BTE vs. Jamar

Having used a BTE machine for nearly 10 years now, I can state there are some good uses for this device in an orthopaedic setting-even for some components for an FCE.  However, with some knowledge of how the BTE FCE system works, I would not use the BTE protocol for an FCE.  BTE loves to boast about the research that has been done to support it's usefullnes, most of the reasearch has been done in house and is not peer reviewed.  A BTE machine is a wonderful means to document unilateral weakness differences, CV's, unique job task simulation (clutch petal for a truck driver is a good one), for distraction based testing (looking at weight bearing during a UE test), and as an RMS test to document speed/repetition/force and work (as a unit of energy).  There is some good research on compairing JAMAR values to BTE tool 162 values (as mentioned in previous post).  A BTE Primus RS costs about $73k.  There are a lot of more useful things to buy for an Industrial Rehab clinic (like the entire RMA catalogue), and as far as using one for FCE's-it is nice if you have it, but clearly not essential.  Hope this helps! 

Can I ask what your thoughts are on the BTE and its usefulness.  I was wondering if there were therapists who have had to go to court using a BTE approach vs. a matheson approach to functional capacity evaluations and how they fared. If I was to go out and buy equipment what equipment would you suggest in an ideal situation where budget was not an issue. 

The article titled "Reliability and Validity of the BTE-Primus Grip Tool" comes to mind. The authors are Shechtman, Davenport, Malcolm and Nabivi". It was published in the Journal Of Hand Therapy 2003, 16:36-42. It lists 40 references that appear relevant. Hope this helps.