Maximum isometric finger pull forces

The current study determined the maximal voluntary isometric forces for a variety of finger pulling tasks. Twenty healthy females, with no history of upper extremity injuries, were asked to use the fingers from their dominant hands and apply their maximal voluntary pull forces for seven conditions that varied in the number of fingers, force application location and interface characteristics. All conditions were tested with and without the use of a glove. However, there was no significant effect of wearing a glove. As expected, the maximum force increased with the number of fingers used and decreased when forces were applied on the finger tip instead of the first distal inter-phalangeal joint. Maximum forces ranged from 59.5 +/- 21.4 N when using the index finger tip on a thin ring, to 268.7 +/- 77.2 N when using all four fingers on a straight bar. Relevance to industry: Many industrial tasks require pulling with the finger(s). The current study provides a set of maximal finger pull force values that can be used to set force limits that will contribute to protecting worker health and safety and insuring manufacturing quality. Crown Copyright (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.