Quantification of shoulder and elbow passive moments in the sagittal plane as a function of adjacent angle fixations

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Kodek, Timotej | Marko Munih, Marko

Affiliations: Faculty of electrical engineering, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia Laboratory for robotics, Tržaška 25, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. Tel.: +386 1 4768465; Fax: +386 1 4768239; E-mail: timotej.kodek@robo.fe.uni-lj.si, marko.munih@robo.fe.uni-lj.si

Abstract: The goal of this study was an assessment of the shoulder and elbow joint passive moments in the sagittal plane for six healthy individuals. Either the shoulder or elbow joints were moved at a constant speed, very slowly throughout a large portion of their range by means of an industrial robot. During the whole process the arm was held fully passively, while the end point force data and the shoulder, elbow and wrist angle data were collected. The presented method unequivocally reveals a large passive moment adjacent angle dependency in the central angular range, where most everyday actions are performed. It is expected to prove useful in the future work when examining subjects with neuromuscular disorders. Their passive moments may show a fully different pattern than the ones obtained in this study.

Keywords: elbow passive moments, shoulder passive moments, dynamic model, upper extremity, static movement, sagittal plane, industrial robot

DOI: 10.3233/THC-2003-11202

Journal: Technology and Health Care, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 89-103, 2003