Background Smart mobile devices gain increasing importance at work. Integrating these smart mobile devices into the workplace creates new opportunities and challenges for occupational health and safety. Objectives Therefore the aim of the following scoping review was to identify ergonomic challenges with the use of smart mobile devices at work with respect to physical problems. Method A review of 36 papers based on literature including January 2016 was conducted. Results Biomechanical measures in the reviewed studies demonstrated i.e., head flexion angles exceeding 20° in 20 out of 26 different conditions described. Furthermore, laterally deviated wrists were frequently noted and thumb and finger flexor muscle activities generally greater than 5% MVC were reported. Conclusion The reviewed literature indicated an elevated biomechanical risk, especially for the neck, the wrists and thumb. This was due to poor posture, ongoing and intermitted muscle tension, and/or repetitive movements. Papers addressing specific risks for smartphone and tablet use in different work environments are scarce. As the technology, as well as the use of smart mobile devices is rapidly changing, further research, especially for prolonged periods in the workplace is needed.

A scoping review on smart mobile devices and physical strain

Thumb opposition is vital for hand function and involves pronation and palmar abduction. The improvement of pronation is often used as one of the evaluation items of the opponensplasty method for severe carpal tunnel syndrome. However, most of the studies used substitution evaluation methods for measurement of the pronation angle. Thus, there is still no appropriate method for measuring thumb pronation angle accurately in carpal tunnel syndrome patients. In recent reports, a wearable gyroscope was used to evaluate upper extremity motions and it can be possibly used for accurate measurement of the thumb pronation angle along the three-dimensionally moving bone axis. Thus, we investigated the reliability of measuring thumb pronation using a gyroscope and evaluated whether this method can be used to detect opposition impairment. The participants were volunteers with unaffected upper limbs (32 hands) and patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (27 hands). The pronation and palmar abduction angles during opposition movements were measured using a three-axis gyroscope that included a three-axis accelerometer. The gyroscope was fixed onto the first metacarpal bone and the thumb phalanx. The pronation and palmar abduction angles of the metacarpal bone and the palmar abduction angles of the phalanx significantly decreased in the carpal tunnel syndrome group. The pronation angle of the metacarpal bone during opposition movement peaked later than the palmar abduction angle in all hands. We were able to measure the thumb pronation and palmar abduction angles using the three-axis gyroscope, and this tool was able to detect impairments of thumb opposition due to carpal tunnel syndrome. This could be a tool for measuring thumb and finger angles and for detecting impairments caused by various diseases.

/pdf/a-new-method-of-measuring-the-thumb-pronation-and-palmar-q2ropjzjld.pdf

A new method of measuring the thumb pronation and palmar abduction angles during opposition movement using a three-axis gyroscope.

Soft pneumatic gloves are a promising tool for assisting stroke patients with hand dysfunction in their rehabilitation and daily activities. However, current gloves have limited extension force output. This article presents a hybrid actuator that combines a silicone flexion actuator with an extension actuator made from shape memory alloy (SMA) springs. The Critical parameters and material of the soft actuator were optimized using a finite element model. Additionally, the SMA spring actuator was equipped with a water-cooling structure to reduce temperature and increase response speed by 55.8%. The hybrid actuator generated an obstructed tip force of 16.02 N at 200 kPa pressure and an extension force of 8.675 N. The hybrid actuator was integrated with the water-cooling structure into a soft glove and evaluated in trials involving eight stroke patients. With the assistance of the glove, the bending angles of the stroke patients’ index fingers, including the PIP and MCP joints, significantly improved, increasing from 6.8 ± 2.8∘ and 11.3 ± 4.6∘ to 68.3 ± 5.3∘ and 68.1 ± 5.5∘, respectively. Furthermore, the glove also increased the maximum friction with a 50-mm cylinder from 8.4 ± 3.5 N to 21.34 ± 5.8 N. 

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/ielx7/8253409/8627956/10175575.pdf

Design and Evaluation of a Bidirectional Soft Glove for Hand Rehabilitation-Assistance Tasks

Objectives: The dexterity of fossil hominins is often inferred by assessing the comparative manual anatomy and behaviors of extant hominids, with a focus on the thumb. The aim of this study is to test whether trabecular structure is consistent with what is currently known about habitually loaded thumb postures across extant hominids. 
Materials and methods: We analyze first metacarpal (Mc1) subarticular trabecular architecture in humans (Homo sapiens, n = 10), bonobos (Pan paniscus, n = 10), chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes, n = 11), as well as for the first time, gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla, n = 10) and orangutans (Pongo sp., n = 1, Pongo abelii, n = 3 and Pongo pygmaeus, n = 5). Using a combination of subarticular and whole‐epiphysis approaches, we test for significant differences in relative trabecular bone volume (RBV/TV) and degree of anisotropy (DA) between species. 
Results: Humans have significantly greater RBV/TV on the radiopalmar aspects of both the proximal and distal Mc1 subarticular surfaces and greater DA throughout the Mc1 head than other hominids. Nonhuman great apes have greatest RBV/TV on the ulnar aspect of the Mc1 head and the palmar aspect of the Mc1 base. Gorillas possessed significantly lower DA in the Mc1 head than any other taxon in our sample. 
Discussion: These results are consistent with abduction of the thumb during forceful “pad‐to‐pad” precision grips in humans and, in nonhuman great apes, a habitually adducted thumb that is typically used in precision and power grips. This comparative context will help infer habitual manipulative and locomotor grips in fossil hominins.

/pdf/trabecular-variation-in-the-first-metacarpal-and-2nxxj82tzn.pdf

Trabecular variation in the first metacarpal and manipulation in hominids.

The Kapandji score is used widely to record thumb opposition and is the only alternative to angular measurements. We aimed to verify the extent to which the Kapandji score reflects the angle of pronation. We recruited volunteers with unaffected upper limbs (33 hands) and patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (20 hands). We attached a small gyroscope to the thumb metacarpal and measured the pronation and palmar abduction angles at each position of the Kapandji score in both groups. The Kapandji score showed a strong ceiling effect, and the increase in angle size at each Kapandji score levelled off around a score of 6 in both groups. A Kapandji score greater than 6 does not necessarily reflect thumb opposition. Level of Evidence: III.

Measurement of thumb pronation and palmar abduction angles with a small motion sensor: a comparison with Kapandji scores.

Purpose
The movements at each thumb joint are flexion and extension (called radial abduction in the CMCJ) and additional movements of anteposition, retroposition and opposition at the CMCJ, due to the saddle shape of the articulation. Our study was designed to provide a means of thumb movement measurement and provide a range for each.

The range of movement of the thumb

Handle everyday research tasks with reliable, citation-backed results

Your personal Research Agent to handle research tasks with citation-backed results

Popular Tasks used by Researchers

How can I help with your research?

Meet SciSpace

Get more enhanced response by uploading the PDFs you want me to reference.

No relevant PDFs in your library

SciSpace is the AI research assistant for academics. Run systematic literature reviews on 280M+ papers, and write papers with cited sources. Trusted by 1M+ students, PhDs & researchers.

SciSpace | AI for Research

Analyze PDFs

Code & Manuscripts

Funding & Grants

Literature & Patents

Medical & Clinical Data

Systematic Review

Visualize & Present

Web & Data

Build a Google Scholar-like website for your research.

Build a website

Create charts and images for your research

Create a Chart

Write a paper for submission to a journal

Draft a manuscript

Patent Search

Design eye-catching scientific posters in minutes.

Scientific Poster Generation

Systematic Literature Review

One task is running at the moment. Your messages will be shown right after.

Drag and drop or click here to browse

Loved by <highlight>1 million+</highlight> researchers

Extract a list of specific topics and their sources from unstructured text

Topics

Compare and analyze relevant papers that matches with your search

Papers

Get insights from PDFs and bookmarked papers from your library

My library

Recent searches

Try searching for:

Catch AI-generated content in scholarly and non-scholarly content

{ai} Detector

Ai Writer

Get PDF Summaries, highlighted text explanations 

Chat with PDF

Effortlessly create in-text citations and bibliographies in APA and 2,500 other formats

Citation generator

Get explanations, summaries, and answers on academic papers

Ease up your research workflow with {scispace}'s cohort of exciting AI tools

Elevate your academic writing skills and convey your ideas the way you want

Paraphraser

Explore our range of reading and writing tools

Your file is being prepared and should be ready in a few minutes. If it's a large file, it might take a bit longer. You can close this window, and we'll email you the file when it's done.

You have reached a maximum limit of <strong>{limit}</strong> columns in the table. Remove at least <strong>1</strong> column to add or create another one.

J. Field

Author Tools

Chat about Author

Papers

The range of movement of the thumb