Robotic manipulators working in remote or hazardous environments require additional measures to ensure their usability upon the failure of an actuator. This work considers failure modes that result in an immobilized joint and uses the concept of worst-case dexterity to deene kinematic and dynamic fault tolerance measures for redundant manipulators. These measures are then used to specify the op...

The acquisition and maintenance of essential psychomotor skills that are only required sporadically is a significant problem in medical training and practice. It is of particular relevance to anesthesiologists with regard to fibreoptic intubation, a technique that may be under-utilized despite its central role in the management of the difficult airway. Dexterity deficit due to current training ...

Technological developments in imaging guidance, intraoperative imaging, and microscopy have pushed neurosurgeons to the limits of their dexterity and stamina. The introduction of robotically assisted surgery has provided surgeons with improved ergonomics and enhanced visualization, dexterity, and haptic capabilities. This article provides a historical perspective on neurosurgical robots, includ...

OBJECTIVES To examine the comparative reliability and validity of three simple ways of rating upper limb tremor in patients with multiple sclerosis. METHODS Three examiners independently rated severity of upper limb tremor in patients with multiple sclerosis on a 0-10 scale by studying videotape recordings of patients' examinations, spiral drawings, and handwriting samples. The correlations o...

The neurological basis of developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is thought to be deficits in the internal model and mirror-neuron system (MNS) in the parietal lobe and cerebellum. However, it is not clear if the visuo-motor temporal integration in the internal model and automatic-imitation function in the MNS differs between children with DCD and those with typical development (TD). The cur...

The aim of this study was to examine the dexterity of both lower extremities in patients with stroke. Twenty patients with stroke and 20 age-matched control subjects participated in this study. To determine the dexterity of the lower extremities, we examined the ability to control muscle force during submaximal contractions in the knee extensor muscles using a force tracking task. The root mean...

We compared performance on three manual-dexterity tasks under monocular and binocular viewing. The tasks were the standard Morrisby Fine Dexterity Test, using forceps to manipulate the items, a modified version of the Morrisby test using fingers, and a "buzz-wire" task in which subjects had to guide a wire hoop around a 3D track without bringing the hoop into contact with the track. In all thre...

..................................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER I: OVERVIEW..................................................................................................1 CHAPTER II: BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE ...................................................3 I. Statement of the problem ......................................