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Development and usability testing of a finger grip enhancer for the elderly

As people age, their finger function deteriorates due to muscle, nerve, and brain degener-ation. While exercises might delay this deterioration, an invention that enhances elderly people’s pinching abilities is essential. This study aims to design and develop a finger grip enhancer that facilitates...

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Main Authors: Tan, Dominic Wen How, Ng, Poh Kiat, Noor, Ervina Efzan Mhd, Saptari, Adi, Hue, Chee Chen, Ng, Yu Jin
Format: Article
Published: MDPI 2022
Subjects:
T Technology (General)
Online Access:http://eprints.um.edu.my/43151/
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85122968842&doi=10.3390%2frobotics11010005&partnerID=40&md5=b58c7797f46b2932e76eb92c18c790b7
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spelling my.um.eprints.431512023-10-10T09:04:28Z http://eprints.um.edu.my/43151/ Development and usability testing of a finger grip enhancer for the elderly Tan, Dominic Wen How Ng, Poh Kiat Noor, Ervina Efzan Mhd Saptari, Adi Hue, Chee Chen Ng, Yu Jin T Technology (General) As people age, their finger function deteriorates due to muscle, nerve, and brain degener-ation. While exercises might delay this deterioration, an invention that enhances elderly people’s pinching abilities is essential. This study aims to design and develop a finger grip enhancer that facilitates the day-to-day pinching activities of elderly people. This research is an extension of a previous study that conceptualised a finger grip enhancer. The device facilitates finger flexion on the thumb and index finger, and weighs 520 g, allowing for improved portability and sufficient force exertion (13.9 N) for day-to-day pinching. To test for usability, eleven subjects aged 65 years and above performed a pinch-lift-hold test on various household objects. The pinch force before and after utilising the device was measured. Using Minitab 18, the statistical significance of using this device was analysed with a paired-samples t-test. With this device, the elderly people’s pinching abilities significantly improved in both pinch force and pinch force steadiness (p < 0.05). The proposed device has the potential to enhance elderly people’s quality of life by supporting a firm pinch in the handling of everyday objects. This research has applicational value in developing exoskeleton devices for patients who require rehabilitation. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. MDPI 2022 Article PeerReviewed Tan, Dominic Wen How and Ng, Poh Kiat and Noor, Ervina Efzan Mhd and Saptari, Adi and Hue, Chee Chen and Ng, Yu Jin (2022) Development and usability testing of a finger grip enhancer for the elderly. Robotics, 11 (1). DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/robotics11010005 <https://doi.org/10.3390/robotics11010005>. https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85122968842&doi=10.3390%2frobotics11010005&partnerID=40&md5=b58c7797f46b2932e76eb92c18c790b7 10.3390/robotics11010005
institution Universiti Malaya
building UM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Malaya
content_source UM Research Repository
url_provider http://eprints.um.edu.my/
topic T Technology (General)
spellingShingle T Technology (General)
Tan, Dominic Wen How
Ng, Poh Kiat
Noor, Ervina Efzan Mhd
Saptari, Adi
Hue, Chee Chen
Ng, Yu Jin
Development and usability testing of a finger grip enhancer for the elderly
description As people age, their finger function deteriorates due to muscle, nerve, and brain degener-ation. While exercises might delay this deterioration, an invention that enhances elderly people’s pinching abilities is essential. This study aims to design and develop a finger grip enhancer that facilitates the day-to-day pinching activities of elderly people. This research is an extension of a previous study that conceptualised a finger grip enhancer. The device facilitates finger flexion on the thumb and index finger, and weighs 520 g, allowing for improved portability and sufficient force exertion (13.9 N) for day-to-day pinching. To test for usability, eleven subjects aged 65 years and above performed a pinch-lift-hold test on various household objects. The pinch force before and after utilising the device was measured. Using Minitab 18, the statistical significance of using this device was analysed with a paired-samples t-test. With this device, the elderly people’s pinching abilities significantly improved in both pinch force and pinch force steadiness (p < 0.05). The proposed device has the potential to enhance elderly people’s quality of life by supporting a firm pinch in the handling of everyday objects. This research has applicational value in developing exoskeleton devices for patients who require rehabilitation. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
format Article
author Tan, Dominic Wen How
Ng, Poh Kiat
Noor, Ervina Efzan Mhd
Saptari, Adi
Hue, Chee Chen
Ng, Yu Jin
author_facet Tan, Dominic Wen How
Ng, Poh Kiat
Noor, Ervina Efzan Mhd
Saptari, Adi
Hue, Chee Chen
Ng, Yu Jin
author_sort Tan, Dominic Wen How
title Development and usability testing of a finger grip enhancer for the elderly
title_short Development and usability testing of a finger grip enhancer for the elderly
title_full Development and usability testing of a finger grip enhancer for the elderly
title_fullStr Development and usability testing of a finger grip enhancer for the elderly
title_full_unstemmed Development and usability testing of a finger grip enhancer for the elderly
title_sort development and usability testing of a finger grip enhancer for the elderly
publisher MDPI
publishDate 2022
url http://eprints.um.edu.my/43151/
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85122968842&doi=10.3390%2frobotics11010005&partnerID=40&md5=b58c7797f46b2932e76eb92c18c790b7
_version_ 1781704668370436096
score 13.211869

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