Apparatus and method for measuring a human head
First Claim
1. An apparatus for determining an outer contour of a human head, comprising a support member and a plurality of contacting members rotatably coupled to the support member wherein each of the plurality of contacting members comprises a curved surface for contacting with the human head and wherein the curved surface of each contacting member has a radius of curvature that is one of increasing and decreasing in a direction of rotation.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention relates to apparatus and methods for measuring a human head. The apparatus disclosed herein involve the use of linear rulers, or rotating contacting members, coupled to a support member. The apparatus disclosed herein can be positioned on a human head, using the methods disclosed herein, to determine the outer contour of the head. Such a measurement can aid in the diagnosis and monitoring of various abnormalities of the human head, including plagiocephaly.
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Citations
65 Claims
- 1. An apparatus for determining an outer contour of a human head, comprising a support member and a plurality of contacting members rotatably coupled to the support member wherein each of the plurality of contacting members comprises a curved surface for contacting with the human head and wherein the curved surface of each contacting member has a radius of curvature that is one of increasing and decreasing in a direction of rotation.
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11. An apparatus for determining an outer contour of a human head, comprising a support member;
- a plurality of contacting members rotatably coupled to the support member wherein each of the contacting members rotatably coupled to the support member comprises a curved surface for contacting with the human head wherein the curved surface of each rotatably coupled contacting member has a radius of curvature that is one of increasing and decreasing in a direction of rotation; and
at least one contacting member comprising a portion that conforms to an external auditory meatus of the human head. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
- a plurality of contacting members rotatably coupled to the support member wherein each of the contacting members rotatably coupled to the support member comprises a curved surface for contacting with the human head wherein the curved surface of each rotatably coupled contacting member has a radius of curvature that is one of increasing and decreasing in a direction of rotation; and
- 21. An apparatus for determining an outer contour of a human head, comprising a support member and a plurality of adjustable contacting members coupled to the support member, wherein each of the plurality of adjustable contacting members comprises a surface for contacting with the human head, at least one of the adjustable contacting members comprises a mechanism for locking the adjustable contacting member and at least two of the adjustable contacting members are connected to each other so that an adjustment to one of the connected adjustable contacting members causes an adjustment to the at least one other connected adjustable contacting member.
- 30. An apparatus for determining an outer contour of a human head, comprising a support member and a plurality of adjustable contacting members coupled to the support member, wherein each of the plurality of adjustable contacting members comprises a surface for contacting with the human head, the support member comprises a mechanism for locking at least one of the adjustable contacting members and at least two of the adjustable contacting members are connected to each other so that an adjustment to one of the connected adjustable contacting members causes an adjustment to the at least one other connected adjustable contacting member.
- 39. An apparatus for determining an outer contour of a human head, comprising a support member and a plurality of radially adjustable contacting members coupled to the support member, wherein a contact surface of the radially adjustable contacting members to be contacted with the human head moves radially and at least two of the radially adjustable contacting members are connected to each other so that an adjustment to one of the radially adjustable contacting members causes an adjustment to the at least one other connected radially adjustable contacting member.
- 42. An apparatus for determining an outer contour of a human head comprising a support member and at least four adjustable contacting members coupled to the support member, wherein each of the at least four adjustable contacting members comprises a surface for contacting with the human head and the adjustable contacting members have indicia thereon for determining the outer contour of a human head.
- 46. An apparatus for determining an outer contour of a human head comprising a support member and at least four adjustable contacting members coupled to the support member, wherein each of the at least four adjustable contacting members comprises a surface for contacting with the human head and the support member has indicia thereon for determining the outer contour of a human head.
- 50. An apparatus for determining an outer contour of a human head, comprising a support member and at least three radially adjustable contacting members coupled to the support member, wherein each of the at least three radially adjustable contacting members comprises a surface for contacting with the human head and at least one of the radially adjustable contacting members comprises a sensor for sensing the position of the at least one radially adjustable contacting member relative to the support member.
- 52. An apparatus for determining an outer contour of a human head, comprising a support member, at least three radially adjustable contacting members coupled to the support member and at least one sensor for sensing the position of at least one of the at least three radially adjustable contacting members relative to the support member, wherein each of the at least three radially adjustable contacting members comprises a surface for contacting with the human head.
- 54. An apparatus for determining an outer contour of a human head, comprising a support member, a plurality of radially adjustable contacting members coupled to the support member and a wireless transmitter, wherein each of the plurality of radially adjustable contacting members comprises a surface for contacting with the human head and least one of the radially adjustable contacting members comprises a sensor for sensing the position of the at least one of the radially adjustable contacting members relative to the support member.
- 56. An apparatus for determining an outer contour of a human head, comprising a support member, a plurality of radially adjustable contacting members coupled to the support member, a wireless transmitter and at least one sensor for sensing the position of at least one of the plurality of radially adjustable contacting members relative to the support member, wherein each of the plurality of radially adjustable contacting members comprises a surface for contacting with the human head.
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58. A method of determining an outer contour of a human head, comprising the steps of:
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a) positioning about the human head a plurality of contacting members rotatably coupled to a support member;
b) adjusting each of the contacting members such that a curved surface of the contacting member having a radius of curvature that one of increases and decreases in a direction of rotation touches a surface of the human head; and
c) measuring the contour of the human head after the plurality of contacting members have been adjusted to contact the human head.
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59. A method of determining an outer contour of a human head, comprising the steps of:
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a) positioning about the human head a plurality of adjustable contacting members that are coupled to a support member;
b) adjusting each of the adjustable contacting members such that a surface of the adjustable contacting member touches a surface of the human head, wherein at least two of the adjustable contacting members are connected to each other so that an adjustment to one of the connected adjustable contacting members causes a proportional adjustment to the at least one other connected adjustable contacting member;
c) locking at least one of the adjustable contacting members; and
d) measuring the contour of the human head after the plurality of adjustable contacting members have been adjusted to contact the human head.
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60. A method of determining an outer contour of a human head, comprising the steps of:
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a) positioning about the human head a plurality of radially adjustable contacting members that are coupled to a support member;
b) adjusting each of the radially adjustable contacting members such that a surface of the radially adjustable contacting member moves radially to touch a surface of the human head, wherein at least two of the radially adjustable contacting members are connected to each other so that an adjustment to one of the connected adjustable contacting members causes a proportional adjustment to the at least one other connected adjustable contacting member; and
c) measuring the contour of the human head after the plurality of radially adjustable contacting members have been adjusted to contact the human head.
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61. A method of determining an outer contour of a human head, comprising the steps of:
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a) positioning about the human head a plurality of contacting members that are coupled to a support member;
b) adjusting each of the adjustable contacting members such that a surface of the contacting member touches a surface of the human head; and
c) measuring the contour of the human head using indicia on at least one of the adjustable contacting members after the plurality of adjustable contacting members have been adjusted to contact the human head.
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62. A method of determining an outer contour of a human head, comprising the steps of:
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a) positioning about the human head a plurality of contacting members that are coupled to a support member;
b) adjusting each of the adjustable contacting members such that a surface of the contacting member touches a surface of the human head; and
c) measuring the contour of the human head using indicia on the support member after the plurality of adjustable contacting members have been adjusted to contact the human head.
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63. A method of determining an outer contour of a human head, comprising the steps of:
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a) positioning about the human head at least three radially adjustable contacting members that are coupled to a support member;
b) adjusting each of the radially adjustable contacting members such that a surface of the radially adjustable contacting member touches a surface of the human head;
c) electronically transmitting a measurement from at least one of the radially adjustable contacting members to a device; and
d) measuring the contour of the human head after the at least three radially adjustable contacting members have been adjusted to contact the human head.
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64. A method of determining an outer contour of a human head, comprising the steps of:
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a) positioning about the human head a plurality of adjustable contacting members that are coupled to a support member;
b) adjusting each of the adjustable contacting members such that a surface of the contacting member touches a surface of the human head;
c) wirelessly transmitting a measurement from at least one of the adjustable contacting members to a device; and
d) measuring the contour of the human head after the plurality of adjustable contacting members have been adjusted to contact the human head.
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65. A method of detecting a cranial abnormality in a human head comprising the steps of:
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a) positioning about the human head a plurality of adjustable contacting members that are coupled to a support member;
b) adjusting each of the adjustable contacting members such that a surface of the adjustable contacting member touches a surface of the human head;
c) measuring the contour of the human head after the plurality of adjustable contacting members have been adjusted to contact the human head; and
d) based on the measurements in step c), detecting the cranial abnormality in the human head.
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Specification