Abstract
The most widely used knemometer is fairly time-consuming and laborious for clinical application. We have therefore constructed a knemometer which is relatively simple and fast to operate. The construction is sturdy and the instrument is mobile and can be used in large scale screening studies. During measurements the child is placed on a fixed chair and plates of different thickness are placed under the foot, untill the angle between the thigh and the lower leg is app. 70°. The footplates are arranged on rails and with a smooth movement the foot and the footplates may be moved in the forward and backward direction. During this movement the measuring plate on the knee reaches a maximum which is recorded automatically. Three measurements are performed, after which the child walks for one minute. This is repeated until a total of 3×3 measurements. The resolution of the instrument is 0.01 mm. Growth hormone treatment is known to cause sodium retention which may result in variable hydration and thus influence the measurements. Consequently, the new extended knemometer offers the option to compress the soft tissue by placing different weights (up to 2.5 kg) on the measuring plate, as the top of the knee and the plate are fixed during the measuring procedure. Preliminary data show that the inter-observer variation (SE) is app. 0.3 mm and the intra-observer variation app. 0.4 mm.
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Michaelsen, K., Mortensen, H. & Skakkebæk, N. 68 A NEW KNEWMOMETER FOR ASSESSING LINEAR GROWTH. Pediatr Res 24, 528 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198810000-00089
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198810000-00089