Traditional water displacement volumetry, based on Archimedes' principle of buoyancy, is considered the gold-standard for limb volume measurement. However, the routine use of this technique is associated with a series of disadvantages: the method is cumbersome to the patient, messy and unhygienic, and it takes a great amount of the examiner's time. This article presents the prototype of a new piece of equipment designed according to Pascal's principle of communicating vases for the direct evaluation of hand volume.
Plethysmography; measurement equipment; extremities; biomedical technology assessment
