Hand Contact Research Articles

Modeling human domino process based on interactions among individuals for understanding crowd disasters

Evidence suggests that a human domino effect may be formed based on microscopic human behaviors during interactions among individuals in a dense crowd and probably induces crowd disasters. We established a human domino model to simulate such a domino process. With respect to a high-density crowd, the initial impulse tended to keep growing until the boundary, which perhaps resulted in crowd disasters. We can also use the repeatability of the domino process to predict the impulse exerted on individuals, which provides a prediction of crowd disasters. In addition, hand contact is conducive to maintaining the balance of the individual, but significantly intensifies the impulse in the entire process and causes even greater risk. The effect of the fixed boundary was significant especially in the case of a very high-density crowd, resulting in the violent crushing on individuals.

High Occurrence of Potential Contamination Risks Observed for Pediatric Patients Receiving Rapid Fluid Boluses with Single-use Syringes

BACKGROUND The disconnect-reconnect technique (DRT) and push-pull technique (PPT) are commonly used to deliver fluid boluses to pediatric patients with septic and hypovolemic shock. Maintaining aseptic technique can be challenging as both methods include many steps during which syringes and tubing can become contaminated. However, there is a paucity of research regarding the contamination risks or CLABSI (central line associated blood stream infections) rate secondary to PPT or DRT methods. This study examines the rate of aseptic violations in a simulated environment. METHODS Ten pediatric critical care nurses were asked to deliver 500mL of saline to a simulated 25kg patient through a 22G (gauge) catheter using PPT and DRT techniques. Nurses were instructed to follow aseptic technique and administer the fluid boluses rapidly. Aseptic violations were recorded by an independent observer. RESULTS An average of 32.9 (SD+/-20.9) and 17.7 (SD+/-8.4) aseptic violations per each 500mL bolus were observed using DRT and PPT, respectively. With PPT, 97% of violations occurred due to hand contact with the sterile portion of the plunger. With DRT, hand contact with both the plunger (60%) and the syringe tip (14%) were observed. With all nurses, the needleless hub was cleaned only prior to the initial syringe connection, not in between subsequent connections. CONCLUSIONS The simulation had a high rate of contamination events when using both DRT and PPT. Previous research suggests that repeated contact of the syringe plunger increases the risk of potential pathogens infused into the patient. Reducing the number of patient connections and reducing aseptic plunger violations may decrease the risks of hospital acquired infections associated with fluid resuscitation. Greater awareness of these risks, and the use of a rapid infusion device which eliminates these two risks, should be considered. The disconnect-reconnect technique (DRT) and push-pull technique (PPT) are commonly used to deliver fluid boluses to pediatric patients with septic and hypovolemic shock. Maintaining aseptic technique can be challenging as both methods include many steps during which syringes and tubing can become contaminated. However, there is a paucity of research regarding the contamination risks or CLABSI (central line associated blood stream infections) rate secondary to PPT or DRT methods. This study examines the rate of aseptic violations in a simulated environment. Ten pediatric critical care nurses were asked to deliver 500mL of saline to a simulated 25kg patient through a 22G (gauge) catheter using PPT and DRT techniques. Nurses were instructed to follow aseptic technique and administer the fluid boluses rapidly. Aseptic violations were recorded by an independent observer. An average of 32.9 (SD+/-20.9) and 17.7 (SD+/-8.4) aseptic violations per each 500mL bolus were observed using DRT and PPT, respectively. With PPT, 97% of violations occurred due to hand contact with the sterile portion of the plunger. With DRT, hand contact with both the plunger (60%) and the syringe tip (14%) were observed. With all nurses, the needleless hub was cleaned only prior to the initial syringe connection, not in between subsequent connections. The simulation had a high rate of contamination events when using both DRT and PPT. Previous research suggests that repeated contact of the syringe plunger increases the risk of potential pathogens infused into the patient. Reducing the number of patient connections and reducing aseptic plunger violations may decrease the risks of hospital acquired infections associated with fluid resuscitation. Greater awareness of these risks, and the use of a rapid infusion device which eliminates these two risks, should be considered.

An in-room observation study of hand hygiene and contact precaution compliance for Clostridioides difficile patients

Using an innovative, covert, in-room observer method to evaluate infection control practices for patients with Clostridioides difficile infection, we found no difference between physician and nursing hand hygiene compliance and contact precaution usage. There was also no diurnal variation in hand hygiene practices, but decreased contact precaution usage at night. Conversely, hospital-wide data from overt observations collected over the same time period showed significantly higher hand hygiene compliance among nurses than physicians.

Motion-Based Prediction of Hands and Feet Contact Efforts During Asymmetric Handling Tasks.

This paper proposes a method to predict the external efforts exerted on a subject during handling tasks, only with a measure of his motion. These efforts are the contacts forces and moments on the ground and on the load carried by the subject. The method is based on a contact model initially developed to predict the ground reaction forces and moments. Discrete contact points are defined on the biomechanical model at the feet and the hands. An optimization technique computes the minimal forces at each of these points, satisfying the dynamic equations of the biomechanical model and the load. The method was tested on a set of asymmetric handling tasks performed by 13 subjects and validated using force platforms and an instrumented load. For each task, predictions of the vertical forces obtained an RMSE of about 0.25N/kg for the feet contacts and below 1N/kg for the hand contacts. L5/S1 joint moments were then computed using the predicted and the measured data. RMSE of 18Nm and rRMSE below 10% were obtained for the flexion/extension component. In conclusion, this method enables to quantitatively assess asymmetric handling tasks on the basis of kinetics variables without additional instrumentation, such as force sensors, and thus improve the ecological aspect of the studied tasks. This method has a great potential to be applied in work tasks analyses in ergonomics studies or sports gestures analyses involving hand contacts in exercise science.

Antibiotic Resistance in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are an increasing problem in the NICU. Ineffective empiric antibiotic therapy is associated with increased risk for morbidity and mortality. Organisms that are resistant to multiple antimicrobial agents (multidrug-resistant organisms) are particularly problematic. These organisms may be transmitted to infants if infection control practices are not adhered to, or they may be created by antibiotic exposure. Therefore, meticulous infection prevention-including hand hygiene, surveillance cultures, contact precautions, and selective decolonization-and antibiotic stewardship are important strategies to minimize drug resistance in the NICU.

Socioeconomic vulnerability associated to Toxoplasma gondii exposure in southern Brazil.

Human toxoplasmosis, a protozoonosis caused by Toxoplasma gondii, has been described as a worldwide foodborne disease with important public health impact. Despite infection has reportedly varied due to differences in alimentary, cultural and hygienic habits and geographic region, social vulnerability influence on toxoplasmosis distribution remains to be fully established. Accordingly, the present study has aimed to assess T. gondii seroprevalence and factors associated to social vulnerability for infection in households of Ivaiporã, southern Brazil, with 33.6% population making half minimum wage or less, ranked 1,055th in population (31,816 habitants), 1,406th in per capita income (U$ 211.80 per month) and 1,021st in HDI (0.764) out of 5,570 Brazilian cities. Serum samples and epidemiological questionnaires were obtained from citizen volunteers with official City Secretary of Health assistance in 2015 and 2016. In overall, serosurvey has revealed 526/715 (73.57%) positive samples for anti-T. gondii antibodies by Indirect Fluorescent Antibody Test. Logistic regression has shown a significant increase associated to adults (p = 0.021) and elderly (p = 0.014) people, illiterates (p = 0.025), unemployment (p <0.001) and lack of household water tank (p = 0.039). On the other hand, sex (male or female), living area (urban or rural), yard hygiene, meat ingestion, sand or land contact, owning pets (dog, cat or both) were not significant variables of positivity for anti-T. gondii antibodies in the surveyed population. Although no significant spatial cluster was found, high intensity areas of seropositive individuals were located in the Kernel map where the suburban neighborhoods are located. In conclusion, socioeconomic vulnerability determinants may be associated to Toxoplasma gondii exposure. The increased risk due to illiteracy, adult or elderly age, unemployment and lack of household water tank were confirmed by multivariate analysis and the influence of low family income for seropositivity by the spatial analysis.

Serratia marcescens Infections in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs).

Serratia marcescens belongs to the family Enterobacteriaceae, which is commonly found in water, soil, animals, insects, plants. Although S. marcescens displays relatively low virulence, it causes nosocomial infections and outbreaks in severely immunocompromised or critically ill patients, particularly in settings such as intensive care units (ICUs), especially neonatal units (NICUs). This microorganism gives rise to a wide range of clinical manifestations in newborns: from asymptomatic colonization to keratitis, conjunctivitis, urinary tract infections, pneumonia, surgical wound infections, sepsis, bloodstream infection and meningitis. The most frequent site of infection is the bloodstream, followed by the respiratory apparatus and the gastrointestinal tract. Strains of S. marcescens involved in epidemic events have frequently proved to be multi-resistant. Indeed, this species displays intrinsic resistance to several classes of antibiotics. Often, the specific source of the infection cannot be identified. However, the contaminated hands of healthcare workers are believed to be a major vehicle of its transmission. In neonatal intensive care units, colonized or infected newborns are the main potential source of S. marcescens, particularly in the respiratory apparatus, but also in the gastrointestinal tract. The early identification of colonized or infected patients and the prompt implementation of infection control measures, particularly rigorous hand hygiene and contact precautions, are essential in order to curb the spread of infection.

PREVALENCE OF OCCUPATIONAL HAND CONTACT DERMATITIS AND ITS ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG STAFF NURSES OF A PUBLIC HOSPITAL IN SELANGOR

https://doi.org/10.32827/ijphcs.6.1.118Background: Introduction Occupational contact dermatitis is the commonest occupational skin disease and hands are affected the most. Among healthcare workers, nurses have the highest prevalence of occupational hand contact dermatitis (OHCD). Prevalence of OHCD varies between countries and it shows an increasing trend. OHCD can cause economically burden to a country, reduce the quality of life of a nurse and increase the risk of cross infection. The aim of this study was to identify the prevalence factors associates with OHCD.Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 206 staff nurses of Hospital Selayang who full filled inclusion and exclusion criteria Data was collected 7 May 2018 till 1 June 2018 using validated data questionnaire. Pre-test of the self- administered questionnaire was conducted among 50 staff nurses. Data was analysed using IBM Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 23.0 involving descriptive and inferential statistics.Result: The response rate was 100%. A 12-month prevalence of OHCD among staff nurses of Hospital Selayang was 26.2%. Hours of wearing glove, skin symptoms with gloves, skin symptom with hand washing liquid or soap, eczema history and allergy history to any substances were found associated with OHCD.Conclusion: OHCD showed to be a problem among staff nurses at the study location with a prevalence of 26.2%. Further intervention should be taken to prevent OHCD among staff nurses.Keywords: Occupational skin disease, hand contact dermatitis, nurse

Surface microbial contamination in a dental department. A 10-year retrospective analysis

Health care-associated infections may not only occur in a hospital setting, but also in dental clinics. Insufficient environmental decontamination could be one of the risk factors. In this retrospective study, we documented and analyzed the results of surface microbial contamination in a dental university-based department over an observation period of ten years. It was the aim of this investigation to identify general tendencies and potentially problematic sites on a long-term basis allowing suggestions for further improvement. Surface microbial contamination in the Department of Reconstructive Dentistry at the University Center for Dental Medicine in Basel, Switzerland, was evaluated on a regular basis using contact plates. Data gained between January 2007 and December 2016 was collected and summarized for statistical analysis. Although the overall surface microbial contamination was relatively low during the observation period, significant differences depending on localization and test sites were detected. Certain sites, such as the handle of the dentist’s chair and computer surfaces, remained problematic. Continuous monitoring of surface microbial contamination can help to improve the hygiene level in a dental set-up. Further improvement might be achieved by avoiding hand-touch handles whenever possible and by relying on flat and easy-to-clean surfaces within the reach of the bacterial aerosol. However, during interventions that may pose a higher risk for the patient, additional measures should be taken by working under almost sterile conditions and by avoiding direct hand contact with problematic sites.

Toward Grasping Against the Environment: Locking Polygonal Objects Against a Wall Using Two-Finger Robot Hands

Caging offers a robust strategy for grasping objects with robot hands. This letter utilizes caging for locking polygonal objects against a wall using minimalistic two-finger robot hands. From the object's perspective, the wall and two-finger hand form an equivalent three-finger hand. The object is first caged by trapezoidal finger formations of the equivalent three-finger hand, and the hand is then closed until the object is locked against the wall in the desired grasp. The object can then be safely grasped and moved away from the wall, or it can be held fixed against it to be worked on by tools. This letter presents a novel and efficient caging-to-locking algorithm. While the equivalent hand's configuration space is four-dimensional, the algorithm uses the hand's two-dimensional contact space , which represents all contacts by two and three of the equivalent hand's fingers along the object boundary. The problem of computing the critical cage formation that allows the object to escape the equivalent hand is reduced to a search along a caging graph constructed incrementally in the equivalent hand's contact space. Starting from the desired locking grasp, the graph is searched for an escape path which passes through the critical cage formation. The technique is demonstrated with a detailed example.

Multimodal parent behaviors within joint attention support sustained attention in infants.

Parents support and scaffold more mature behaviors in their infants. Recent research suggests that parent-infant joint visual attention may scaffold the development of sustained attention by extending the duration of an infant's attention to an object. The open question concerns the parent behaviors that occur within joint-attention episodes and support infant sustained attention to an object. In the study, parent-infant dyads played with objects on a tabletop while their eye-gaze was recorded with head-mounted eye-trackers. Parent hand contact with the objects as well as speech were coded and analyzed to identify the presence of parent touch and talk during bouts of infant visual attention. This study, consistent with prior research, showed that joint attention is associated with longer infant visual attention. The relevant parent behaviors considered, parent talk and touch, not only were highly likely to occur when both the parent and infant visually attended to the same object, but were also associated with infant attention to an object that was longer than infant attention that did not include these parent behaviors. Parent talk was the most potent behavior that coincided with longer infant looks. In sum, joint attention extends infant attention and joint attention involves more than mutual coordination of eye-gaze, it involves multimodal parent behaviors coordinated with the infant's visual attention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Examining upper extremity muscle demand during selected push-up variants

Push-ups are regularly adapted for specific muscular demands. The push-up plus (PUP) has been used to emphasize serratus anterior activation. Alterations in body posture have been suggested for targeted activation of muscles surrounding the shoulder and rotator cuff, but little data exists to inform these changes. The purpose of this research was to examine upper extremity muscle activity changes when varying aspects of the PUP. Healthy male participants (n = 20) performed PUP trials using combinations of hand contact area (knuckles/palms), humeral rotation (neutral/60° internal/60° external) and hand location (shoulder height/±30% arm length superior/inferior) at a fixed cadence. Electromyographic (EMG) activation from 14 muscles of the right upper extremity during each trial were examined, as well as ratios of activation for 7 muscle pairs. Palm contact and a superior hand location increased serratus activation, but absolute EMG changes between these effects were marginal (standard error = 3.8). Each independent variable altered mean EMG for most muscles as a main effect, with the largest changes in infraspinatus, upper and lower trapezius, and anterior deltoid. Altering the standard PUP does not seem to enhance serratus activation, but diverse responses in other muscles have training implications. These changes in muscle strategies can tailor the use of modified PUP exercises to target individual muscles or groups.

Pose Invariant Palm Vein Identification System using Convolutional Neural Network

Palm vein recognition is a one of the most efficient biometric technologies, each individual can be identified through its veins unique characteristics, palm vein acquisition techniques is either contact based or contactless based, as the individual's hand contact or not the peg of the palm imaging device, the needs a contactless palm vein system in modern applications rise tow problems, the pose variations (rotation, scaling and translation transformations) since the imaging device cannot aligned correctly with the surface of the palm, and a delay of matching process especially for large systems, trying to solve these problems. This paper proposed a pose invariant identification system for contactless palm vein which include three main steps, at first data augmentation is done by making multiple copies of the input image then perform out-of-plane rotation on them around all the X,Y and Z axes. Then a new fast extract Region of Interest (ROI) algorithm is proposed for cropping palm region. Finally, features are extracted and classified by specific structure of Convolutional Neural Network (CNN). The system is tested on two public multispectral palm vein databases (PolyU and CASIA); furthermore, synthetic datasets are derived from these mentioned databases, to simulate the hand out-of-plane rotation in random angels within range from -20° to +20° degrees. To study several situations of pose invariant, twelve experiments are performed on all datasets, highest accuracy achieved is 99.73% ∓ 0.27 on PolyU datasets and 98 % ∓ 1 on CASIA datasets, with very fast identification process, about 0.01 second for identifying an individual, which proves system efficiency in contactless palm vein problems.

Use of handrails for balance and stability: Characterizing loading profiles in younger adults

Well-designed handrails significantly enhance balance recovery, by allowing users to apply high forces to the rail and stabilize their center of mass. However, data on user-applied handrail forces during balance recovery are limited. We characterized the peak forces that 50 young adults applied to a handrail during forward and backward falling motions; quantified effects of handrail height (34, 38, 42 inches) and position prior to balance loss (standing beside the rail with or without hand contact, or facing the handrail with two-handed contact); and examined the relationship between handrail forces and individual mass. The testing environment consisted of a robotic platform that translated rapidly to destabilize participants, and a height-adjustable handrail that was mounted to the platform. Our findings support our hypotheses that starting position and handrail height significantly affect peak handrail forces in most axes. The highest handrail forces were applied when participants faced the handrail and grasped with two hands. In these cases, increased handrail height was associated with increased anterior forces and decreased downward, upward and resultant forces. As hypothesized, peak handrail forces correlated strongly with individual weight in most axes. Implications of these findings for handrail design are discussed.

Self-reported hand contact dermatitis among female hairdressers in Basrah

Self-reported hand contact dermatitis among female hairdressers in Basrah

Using photo-modification to compatibilize nano-ZnO in development of starch-kefiran-ZnO green nanocomposite as food packaging material

In this study, the effect of UV-C light on starch-kefiran-ZnO (1%) primary solution in different exposure times (1, 6, and 12 h) was investigated. Starch-kefiran-ZnO (SKZ) solution was modified by UV irradiation in different time periods. Also, nano-ZnO (ZN) was used as a photo-initiator and reinforcement agent, simultaneously. Mechanical properties of the films were affected after the UV treatment. The tensile strength increased because of the enhanced interaction between the biopolymer mixture and nano filler but elongation at break was decreased. WVP decreased about 16% and dwindled to 2.08 × 10−10 g m−1 s−1 Pa−1. Water related properties (i.e. moisture content, moisture absorption, and solubility in water) of the films decreased by UV-C exposure. On the other hand, UV absorption and water contact angle increased because of the better distribution of the ZNs in polymer matrix after the UV exposure. Better compatibility of the ZNs and the biopolymer matrix after UV treatment was confirmed by the SEM micrographs. Comparison of FTIR spectra before and after UV exposure showed slight shifts. It was due to some formed or deformed bonds inside of the nanocomposite matrix. The modified SKZ by UV could be an appropriate process to sanitizing and food packaging concurrently. As well as UV can be used as a nano-ZnO compatibilizer in food packaging materials.

Placement effects of inertial measurement units on contact identification in wheelchair racing

ABSTRACT Inertial measurement units (IMUs) provide a practical solution for attaining key performance data for wheelchair sports. The effects of IMU placement position on the identification of propulsion characteristics are unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the variability in the reliability of cycle time measurements (time between hand contacts) across IMU locations on the chair frame (axle housings), and wheels (axle, push rim, outer rim), on both the left and right sides (n = 8). Contacts were defined by spikes in the resultant acceleration data, corresponding to impact between the hands and push rim, and verified against motion capture. Five elite wheelchair racing athletes propelled at racing speeds on a treadmill. Excellent inter-rater Intraclass Correlation Coefficient values indicated high reliability and repeatability for both motion capture and IMU signal analysis approaches (R = 0.997, p < 0.001 and R = 0.990, p < 0.001, respectively). The best results were (as determined by the best between method agreement) were observed for IMUs located on the frame. Detection reliability was positively associated with signal-to-noise ratio of the acceleration data. The IMU assessment approach facilitates an automated processing capability, which is an improvement to the currently used video analysis.

161. Prevalence and Risk Factors for Candida auris Colonization Among Patients in a Long-term Acute Care Hospital—New Jersey, 2017

Background Candida auris can be transmitted in healthcare settings, and patients can become asymptomatically colonized, increasing risk for invasive infection and transmission. We investigated an ongoing C. auris outbreak at a 30-bed long-term acute care hospital to identify colonization for C. auris prevalence and risk factors.MethodsDuring February–June 2017, we conducted point prevalence surveys every 2 weeks among admitted patients. We abstracted clinical information from medical records and collected axillary and groin swabs. Swabs were tested for C. auris. Data were analyzed to identify risk factors for colonization with C. auris by evaluating differences between colonized and noncolonized patients.ResultsAll 101 hospitalized patients were surveyed, and 33 (33%) were colonized with C. auris. Prevalence of colonization ranged from 8% to 38%; incidence ranged from 5% to 20% (figure). Among colonized patients with available data, 19/27 (70%) had a tracheostomy, 20/31 (65%) had gastrostomy tubes, 24/33 (73%) ventilator use, and 12/27 (44%) had hemodialysis. Also, 31/33 (94%) had antibiotics and 13/33 (34%) antifungals during hospitalization. BMI for colonized patients (mean = 30.3, standard deviation (SD) = 10) was higher than for noncolonized patients (mean = 26.5, SD = 7.9); t = −2.1; P = 0.04). Odds of colonization were higher among Black patients (33%) vs. White patients (16%) (odds ratio [OR] 3.5; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.3–9.8), and those colonized with other multidrug-resistant organism (MDRO) (72%) vs. noncolonized (44%) (OR 3.2; CI 1.3–8.0). Odds of death were higher among colonized patients (OR 4.6; CI 1.6—13.6).Figure 1:Incidence and prevalence of Candida auris colonization by point prevalence survey (PPS), at a long-term acute care hospital, New Jersey, February 28 and June 14, 2017 (N = 101).ConclusionPatients in long-term acute care facilities and having high prevalences of MDROs might be at risk for C. auris. Such patients with these risk factors could be targeted for enhanced surveillance to facilitate early detection of C. auris. Infection control measures to reduce MDROs’ spread, including hand hygiene, contact precautions, and judicious use of antimicrobials, could prevent further C. auris transmission.AcknowledgementsThe authors thank Janet Glowicz and Kathleen Ross.Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.

HUBUNGAN PENGAWASAN INFECTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL LINK NURSE (IPCLN) TERHADAP KEPATUHAN PERAWAT MELAKUKAN CUCI TANGAN DI RUANG RAWAT INAP MURNI TEGUH MEMORIAL HOSPITAL MEDAN

Healthcare Associated Infections (HAIs)/ Nosocomial infections is a mayority problem in Hospital caused by hand contact. Hand washing is a one of the effective simple strategy to prevent Healthcare Associated Infections (HAIs)/Nosocomial Infection. Hospital and the other care facilities are required to have a IPCN (Infection Prevention and Control Link Nurese). In IPCN work assisted by several IPCLN (Infection Prevention and Control Link Nurse). Strategy to improve a quality of nursing services is very important to do optimize the compliance of nurse by hand washing supervision or suvervisi wich focuses to improving a quality of nursing care. This study aims to determine the relationship of control Infection Prevention and Control Link Nurse 9IPCLN) to compliance of handwasing nurse to patinet room in Murni Teguh Memorial Hospital Medan. The results showed that IPCLN survalliance at Murni Teguh Memorial Hospital Medan was generally poor is 24 respondents (70,59%)less good an dgood is 7 respondent (20,59%). The conclution of this study is the controlof Infrction Prevention and Control Link Nurse (IPCLN) has significant relationship to the compliance of nurse perform handwashing in the inpatient room at Murni Teguh Memorial Hospital Medan.

Caging Polygonal Objects Using Formationally Similar Three-Finger Hands

Caging offers a robust strategy for grasping objects with robot hands. This letter describes an efficient caging-to-grasping algorithm for polygonal objects using minimalistic three-finger robot hands. This letter describes how to cage and then grasp polygonal objects, using single actuator triangular three-finger formations, whose shape is determined by any desired immobilizing grasp of the polygonal object. While the hand's configuration space is four-dimensional, the algorithm uses the hand's two-dimensional contact space, which represents all two- and three-finger contacts along the grasped object boundary. This letter describes how the problem of computing the critical cage formation that allows the object to escape the hand is reduced to a search along a caging graph constructed in the hand's contact space. Starting from a desired immobilizing grasp, the graph is searched for the critical cage formation, which is used to determine the caging regions surrounding the immobilizing grasp. Any three-finger placement within these regions guarantees robust object grasping. The technique is demonstrated with a detailed computational example and a video clip, which shows caging experiments with a single actuator three-finger robot hand.