Biomechanical assessment of gloves. A study of the sensitivity and reliability of electromyographic parameters used to measure the activation and fatigue of different forearm muscles

Laboratory assessment of the effect of heavy rubber glove thickness and sizing on effort, performance and comfort

“…Four muscles, ED, ECU, FDS and FPL as well as RPE are presented. These muscles were chosen to be the most responsive to gripping activities (Johanson et al, 1996;Kaufman et al, 1999;Lariviere et al, 2004;Greig and Wells, 2008). Table 2 shows the effects of glove class on ratings of perceived exertion, time and electromyographic activity.…”

“…The task was developed to characterise the loads on the finger and wrist extensors during the preparation to grasp. The extensor muscles of the forearm can be heavily loaded during such actions (Hägg and Milerad, 1997;Keir and Wells, 2002;Lariviere et al, 2004;Greig and Wells, 2008).…”

Reliability of physiological and subjective responses to physical and psychosocial exposures during a simulated manufacturing task

“…Finally, gender imbalance may have resulted in unintentional gender biases, but the total sample size was too small to determine any gender differences. Previous research on the reliability of EMG measures of the forearm indicates that gender significantly influences EMG parameters during grip activities (Lariviè re et al, 2004), so it is reasonable to investigate potential gender differences of EMG in the shoulder region and other physiological and subjective variables. To verify the current findings, future work should strive for larger, gender-balanced samples and within-subjects designs to reduce variability and potential confounders.…”

The efforts in the forearm during the use of anti-vibration gloves in simulated work tasks

“…However, as is usual in the real work environment, variations in physical properties may be expected in different locations of the same concrete slab and pine bar. A cylindrical (4.4 cm diameter) grip dynamometer comprised of two aluminium pieces separated by two force transducers was used by Larivière et al (2004Larivière et al ( , 2010 in the evaluation of grip forces associated with the use of gloves. Wimer et al (2009Wimer et al ( , 2010 suggested that grip strength measured with the Jamar handle may not be reliable when applied to the design and risk assessment of some tools or machines with cylindrical handles.…”

“…However, the results concerning a moderately stiff glove involve a statistically significant increase in muscle activation (relative to the bare hands) only for the wrist extensors. A similar increase in electromyographic (EMG) signal occurred from the bare hand to the moderately stiff glove condition with respect to the flexor carpi radialis muscle, but this increase was not statistically significant (Larivière et al, 2004). Wells et al (2010) reported large and statistically significant differences as glove thickness increased effort and EMG amplitude increased.…”