Shoulder Monitoring and Treatment System

• US 20170281074A1
• Filed: 09/04/2015
• Published: 10/05/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/04/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Active4D, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Active4D, Inc.
• Inventors: D'Lima, Darryl, Hoenecke, Heinz, Matsuura, David G.
• Granted Patent: US 11,064,936 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2505/09 Rehabilitation or training
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/11 Measuring movement of the entire body or parts thereof, e.g. head or hand tremor, mobility of a limb for measuring pulse A61B5/02 ;A61B5/1038 takes precedence; motion detection to correct for motion artifacts in physiological signals A61B5/721
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1121 Determining geometric values, e.g. centre of rotation or angular range of movement
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/389 Electromyography [EMG]
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4519 Muscles A61B5/389, A61B5/224 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4576 Evaluating the shoulder
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4833 Assessment of subject's compliance to treatment
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4842 Monitoring progression or stage of a disease
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6824 Arm or wrist
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6831 Straps, bands or harnesses
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6833 Adhesive patches
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7475 User input or interface means, e.g. keyboard, pointing device, joystick
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 5/3738 Slings

Abstract

A system and method is used to monitor, control, and/or provide feedback relative to one or more factors related to a patient'"'"'s body, such as a shoulder, pursuant to a treatment process. The system monitors, controls, and/or provides feedback relative to shoulder factors including shoulder motion, shoulder muscle contraction, and external pressure on the shoulder.

Claims

1. A shoulder analysis system, comprising:

a patch having a front side and a back side, the patch sized and shaped to be positioned on shoulder region of a wearer;

at least one sensor on the patch, the at least one sensor configured to sense an element associated with the shoulder;

a communication component on the patch, the communication component configured to communicate a signal to and from the system;

an attachment element that secures at least a portion of the back side of the band to skin of the wearer;

wherein the patch includes at least one opening that provides a visual line of sight through the patch when the patch is positioned on a wearer'"'"'s shoulder.

2. A system as in claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor includes at least one of an EMG sensor, motion sensors, and angle measurement sensors.

3. A system as in claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor senses movement of the shoulder region.

4. A system as in claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor senses an orientation of a portion of the body relative to another portion of the body.

5. A system as in claim 1 wherein the patch is an elongated body.

6. A system as in claim 1, wherein the system includes at least three sensors.

7. A system as in claim 1, wherein at least one of the sensors is an electromyography sensor.

8. A system as in claim 1, wherein the system includes a first sensor and a second sensor, and wherein the second sensor is configured to send a signal to the first sensor through a wearer'"'"'s skin for response by the first sensor, and wherein the first sensor triggers an alarm if a response is not received by the second sensor.

9. A system as in claim 1, wherein the communication component is a wired communication component.

10. A system as in claim 1, wherein the communication component is a wireless communication component

11. A system as in claim 1, wherein the patch includes at least one elongated cross region that extends laterally outward from a longitudinal axis a of the patch.

12. A system as in claim 11, wherein at least one of the sensors is positioned on the at least one cross region.

13. A system as in claim 1, wherein the attachment element is an adhesive.

14. A system as in claim 1, wherein the patch is passive and does not resist or impact movement of a wearer'"'"'s shoulder region.

15. A system as in claim 1, wherein the system is configured to monitor and time muscle contractions.

16. A method of managing data related to a shoulder, comprising:

positioning a monitoring device on a shoulder region of a person, the monitoring device comprising a patch having at least one sensor that contacts the person'"'"'s skin when positioned on the shoulder region of the person;

activating the monitoring device so that the at least one sensor interacts with the shoulder region to obtain data related to the shoulder region;

acting on the data related to the shoulder region.

17. A method as in claim 16, further comprising transmitting the data related to the shoulder region.

18. A method as in claim 16, wherein the at least one sensor includes a surface electromyogram system.

19. A method as in claim 16, wherein the data relates to at least one of movement, motion, muscle activity and a force acting on the shoulder region.

20. A method as in claim 16, further comprising positioning the monitoring device so that the at least one sensor aligns with a predetermined location on the shoulder region.

21. A method as in claim 16, wherein the monitoring device includes a reference indicator that can be used to align the monitoring device with a predetermined location on the shoulder region.

22. A method as in claim 20, wherein the predetermined location is a surgical mark.

23. A method as in claim 16, wherein acting on the data comprises determining whether the person is complying with a treatment plan.

24. A method as in claim 16, wherein at least one of the sensors measures muscle activity relative to predetermined criteria.

25. A method as in claim 16, wherein the data relates to a sequence of firing of different muscles in the shoulder region.