Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research (대한의용생체공학회:의공학회지)

The Korean Society of Medical and Biological Engineering (대한의용생체공학회)
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Comparison of Muscular Endurance Limit of the Thumb with Repetitive Using Between Adults and Children

성인 및 청소년의 엄지손가락 반복사용에 따른 근 피로한계 비교

  • Park, J.H. (BK21, Graduate School of Mechanical Engineering, Pusan National University) ;
  • Kim, G.H. (School of Mechanical Engineering, Pusan National University) ;
  • Son, K. (School of Mechanical Engineering, Pusan National University)
  • 박정홍 (부산대학교 기계공학부 대학원 BK사업단) ;
  • 김광훈 (부산대학교 기계공학부) ;
  • 손권 (부산대학교 기계공학부)
  • Received : 2012.08.31
  • Accepted : 2013.01.11
  • Published : 2013.02.28
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Abstract

According to the frequent use of mobile devices, risk of repetitive strain injury for the finger joints was increasing recently. The purpose of this study was to investigate the difference of muscular endurance limit of the thumb between adults and children. A total of thirty subjects (15 adults: $41.0{\pm}7.9$ years and 15 children: $9.5{\pm}2.7$ years) was recruited for this experiment. Maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) of the thumb was measured for 100 trials for each subject by using a push-pull gauge. From the maximum peak value obtained, three main factors (MVC, endurance limit, and fatigue index) were defined to quantify fatigue characteristics of the thumb flexor muscle. The experimental results showed that the mean of MVC, endurance limit, and fatigue index of the children were approximately 50% compared to the adults (p < 0.001). From the results of Pearson correlation test, the endurance limit was highly correlated with weight, age, hand length rather than height. Based on this study, children are more vulnerable to repetitive task using the thumb such as text/SNS messaging, gaming, and scrolling.

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