Centre of Precision Rehabilitation for Spinal Pain, School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK.
Research Centre, University College of Osteopathy, 275 Borough High Street, London, SE1 1JE, UK.
Chiropr Man Therap. 2020 Oct 5;28(1):51. doi: 10.1186/s12998-020-00340-7.
Assessing the responses of body tissue subjected to mechanical load is a fundamental component of the clinical examination, psychophysical assessments and bioengineering research. The forces applied during such assessments are usually generated manually, via the hands of the tester, and aimed at discreet tissue sites. It is therefore desirable to objectively quantify and optimise the control of manually applied force. However, current laboratory-grade manual devices and commercial software packages, in particular pressure algometer systems, are generally inflexible and expensive. This paper introduces and discusses several principles that should be implemented as design goals within a flexible, generic software application, given currently available force measurement hardware. We also discuss pitfalls that clinicians and researchers might face when using current pressure algometer systems and provide examples of these. Finally, we present our implementation of a pressure algometer system that achieves these goals in an efficient and affordable way for researchers and clinicians. As part of this effort, we will be sharing our configurable software application via a software repository.
评估人体组织对机械负荷的反应是临床检查、心理物理评估和生物工程研究的基本组成部分。在这些评估中施加的力通常是通过测试者的手手动产生的，并针对离散的组织部位。因此，需要客观地量化和优化手动施加力的控制。然而，目前的实验室级手动设备和商业软件包，特别是压力测痛计系统，通常是不灵活和昂贵的。本文介绍并讨论了在给定现有测力硬件的情况下，应作为设计目标在灵活的通用软件应用程序中实现的几个原则。我们还讨论了临床医生和研究人员在使用当前压力测痛计系统时可能遇到的问题，并提供了这些问题的示例。最后，我们展示了我们的压力测痛计系统的实现，该系统以高效和负担得起的方式为研究人员和临床医生实现了这些目标。作为这项工作的一部分，我们将通过软件存储库共享我们可配置的软件应用程序。
