Muscle, Tendon and Joint Models for Computer-Aided Planning of Reconstructive Hand Surgery

A stable wrist position is achieved through a balance of forces in muscles acting around the wrist. If a tendon and/or muscle is disabled or functionally altered in any way the balance is disturbed, usually resulting in impaired position control of the wrist. In some cases the position control of the wrist can be enhanced through a tendon transfer operation. The goal of this project is to provide to those surgeons who are evaluating the rehabilitation potential of a disabled hand, a computer simulation and a dynamic graphic display of the wrist, showing the movements currently available to the individual, and the movements achievable after various tendon transfer operations.