LIMB VOLUME ACCOMMODATION IN PEOPLE WITH LIMB AMPUTATION

• US 20120226197A1
• Filed: 02/07/2012
• Published: 09/06/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/07/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: University of Washington
• Original Assignee: University of Washington
• Inventors: Sanders, Joan, Otis, Brian, Hafner, Brian, Allyn, Katheryn, Cagle, John
• Granted Patent: US 8,784,340 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/587
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/7812 Interface cushioning members placed between the limb stump and the socket, e.g. bandages or stockings for the limb stump
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/5092 Identification means for implantable prostheses A61F2250/0085
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/689 Alarm means, e.g. acoustic
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/705 Electromagnetic data transfer for implantable prostheses A61F2250/0002
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/7635 for measuring force, pressure or mechanical tension
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/765 for measuring time or frequency
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/7818 Stockings or socks for the limb stump cosmetic coverings A61F2002/5001
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/0051 Stumps after amputation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation

Abstract

A prosthetic sock monitoring system is disclosed. The sock monitoring system includes a storage device and a data collection unit. The data collection unit is operable to receive data from at least one sensor coupled to a prosthetic sock that is wearable by a patient, and store the received data in the storage device. A prosthetic sock is also disclosed. The sock comprises material shaped to fit over at least a portion of the residual limb of the patient and a thickness adapted for inserting the residual limb into the socket of the prosthesis while the sock is fitted over the residual limb. The sock also comprises one or more of a sock identification unit and a force sensing device.

Claims

1. A prosthetic sock monitoring system comprising:

a storage device; and

a data collection unit operable to;

receive data from at least one sensor coupled to a prosthetic sock that is wearable by a patient; and

store the received data in the storage device.

2. The prosthetic sock monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the data collection unit is further operable to:

on a first periodic basis, receive the data from the at least one sensor and store the received data in the storage device; and

on a second periodic basis, transmit the stored data to a remote computing device.

3. The prosthetic sock monitoring system of claim 2, wherein the remote computing device is selected from the group consisting of:

a mobile computing device associated with the patient, and a computing station associated with a practitioner.

4. The prosthetic sock monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the data collection unit is mechanically coupled to a prosthesis worn by the patient.

5. The prosthetic sock monitoring system of claim 1, further comprising an antenna mechanically coupled to a prosthesis worn by the patient.

6. The prosthetic sock monitoring system of claim 5, wherein the antenna is a helical wire wrapped around the outside or the inside of a socket of the prosthesis.

7. The prosthetic sock monitoring system of claim 5, wherein the antenna is located on the inside surface of a socket of the prosthesis and includes a pair of elements forming a dipole antenna configuration.

8. The prosthetic sock monitoring system of claim 5, wherein the antenna is located on the inside surface of a socket of the prosthesis and includes a first pair of elements forming a dipole antenna configuration, and a second pair of elements arranged in parallel with the first pair of elements, each of the second pair of elements being coupled to a corresponding one of the first pair of elements.

9. The prosthetic sock monitoring system of claim 5, wherein the antenna has a length determined based on the desired frequency for communicating with the data collection unit, the composition of the prosthesis, and the size of the prosthesis.

10. The prosthetic sock monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the received data includes one or more of:

an identifier identifying one or more characteristics of the prosthetic sock, and force data indicating an amount of force applied to a region of the prosthetic sock.

11. The prosthetic sock monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the data collection unit is further operable to identify a prosthetic sock and determine whether the identified prosthetic sock is currently being worn by the patient.

12. The prosthetic sock monitoring system of claim 1, further comprising a remote communication unit operable to receive information indicating a sock management strategy from a remote computing device.

13. The prosthetic sock monitoring system of claim 12, wherein the data collection unit is further operable to provide an indication to the patient related to the sock management strategy via one or more of an auditory, visual, and tactile signal.

14. The prosthetic sock monitoring system of claim 13, wherein providing an indication to the patient includes communicating an instruction to change socks to a mobile computing device associated with the patient.

15. The prosthetic sock monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the data collection unit is further operable to send an instruction to a prosthesis worn by the patient to alter a characteristic of the prosthesis.

16. The prosthetic sock monitoring system of claim 12, wherein the data collection unit is further operable to monitor the patient'"'"'s compliance with the sock management strategy based on the data received from the at least one sensor.

17. The prosthetic sock monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the data collection unit is operable to simultaneously receive data from a plurality of sensors coupled to the prosthetic sock.

18. The prosthetic sock monitoring system of claim 1, further comprising a motion sensing device operable to detect motion of a prosthesis associated with the patient.

19. The prosthetic sock monitoring system of claim 18, wherein the motion sensing device includes at least one accelerometer, gyroscope, or inclinometer.

20. The prosthetic sock monitoring system of claim 18, wherein the data collection unit is operable to receive data from a force sensing device when the motion sensing device detects motion of the prosthesis.

21. The prosthetic sock monitoring system of claim 20, wherein the data collection unit is operable to receive data from a sock identification unit coupled to the prosthetic sock when the motion sensing device detects motion of the prosthesis and the data received from the force sensing device indicates that the prosthetic sock is being applied to the prosthesis.

22. The prosthetic sock monitoring system of claim 18, wherein the data collection unit is operable to receive data from the at least one sensor at a plurality of different sampling rates, wherein the sampling rate used is determined based at least in part on whether motion of the prosthesis is detected.

23. The prosthetic sock monitoring system of claim 1, further comprising an energy harvesting unit operable to generate energy and provide the generated energy to one or more elements of the data collection unit.

24. A prosthetic sock for disposition over residual limb of a patient and insertion into a socket of a prosthesis associated with the patient, the prosthetic sock comprising:

material shaped to fit over at least a portion of the residual limb of the patient and of a thickness adapted for inserting the residual limb into the socket of the prosthesis while the sock is fitted over the residual limb; and

one or more of;

a sock identification unit operable to identify at least one characteristic of the prosthetic, and communicate the at least one characteristic to a computing device separate from the prosthetic sock; and

a force sensing device operable to determine an amount of force applied to the force sensing device and communicate information indicating the amount of force applied to the force sensing device to a computing device separate from the prosthetic sock.

25. The prosthetic sock of claim 24, wherein the sock identification unit and the force sensing device are integrated into a single device.

26. The prosthetic sock of claim 24, wherein the sock identification unit is selected from the group consisting of:

a passive radio frequency identification tag, and an active radio frequency identification tag.

27. The prosthetic sock of claim 24, wherein the force sensing device is selected from the group consisting of:

a piezoelectric sensor, a piezoresistive film sensor, a capacitive film sensor, and an optical pressure sensor.

28. The prosthetic sock of claim 24, wherein one or more of the sock identification unit and the force sensing device are operable to communicate information to the computing device using a frequency band selected from the group consisting of:

very low frequency, low frequency, medium frequency, high frequency, very high frequency, ultra high frequency, super high frequency, extremely high frequency, and tremendously high frequency.

29. The prosthetic sock of claim 24, wherein one or more of the sock identification unit and the force sensing device are provided at a predetermined location on or in the material, the predetermined location being associated with the placement of an antenna located in the socket of the prosthesis.

30. The prosthetic sock of claim 29, wherein one or more of the sock identification unit and the force sensing device are located at a brim of the material, an end of the material opposite an end for receiving the residual limb of the patient, and a location corresponding to a center of the antenna when the prosthetic sock is disposed over the patient'"'"'s residual limb and inserted into the socket of the prosthesis.

31. The prosthetic sock of claim 29, wherein one or more of the sock identification unit and the force sensing device include a transmission antenna having an orientation such that, when the prosthetic sock is disposed over the patient'"'"'s residual limb and inserted into the socket of the prosthesis, the transmission antenna is arranged in parallel with the antenna located in the socket of the prosthesis.

32. The prosthetic sock of claim 24, further comprising an additional sensor operable to sense one or more of displacement between a region of the material and the socket, temperature of a region of the material, oxygen saturation, pulse, blood flow, and angle of the socket.

33. A tangible computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor of a computer, cause the computer to perform operations including:

receiving, from a prosthetic sock monitoring system, one or more of;

information indicating one or more characteristics of at least one prosthetic sock worn by a patient associated with the prosthetic sock monitoring system and indicating a time frame associated with the one or more characteristics; and

information indicating an amount of force applied to a force sensing device coupled to a prosthetic sock worn by a patient associated with the prosthetic sock monitoring system and indicating a time frame associated with the amount of force applied to the force sensing device;

storing the received data in a storage element coupled to the computer;

processing the received data to generate sock usage data indicating the usage of one or more prosthetic socks by the patient over at least a portion of the time frame; and

causing the generated sock usage data to be displayed on a display device.

34. The computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein the instructions are further operable to cause the computer to perform operations including:

processing the information indicating one or more characteristics of least one prosthetic sock worn by the patient to determine one or more of;

the number of prosthetic socks worn by the patient over different time intervals of the time frame;

the timing of sock changes by the patient,

the frequency of sock changes by the patient;

an increase in sock thickness for sock changes by the patient;

a decrease in sock thickness for sock changes by the patient; and

a change of socks by the patient without any change in the sock thickness.

35. The computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein the instructions are further operable to cause the computer to perform operations including:

processing the information indicating an amount of force applied to a force sensing device to determine one or more of;

the timing of the patient'"'"'s inactivity over the time frame;

the duration of the patient'"'"'s inactivity over the time frame;

the timing of the patient'"'"'s standing over the time frame;

the duration of the patient'"'"'s standing over the time flame;

the timing of the patient'"'"'s dynamic activity over the time frame;

the duration of the patient'"'"'s dynamic activity over the time frame;

the timing at which the patient does not wear the prosthesis over the time frame; and

the duration which the patient does not swear the prosthesis over the time frame.

36. The computer readable medium of claim 35, wherein the patient'"'"'s activity is selected from the group consisting of:

sitting, standing, ambulating, prosthesis donning, and prosthesis doffing.

37. The computer readable medium of claim 35, wherein the instructions are further operable to cause the computer to perform operations including:

processing the sock usage data and the information indicating the amount of force applied to the force sensing device to determine the number of prosthetic socks worn by the patient over different time intervals of the time frame while engaging in different activities.

38. The computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein the instructions are further operable to cause the computer to perform operations including:

generating information defining a sock management strategy that indicates when a patient associated with the prosthetic sock monitoring system should don or doff a particular prosthetic sock selected from a plurality of different prosthetic socks.

39. The computer readable medium of claim 38, wherein the sock management strategy is generated based on one or more of:

the sock usage data, the information indicating the amount of force applied to the force sensing device, and information indicating patient comfort level provided by the patient.

40. The computer readable medium of claim 38, wherein the instructions are further operable to cause the computer to perform operations including:

communicating the information defining the sock management strategy to a mobile computing device associated with the patient, wherein the information defining the sock management strategy is operable to cause the mobile computing device to instruct the patient when to wear a particular prosthetic sock selected from a plurality of different prosthetic socks.

41. The computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein the instructions are further operable to cause the computer to perform operations including:

receiving, from a plurality of prosthetic sock monitoring systems each associated with a unique patient, one or more of;

sock usage data and information indicating an amount of force applied to a force sensing device coupled to a prosthetic sock worn by the patient.

42. The computer readable medium of claim 41 wherein the instructions are further operable to cause the computer to perform operations including:

generating, from the data received from the plurality of prosthetic sock monitoring systems, information defining a sock management strategy for a particular patient.

43. A mobile computing device associated with a patient having a residual limb onto which the patient is capable of disposing a prosthetic sock for insertion into a socket of a prosthesis associated with the patient, the mobile computing device comprising:

a storage element for receiving information defining a sock management strategy;

a processor for processing the information defining the sock management strategy to determine when the patient should wear the particular prosthetic sock selected from the plurality of different prosthetic socks; and

an output device for providing an indication to the patient indicating when the patient should wear the particular prosthetic sock selected from the plurality of different prosthetic socks.

44. The mobile computing device of claim 43, wherein the indication is selected from the group consisting of:

an auditory indicator, a visual indicator, and a tactile indicator.

45. The mobile computing device of claim 43, further comprising:

a communication unit operable to receive information communicated from a data collection unit associated with the patient.

46. The mobile computing device of claim 45, wherein the information communicated from the prosthetic sock monitoring system includes information identifying at least one characteristic of a prosthetic sock currently being worn by the patient, and the processor is operable to determine when the patient should wear a particular prosthetic sock based on the sock currently being worn by the patient.

47. The mobile computing device of claim 45, wherein the information communicated from the prosthetic sock monitoring system includes information indicating the amount of force applied to a force sensing device coupled to a prosthetic sock currently being worn by the patient, and the processor is operable to determine when the patient should wear a particular prosthetic sock based on the amount of force applied to the force sensing device.