WO-2026095907-A1 - PEDIATRIC HAND GRIP STRENGTH MEASUREMENT DEVICE

Abstract

The invention relates to a hand grip strength measurement device that enables the objective and accurate determination of hand grip strength in healthy/sick children and adolescents within the pediatric population.

Inventors

• KANGALGİL, Melda
• MERAL, Buket
• KOBYA, Mehmet Emin

Assignees

• KARADENİZ TEKNİK ÜNİVERSİTESİ TEKNOLOJİ TRANSFERİ UYGULAMA VE ARAŞTIRMA MERKEZİ MÜDÜRLÜĞÜ

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20251020

Priority Date

20241103

Claims (4)

1. 1. A pediatric hand grip strength measurement device, characterized in that it comprises: a rubber soft cover (1) contacted and compressed by the user; a digital display (3) showing the results to the user; at least one pressure gauge (4) positioned on the central core (7) for measuring hand grip strength and transmitting it to the microcontroller (6); a pressure gauge data transmission cable (5) enabling the transmission of the data obtained by the pressure gauge (4) to the microcontroller (6); a microcontroller (6) processing the data obtained by the pressure gauge (4); and data transmission cables (2) enabling the transmission of the data converted into meaningful data in the microcontroller (6) to the digital display (3).
2. 2. The rubber soft cover (1 ) according to claim 1 , characterized in that it has a spherical form.
3. 3. The pressure gauges (4) according to claim 1 , characterized in that they are placed on the central core (7) so as to cover the entire surface of the central core (7).
4. 4. The digital display (3) according to claim 1 , characterized in that it is configured to provide a display with graphics, numerical values, or animation.

Description

DESCRIPTION PEDIATRIC HAND GRIP STRENGTH MEASUREMENT DEVICE TECHNICAL FIELD The invention relates to a hand grip strength measurement device that enables the objective and accurate determination of hand grip strength in healthy/sick children and adolescents within the pediatric population. PRIOR ART Hand grip strength is an objective measure of muscle function. Due to its advantages such as being non-invasive, simple, fast, inexpensive, and having high inter-rater reliability, it is suitable for routine use in community screenings and clinical practice. In adult patients, hand grip strength determined by a hand dynamometer is an important measurement used in the diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up period of nutritional disorders such as sarcopenia, malnutrition, and frailty. In the pediatric population, it is known to be one of the important tests in the evaluation of musculoskeletal health in adolescents and a useful method in assessing physical health in children and adolescents. Moreover, hand grip strength not only reflects total muscle strength and lean body mass but is also associated with bone mass. Similar to adults, there are data indicating that hand grip strength is a predictive assessment method for nutritional disorders in children. The most widely used hand dynamometers in the literature and in clinical settings are the Jamar and Takei brand products. The Takei brand product is a digital dynamometer. Jamar, on the other hand, has a hydraulic system. The Jamar dynamometer consists of an adjustable anatomical hard handle, a hydraulic system, and an analog display, and is accepted as the gold standard. Similar to Jamar, Takei has also been found to be a valid and reliable tool for hand grip strength measurement. It consists of an adjustable ergonomic handle, an electromechanical system, and a digital display. However, both of these devices have been developed for the adult population. Preliminary studies conducted by the research team revealed that both hand dynamometer brands mentioned above cause fear in hospitalized children, leading to refusal to participate in the measurement. Furthermore, the weight of both dynamometers makes it impossible especially for younger healthy and sick children to perform the measurement without assistance. Children struggle during these measurements. And in some children, the measurement could not be performed for this reason. This situation jeopardizes the reliability of the measurement. In addition, particularly in more fragile patient populations, such as oncology patients, hand grip strength measurements of children were frequently recorded as 0 due to the measurement difficulty of the device. In light of these findings, the need for a new device has been identified to ensure accurate evaluation of hand grip strength measurement in the pediatric population. A research of national and international patents regarding the evaluation of hand grip strength in the pediatric population revealed an application numbered 2021/009555. Within the scope of this patent, it was reported that researchers aimed to develop a device that collects information during the performance of the gripping ability regarding how this ability is carried out, how the generated force is distributed, and which regions of the hand contribute minimally and/or maximally to force production. One of the subobjectives of this device was to develop a device capable of objectively measuring and recording hand grip ability in infants and children, based on the principles defined by themselves. This device consists of a cylindrical hand grip meter and a visual interface. OBJECT OF THE INVENTION The purposes and prototype of the device developed within the scope of the invention differ from the state of the art. Firstly, the device to be used both in community health screenings and in screening the muscular state of children admitted to the hospital has to be fast and practical. The presence of an analog display on the measuring device affects measurement reliability in children. This is because children's ability to receive and execute commands is different from the adult population. It is also important that the device does not cause fear and anxiety in children and adolescents when measurements are requested. Otherwise, the child will refuse to be measured, or when urged to be measured by family/healthcare personnel, will apply force in a way that does not reflect the actual measurement, or the measurement will be inaccurate due to incorrect positioning. Another important issue is that the use of this measurement in screening for the risk of nutritional disorders and monitoring nutritional therapy requires the device to be easily portable. While the dynamometers in the state of the art are developed for the adult population, the main purpose of the device defined in the invention is to perform objective and real measurement of the hand grip strength of the pediatric age group. Since the use of a