Object delivery exercise system and method
First Claim
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1. A patient exercise system, comprising:
- object delivery means for automatically providing an object to be fetched by a patient;
reception means, movable to a certain first one of a plurality of spatial positions, for receiving said object from said patient upon movement to said certain first one of said plurality of spatial positions and for selectively grasping and moving said object to a certain second one of said plurality of spatial positions and for allowing said patient to fetch said object when said object has been placed at said certain second one of said plurality of spatial positions; and
movement control means for controlling movement of said reception means and for selectively moving said reception means to said certain second one of said plurality of spatial positions.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus 10 are disclosed for allowing exercise of an appendage of patient 22 by means of a series of objects 42. More specifically, patient 22 is directed to receive or grasp a series of objects 42 in a manner which will exercise the impaired appendage and which will provide statistical data to a trained occupational therapist and which will enable the therapist to gauge the current dysfunction of the affected appendage as well as to track improvement over a series of exercises.
40 Citations
47 Claims
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1. A patient exercise system, comprising:
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object delivery means for automatically providing an object to be fetched by a patient; reception means, movable to a certain first one of a plurality of spatial positions, for receiving said object from said patient upon movement to said certain first one of said plurality of spatial positions and for selectively grasping and moving said object to a certain second one of said plurality of spatial positions and for allowing said patient to fetch said object when said object has been placed at said certain second one of said plurality of spatial positions; and movement control means for controlling movement of said reception means and for selectively moving said reception means to said certain second one of said plurality of spatial positions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A patient exercise system comprising:
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means for automatically arranging a plurality of objects in a certain order and for sequentially providing each of said plurality of objects to be fetched by a patient according to said certain order; reception means for sequentially receiving each of said objects from said patient; reception movement means for allowing said patient to move said reception means from a certain first one of a plurality of spatial positions to any other of said plurality of spatial positions; and movement control means for controlling said reception movement means and for selectively moving said reception means to said certain first one and said any other of said plurality of spatial positions. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A method for exercising an appendage of a patient in a patient exercise system wherein said patient exercise system has an object delivery means for arranging and sequentially providing each of a plurality of objects to be fetched by a patient, reception means for sequentially receiving each of said objects from said patient and controls means coupled to said object delivery means and said reception means for moving said reception means to a certain one of a plurality of spatial positions, comprising the steps of:
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specifying several objects that are to be grasped by an appendage of a patient; arranging said specified objects in a certain order; automatically delivering each of said objects to said patient according to said certain order from said object delivery means; and causing said patient to grasp said objects delivered from said reception means by use of said appendage and to move each of said delivered objects on said reception means to a predetermined spatial position. - View Dependent Claims (32, 43, 44)
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33. The method of step 31 further comprising the step of defining at least one of said objects to be a ball.
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34. The method of step 31 further comprising the step of defining at least one of said objects to be a key.
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35. The method of step 31 further comprising the step of defining at least one of said objects to be a doorknob.
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36. The method of step 31 further comprising the step of defining at least one of said objects to be a nail.
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37. The method of step 31 further comprising the step of defining at least one of said objects to be a cube.
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38. The method of step 31 further comprising the step of defining at least one of said objects to be a coil.
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39. The method of step 31 further comprising the step of defining at least one of said objects to be a drinking glass.
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40. The method of step 31 further comprising the step of defining at least one of said objects to be a bicycle handle.
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41. The method of step 31 further comprising the step of defining at least one of said objects to be a credit card.
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42. The method of step 31 further comprising the step of defining at least one of said objects to be a paper clip.
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45. A patient exercise system comprising:
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object delivery means for automatically and sequentially providing an object to be fetched by a patient; reception means for receiving said fetched object from said patient including a movement controller for moving said reception means to a certain one of a plurality of spatial positions; and control means for automatically controlling said object delivery means and said reception means according to a selected exercise program.
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46. A patient exercise system, comprising:
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object delivery means for automatically providing an object to be fetched by a patient, wherein said object delivery means comprises a chute having a planar member longitudinally disposed therein and means, having a first portion adapted to attach to said object and a second portion adapted to slidably attach to said planar member, for allowing said object to move from a first position within said chute to a second position of close proximity to a patient; reception means, movable to a certain first one of a plurality of spatial positions, for receiving said object from said patient upon movement to said certain first one of said plurality of spatial positions, for selectively grasping and moving said object to a certain second one of said plurality of spatial positions and for allowing said patient to fetch said object when said object has been placed at said certain second one of said plurality of spatial positions; and controller means, coupled to said object delivery means and to said reception means, for selectively moving said reception means to said certain first one and to said certain second one of said plurality of spatial positions.
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47. A patient exercise system, comprising:
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means for automatically arranging a plurality of objects in a certain order and for sequentially providing each of said plurality of objects to be fetched by a patient according to said certain order including a chute having a planar member longitudinally disposed therein, and means, having a first portion adapted to attach to one of said plurality of objects and a second portion adapted to slidably attach to said planar member, for allowing said object to move from a first position within said chute to a second position in close proximity to said patient; reception means for sequentially receiving each of said objects from said patient; and movement control means for controlling movement of said reception means and for selectively moving said reception means to at least one of a plurality of spatial positions.
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Specification