The 6th IEEE International Conference on E-Health and Bioengineering - EHB 2017

Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Sinaia, Romania, June 22-24, 2017

Statistical Analysis of Forces Developed

by Fingers
Diana Cotoros1, Cornel Druga1, Anca Stanciu1
1Department of Product Design, Mechatronics and Environment, Transilvania University of Brasov, Brasov,
Romania, dcotoros@unitbv.ro, druga@unitbv.ro, ancastanciu77@yahoo.com

Abstract— As fingers represent the main executive instrument
that assisted human evolution by performing various activities,
starting with work and fight for survival, the flawless functioning
of their grip and motion capacity should be a major
preoccupation for researchers in biomechanics and ergonomics
areas. More and more robotics becomes involved in
rehabilitation issues requiring accurate information regarding
the real values of the forces exerted by fingers during various
activities. The paper aims therefore at providing a thorough
statistical analysis of the experimental results determined on a
sample of healthy active subjects in order to achieve a useful tool
in designing rehabilitation devices and more ergonomic
equipments.
Keywords—statistical analysis, forces exerted by fingers,
biomechanics, ergonomics, rehabilitation.
I. INTRODUCTION
Fingers are our main tools in everyday life, as they allow us
performing various tasks [1], starting with handling different
working tools (screwdrivers, levers, switches, wrenches, pens,
etc), contribute in a strong grip during sport activities
(athletes, gymnasts, judo fighters, tennis players, etc.), support
the use of some rehabilitation devices, handle personal
hygiene (tooth-brush, comb, soap, etc.) or nourishment items
(cutlery, food), medical instruments or computer keyboards.
This means that any physical impairment in the hand-fingers
area would lead to serious discomfort and diminishing of life
quality [2].
Several studies were focused upon possibilities of
determining the values of the forces exerted by fingers in
different situations like manipulating tools with protecting
hand gloves [3], using force plates and markers to determine
the isometric force during activities similar to typing [4],
augmenting perception of weak forces occurred in
microsurgery [5] and many others.
Fingers motions are the result of a very complex system
requiring coordination and control of the force exerted and
involving the participation of skeletal structure, muscles, joints
and central nervous system. Many researchers are preoccupied
of finding the best means of assessing the performance of the
hand-fingers system in both healthy and impaired people (for
example affected by rheumatoid arthritis or carpal tunnel
syndrome) [6,7] in order to help developing rehabilitation and
prevention methodologies.
The influence of speed movement and task combinations
[8], as well as methods for improving handling skills [9] are
also major goals in biomechanical and ergonomic studies.
Numerous studies deal with original, modern and ingenious
methods of measuring the forces developed by fingers based
upon the use of sensors, transducers or using
electromyography [10] involving more or less subjects, but
they mostly focus upon the measurement procedures.
Robotics and rehabilitation design needs also accurate
analysis of the values required to be exerted by fingers in
various tasks in order to create exact replicas of the complex
and delicate hand-fingers system.
Therefore the present paper aims at providing a thorough
statistical analysis of the real forces exerted by fingers,
experimentally determined in carefully controlled conditions,
on an extensive sample of active healthy subjects, using
simple, not expensive but accurate instruments and ensuring
the repetitiveness of measurements.
II. MATERIALS AND METHODS
The study was performed upon 80 subjects, 40 male
subjects and 40 female subjects, aged 21-25, right – handed, in
good health, active, with no previous neurological issues. The
experiments took place in the Ergonomics laboratory in the
same environmental conditions.
The subjects were informed and instructed about the stages
of the experiment and they gave their consent. The data were
recorded in individual sheets and the subjects were taught how
to use them in their future activities of enhancing their
documentation skills. [11]
First their fingers mobility was tested by help of sensory
gloves (Meditutor type no.4) connected to a laptop provided
with the suitable Meditutor software, in order to exclude any
possible health issues that would impede upon the normal
movements of the fingers (fig.1). Subjects were required to
perform successive motions with all fingers, in a physiological
manner (without creating any discomfort), their amplitude
being recorded and compared to the normal values (fig.2).

978-1-5386-0358-1/17/$31.00 ©2017 IEEE

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 extension (fig.5). The subjects were required to exert both
anatomical forces (as hard as they can) and physiological
forces (as much as they feel comfortable), successively with
all fingers.
The results were recorded in individual recording sheets and
then centralized in a common Excel sheet. In order to facilitate
writing of the results, fingers were numbered from 1 to 5,
where thumb is D1, index is D2 and so on.

Fig.1 Sensory gloves attached to the computer

Fig.4 Finger flexion on the small Fig.5 Finger extension on the small
dynamometer dynamometer

III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

In order to proceed with the statistical analysis, a descriptive
statistics of the data was performed in Excel – Data Analysis
for both the male and female subjects results.
Thus we obtained information concerning the mean values
of the forces, minimum and maximum values, range, standard
deviation and number of recorded subjects.
As an example, the results obtained for the anatomical
forces exerted between fingers D1-D2 using the pinch meter
were represented in the diagram in fig.3, showing great
differences between the results obtained by the male subjects
Fig.2 Amplitudes of fingers motions for a male subject – right hand
and those obtained by the female subjects.
The results presented in fig.2 correspond to the following
amplitudes: little finger- 21,2mm, ring – 24,1mm, middle-
22,7mm, index- 20mm, thumb – 32,8mm. All the subjects
showed normal amplitudes, so it can be safely considered that
none of them suffers from major orthopedical afflictions.

Fig.3 Anatomical forces between fingers D1-D2

Fig.3 Using a pinch meter to determine force in fingers In order to perform comparisons between different sets of
For the second part of the experiments, the subjects were data, mean values were used in the representations in fig. 4 –
required to use a pinch meter (fig.3) and a small dynamometer fig.6 for anatomical forces exerted between D1 and all the
to record the forces exerted by finger flexion (fig.4) and other fingers of the right hand, as the subjects are right-

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handed. Measurements are made using the small
dynamometer.
Analyzing the diagram in fig.3 it becomes obvious there is a
significant difference between the forces exerted by male
subjects and those exerted by female subjects. Forces exerted
by female subjects are 52% of the forces exerted by male
subjects between D1-D2, 39,58% between D1-D3, 58,62%
between D1-D4 and 50,47% between D1-D5.
Fig.4 Comparison between average forces for male and female subjects
in flexion-anatomical
Fig.5 Average forces exerted in male flexion and extension
Fig.6 Average forces exerted in female flexion and extension
Also the difference between the forces applied in flexion
and those applied in extension is noticeable high for both male
and female subjects, as the anatomical construction of the
finger extensor mechanism does not allow this.
There is a certain medium positive correlation between the
flexion forces and the extension forces in fingers revealed by
the correlation coefficients ranged between 0,49 and 0,52,
p=0,0002, the highest coefficient being for the forces related
to the D1-D3 fingers in male subjects. Based upon that, the
regression diagram was obtained predicting the evolution of
the extension force with respect to the flexion force (fig.7).
Fig.7 Correlation between flexion – extension forces D1-D3
male subjects
According to fig.7 the increase of the extension force
depends at a certain extent on the growth of the flexion force,
the trend line being linear with a slightly increasing slope.
This relationship indicates that the tested persons are generally
healthy and do not suffer of degenerative bones or muscles
diseases [12].
When using finger force in different activities, it is
recommendable to apply physiological force (a lower force
that does not create discomfort and fatigue), but obviously
there should be a correlation between the anatomical and
physiological forces especially in healthy persons.
As the most used fingers in the majority of activities are the
thumb, the index and the middle finger, the correlation
coefficients were analyzed for D1-D2 and D1-D3 assemblies,
the results being presented in Table I.
TABLE I
CORRELATION COEFFICIENTS BETWEEN ANATOMICAL FORCES AND
PHYSIOLOGICAL FORCES
D1-D2 D1-D3
Males 0,77 0,73
Females 0,49 0,63
According to Table I there is a strong connection between
anatomical and physiological forces in male subjects and a
medium connection in female subjects, related to the natural
differences in their physical capacity.
The strongest correlation occurred between the anatomical
and physiological forces D1-D2 in male subjects, so the
regression becomes a natural development (fig.8).
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Fig.8 Relationship between anatomical-physiological forces, males
As the trend line is linear, the relationship between
anatomical and physiological forces suggests a proportional
growth, indicating healthy persons.
Considering the fact that users of switches, buttons,
keyboards, tools are not only male or female gender and
maybe not always in the best of health, we considered more
appropriate to determine the total average of the anatomical
forces regardless of gender and also for physiological forces
for the most used pairs of fingers D1-D2, D1-D3. The results
are shown in fig. 9.
Fig.9 Total average forces regardless of gender
The percentage of the physiological forces is 47,6% of the
anatomical forces for D1-D2 and 56,5% for D1-D3, so in
order to meet the objective possibilities of users in any
situation it is recommendable that the forces exerted by fingers
D2 and D3 in association to D1 should not exceed 3N in daily
and repetitive activities.
The values may also be lower if devices for impaired
people are designed.
IV. CONCLUSIONS
Fingers and hand are essential in all out daily activities
concerning work, sports, household, entertainment and the list
may go on. Therefore their functionality should be maintained
as long as possible or restored if necessary in order to live an
active and fulfilled life.
Taking into account ergonomic considerations is an
essential part of any project, as avoiding work related
muscular skeletal disorders and various syndromes like carpal
tunnel syndrome is crucial for a healthy and prolonged
activity.
Statistical analysis of measurements performed on large
samples of subjects will provide valuable information for both
ergonomic designers and for rehabilitation experts, as it
establishes real limits for the forces exerted by the most
involved body parts. Also, a large range of users is to be
considered, equipments and devices might be handled by any
active person, regardless of gender or physical training.
Therefore, it is recommended that forces exerted by
stronger fingers like D2, D3 should not exceed 3N in
repetitive activities or 6N in short term tasks. As fingers
extension produces lesser force and more probably muscular
skeletal damage, it should be avoided in repetitive tasks.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The experiments were performed within the Ergonomics
laboratory with the participation and consent of the students
from Medical Engineering.
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