Joint displacement measurement apparatus
First Claim
1. An apparatus for measuring relative leg length in a subject lying on a treatment table to facilitate chiropractic adjustment using an activator technique, where relative leg length is indicative of a difference between a left leg length and a right leg length of the subject, the apparatus comprising:
- a longitudinal bar disposed generally parallel to the subject'"'"'s legs, said longitudinal bar having a first end and a second end;
a transverse bar pivotally attached to said longitudinal bar, said transverse bar having a foot retaining means for retaining at least a portion of said subject'"'"'s feet;
pivoting attachment means for attaching said transverse bar to said longitudinal bar;
a mounting means for attaching a first end of said longitudinal bar to said treatment table;
a first detector means for providing a first electrical signal representative of a displacement of said transverse bar from said first end of said longitudinal bar;
a second detector means for providing a second electrical signal representative of an angular deviation of said transverse bar from perpendicular to said longitudinal bar;
a computational means for converting said first electrical signal and said second electrical signal into an output signal indicating relative leg length; and
a display means for displaying a value of said relative leg length.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The measurement device includes a frame with a support and mounting member, a longitudinal bar, a lateral bar pivotally and slidably attached to the longitudinal bar with a pair of stirrups or heel cups attached symmetrically on either side of the longitudinal bar at a known distance from the longitudinal bar. A plurality of potentiometers or other resistive measurement devices are attached to the two bars to provide analog measurements of lengthwise and angular displacement. A microprocessor controller calculates actual leg length and offset by combining the measurements obtained from the first two resistive elements using a simple trigonometric function. An output means in the form of an LED and/or LCD display provides a visual display of the calculated actual and offset values.
49 Citations
23 Claims
-
1. An apparatus for measuring relative leg length in a subject lying on a treatment table to facilitate chiropractic adjustment using an activator technique, where relative leg length is indicative of a difference between a left leg length and a right leg length of the subject, the apparatus comprising:
-
a longitudinal bar disposed generally parallel to the subject'"'"'s legs, said longitudinal bar having a first end and a second end; a transverse bar pivotally attached to said longitudinal bar, said transverse bar having a foot retaining means for retaining at least a portion of said subject'"'"'s feet; pivoting attachment means for attaching said transverse bar to said longitudinal bar; a mounting means for attaching a first end of said longitudinal bar to said treatment table; a first detector means for providing a first electrical signal representative of a displacement of said transverse bar from said first end of said longitudinal bar; a second detector means for providing a second electrical signal representative of an angular deviation of said transverse bar from perpendicular to said longitudinal bar; a computational means for converting said first electrical signal and said second electrical signal into an output signal indicating relative leg length; and
a display means for displaying a value of said relative leg length. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. An apparatus for measuring joint displacement in a joint of a subject'"'"'s limb caused by muscle tension, the apparatus comprising:
-
a longitudinal bar having a first end and a second end, said longitudinal bar being disposed generally parallel to a direction of joint displacement; a transverse bar pivotally attached to said longitudinal bar, said transverse bar a retaining means for releasably attaching at least one of the subject'"'"'s limbs which will be affected by joint displacement; pivoting attachment means for attaching said transverse bar to said longitudinal bar; a mounting means for attaching said first end of said longitudinal bar to a table; a first detection element for providing a first electrical signal representative of a displacement of said transverse bar from said first end of said longitudinal bar; a second detection element for providing a second electrical signal representative of an angular deviation of said transverse bar from perpendicular to said longitudinal bar; a computational means for converting said first electrical signal and said second electrical signal into an output signal indicating joint displacement; and a display means for displaying said output signal in the form of a value of said joint displacement. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
-
19. A method for measuring relative leg length in a subject to facilitate chiropractic adjustment using an activator technique where said subject is lying on a supporting surface where relative leg length is indicative of a difference between a left leg length and a right leg length of the subject, the method comprising:
-
attaching a first end of a longitudinal bar on said supporting surface generally parallel to the subject'"'"'s legs; retaining a lower portion of the subject'"'"'s legs in a retaining means on a transverse bar rotatably attached to said longitudinal bar; detecting a displacement of said transverse bar from said first end of said longitudinal bar and generating a first electrical signal representative thereof; detecting an angular deviation of said transverse bar from perpendicular to said longitudinal bar and generating a second electrical signal representative thereof; converting said first electrical signal and said second electrical signal into an output signal indicating relative leg length; and displaying a value of said relative leg length. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21)
-
-
22. A method for measuring relative joint displacement in a joint of a subject'"'"'s limb caused by muscle tension, the method comprising:
-
attaching a first end of a longitudinal bar to a supporting surface generally parallel to a direction of joint displacement; retaining at least a portion of said subject'"'"'s limb which will be affected by the joint displacement in a retaining means on a transverse bar rotatably attached to said longitudinal bar; detecting a deviation of said transverse bar from first said end of said longitudinal bar and generating a first electrical signal representative thereof; detecting an angular deviation of said transverse bar from perpendicular to said longitudinal bar and generating a second electrical signal representative thereof; converting said first electrical signal and said second electrical signal into an output signal indicating joint displacement length; and displaying a value of said joint displacement. - View Dependent Claims (23)
-
Specification