System for Measuring Finger Force Profiles for Dexterity Assessment

Abstract

We propose a novel system for measuring finger force profiles for dexterity assessment. The system consists of a software application and encased hardware. The sensing part of the system consists of ten high sensitivity strain gage force sensors, one for each finger. The developed application controls turning ON/OFF of the LEDs (each LED corresponds to one finger) to signalize the user which finger should press the corresponding strain gage force sensor. Linearity, repeatability, and sensitivity to position pressure of the strain gage force sensors were tested to prove the system reliability. The potential usage of the system with the assessment of quantitative parameters was demonstrated on two healthy subjects.

Keywords

• finger dexterity
• finger force
• strain gage force sensor
• quantitative assessment