Textile and Apparel Science

The Endurance Time to Loss of Finger Dexterity With Protective Gloves: Effects of Glove Type, Air Temperature, and Wind Speed

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Abstract

Human hands are uniquelydexterous and play a critical role in work performance. The ability ofa humanbeing to perform manual tasks is critical to task success, human safety, oreven survival. Hands are also one of the most vulnerable parts to cold injurydue to their large surface area to volume ratio and the dramatic change inblood flow. It is critical to maintaining manual performance when working oroperating in a cold environment. In this study, we estimated the endurance time to loss of finger dexteritybased on a hands-specific thermoregulation model with simulations of two typesof gloves in various environmental conditions. Gloves with higher thermal insulation are able to protect handsfrom cold. However, they can also induce significant differences in the skintemperature among different hand segments. Therefore, when designing gloves,each hand segment should have its specific materials to ensure thermal comfortand protection as well as the flexibility of the fingers and hands.

Keywords: human hand, manual performance, dexterity, glove, wind

How to Cite:

Zhang, M., Li, R., Song, G., Li, J., Subramaniam, S. & Passalacqua, A., (2022) “The Endurance Time to Loss of Finger Dexterity With Protective Gloves: Effects of Glove Type, Air Temperature, and Wind Speed”, International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference Proceedings 78(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/itaa.13493