ORTHOTIC SENSOR DEVICE

• US 20160066818A1
• Filed: 09/09/2014
• Published: 03/10/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/09/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Cowley, Nicholas P., Saraswat, Ruchir, Goldman, Richard J.
• Granted Patent: US 10,070,816 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 17/00 Insoles for insertion, e.g. footbeds or inlays, for attachment to the shoe after the upper has been joined
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 3/34 with electrical or electronic arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0214 of power generation or supply
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0247 Pressure sensors
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/028 Microscale sensors, e.g. electromechanical sensors [MEMS]
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/12 Manufacturing methods specially adapted for producing sensors for in-vivo measurements
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/164 the sensor is mounted in or on a conformable substrate or carrier
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/166 the sensor is mounted on a specially adapted printed circuit board
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/187 Strain relief means
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1038 Measuring plantar pressure during gait
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/112 Gait analysis
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6807 Footwear

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide techniques and configurations for an orthotic device. In one instance, the device may include an orthotic device body and at least two sensors spatially disposed inside the orthotic device body. A first sensor may provide a first output responsive to pressure resulting from application of mechanical force to the orthotic device body. A second sensor may provide a second output responsive to flexing resulting from the application of mechanical force to the orthotic device body. The device may also include a control unit communicatively coupled with the sensors to receive and process the outputs provided by the sensors in response to pressure and flexing. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.

Claims

1. An orthotic device, comprising:

an orthotic device body;

at least two sensors spatially disposed inside the orthotic device body, a first of the at least two sensors to provide a first output responsive to pressure resulting from application of mechanical force to the orthotic device body, a second of the at least two sensors to provide a second output responsive to flexing resulting from the application of mechanical force to the orthotic device body; and

a control unit communicatively coupled with the at least two sensors inside the orthotic device body to receive and process the first and second outputs provided by the at least two sensors in response to pressure and flexing resulting from the application of mechanical force to the orthotic device body.

2. The orthotic device of claim 1, wherein the at least two sensors are to sense mechanical force applied to the orthotic device body by a user'"'"'s foot substantially placed on the orthotic device body.

3. The orthotic device of claim 1, wherein the at least two sensors comprise one or more flexible piezoelectric devices.

4. The orthotic device of claim 3, wherein the first of the at least two sensors is to generate a first electric power signal in response to the pressure to provide the first output.

5. The orthotic device of claim 4, wherein the second of the at least two sensors is to generate a second electric power signal in response to the flexing to provide the second output.

6. The orthotic device of claim 5, wherein the control unit is to extract electric power from the first and second electric power signals for electrical power harvesting to process the first and second outputs.

7. The orthotic device of claim 6, wherein the device further comprises a power storage device coupled with the control unit, to harvest the extracted electric power.

8. The orthotic device of claim 7, wherein the power storage device comprises one of a battery disposed inside the orthotic device body and coupled with the control unit via a wired connection, or an external power storage device disposed outside the orthotic device body and coupled with the control unit via a wireless or wired connection.

9. The orthotic device of claim 8, wherein the battery is disposed in an area of the orthotic device body that corresponds to an arch area of a user'"'"'s foot.

10. The orthotic device of claim 1, wherein the at least two sensors comprise capacitor devices, wherein the first of the at least two sensors comprises a capacitor with a deformable dielectric that is responsive to the pressure.

11. The orthotic device of claim 10, wherein the second of the at least two sensors comprises an inter-digitated capacitor with compressible dielectric that is responsive to the flexing.

12. The orthotic device of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second sensors and the control unit are disposed inside the orthotic device body in a flexible printed circuit board (PCB) former.

13. The orthotic device of claim 1, wherein the first sensor is placed in a first area of the orthotic device body that corresponds to a ball area or a heel area of a user'"'"'s foot.

14. The orthotic device of claim 1, wherein the second sensor is placed in a second area of the orthotic device body that corresponds to a rear of a ball area of a user'"'"'s foot.

15. The orthotic device of claim 1, further comprising an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) coupled with the first and second sensors to convert the first and second outputs from an analog format to a digital format for the control unit.

16. The orthotic device of claim 15 wherein the control unit is to provide processed outputs to a computing device external to the orthotic device.

17. The orthotic device of claim 15, further comprising a transceiver to transmit the processed outputs to the external computing device.

18. The orthotic device of claim 1, wherein the orthotic device is incorporated in an article of footwear, wherein the orthotic device is insertable or embeddable in the article of footwear.

19. An article of footwear, comprising:

an orthotic device, having;

an orthotic device body;

at least two sensors spatially disposed inside the orthotic device body, a first of the at least two sensors to provide a first output responsive to pressure resulting from application of mechanical force to the orthotic device body, a second of the at least two sensors to provide a second output responsive to flexing resulting from the application of mechanical force to the orthotic device body; and

a control unit communicatively coupled with the at least two sensors inside the orthotic device body to receive and process the first and second outputs provided by the at least two sensors in response pressure and flexing resulting from the application of mechanical force to the orthotic device body, wherein to process includes to extract electric power from the first and second outputs and to provide the extracted electric power for electrical power harvesting.

20. The article of footwear of claim 19, wherein the first of the at least two sensors is to generate a first electric power signal in response to the pressure to provide the first output, wherein the second of the at least two sensors is to generate a second electric power signal in response to the flexing to provide the second output, and wherein the first and second sensors comprise piezoelectric devices.

21. A method, comprising:

disposing a first sensor in a first area inside a body of an orthotic device, the first sensor to generate a first electric power signal in response to pressure applied by a user'"'"'s foot to the first area,

disposing a second sensor in a second area inside the body of the orthotic device, the second sensor to generate a second electric power signal in response to flexing applied by the user'"'"'s foot in the second area;

disposing a control unit in a third area inside the body of the orthotic device; and

communicatively coupling the first and second sensors with the control unit, to enable processing of the first and second electric power signals generated by the first and second sensors in response to application of the pressure and flexing to the orthotic device body.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

disposing a power storage device inside the orthotic device body or externally to the orthotic device; and

communicatively coupling the power storage device with the control unit, to enable harvesting of electric charge resulting from the processing of the first and second electric power signals by the control unit.

23. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

communicatively coupling a transceiver with the control unit inside the orthotic device body;

providing a power storage device that is external to the orthotic device; and

communicatively coupling the power storage device with the control unit via the transceiver, to enable harvesting of electric charge resulting from the processing of the first and second electric signals by the control unit.

24. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

placing at least some of the first and second sensors and the control unit in a flexible printed circuit board (PCB) former.

25. The method of claim 21, wherein disposing of a first sensor in a first area comprises disposing a first sensor in the first area that corresponds to at least one of a heel of a user'"'"'s foot or a ball of the user'"'"'s foot, disposing of a second sensor in a second area comprises disposing a second sensor in the second area that corresponds to a rear of the ball of the user'"'"'s foot, and disposing a control unit in a third area comprises disposing the control unit in the third area that corresponds to an arch area of the user'"'"'s foot.