Method for managing health condition, health condition management apparatus, and health condition management system

• US 10,105,078 B2
• Filed: 10/07/2015
• Issued: 10/23/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: Yamamoto, Kiyoko, Tatsumi, Koji, Senta, Yosuke, Takenaka, Shigeo, Kawai, Atsuko
• Primary Examiner(s): Hoekstra, Jeffrey G
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kolderman, Nicholas E
• Application Number:
  US14/877,185
• Publication Number:
  US 20160135716A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,112 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2503/40 Animals
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0219 Inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt switches
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/112 Gait analysis
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6823 Trunk, e.g., chest, back, abdomen, hip

Abstract

A method for causing a computer to execute a process for managing health condition, the process includes: detecting a grounding timing of a leg of a quadruped and a timing of weight-shift to a rear side of the quadruped; and determining whether or not the leg of the quadruped has a disease or injury, based on the detected grounding timing of the leg of the quadruped and the detected timing of a weight-shift to the rear side of the quadruped.

Claims

1. A method for managing health condition, comprising:

detecting, by a computer, a grounding timing of a leg of a quadruped by using a first sensor;

detecting, by the computer, a timing of weight-shift to a rear side of the quadruped by using a second sensor which is mounted at a bottom position of a breast collar hung around a neck of the quadruped; and

determining whether or not the leg of the quadruped has a disease or injury, based on the detected grounding timing of the leg of the quadruped and the detected timing of a weight-shift to the rear side of the quadruped.

2. The method for managing health condition according to claim 1, wherein the process includes detecting a peak acceleration in a vertically upward direction in a vertical direction component of an acceleration data, as the timing of the weight-shift to the rear side of the quadruped based on the acceleration data measured by an acceleration sensor corresponding to the second sensor.

3. The method for managing health condition according to claim 1, wherein the process includes detecting a peak acceleration in a vertically downward direction in a vertical direction component of an acceleration data as the timing of the grounding timing of the leg of the quadruped based on the acceleration data measured by an acceleration sensor mounted on the abdomen or chest of the quadruped and corresponding to the first sensor.

4. The method for managing health condition according to claim 3, wherein the quadruped is a horse, and further comprising:

the process includes determining which leg of the right and left front legs of the quadruped is the leg being grounded based on information relating to a positional relationship in a front-back direction of a horse body between a right side leg and a left side leg of the horse, and an acceleration change in the vertical direction between peaks of acceleration in the vertically downward direction of the quadruped.

5. The method for managing health condition according to claim 1, wherein specifying a leg in which the grounding timing is detected immediately before the timing of the weight-shift to the rear side as a leg having a disease or injury.

6. The method for managing health condition according to claim 1, wherein the first sensor includes a right sensor mounted a right side of an abdomen of the quadruped and a left sensor mounted a left side of the abdomen of the quadruped.

7. A health condition management apparatus comprising:

a first sensor mounted on a quadruped and configured to detect a grounding timing of a leg of a quadruped;

a second sensor mounted at a bottom position of a breast collar hung around a neck of the quadruped and configured to detect a timing of weight-shift to a rear side of the quadruped;

a processor configured to determine whether or not the leg of the quadruped has a disease or injury based on a detected grounding timing of the leg of the quadruped and a detected timing of weight-shift to the rear side of the quadruped.

8. The health condition management apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the processor determines whether or not the leg of the quadruped has a disease or injury by using a timing of a peak that exceeds a preset threshold among peaks of acceleration in a vertically upward direction in a vertical direction component of acceleration data measured by an acceleration sensor corresponding to the second sensor, as the timing of the weight-shift to the rear side of the quadruped.

9. The health condition management apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the processor determines whether or not the leg of the quadruped has a disease or injury by using a peak of acceleration in a vertically downward direction in the vertical direction component of acceleration data measured by an acceleration sensor mounted on the abdomen or chest of the quadruped, as the grounding timing of the leg of the quadruped and corresponding to the first sensor.

10. The health condition management apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the processor specifies the leg of the quadruped in which the grounding timing is detected immediately before the timing of the weight-shift to the rear side of the quadruped, as a leg having a disease or injury.

11. The health condition management apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the first sensor includes a right sensor mounted a right side of an abdomen of the quadruped and a left sensor mounted a left side of the abdomen of the quadruped.

12. A health condition management system comprising:

a health condition management apparatus that manages a health condition of a leg of a quadruped;

a first sensor that detects a grounding of the leg of the quadruped; and

a second sensor that is mounted at a bottom position of a breast collar hung around a neck of the quadruped and detects weight-shift to a rear side of the quadruped,

wherein the health condition management apparatus includes a processor that determines whether or not the leg of the quadruped has a disease or injury, based on the grounding timing of the leg of the quadruped detected by the first sensor and the timing of the weight-shift to the rear side of the quadruped detected by the second sensor.

13. The health condition management system according to claim 12, wherein the processor specifies the leg having a disease or injury when determining whether or not the leg of the quadruped has a disease or injury.

14. The health condition management system according to claim 13, wherein the processor specifies the leg of the quadruped of which the grounding timing is detected immediately before the timing of the weight-shift to the rear side of the quadruped, as a leg having a disease or injury.

15. The health condition management system according to claim 12, wherein the first sensor includes a right sensor mounted a right side of an abdomen of the quadruped and a left sensor mounted a left side of the abdomen of the quadruped.