Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Palpometry: A novel concept in pain measurement

Nature Medicine volume 1, pages 1138–1139 (1995)Cite this article

It is now possible to quantify tenderness in musculoskeletal disorders by controlling the force of the examiner's palpating fingers.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Zielinski, A. & Atkins, C.J. US Patent 5,012,817. Filed May (1989). Granted May 7, (1991).

  2. Atkins, C.J. et al. An electronic method for measuring joint tenderness in rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Rheum. 35, 407–410 (1992).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Atkins, C.J. & Zielinski, A. Articular indices in rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatol. Rev. 1, 217–221 (1992).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Wolfe, F. et al. The American College of Rheumatology 1990 criteria for the classification offibromyalgia: Report of the Multicenter Criteria Committee. Arthritis Rheum. 33, 160 (1990).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Smythe, H.A. & Moldofsky, H. Two contributions to understanding of the “fibrositis” syndrome. Bull. Rheum. Dis. 28, 928 (1977).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Bennett, R.M. The fibromyalgia syndrome. in Textbook of Rheumatology 4th edn (eds Kelley, W.N., Harris, E.D., Ruddy, S. & Sledge, B.) 471 (Saunders, New York, (1993).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Bendtsen, L., Jensen, R., Jensen, N.K. & Olesen, J.R. Muscle palpation with controlled finger pressure: New equipment for the study of tender myofascial tissues. Pain 59, 235–239 (1994).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Atkins, C.J. & Zielinski, A. [letter] Pain 62, 249–250 (1995).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Puttick, M.P.E. et al. Reliability and reproducibility of fibromyalgic tenderness: Measurement by electronic and mechanical dolorimeters. J. musculoskel. Pain (in the press).

  10. Bendsten, L., Jensen, R., Jensen, N.K. & Olesen, J.R. Pressure controlled palpation: A new technique which increases the reliability of manual palpation. Cephalalgia 15, 205–210 (1995).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Arthritis Society of British Columbia and Yukon Department of Electrical Engineering University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

    Christopher J. Atkins, Adam Zielinski & Arthur Makosinski

Authors
  1. Christopher J. Atkins
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Adam Zielinski
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Arthur Makosinski
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Atkins, C., Zielinski, A. & Makosinski, A. Palpometry: A novel concept in pain measurement. Nat Med 1, 1138–1139 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm1195-1138

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nm1195-1138

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing