Balancing anatomy and function in a musculoskeletal model of hands

Musculoskeletal models are effective tools for understanding living systems. To ensure proper model function, they must be checked against the literature or specimens. Existing checking methods require cadaver experimentation, highly knowledgeable medical personnel, and/or significant time. In this paper, we propose a quick and efficient method, called functional consistency checking, for use when these resources are not available. This method uses the literature to define a set of mathematical constraints, custom inverse dynamics software to interact with the model and its Jacobian in realtime and then evaluates the models consistency with these constraints. The method´s usefulness will be demonstrated by constructing a human hand prototype, performing functional consistency checking, and then comparing the original to the output using data from a pianist motion capture.