Technical Paper
A Feasibility Study of Hand Kinematics for EVA Analysis Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging
1992-07-01
921253
A new method of analyzing the kinematics of joint motion is developed in this study. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) offers several distinct advantages. Past methods of studying anatomic joint motion have usually centered on four approaches. These methods are x-ray projection, goniometric linkage analysis, sonic digitization, and landmark measurement of photogrammetry. Of these four, only x-ray is applicable for in vivo studies. The remaining three methods utilize other types of projections of inter-joint measurements, which can cause various types of error. MRI offers accuracy in measurement due to its tomographic nature (as opposed to projection) without the problems associated with x-ray dosage. Once the data acquisition of MR images was complete, the images for this study were processed using a 3-D volume rendering workstation. In this study, the metacarpalphalangeal (MCP) joint of the left index finger was selected and reconstructed into a three-dimensional graphic display.