PDA-based device targets neuromuscular diseases

U.S. surgeons will perform over 500,000 procedures for carpal tunnel this year, 100,000 of which will need to be redone. Fortunately, a team of Rice University bioengineering students have developed a PDA-based device to measure intrinsic hand muscle strength, an invention that promises to revolutionize the diagnosis and treatment of hand injuries and neurological disorders--specifically carpal tunnel syndrome--while taking a bite out of the $2 billion per year the healthcare system spends on treating the condition.

Called PRIME, or Peg Restrained Intrinsic Muscle Evaluator, the patent-pending invention can be used across the spectrum of care from diagnosis to outcome measurements. According to an article on TheMobileHealthCrowd.com, PRIME swept first place and $10,000 at IShow, an innovation competition for graduate and undergraduate students sponsored by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in Palm Desert, Calif., this June.

Picking up where a physician's routine strength test leaves off--raise your hand; push this way, push that way--PRIME delivers quantifiable results that exceed those of previous devices, which lack the repeatability to be useful and do not adjust for small hands or unusual morphologies. The device contains three elements: a pegboard restraint, a force transducer enclosure and a PDA custom-programmed to capture measurements.

During a five-minute exam, a loop is fitted around the finger, and when the patient moves it, the amount of force generated is measured. According to Shuai "Steve" Xu, one of PRIME's inventors, the device gets the peak force, then the doctor can create a patient-specific file that is time-stamped with every single measurement, as well as patient information.

And since PRIME integrates with existing systems in a manner that is HIPAA compliant, the Rice students hope it will help hospitals and rehabilitation clinics compare the effectiveness of surgical interventions and diagnose neuromuscular degenerative diseases.