Method and equipment for the detection of mechanical injuries in the lumbar spine of a patient
First Claim
1. A method for the detection of mechanical injuries in the lumbar spine of a patient and the identification of said injuries as being of the compression and/or torsional type, comprising the steps of:
- (a) fixing a first pair of surface-electrodes onto the back of the patient in a bilateral and symmetrical manner with respect to his spine in the lumbar zone, in order to record the electromyographic (EMG) activities of erectores of said patient;
(b) fixing a second pair of surface-electrodes in a bilateral manner onto the triangles of Petit of said patient in order to record the EMG activity of the Internal Oblique of said patient;
(c) fixing a third pair of surface-electrodes in a bilateral manner behind the thighs of said patient in order to record the EMG activity of the hip extensors of said patient;
(d) measuring with said surface-electrodes the muscle activity of the patient while he is flexing forward in the median plane and pulling up a small load, and independently recording the EMG activities measured by each of said surface electrodes as a function of time;
(e) simultaneously to step (d), measuring the angle of flexion α
of the patient, said angle α
being the dihedral angle between a plane passing through the hips and shoulders of said patient and a vertical plane parallel to the frontal plane of said patient, and recording said angle α
as a function of time;
(f) processing the recorded EMG activities measured on the patient to calculate the relative variations in activities of the erectores versus the hip extensors (E/H ratio) and of the Internal Oblique versus the hip extensors (A/H ratio) and plotting said E/H and A/H ratios versus α
; and
(g) further processing said recorded EMG activities measured on the patient to calculate the amount of assymmetry <
<
a>
>
between the recorded EMG activities measured on the right side of the patient and the recorded EMG activities measured on the left side of said patient, and plotting <
<
a>
>
versus α
;
wherein the observation of a high A/H ratio which corresponds to an extensive use of the abdominals, with the simultaneous observation of a significant delay in the detection of a sharp variation of the E/H ratio at a given angle α
o or of no variation at all of said E/H ratio when the patient is pulling up the small load, indicate that the patient cannot relax his erectores at the beginning of the lift, such a refusal indicating in turn that the patient has difficulty to flex his spine and therefore has a joint injury of the compression or torsional type; and
wherein the observation of a significant variation of <
<
a>
>
when α
varies, that is during the lift of the small load, indicates that the joint injury in the lumbar spin is of the torsional type.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and an equipment for the detection of a mechanical abnormality or injury in the lumbar spine of a patient and for the identification of this abnormality or injury as being of the compression or torsion type. In a first step, any variation of the lumbar curve of the patient is measured using a combined visual and an electromyographic (EMG) technique. Then, any discrepancy or assymetry is detected in said measured variation of lumbar curve. In practice, the absence of any variation or the detection of any discrepancy or assymetry in the case where a variation is measured, is indicative of the presence of a mechanical abnormality or injury of the lumbar spine of the patient, and of the nature of this particular abnormality or injury.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method for the detection of mechanical injuries in the lumbar spine of a patient and the identification of said injuries as being of the compression and/or torsional type, comprising the steps of:
-
(a) fixing a first pair of surface-electrodes onto the back of the patient in a bilateral and symmetrical manner with respect to his spine in the lumbar zone, in order to record the electromyographic (EMG) activities of erectores of said patient; (b) fixing a second pair of surface-electrodes in a bilateral manner onto the triangles of Petit of said patient in order to record the EMG activity of the Internal Oblique of said patient; (c) fixing a third pair of surface-electrodes in a bilateral manner behind the thighs of said patient in order to record the EMG activity of the hip extensors of said patient; (d) measuring with said surface-electrodes the muscle activity of the patient while he is flexing forward in the median plane and pulling up a small load, and independently recording the EMG activities measured by each of said surface electrodes as a function of time; (e) simultaneously to step (d), measuring the angle of flexion α
of the patient, said angle α
being the dihedral angle between a plane passing through the hips and shoulders of said patient and a vertical plane parallel to the frontal plane of said patient, and recording said angle α
as a function of time;(f) processing the recorded EMG activities measured on the patient to calculate the relative variations in activities of the erectores versus the hip extensors (E/H ratio) and of the Internal Oblique versus the hip extensors (A/H ratio) and plotting said E/H and A/H ratios versus α
; and(g) further processing said recorded EMG activities measured on the patient to calculate the amount of assymmetry <
<
a>
>
between the recorded EMG activities measured on the right side of the patient and the recorded EMG activities measured on the left side of said patient, and plotting <
<
a>
>
versus α
;wherein the observation of a high A/H ratio which corresponds to an extensive use of the abdominals, with the simultaneous observation of a significant delay in the detection of a sharp variation of the E/H ratio at a given angle α
o or of no variation at all of said E/H ratio when the patient is pulling up the small load, indicate that the patient cannot relax his erectores at the beginning of the lift, such a refusal indicating in turn that the patient has difficulty to flex his spine and therefore has a joint injury of the compression or torsional type; andwherein the observation of a significant variation of <
<
a>
>
when α
varies, that is during the lift of the small load, indicates that the joint injury in the lumbar spin is of the torsional type. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An equipment for the detection of mechanical injuries in the lumbar spine of a patient and the identification of said injuries as being of the compression and/or torsional type, said, equipment comprising:
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a first pair of surface-electrodes fixable onto the back of the patient in a bilateral and symmetrical manner with respect to his spine in the lumbar zone in order to record the electromyographic (EMG) activities of the erectores of said patient; a second pair of surface electrodes fixable in a bilateral manner onto the triangles of Petit of the patient in order to record the EMG activity of the Internal Oblique of said patient; a third pair of surface electrodes fixable in a bilateral manner behind the thighs of the patient in order to record the EMG activity, of the hip extensors of said patient; means connected to said first, second and third pairs of surface electrodes for measuring the EMG activity of the patient with said pairs of surface electrodes while he is flexing forward in the median plane and pulling up a small load; means connected to said EMG activity measuring means for independently recording the EMG activity measured by each of said surface electrodes as a function of time; means for mesuring the angle of flexion α
of the patient, said angle α
being the dihedral angle between a plane passing through the hips and shoulders of the patient and the vertical plane parallel to the frontal plane of saidmeans connected to said angle measuring means for recording the measured angle as a function of time; means connected to said EMG activity recording means for processing the recorded EMG activities measured on the patient to calculate the relative variations in activities of the erectores versus the hip extensors (E/H ratio) and of the Internal Oblique versus the hip extensors (A/H ratio); means connected to said processing means and said angle α
recording means for plotting said E/H and A/H ratios versus α
;means connected to said EMG activity recording means for further processing the recorded EMG activities measured on the patient to calculate the amount of assymmetry "a" between the recoded EMG activities measured on the right side of the patient and the recorded EMG activities measured on the left side of said patient; and means connected to said further processing means for plotting "a" versus α
. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification