POSITION SENSING ACTIVE TORSO SUPPORT

• US 20140200496A1
• Filed: 01/11/2013
• Published: 07/17/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/11/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Hyde, Roderick A., Kare, Jordin T., Rivet, Dennis J., Wood, Lowell L. Jr.
• Granted Patent: US 9,345,609 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 602/19
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 5/02 Orthopaedic corsets arm-rests for use as writing aids B43L15/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 5/32 Adjustable pressure pads

Abstract

An active torso support includes multiple force applying elements for applying force to selected regions of a torso of a subject, to reduce or prevent injury or discomfort, under the control of control circuitry on the torso support. Target regions for application of force are selected by detecting the position of a landmark in or on the torso of the subject relative to a portion of the torso support, and selecting one or more force applying elements closest to the target region. Force can be applied according to spatial or temporal patterns, selected in response to user input or detected motion or activity of the subject. Related devices and methods are described.

Claims

1. A method of controlling a torso support comprising:

receiving a signal indicative of a position of a landmark in or on a body of a subject relative to at least a portion of the torso support worn on the torso of the subject;

determining the position of a target region on the torso of the subject relative to the torso support based on the position of the landmark relative to the torso support, the target region having a known position relative to the landmark;

selecting at least one force applying element positioned closest to the target region from among a plurality of force applying elements based upon information indicative of the positions of the plurality of force applying elements relative to the torso support; and

controlling actuation of the at least one selected force applying element.

20. The method of claim 1, comprising determining a local map of one or more features of the subject from the received signal indicative of the position of the landmark and comparing the local map to a known feature map of the subject.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the one or more features include blood vessels below a skin surface of the body of the subject, and wherein the known feature map is a vascular topography map of the subject.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the one or more features include pores on the skin of the subject, and wherein the known feature map includes a map of pores on the skin of the subject.

23. The method of claim 20, wherein the one or more features include hairs or hair follicles on the skin of the subject, and wherein the known feature map includes a map of hairs or hair follicles on the skin of the subject.

24. The method of claim 20, wherein the one or more features include electrical parameters measured on the skin of the subject, and wherein the known feature map includes a map of electrical parameters on the skin of the subject.

33. The method of claim 1, wherein the position of the target region is the same as the position of the landmark.

34. The method of claim 1, wherein the position of the target region is different from the position of the landmark.

121. The method of claim 1, comprising at least one of receiving a signal indicative of a posture of the subject and controlling actuation of the at least one selected force applying element based at least in part upon the posture of the subject and receiving a signal indicative of motion of the subject and controlling actuation of the at least one selected force applying element based at least in part upon the motion of the subject.

122. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving a signal indicative of a position of a landmark includes receiving at least one of an electromagnetic signal, an optical signal, an infrared signal, an acoustic signal, an ultrasonic signal, an electrical signal, a magnetic signal, and a micro-impulse radar signal.

123. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving a signal indicative of a position of a landmark includes receiving a signal indicative of at least one of a bony structure within the body of the subject, a soft-tissue structure within the body of the subject, vasculature below a skin surface of the body of the subject, muscle activity, neural activity, a local temperature on or below the skin surface, a marker or fiducial on the skin surface of the subject, and a marker or fiducial below the skin surface of the subject.

124. The method of claim 24, wherein the electrical parameters are indicative of at least one of the position of the heart of the subject and the position of a neural structure of the subject.

125. The method of claim 1, including controlling actuation of the at least one selected force applying element to apply at least one of pressure, shear, and tension to the torso of the subject.

126. The method of claim 1, including controlling actuation of the at least one selected force applying element to change at least one of the size, the stiffness, and the position of the at least one selected force applying element.

2-19. -19. (canceled)

25-32. -32. (canceled)

35. A torso support comprising:

a plurality of force applying elements, each said force applying element adapted to apply force to a localized region of a torso of a subject;

at least one positioning element adapted to position the plurality of force applying elements with respect to the torso of the subject, wherein each force applying element is in a known position relative to the torso support; and

control circuitry adapted to;

receive at least one landmark position signal indicative of a position of a landmark in or on the body of the subject relative to the torso support;

determine the position of a target region on the torso of the subject relative to the torso support based on the at least one landmark position signal and on a known position of the target region relative to the landmark;

select at least one force applying element positioned closest to the target region; and

control actuation of the at least one selected force applying element to apply force to the target region.

36. The torso support of claim 35, comprising at least one sensor adapted to sense a parameter indicative of the position of the landmark in or on the body of the subject and to produce the at least one landmark position signal.

63. The torso support of claim 35, wherein the at least one selected force applying element includes an actuator.

78. The torso support of claim 35, wherein the control circuitry is adapted to control actuation of the at least one selected force applying element according to a temporal pattern.

79. The torso support of claim 35, wherein the control circuitry is adapted to select at least one additional force applying element, and to control actuation of the at least one selected force applying element positioned closest to the target region and the at least one additional force applying element according to a spatial and temporal pattern.

82. The torso support of claim 35, wherein the control circuitry is adapted to control actuation of the at least one selected force applying element according to a pre-defined pattern selectable from a plurality of pre-defined patterns.

93. The torso support of claim 35, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of force applying elements are adapted to apply force to the torso of the subject, wherein at least a component of the force is in a direction normal to the surface of the torso of the subject.

96. The torso support of claim 35, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of force applying elements are adapted to apply force to the torso of the subject, wherein at least a component of the force applied to the torso of the subject is in a direction tangential to the surface of the torso of the subject.

127. The torso support of claim 36, wherein the at least one sensor includes at least one of an electromagnetic transducer, includes an optical sensor, an infrared sensor, an acoustic sensor, an ultrasound transducer, a micro-impulse radar sensor, a temperature sensor, a sensor configured to sense muscle activity, a sensor configured to sense neural activity, a camera, a detector array, and a charge-coupled device.

128. The torso support of claim 35, wherein the at least one selected force applying element includes at least one of a plate, a probe, a post, a skin-engaging element adapted to apply tensile or shear force to the skin surface, a spring, an electroactive polymer, an elastic material, and a viscoelastic material.

129. The torso support of claim 35, wherein the at least one selected force applying element has at least one of a controllable stiffness, a controllable dimension, and a controllable position relative to the positioning element.

130. The torso support of claim 63, wherein the actuator includes at least one of a mechanical linkage, a piezoelectric actuator, a thermally responsive element, an expandable element, an inflatable element, a screw, a spring, a magnetic actuator, an electroactive polymer, a pneumatic element, and a hydraulic element.

131. The torso support of claim 35, wherein the control circuitry includes at least one of a microprocessor, software, analog electronic circuitry and digital electronic circuitry.

132. The torso support of claim 35, comprising at least one sensor adapted for sensing at least one of a posture of the subject and a motion of the subject.

133. The torso support of claim 35, wherein the control circuitry is adapted to control actuation of the at least one selected force applying element by controlling at least one of a pattern of force applied by the at least one selected force applying element and a pattern of motion generated by the at least one selected force applying element.

134. The torso support of claim 35, comprising at least one of a thermal stimulus source, a neural stimulator, and a muscle stimulator.

37-62. -62. (canceled)

64-77. -77. (canceled)

80-81. -81. (canceled)

83-92. -92. (canceled)

94-95. -95. (canceled)

97. An article of manufacture comprising:

one or more non-transitory machine-readable data storage media bearing one or more instructions for;

receiving a signal indicative of a position of a landmark in or on a body of a subject relative to at least a portion of a torso support worn on the torso of the subject;

determining the position of a target region on the torso of the subject relative to the torso support based on the position of the landmark relative to the torso support, the target region having a known position relative to the landmark;

selecting at least one force applying element positioned closest to the target region from among a plurality of force applying elements based upon information indicative of the positions of the plurality of force applying elements relative to the torso support; and

controlling actuation of the at least one selected force applying element.

98-120. -120. (canceled)