A method of and an apparatus for estimating the degrees of the fatigue and pain of muscles and comparing subjects of different weights on the same basis by deriving the variation in the muscular strength such as the dorsal muscular strength, shoulder muscular strength, the grasping power, and the like as an electric signal and integrating the muscular output on one hand, providing an integrated value of the electromyogrammatic amplitude by processing the voltage induced from the muscle to be tested through an electromyogram amplitude and a waveform processor, and by digitally displaying the ratio between these integrated values after correcting the ratio with a weight/muscular strength coefficient.

Apparatus (1') for measurement of both the grip strength of a person's hand and pinch strength of two digits of the hand comprises two parallel grip handles (2', 3') extending at right angles from a third member (4'). Handle (3') is rigidly fixed to third member (4') and has two pairs of strain gauges mounted thereon to measure the force applied to the handles irrespective of where that force is applied. Handle (2') is adjustable with respect to handle (3') to alter the distance between the two handles, and the ends of the handles terminate in flat portions (6', 7') to be used for measurement of pinch strength.

A device for evaluating and measuring human sensory perceptions by measuring muscle force applied against a finger button and displaying a maximum muscle force. To obtain an objective measurement, the device according to the invention includes a delay circuit and a display unit. The delay circuit is actuated at the start of a muscle force measurement by a maximum muscle force detector and then the display unit is actuated after a delay of approximately 3 seconds caused by the delay circuit. Preferably, an acoustic signal is provided after the 3 second delay along with a first visual display by the display unit.

A carpal tunnel syndrome screening device for measuring the strength of or combined force vector generated by the intrinsic hand muscles innervated by the median nerve after is passes through the carpal tunnel includes a base defining a palm support or rest surface and a thumb guide surface. The surfaces are configured to position the thumb of the user for movement in a substantially vertical plane with the thumb positioned at an angle of approximately 45.degree. with respect to the index finger. The device further includes a thumb receiving cradle and a cradle support structure. A force transducer operatively connected to the cradle measures the force created by movement of the thumb. The device provides an objective indication of the presence of carpal tunnel syndrome.

An otherwise conventional Jamar dynamometer is provided with a force transducer. The analog output of the force transducer is sampled at regular intervals and converted to a sequence of digital values by a conventional analog-to-digital converter. The digital output of the converter is processed by a conventional computer in real time to produce an output that clearly indicates the maximum force exerted by the subject and whether or not the subject was sincerely attempting to exert a maximum force while the test was in process. Preferably the output comprises both a graphic display of the forces exerted by the subject over a predetermined interval of time and a statistical analysis of those forces. The output data includes calculated discriminator variables which indicate with a high statistical accuracy whether the subject was sincerely exerting a maximal force on the dynamometer when instructed to do so. In an exemplary embodiment, the computer is a MS.TM. DOS compatible microcomputer and the analog-to-digital converter is a conventional accessory device that is adapted to be mounted in an expansion slot of such a microcomputer.