Method and apparatus for analyzing the human postural control system
First Claim
1. A method for analyzing the movement of the center of pressure beneath a subject'"'"'s feet comprising the steps of:
- a. providing a force plate having a plurality of pressure sensors;
b. positioning the subject on said force plate;
c. utilizing said pressure sensors to generate signals indicative of the pressure applied by said subject'"'"'s feet;
d. storing data representing the movement of the center of pressure beneath the subject'"'"'s feet by using said signals; and
e. generating, by statistical mechanical models, a stabilogram diffusion plot describing the movement of the center of pressure.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and an apparatus for analyzing the human postural control system includes computing the mean square displacement of the center of pressure beneath a subject'"'"'s feet vs. the time interval. The result is plotted as a stabilogram diffusion plot. The stabilogram diffusion plot, since reproducible, provides physiologically meaningful information from which an assessment of the subject'"'"'s postural control system can be made. A Brownian diffusion coefficient, which is indicative of the level of stochastic activity of the center of pressure, can be calculated from the slope of the stabilogram diffusion plot. Also, from the slope of the log-log stabilogram diffusion plot, a determination can be made as to whether the system is moving closer to or away from a state of relative equilibrium. Finally, a short term open-loop postural control scheme, which operates before a long term closed-loop feedback postural control scheme activates, can be studied from the stabilogram diffusion plot. Also, from the stabilogram diffusion plot, a determination can be made as to when the postural control system switches from open-loop control to closed-loop control.
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Citations
39 Claims
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1. A method for analyzing the movement of the center of pressure beneath a subject'"'"'s feet comprising the steps of:
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a. providing a force plate having a plurality of pressure sensors; b. positioning the subject on said force plate; c. utilizing said pressure sensors to generate signals indicative of the pressure applied by said subject'"'"'s feet; d. storing data representing the movement of the center of pressure beneath the subject'"'"'s feet by using said signals; and e. generating, by statistical mechanical models, a stabilogram diffusion plot describing the movement of the center of pressure. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of analyzing the movement of the center of pressure beneath a subject'"'"'s feet comprising the steps of:
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a. providing a force plate having a plurality of pressure sensors; b. positioning the subject on said force plate during a first session; c. utilizing said pressure sensors to generate a first set of signals indicative of the amount of pressure applied by said subject'"'"'s feet; d. storing data representing the movement of the center of pressure beneath the subject'"'"'s feet during the first session by using said first set of signals; e. generating, by statistical mechanical models, a first characteristic plot describing the movement of the center of pressure during the first session; f. positioning the subject on the force plate during a second session; g. utilizing said pressure sensors to generate a second set of signals indicative of the amount of pressure applied by said subject'"'"'s feet; h. storing data representing the movement of the center of pressure beneath the subject'"'"'s feet during the second session by using said second set of signals; i. generating, by the statistical mechanical models, a second characteristic plot describing the movement of the center of pressure during the second session; and j. comparing the first and second plots to determine whether differences exist therebetween. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A method of analyzing a subject'"'"'s postural stability as described by the movement of the center of pressure beneath the subject'"'"'s feet, said method comprising the steps of:
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a. providing a force plate having a plurality of pressure sensors; b. collecting data from said pressure sensors on said force plate indicative of the time varying movement of the center of pressure beneath the feet of the subject; c. plotting the mean square displacement of the center of pressure versus a predetermined time interval; d. calculating the slope of the line representing the mean square displacement of the center of pressure versus the time interval; and e. comparing the slope of said line with slopes taken from a normative database. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29)
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30. A method of analyzing postural stability of a subject comprising the steps of:
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a. providing a force plate having a plurality of pressure sensors thereon; b. placing a person on said force plate wherein said person'"'"'s feet are both placed upon said force plate and wherein said sensors detect pressure exerted by said persons'"'"'s feet upon said force plate; c. determining the coordinate locations of the center of pressure beneath said person'"'"'s feet during a first time interval using data collected from said sensors; d. determining the square of the distance between pairs of the plurality of coordinate locations; e. plotting a point corresponding to the average of said square of the distances versus the time interval; and f. repeating steps c. through e. for at least a second time interval to obtain a plurality of plotted points. - View Dependent Claims (31)
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32. An apparatus for analyzing the movement of the center of pressure beneath the feet of a subject wherein said subject is positioned on a force plate, said apparatus comprising:
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a. a force plate for providing data representing the movement of the center of pressure beneath the subject'"'"'s feet; b. means for storing said data; and c. generating means responsive to said force plate for generating a stabilogram diffusion plot describing the movement of the center of pressure. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. An apparatus for analyzing the postural stability of a subject based on the movement of the center of pressure beneath the feet of the subject, comprising:
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a force plate for providing data indicative of the time varying movement of the center of pressure beneath the feet of the subject; means for plotting the means square displacement of the center of pressure versus a predetermined time interval; means for calculating the slope of a line representing the means square displacement of the center of pressure versus the time interval; and means for comparing the slope of said line with at least one stored slope.
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39. An apparatus for analyzing the movement of the center of pressure of the feet of a subject comprising:
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a force plate having a plurality of sensors for receiving the feet of said subject and for producing data representing pressure applied by said subject to said force plate; a processor for receiving said force plate data, compiling said data, determining information regarding the movement of the center of pressure of the feet of said subject and comparing said determined information with determined information from a normative database; and a display for displaying the results of said processor.
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Specification