PRIME hand injury diagnosis system takes hold of innovation prize

It may look like little more than a pegboard and a force meter at present, but the PRIME hand-strength measuring device has already won first place at the IShow innovation showcase. Its magic lies in the custom software loaded onto the appended PDA, which makes it possible to accurately and repeatably diagnose hand and wrist injuries that doctors currently test for by squeezing and prodding. The Rice University students responsible for the Peg Restrained Intrinsic Muscle Evaluator have applied for a patent and are planning to commercialize the device, so we'll be looking for it on the next episode of House.

[Via Physorg]

[Nzo Posted Jul 8th 2009 11:28PM]

I need one of these, my wrists and hands feel like theyre about to fall off...

[Frostblade10 Posted Jul 9th 2009 12:11AM]

Then stop typing! Der.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 9th 2009 12:56AM]

I don't think it's from typing....

[Nzo Posted Jul 9th 2009 1:17AM]

Yea its actually from turning a screwdriver all day long at high torque. Disability here I come.

[a dark day Posted Jul 8th 2009 11:41PM]

so elegant in its sheer simplicity. Maybe they can make a simple teleporter next

[paul34 Posted Jul 8th 2009 11:43PM]

or a box that's bigger on the inside than the outside

[ThundaChunky Posted Jul 9th 2009 12:03AM]

Now where's the MEGATRON athlete's foot cream?

[kurisutofu Posted Jul 9th 2009 1:28AM]

ah ah. When I saw the title I also thought of Transformer ^_^

[DroidBerryPhone Posted Jul 9th 2009 6:11AM]

haha yes.

[AndrewS Posted Jul 9th 2009 12:15AM]

Very neat! I still have my old PDA, a 400mhz Dell Axim. They should have courses in college on developing Windows Mobile applications, since a working PDA with Windows Mobile could be priced on ebay for as low as $20, or less depending on the device. The possibilities are endless with such an affordable and easy-to-develop OS that can be found on hundreds of different devices.

[nycguy Posted Jul 9th 2009 1:15AM]

What...??? Very skeptical about this device, and this is my profession. Muscle torque and strength testing is not the only diagnostic tool and not always valid and reliable and certainly only applies to a very limited types of hand/wrist injuries. What about ligamentus, cartilagenous, neurovascular, bony pathologies, or combination of many conditions?? Anyone making a diagnosis based only with isometric MMT (Manual Muscle Test) or dynonameter without considering all sorts of mechanical orthopedic tests, radiofilms, diagnositc injections, are questionable with thier diagnostic skills..

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 9th 2009 1:32AM]

who said it was to be used by itself? Its a complementary device used to assist in quantifying changes/results of certain types of injuries on people of different shapes and sizes.

maybe you should read the source for more info:
http://www.physorg.com/news166197262.html

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 9th 2009 1:20AM]

go, humidity laden nerds

[c w j Posted Jul 9th 2009 1:25AM]

go, high humidity nerds!

[KGB Posted Jul 9th 2009 1:27AM]

Would this work on penile erectile dysfunction?

[weirdo557 Posted Jul 9th 2009 1:35AM]

only one way to find out

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 9th 2009 5:17AM]

You sunk my battleship!... Or diagnosed my inflamed Lunate Dislocation! I just cant win

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 9th 2009 7:46AM]

what? An app which was not developed for an iPhone? How quaint.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 9th 2009 10:12AM]

But why would anyone actually watch "House"?

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 10th 2009 1:34AM]

Is it really that hard to prevent getting a carpal tunnel? Just avoid resting on your wrists. I normally use bottom area of my palm (not wrists!) to rest at the very edge of a table/desk with the keyboard pulled up close to that edge. Lesson learned, but it wasn't that hard to avoid it