Li Receives Medal for Discoveries in Hand Biomechanics

BME professor and physician Zong-Ming Li has been selected by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers to receive the 2022 Savio L-Y. Woo Translational Biomechanics Medal. Li, who also serves as a professor of orthopaedic surgery, earned the medal for his research into how the hand's function can be impaired and healed. 

“I’m humbled to receive this award and honored that the committee selected the lab to recognize our contribution to carpal tunnel work,” said Dr. Li, director of the Hand Research Laboratory. “The Hand Research Laboratory’s mission is to understand how the normal hand works and how to fix the hand when its function is disturbed. As an engineer, it is so interesting to study the human body — in our case, the complexity of the hand and wrist.”

Dr. Li looks at the hand and wrist through an engineer’s lens to figure out how they work. As he unraveled more and more of their mysteries, he began developing engineering solutions to problems such as carpal tunnel syndrome, a condition that affects approximately 3% of the general population and is characterized by tingling, numbness or weakness in the affected hand.

“In the U.S., a half-million people are getting surgery each year, but it is not a perfect solution,” he said. “We asked, ‘Can we relieve the median nerve without surgery?’ That simple question has kept us busy for years.”