Measuring movement disorder
First Claim
1. A method for quantitatively measuring a user'"'"'s motor skills, comprisingproviding a standardized task to be performed by a user, the task comprising using a pen to trace a sequence of specific positions defined by a marker on a surface of a digitizing tablet,causing the user to perform the task,sampling the position of the pen on the tablet in one coordinate of a coordinate system in a plane of the tablet while the user performs the task, said sampling producing a first series of position samples taken at a corresponding sequence of sample times,sampling at said sequence of sample times the position of the pen in a second coordinate of the coordinate system to produce a second series of position samples,storing data from the first series of position samples, the second series of position samples, and the sequence of sample times, andprocessing the stored data to produce quantitative measures of the user'"'"'s performance of the task, includingvelocity of the user'"'"'s movement while tracing the sequence of specific positions defined by the marker;
- andthe user'"'"'s movements orthogonal to the path defined by the sequence of specific positions.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A subject'"'"'s motor skills are quantified by a standardized task in which a user places a pen in a specific position on a tablet. The position of the pen on the tablet in a plane of the tablet and a pressure exerted by the tablet on the pen in a direction transverse to the tablet is sampled while the user performs the task to produce a series of position samples and pressure samples taken at a corresponding sequence of sample times. The series of position and pressure samples and the sequence of sample times are assembled in a data array. The data array is subsequently analyzed to produce a quantitative measure of the user'"'"'s performance of the task. This includes comparing the position samples to the specific position on the tablet specified by the task.
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Citations
69 Claims
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1. A method for quantitatively measuring a user'"'"'s motor skills, comprising
providing a standardized task to be performed by a user, the task comprising using a pen to trace a sequence of specific positions defined by a marker on a surface of a digitizing tablet, causing the user to perform the task, sampling the position of the pen on the tablet in one coordinate of a coordinate system in a plane of the tablet while the user performs the task, said sampling producing a first series of position samples taken at a corresponding sequence of sample times, sampling at said sequence of sample times the position of the pen in a second coordinate of the coordinate system to produce a second series of position samples, storing data from the first series of position samples, the second series of position samples, and the sequence of sample times, and processing the stored data to produce quantitative measures of the user'"'"'s performance of the task, including velocity of the user'"'"'s movement while tracing the sequence of specific positions defined by the marker; - and
the user'"'"'s movements orthogonal to the path defined by the sequence of specific positions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. Apparatus for quantitatively measuring a user'"'"'s motor skills, comprising
a digitizing tablet having a pen, a marker placed on a surface of the tablet, the marker indicating a sequence of specific positions on the tablet to be traced by the user in performing a standardized task, a computer connected to the digitizing tablet to receive from the tablet position samples characterizing movement of the pen on the tablet while the user performs the task, the computer comprising a processor for processing data from said samples and analyzing said data to produce a measure characterizing the user'"'"'s performance of the task, and a memory connected to said processor for storing said position samples, and said measure, wherein said measures comprise: -
velocity of the user'"'"'s movement while tracing the sequence of specific positions defined by the marker; and the user'"'"'s movements orthogonal to the path defined by the sequence of specific positions. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
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49. A method for quantitatively measuring a user'"'"'s motor skills, comprising
providing a standardized task to be performed by a user, the task comprising using a pen to trace a sequence of specific positions defined by a marker on a surface a digitizing tablet, causing the user to perform the task, sampling the position of the pen on the tablet in one coordinate of a coordinate system in a plane of the tablet while the user performs the task, said sampling producing a first series of position samples taken at a corresponding sequence of sample times, sampling at said sequence of sample times the position of the pen in a second coordinate of the coordinate system to produce a second series of position samples, storing data from the first series of position samples, the second series of position samples and the sequence of sample times, and processing the data to produce quantitative measures of the user'"'"'s performance of the task, including a measure of the user'"'"'s reaction time while tracing the sequence of specific portions.
Specification