ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: The human hand is responsible for a significant part of daily activities, becoming one of the most important tools of the human body. Hand injuries caused by different pathologies, by trauma or by the use of manual instruments with low ergonomics are pointed as the cause of social problems affecting individuals with limited capacity of using their hands. Designs of more ergonomic instruments are an important step to obtain comfortable and useful instruments to prevent hand injuries. Information about the pressure in the palm of the hand and the acting forces in the tendons of the fingers and wrist are useful to study. The discomfort, pain, muscle-skeletal and tendon injuries are consequences of using non-ergonomic instruments. The utilization of 3D models of the human hand has become a valuable tool, aiding the studies for the design of artificial members with more accurate controls and design of ergonomic instruments. The aim of this work is to create a 3D finite element model of the human hand, characterize the constitutive tissues (bones, skin and ligaments) and perform the simulation of the index finger’s flexion. The devised numerical model was successfully implemented leading to stable and easily converged results, showing that the 3D biomechanical model of human hand is robust.
