Assessing Increased Activities of the Forearm Muscles Due to Anti-Vibration Gloves: Construct Validity of a Refined Methodology

Abstract

Objective The primary aim was to test the construct validity of a surface electromyography (EMG) measurement protocol, indirectly assessing the effects of anti-vibration (AV) gloves on activities of the forearm muscles. Background AV gloves impose a relatively higher grip demand and thus a higher risk for musculoskeletal disorders. Consequently, activities of the forearm muscles should be considered when assessing AV glove performance. Method Effects of AV gloves on activities of the forearm muscles (ECR: extensor carpi radialis longus; ED: extensor digitorum; FCR: flexor carpi radialis; FDS: flexor digitorum superficialis) were measured via EMG, while gripping a handle with two grip force levels. Fifteen subjects participated with 11 glove conditions, including one with bare hand. Results Activities of ECR, FCR, mean of ECR and FCR (ECR_FCR), and mean of all four muscles were sensitive to wearing gloves. Compared with bare hand, combined ECR_FCR activities increased by 22%–78% (mean = 48%, SD = 28%) with gloves. The correlation coefficient ( r) of ECR_FCR activities with glove thickness and manual dexterity scores were 0.74 ( p < .05) and 0.90 ( p < .001), respectively. Conclusions A refined EMG methodology was the most sensitive to AV gloves with specific forearm muscles (ECR and FCR) and the 50-N handgrip force. Its construct validity was further substantiated by correlations with glove thickness and manual dexterity. Application Assessment of the effect of AV gloves on activities of the forearm muscles can yield design guidance for AV gloves to reduce grip exertion by the gloved hand.

Assessments of Work Gloves in Terms of the Strengths of Hand Grip, One-Handed Carrying, and Leg Lifting

“…The thinnest glove (glove 2) showed the lowest grip strength decline (6.8%). The reason for this may be that our glove thickness was in a narrower range (1.03 mm~2.17 mm) than that in [49] (1.2 mm~8.2 mm). This may also imply a decline of grip strength due to wearing gloves not only depending on glove thickness but also the stiffness of the gloves.…”

“…The cut resistance gloves (glove 3) showed the highest decline than the other gloves, and the knitted gloves with NBR coating showed the lowest decline. Based upon EMG assessments of forearm muscles, a literature [49] has found that declination of grip strength is linearly related to the thickness of the gloves. This was partially consistent with our findings.…”

Advancements in Sensor Technologies and Control Strategies for Lower-Limb Rehabilitation Exoskeletons: A Comprehensive Review

“…A review of studies employing these sensors is summarized in Table 1, where each is identified by the lead author alone. EMG sensors measure minute electrical signals (muscle action potentials) produced during muscle contractions on the body's surface, which have found increasing applications across various fields, such as enhancing speech recognition [31], force estimation [32], and refining disease identification accuracy based on specific features [33]. The introduction of EMG sensors has significantly aided [25], (b) force sensor [26], and (c) displacement sensor [27].…”

Effects of two grip force levels and forearm postures on hand‐arm transmitted vibration and physiological responses

“…An alternative way that indirectly assesses grip force is through the activities of forearm muscles using surface electromyography (EMG) (Dianat et al, 2010;Larivière et al, 2004). The four main forearm muscles, including flexor carpi radialis (FCR), flexor digitorum superficialis, extensor carpi radials (ECR), and extensor digitorum, that closely activate when gripping a handle were used in several studies to assess the influence of various grip strength on the development upper limb fatigue (Larivière et al, 2004;Yao et al, 2020). Besides muscle pain and hand-arm discomfort, fundamental hand functions like grip strength can be reduced especially after long-term HAV exposure (Gerhardsson & Hagberg, 2019).…”