IMPROVED LONG-BONE MEASURING DEVICE

THE AIM OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP AND TEST AN IMPROVED, COST-EFFECTIVE, DUAL-PURPOSE LONG-BONE MEASURING INSTRUMENT AS AN INTEGRAL MEMBER OF A FAMILY OF COMPUTER-ASSISTED ANTHROPOMETRIC DEVICES. THE PROPOSED INSTRUMENT WILL PERMITHIGHLY ACCURATE MEASUREMENT OF SMALL INCREMENTS IN THE LENGTH OF LOWER ARM AND LOWER LEG BONES. PROTOTYPE INSTRUMENTS WILL BE CONSTRUCTED AND BENCH TESTED IN INTERSCIENCES, INC.'S ENGINEERING FACILITIES. DESIGN EVALUATIONS AND RELIABILITY TESTS WILL BE PERFORMED ON THESE INSTRUMENTS, USING GROWTH-HORMONE-TREATED AND NORMAL SUBJECTS WHO WILL BE OBSERVED AT HAHNEMANN UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL. THE PROPOSED INSTRUMENT REPRESENTS A RADICAL DEPARTURE FROM ALL PREVIOUS LONG-BONE MEASURING DEVICES IN: (1) OFFERING INA SINGLE INSTRUMENT THE CAPABILITY FOR ACCURATE MEASUREMENT OF BOTH KNEE HEIGHT AND ULNAR LENGTH; (2) PROVIDING A MORE ATTRACTIVE ALTERNATIVE TO THE EXPENSIVE, CUMBERSOME, AND DIFFICULT-TO-USE DEVICES CURRENTLY AVAILABLE; AND (3) BEING DESIGNED AND EVENTUALLY MARKETED AS AN INTEGRAL MEMBER OF A FAMILY OF COMPUTER-ASSISTED ANTHROPOMETRIC INSTRUMENTS.