Under a Wrist

From typing to eating, driving to lifting, our wrists play a vital role in our daily lives. Here a 3D computer model helps to predict how wrist bones work together. Magnetic resonance imaging scanned the wrists of 18 healthy people, capturing how the bones inside re-organise and collaborate as the joint bends and twists. Pooling information from men and women of different ages produced this general model of ten interlocking bones, but also revealed a strong similarity between left and right wrists, and that male wrist bones are generally larger. The model may now help to make predictions about the effects of injury or disease to our overall manoeuvrability – helping to understand painful conditions such as carpal tunnel syndrome.

Written by John Ankers

John Ankers

Writer

A former researcher in systems biology, John is now an online biology tutor and professional coach supporting the wellbeing of scientists and NHS professionals. He's writing, too, of course.

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• Image by Brent Foster and Abhijit Chaudhari, UC Davis
• University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA
• Image copyright held by the original authors
• Research published in the Journal of Biomechanics, March 2019