The Pendulum Test for Evaluating Spasticity of the Elbow Joint
By Lin, Chou-Ching, MD, PhD; Ju, Ming-Shaung, PhD; Lin, Chun-Wang, MS; Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Vol. 84, No. 1, pp. 69-74Publication Date: January 2003
Study conducted to develop a modification of the Pendulum Test to allow for evaluation of elbow spasticity in clients with stroke and spinal cord injury. The main difficulties of directly applying the conventional pendulum test to the elbow were the small inertia of the forearm and the uncomfortable posture, as the pendulum test was originally designed for the knee joint. An experimental apparatus was designed to measure spasticity of the elbow joint. The model consisted of linear stiffness, damping, and gravity contribution. By using an optimization technique, the parameters of the proposed elbow biomechanic model were evaluated. Results indicated that the damping ratio derived from the proposed model differentiated spasticity from normotonus, and increased as spasticity increased.
Published by: W.B. Saunders Company, a division of Elsevier Health Sciences (Website:http://us.elsevierhealth.com)
American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (Web Site: http://www.aapmr.org/ )
American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (Web Site: http://www.acrm.org )
This publication is included in the library of the National Rehabilitation Information Center (NARIC), accession number J45004
