LabVIEW based control software for finger force sensor instrumentation design

This report describes National Instruments (NI) LabVIEW software for the control of finger force instrumentation for the quantification of Repetitive Stress Injury (RSI), Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS), or other applications requiring automated data acquisition of applied finger force using resistive type force sensors. The quantification of finger force requires the precise data collection from resistive force sensors for all five fingers and keyboard key switches. This abstract describes how a LabVIEW based software application allows for the precise control over data force collection for all fingers and key switches, while acquiring human subject's study information, isometric & datalogging finger force, and providing the user with visual force measurements feedback. The implementation of this software provides a fast prototyping for evaluating finger force instrumentation. While no other LabVIEW based software application is available to date for this finger force data collection, our system proved rugged and flexible enough to accommodate fine tuning changes on hardware and software, with a minimum of dead time during usage. The software is available for download at www.joseagraz.com.

I. Introduction

Repetitive Stress Injury (RSI) is attributed to a number of overlying biomedical factors. Repetitive activities performed at work or leisure over an extended period of time, constant excessive load and poor body mechanics are suggested as causes of RSI. In addition, medical conditions such as pregnancy, rheumatoid arthritis, and diabetes can also contribute to RSI. LabVIEW, a high level graphical programming language, brings software development speed and flexibility to programming data acquisition. In this application, LabVIEW provides a natural intuitive man-machine interaction than text based languages [1] [2] at a much lower cost. In reviewing the literature, no LabVIEW software applications for finger force instrumentation has been published.