LAMENESS EVALUATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS
First Claim
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1. A system for evaluating lameness in a four-legged animal comprising:
- a plurality of motion sensors configured to generate a corresponding plurality of signals comprising motion data representative of a head motion, a pelvis motion, and at least one limb motion during a stride of the animal; and
a processing system configured to receive the plurality of signals during the stride via wireless communication and to receive input data, the processing system comprising an evaluation application comprising;
a data-acquisition module configured to retrieve motion data from the received plurality of signals;
a data-decomposition module configured to generate a simulated head movement pattern and a simulated pelvis movement pattern for the stride;
a curve-modification module configured to modify and smooth the simulated head and pelvis movement patterns based on the input data;
a position-detection module configured to detect a maximum head position, a minimum head position, a maximum pelvis position, and a minimum pelvis position during the stride based on the modified simulated head and pelvis movement pattern; and
a phase-shift calculation module configured to identify a limb affected with lameness based on a comparison of the detected maximum head position, the detected minimum head position, the detected maximum pelvis position, and the detected minimum pelvis position with at least one reference pattern, the at least one lameness reference pattern indicating a peak time of lameness.
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Abstract
A wireless sensor-based lameness evaluation system detects and analyzes patterns of vertical head and pelvic motion of a four-legged animal in correlation with at least one limb movement. The system includes a plurality of motion sensors attached to the head, pelvis (or along the center of the back), and at least one limb of the animal. A processing system in receives the motion data and processes the motion data to detect and quantify forelimb and/or hindlimb lameness in the animal.
42 Citations
52 Claims
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1. A system for evaluating lameness in a four-legged animal comprising:
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a plurality of motion sensors configured to generate a corresponding plurality of signals comprising motion data representative of a head motion, a pelvis motion, and at least one limb motion during a stride of the animal; and a processing system configured to receive the plurality of signals during the stride via wireless communication and to receive input data, the processing system comprising an evaluation application comprising; a data-acquisition module configured to retrieve motion data from the received plurality of signals; a data-decomposition module configured to generate a simulated head movement pattern and a simulated pelvis movement pattern for the stride; a curve-modification module configured to modify and smooth the simulated head and pelvis movement patterns based on the input data; a position-detection module configured to detect a maximum head position, a minimum head position, a maximum pelvis position, and a minimum pelvis position during the stride based on the modified simulated head and pelvis movement pattern; and a phase-shift calculation module configured to identify a limb affected with lameness based on a comparison of the detected maximum head position, the detected minimum head position, the detected maximum pelvis position, and the detected minimum pelvis position with at least one reference pattern, the at least one lameness reference pattern indicating a peak time of lameness. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. An evaluation system for evaluating lameness in an animal and operable with at least one processor, the evaluation system configured to receive a plurality of signals comprising motion data representative of a head motion, a pelvis motion, and at least one limb motion during a stride of the animal, the evaluation system comprising:
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a data-acquisition module configured to collect motion data from the received plurality of signals; a data-decomposition module configured to generate simulated head and pelvis movement patterns for the stride; a curve-modification module configured to receive input data and to modify and smooth the simulated head and pelvis movement patterns based on input data; a position-detection module configured to detect a maximum head position, a minimum head position, a maximum pelvis position, and a minimum pelvis position during the stride based on the modified simulated head and pelvis movement patterns; and a phase-shift calculation module configured to identify a limb affected with lameness based on a comparison of the detected maximum head position, the detected minimum head position, the detected maximum pelvis position, and the detected minimum pelvis position with at least one lameness reference pattern, the at least one lameness pattern indicating a peak time of lameness. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A computerized method for evaluating lameness in a four-legged animal comprising:
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generating a plurality of signals representative of a motion of a head, a pelvis, and at least one limb during a stride of the animal; receiving the plurality of signals during the stride via wireless communication at a processing system; collecting motion data from the received plurality of signals; generating simulated head and pelvis movement patterns for the stride; identifying at least one motion data point to add or to eliminate from the simulated head and pelvis movement patterns; modifying the simulated head and pelvis movement patterns by eliminating identifying at least one motion data point; detecting a maximum head position, a minimum head position, a maximum pelvis position, and a minimum pelvis position based on the modified simulated head and pelvis movement patterns; and identifying a limb affected with lameness based on a comparison of the detected maximum head position, the detected minimum head position, the detected maximum pelvis position, and the detected minimum pelvis position with at least one lameness reference pattern, the at least one lameness pattern indicating a peak time of lameness. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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45. A computerized method for evaluating lameness in a four-legged animal comprising:
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receiving motion data representing a plurality of strides of the animal from a plurality of motion sensors attached to a head, a pelvis, and at least one limb of animal; processing the received motion data to identify at least two harmonic components and at least one transient component; generating simulated vertical head and vertical pelvis movement patterns based on the identified two harmonics and the at least one transient component data; correlating a vertical head movement and a vertical pelvis movement with a vertical forelimb movement to identify an affected limb; and calculating a phase shift between the at least two harmonic components to detect a type of lameness of the affected limb. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
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Specification