptoms of swelling, pain and cyanosis appeared in the distal part of the right index fin-ger and middle finger appeared. The author re-examined the medical history data and found abnormal platelets. Through bone marrow aspiration and sectioning, megakaryocyte hyperplasia was found. Pa-thology report determined that the patient suffered from myeloproliferative neoplasm, and the genetic test result was the JAK2V617F mutation. The patient was finally diagnosed with essential thrombocythe-mia complicated by pulmonary embolism. She was treated with Hydroxyurea combined with oral an-ticoagulants. The symptoms improved and the platelet level stabilized. This case serves as a reminder that when a patient is found to have unknown thrombosis, related blood diseases must be considered in the differential diagnosis, so that the disease can be detected early and proper treatments can be pro-vided.</p> <p> </p>

Design and simulation of a tunable comb-drive actuator with a wide frequency tuning range and low pull-in voltage

The presented paper describes the design, simulation, and analysis of a novel tunable comb-drive actuator that aims to increase the range of tuning resonance frequency while reducing the pull-in voltage. The conventional comb resonator has a limited resonant frequency tuning range, and hence, modifying the spring stiffness of the structure is crucial to obtaining a tunable comb resonator. The proposed design includes eight flexible beams on each side that support a set of comb finger parts. The actuator achieves the goal of shifting the resonance frequency both downwards and upwards by utilizing Serpentine nested-folded beams. A triangular comb with non-uniform varied finger lengths combined with variable gap fingers is designed to adjust the frequency downwards, while a comb with constant finger lengths combined with variable gap fingers is designed to adjust the frequency upwards. To simulate and design the structure, the IntelliSuite software is utilized. The results show that the actuator has a primary resonant frequency of 3052 Hz, which can be lowered to 335 Hz by applying a tuning voltage of 74 V to the downward tuning part. Similarly, the resonant frequency can be increased to 3159 Hz by applying a tuning voltage of 60 V to the upward tuning part. The resonator achieves a maximum frequency tuning range of 90%, and the simulation results are in good agreement with the theoretical predictions. However, it is worth noting that the size of this resonator is relatively small, approximately 1077 × 328 μm2. This innovative design offers potential applications in various fields, including micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), micro-optics, and microsensors. Overall, the presented work demonstrates the feasibility of achieving a tunable comb resonator with a significantly improved resonant frequency tuning range and reduced pull-in voltage.

Modified Bilhaut–Cloquet procedure for Wassel type III–IV polydactyly

BackgroundTo investigate the functional and aesthetic results of a new modified Bilhaut–Cloquet procedure for the treatment of Wassel type III–IV thumb polydactyly.MethodsThirteen patients with Wassel type III–IV thumb polydactyly who visited the Department of Orthopedics of Hebei Provincial Children's Hospital from 2019 to 2022 were selected. The surgical procedure involved a modified Bilhaut–Cloquet surgery, where two-thirds of the distal part of the dominant finger was retained as the p body of the reconstructed thumb. The triangular bone block of the ablated distal thumb that did not contain the epiphysis and articular cartilage was sutured and fixed, and the neurovascular flap of the ablated distal thumb was used as an augmenting segment of the reconstructed thumb, with the nail bed and nail matrix exquisitely sutured. The evaluation performed according to the Japanese Society for Surgery of the Hand (JSSH) system.ResultsAll 13 children showed bone healing, no wound infection, nonunion, or deformity healing. None of the children showed a significant reduction in the active and passive mobility of the thumb postoperatively compared with preoperatively. Postoperative evaluation was performed based on the JSSH score, with a mean of 17.15 points (14–19 points), with 11 children rated as excellent and two as good. No severe nail ridges, nail gaps, or nail split deformities of the thumb were observed postoperatively. Postoperative metacarpophalangeal and interphalangeal joint movements were not reduced compared with preoperative movements. All parents were satisfied with the appearance and function of the reconstructed thumb.ConclusionThe modified Bilhaut–Cloquet procedure designed in this study was satisfactory for Wassel type III–IV thumb polydactyly without affecting the stability of the interphalangeal joints and preserving joint mobility. The postoperative thumb has a comparable circumference and nail width and was cosmetically and functionally satisfactory, especially for the asymmetric two thumbs, which achieved favorable results.

A Material Culture of Medieval Disability: Contextualising Norwegian Votive Offerings

In this paper, the potential for material culture studies within the history of disability is explored through a study of preserved anatomical votives from medieval Norway left in connection with miraculous healing practices. The Norwegian votives, which include wooden body parts of hands, arms, finger, feet and legs as well as mobility aids, are here related to the lived experience of the physically impaired. Anatomical votives have been interpreted as meaningful depictions of how an individual conceptualised the body part in question, which they sought healing for. Through a posthumanist approach, anatomical votives can, however, not only be seen as solely representational of a body part but as material extensions of the body. Preserved mobility aids, here identified as hand-trestles and a knee-brace, provide insight into the availability of aids for individuals with lower limb impairments in the medieval North. The study of the material culture of disability can elucidate cultural notions of disability in relation to physical impairment. While written miracle accounts have been identified as important sources for the study of medieval disability, their associated material culture is here presented as important data for the embodied experience of the physically impaired in medieval Norway.

Friends with benefits: Sharing large‐scale transcontinental brain MRI databases in LatAM‐FINGERS and US POINTER

AbstractBackgroundMulticentric initiatives to study brain cognition in the elderly offers us a unique collection of brain imaging data accompanied by detailed neuroclinical and neuropsychological evaluations. U.S. POINTER and LatAm‐FINGERS, part of the World Wide FINGERS, are both large‐scale investigations of lifestyle interventions and its impact on cognitive function. These large‐scale detailed data may offer an unprecedented opportunity to compare diverse populations.MethodBaseline MRI of subjects from multiple US centers (POINTER‐US), distributed in 5 geographical regions, and from 9 latin‐american countries (LatAm‐FINGERS). The protocols vary from basic (3D T1, 3D FLAIR,T2* GRE, Cor T2 hippocampus, DWI) to advanced which also included ASL, rs‐FMRI and DTI. Demographic information and clinical, cognitive and neuropsychological assessment were also included.ResultMRI data was collected from 662 participants in the United States (about 65% of the total anticipated U.S. POINTER neuroimaging sample) and from 542 subjects from 9 countries in latin‐america (about 80% of the total anticipated LatAm‐FINGERS neuroimaging sample), with around 1200 participants scanned (table1).All participants have 3D T1, 3D FLAIR, T2* GRE images and either DWI or DTI images.Comparative demographics from the 2 datasets shows similar mean age, a predominance of females, and slight differences in education (table 2). This will allow us to compare multiethnic and multicultural volumetric and functional brain MRI information, as well as disease markers, associated with thorough neurological and clinical assessment. Reasons for not acquiring MRI were mainly due to claustrophobia or scanner unavailability.ConclusionThis is an exceptional opportunity to have comparative large‐scale databases, with anatomical and functional brain imaging from different populations, allowing us to study real world diverse brain data and better understand its relationships with demographics, health and risk characteristics, and cognition.

Tuberculosis Mimicking-Musculoskeletal Tumor of The Hand: An Uncommon Case of Extrapulmonary Tuberculosis

Background: Musculoskeletal extrapulmonary tuberculosis is accounting for only 10-15% of all cases. Current attention has been focused on hand tuberculosis due to its increasing prevalence. This study describes an unusual case of extrapulmonary tuberculosis that manifested as a soft tissue tumor of the hand.Case Report: A 17-year-old male presented with a painful swollen part of the 3rd finger of the left hand. The mass was irregular and suppurative, with discoloration and foul smell. Laboratory results showed anemia and increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate. The computed tomography scan showed an isodense soft tissue (size 2.19 cm x 1.59 cm x 4.21cm) across the distal to the proximal part of 3rd phalanx bone to the metacarpal region with a decrease of phalanx bone density with no sign of bone destruction or any periosteal reaction. The histopathology study revealed a chronic granulomatous structure surrounded by epitheloid cells, datia Langhans cells, and caseating necrosis. The acid-fast staining confirmed the presence of bacilliform bacteria.Discussion: Extrapulmonary tuberculosis typically results from secondary hematogenous dissemination and reactivation of the main foci. There are no specific tests to diagnose musculoskeletal tuberculosis preoperatively, leading to delayed diagnosis. Histopathological examination and culture are needed to confirm the diagnosis.Conclusions: Slow progression and multiple differential diagnoses frequently result in a delayed diagnosis, which leads to complications. Initial radical excision and anti-tuberculosis multidrug therapy provide excellent functional outcomes and recurrence prevention.

Energy-Efficient Tristable Soft Gripper Using Shape Memory Alloy Wires for Gripping Convex and Concave Objects

Abstract Bistable structures have been widely utilized in soft grippers to reduce the energy required for maintaining grip. Grippers have been investigated in terms of the energy efficiency and accuracy of gripping; however, the limited number of gripping states hinders the holding of objects of various shapes. In this study, an energy-efficient gripper was developed to accommodate both convex and concave shapes using a tristable structure that combines two bistable structures, with shape memory alloy wires used as actuators. Different gripping modes were designed for convex and concave shapes, based on three states of the gripper: gripping, open, and holding. The gripper consisted of a driving part with a leaf spring for a “linear snap action” and a soft finger part with an elastic ring and prestressed fingers. Geometric variables were adjusted to construct a tristable energy curve through experiments and analyses. The fabricated gripper weighed about 140 g and was capable of gripping convex objects of up to 80 g, and concave objects of about 120 g. Only a small amount of energy was consumed in the switching states, and the gripper maintained a stable state while gripping with no energy consumption. It is expected that this research will contribute to lightweight and energy-efficient grippers for application to drones, for example.

Thermodynamic characteristics of a single-stage stirling-type pulse tube cryocooler capable of 1220 W at 77 K with two cold fingers driven by one linear compressor

This paper conducts the thermodynamic analysis and experimental verification of a single-stage Stirling-type pulse tube cryocooler (SPTC) with the configuration of two cold fingers driven by one linear compressor, achieving the kW-class cooling capacity at 77 K. The internal oscillating mass and flow, heat transfer, and phase variation characteristics are analyzed for the design with the aid of CFD. Meanwhile, the regenerator filled with mixed matrices for optimizing the uniformity of its internal temperature distribution is also theoretically and experimentally investigated. Thermodynamic features of gas parcels oscillating in different parts of the cold finger are studied to clarify the internal working mechanism from the perspectives of movement, p–v, and T–s characteristics. The developed SPTC typically provides a cooling power of 1220 W at 77 K with a relative Carnot efficiency of 16.7%. The experimental and simulation results are compared, and fairly good consistencies are observed.

The second dorsal metacarpal artery flap relaying the dorsal island flap of the index finger for the repair of soft tissue defect of thumb

To investigate the effectiveness of the second dorsal metacarpal artery fascial vascular pedicle retrograde island flap relaying the dorsal island flap of the index finger in repairing skin and soft tissue defects of the thumb. The clinical data of 8 patients with skin and soft tissue defects of thumb between October 2019 and January 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 3 males and 5 females with an average age of 35 years (range, 18-52 years). The causes of injury included machine injury in 2 cases, crush injury in 3 cases, and cutting injury in 3 cases. There were 2 cases of dorsal defect of the proximal part, 1 dorsal defect of the distal part, and 5 instances of the distal part defect. The skin and soft tissue defects ranged from 1.7 cm×1.4 cm to 3.0 cm×2.5 cm. The time from injury to flap repair was 7-21 days, with an average of 14 days. Firstly, the dorsal island flap of the index finger (dorsal side of the proximal part of the index finger) was used to repair the defect of the thumb. Then the second dorsal metacarpal artery fascia vascular pedicle retrograde island flap (near the radial side of the back of the hand) was used to repair the dorsal defect of the index finger; the donor site was sutured directly. Vascular crisis of the flap occurred in 1 case within 48 hours after operation, and the flap was bloated and bruised in 1 case due to excessive suture tension, and all the flaps survived after symptomatic treatment; partial skin margin of the flap was necrotic in 1 case after operation, and the incision healed after dressing change; the other 5 flaps survived, and all the wounds in the donor and recipient sites healed by first intention. All the 8 patients were followed up 3-10 months, with an average of 6 months. One patient had mild scar; the other patients had no significant difference in the color of the flap and the surrounding skin, no adhesion of tendons, and little interference of index finger function, and there was no obvious pain and dysfunction in the donor and recipient sites of the flap. At last follow-up, the extension-flexion range of motion of the metacarpophalangeal joint of the thumb was 0°-55°, and that of the interphalangeal joint was 0°-75°; the extension-flexion range of motion of the metacarpophalangeal joint of the index finger was 0°-82°, that of the proximal interphalangeal joints was 0°-90°, and that of the distal interphalangeral joints was 0°-65°. The application of the second dorsal metacarpal artery fascial vascular pedicle retrograde island flap relaying the dorsal island flap of the index finger to repair skin and soft tissue defect wounds of thumb is a feasible treatment with reliable blood supply, less postoperative complications, no need for skin grafting, less interference to the function of the index finger, and satisfactory wound repair effect.

Capillary Rising in a Tube with Corners

We studied the dynamics of a fluid rising in a capillary tube with corners. In the cornered tube, unlike the circular tube, fluid rises with two parts, the bulk part where the entire cross-section is occupied by the fluid and the finger part where the cross-section is only partially filled. Using the Onsager principle, we derive coupled time-evolution equations for the two parts. We show the following: (a) At the early stage of rising, the dynamics is dominated by the bulk part and the fluid height h0(t) shows the same behavior as that in the circular tube. (b) At the late stage, the bulk part stops rising but the finger part continues, following the scaling law h1(t) ∼ t1/3. We also show that, due to the coupling between the two parts, the equilibrium bulk height is smaller than the Jurin's height, which ignores the effect of the finger part.

Finger Vein Recognition Model for Biometric Authentication Using Intelligent Deep Learning

In recent years, biometric authentication systems have remained a hot research topic, as they can recognize or authenticate a person by comparing their data to other biometric data stored in a database. Fingerprints, palm prints, hand vein, finger vein, palm vein, and other anatomic or behavioral features have all been used to develop a variety of biometric approaches. Finger vein recognition (FVR) is a common method of examining the patterns of the finger veins for proper authentication among the various biometrics. Finger vein acquisition, preprocessing, feature extraction, and authentication are all part of the proposed intelligent deep learning-based FVR (IDL-FVR) model. Infrared imaging devices have primarily captured the use of finger veins. Furthermore, a region of interest extraction process is carried out in order to save the finger part. The shark smell optimization algorithm is used to tune the hyperparameters of the bidirectional long–short-term memory model properly. Finally, an authentication process based on Euclidean distance is performed, which compares the features of the current finger vein image to those in the database. The IDL-FVR model surpassed the earlier methods by accomplishing a maximum accuracy of 99.93%. Authentication is successful when the Euclidean distance is small and vice versa.

Wetting Dynamics in an Angular Channel.

We analyze the dynamics of liquid filling in a thin, slightly inflated rectangular channel driven by capillary forces. We show that although the amount of liquid m in the channel increases in time following the classical Lucas-Washburn law, m ∝ t1/2, the prefactor is very sensitive to the deformation of the channel because the filling takes place by the growth of two parts, the bulk part (where the cross section is completely filled by the liquid), and the finger part (where the cross section is partially filled). We calculate the time dependence of m accounting for the coupling between the two parts and show that the prefactor for the filling can be reduced significantly by a slight deformation of the rectangular channel, e.g., the prefactor is reduced 50% for a strain of 0.1%. This offers an explanation for the large deviation on the value of the prefactor reported previously.

Identifying discriminative features for diagnosis of Kashin-Beck disease among adolescents

IntroductionDiagnosing Kashin-Beck disease (KBD) involves damages to multiple joints and carries variable clinical symptoms, posing great challenge to the diagnosis of KBD for clinical practitioners. However, it is still unclear which clinical features of KBD are more informative for the diagnosis of Kashin-Beck disease among adolescent.MethodsWe first manually extracted 26 possible features including clinical manifestations, and pathological changes of X-ray images from 400 KBD and 400 non-KBD adolescents. With such features, we performed four classification methods, i.e., random forest algorithms (RFA), artificial neural networks (ANNs), support vector machines (SVMs) and linear regression (LR) with four feature selection methods, i.e., RFA, minimum redundancy maximum relevance (mRMR), support vector machine recursive feature elimination (SVM—RFE) and Relief. The performance of diagnosis of KBD with respect to different classification models were evaluated by sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC).ResultsOur results demonstrated that the 10 out of 26 discriminative features were displayed more powerful performance, regardless of the chosen of classification models and feature selection methods. These ten discriminative features were distal end of phalanges alterations, metaphysis alterations and carpals alterations and clinical manifestations of ankle joint movement limitation, enlarged finger joints, flexion of the distal part of fingers, elbow joint movement limitation, squatting limitation, deformed finger joints, wrist joint movement limitation.ConclusionsThe selected ten discriminative features could provide a fast, effective diagnostic standard for KBD adolescents.

Replantation fingertip without venous anastomoses in children

Objective. Traumatic complete and partial finger amputations are rare in comparison with adults. There are significant differences between mechanism of trauma, principles of treatment children with this type of injury in comparison with adults.Clinical case. A 15-years old child suffered from injury by axe, which caused the traumatic fingertip amputation of III and IV digits of his right hand. Replantation of both amputated parts was performed. Arteries and nerves were repaired with no veins anastomosed. As a result - survival of replanted parts.Discussion. A submillimeter diameter of vessels and potential venous congestion are basic problems that a surgeon deal with when perform the replantation of fingertips. Respectively, a difficulty in post-operative care of patient appears.Conclusion. Replantation of amputated part of finger is a golden standard of treatment of children with a described type of injury. The correct deliverance of amputated parts, the shortest time of ischemia as possible, a qualitive operation and post-operative care play an important role in successful survival of the replanted segments.

WORKSHOP NERVE GLIDING EXERCISE DAN PEMBERIAN ULTRA SOUND (US) TERHADAP PENURUNAN NYERI PADA KASUS CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME DI GRANDMED LUBUK PAKAM

The problem that often occurs for workers is Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Carpal tunnel syndrome is a disorder of the hand due to compression of the median nerve in the carpal tunnel, either due to adhesions or abnormalities of the small bones of the hand. The median nerve innervates the thumb, index finger, middle finger and part of the ring finger, so that pain and parathesia can be felt in these areas. One way of non-pharmacological therapy that can be used in CTS is through the provision of nerve gliding exercise. Nerve gliding exercise and the administration of ultra sound (US) modality are done with the aim of reducing pressure on the wrist so that pain can be reduced. The results of this service activity stated that as many as 94% of participants as physiotherapists had understood and were able to use nerve gliding exercise and Ultra Sound (US) for pain reduction in CTS cases.

Osteitis/Osteomyelitis of the Hand and Wrist

Osteomyelitis of the hand and wrist is uncommon compared to the infections of the long bones but not rare. There is poor evidence on many answers to questions concerning this disease. This includes careful consideration of the prevalence, pathogenesis, microbiology, diagnostic methods and the conservative, medical and surgical treatment. The emergence of the disease can subdivided in post-traumatic, postoperative, spread from contiguous infections and hematogenous. The individual patient-specific risk must be considered. Early diagnosis and correct management are essential to preserve bony structures and the articular function of the hand. A two-step surgical procedure is usually necessary, but uncertainties about the optimal treatment are still existing. Satisfactory control rates of the infection and successful bone reconstructions can be achieved. But complications, a limited range of motion and amputations of finger parts can still not be avoided in all cases.

Are Our Hands Still Clean?

“Clean Hands Save Lives,” we have heard it numerous times. But are our hands really clean? We realized that the most neglected parts of our hands are the most medial part of the little finger and palm and the most lateral part of the index finger and palm. Putting an emphasis on it, we put forward two additional steps in the routine handwashing technique increasing to 9 steps instead of the previous 7.How to cite this article: Bajaj A, Chaurasiya N, Tripathi M. Are Our Hands Still Clean? Indian J Crit Care Med 2021;25(5):601–602.

Nicolau Syndrome Following Intralesional Sclerotherapy: A Dreaded Complication of a Simple Office Procedure

Introduction: Nicolau syndrome is an iatrogenic dreaded adverse skin reaction leading to ischemic necrosis of skin and underlying tissue after parenteral drug injection. The etiopathogenesis is poorly understood. However, inflammation, reflex vasospasm, and thrombo-embolic occlusion of blood vessels, including arterioles and arteries, are suggested as the cause of ischemia. Case Presentation: We report a 12-year-old girl who developed Nicolau syndrome after a simple office procedure of intralesional sclera therapy with sodium tetradecyl sulfate for a apyogenic granuloma on her right index finger. Three days later, she reported complaints of excruciatingly painful swelling with bluish discoloration of the right hand involving the palm, entire index, middle, and ring fingers, and distal part of the little finger. Nicolau syndrome was documented after intramuscular injections of drugs. Nevertheless, there are very few reports of Nicolau syndrome following post intralesional sclerotherapy. Conclusions: Sclerotherapy is a simple office procedure routinely performed by health care professionals (e.g., dermatologists and surgeons), and awareness about its dreaded entity is key. Stringent precautions and prompt management can prevent unfavorable complications. Additionally, prudent patient selection and detailed counseling with explicit informed consent regarding Nicolau syndrome are imperative while planning any parenteral drug injection or intralesional sclerotherapy to avoid litigation.

Modeling and control of a finger-like mechanism using bending shape memory alloys

In this research a biologically inspired finger-like mechanism similar to human musculoskeletal system is developed based on Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs). SMA actuators are inspiring the design of a modular finger part with compact and compliant actuation. A three-segmented finger-like mechanism is designed and fabricated. This mechanism is composed of six bending Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) actuators. As a result, our finger mechanism is compact and compliant. The insider three SMA actuators are used for finger flexion while the outsider three SMA actuators are for extension. Each segment of this mechanism can be bent and/or extended independently by actuating a corresponding bending SMA actuator. Furthermore, full bending motion can be achieved by applying coordinated control of the three SMA actuators. Toward this goal a mathematical model of the SMA combined finger has been developed. The developed mathematical model is then used to design a proportional-derivative controller for control compliant actuation of the finger-mechanism. The performance of this mechanism has been experimentally evaluated. Our experimental results verify that the SMA-based finger module can achieve the desired postures similar to a human finger.