A demonstration of the validity of a 3-D video motion analysis method for measuring finger flexion and extension

This study demonstrates the validity of using 3-D video motion analysis to measure hand motion. Several researchers have devised ingenious methods to study normal and abnormal hand movements. Although very helpful, these earlier studies are static representations of a dynamic phenomenon. Despite the many studies of hand motion using scientifically impeccable techniques, little is known about digital motion, and there are still few researchers investigating dynamic three-dimensional motion of the hand. Results from a three-camera video motion analysis system were compared to those from the “gold standard”, 2-D lateral view fluoroscopy. We used these two methods to record hand motion simultaneously during unrestricted flexion and extension of the index finger of the dominant hand in 6 neurologically normal, healthy volunteers. After collection and post-processing, the waveforms of the PIP, DIP and MCP joint angles were compared using the adjusted coefficient of multiple determination (R²_a, or CMD). The mean CMD values for the MCP, PIP and DIP joint angle waveforms were 0.96, 0.98 and 0.94, respectively, suggesting a close similarity between motion of comparable joints analyzed by the 2-D and 3-D methods. This shows that the method of 3-D motion analysis is capable of accurately quantifying digital joint motion.

It is anticipated that 3-D motion analysis, in addition to being used as a research tool, will also have clinical applications such as surgical planning in neuromuscular disorders and the documentation of abnormal motion in many other pathological hand conditions.