Author Description

This dissertation, "Quantitative Assessment of Hand Function by Hand Motion Analysis Using Cyberglove" by Kin-hei, Timothy, Au,, was obtained from The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) and is being sold pursuant to Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License. The content of this dissertation has not been altered in any way. We have altered the formatting in order to facilitate the ease of printing and reading of the dissertation. All rights not granted by the above license are retained by the author. Abstract: Hand motion analysis methods have been providing researchers with motion investigation initiatives, revealing motion features and mechanisms in both healthy subjects and patients suffering from hand dysfunctions. Technical advancements have led to the maturation of motion capturing methods such as goniometric gloves. In this project, the CyberGlove as a manufactured product was chosen as a potential tool for the development of a hand function assessment system that would ultimately distinguish between healthy subjects and patients suffering from hand dysfunctions. In this study, the evaluation of the CyberGlove as a feasible clinical tool and its technical adaptations were done in parallel. The sensor output characteristics were investigated using X-ray photography as a spatial golden standard and the sensors were shown to exhibit linear qualities with optimal nonlinearities at 0.6%. The measurement sensitivity and accuracy by the CyberGlove was improved by establishing a calibration protocol suiting the sensor characteristics. Through a calibration protocol using calibration tools made by thermoplastics, the angular measurement error was found to decrease from 7.2% to 1.2%. The technical development of the software part of the project involved the inclusion of data preprocessing, display and analysis modules. To investigate the motion exhibited by healthy subj