Aust J Physiother. 2002 ; 48(1): 25-30.

An evaluation of Superthumb and the Kneeshaw device as manual therapy tools.

Maher CG, Latimer J, Starkey I.

School of Physiotherapy, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 1825, Australia. c.maher@cchs.usyd.edu.au

This research evaluated two hand-held tools (Superthumb and Kneeshaw device) that have been developed in order to reduce hand pain associated with the performance of manual therapy. Two studies were conducted: one evaluated the ability to perceive elastic stiffness with the devices and the other evaluated physiotherapist and patient comfort when the devices were used to apply a mobilisation to the lumbar spine. In the first study we found that the two tools and the pisiform grip provided equivalent ability to detect small differences in elastic stiffness, however the tools introduced a bias so that the stiffness stimuli felt stiffer than when assessed with the pisiform grip. In the second study we found that the two tools were substantially less comfortable than the pisiform grip, for both patient and therapist, when a therapist applied a Grade III mobilisation to the lumbar spine. The results suggest that neither tool, in its current form, is suitable for clinical practice.