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Method for characterizing gait

  • US 5,623,944 A
  • Filed: 06/07/1995
  • Issued: 04/29/1997
  • Est. Priority Date: 10/10/1991
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
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1. A method for characterizing the locomotor activity of a subject comprising:

  • (A) placing the subject in a position of locomotion on a movable support surface having a tread area;

    (B) providing a matrix of force transducers, each transducer producing an output signal and being associated with a portion of the tread area directly above the transducer, so that every portion of the tread area on which a foot of the subject may exert a force has a transducer associated with it, each portion of the tread area having an area less than the area of the soles of the subject'"'"'s feet, the matrix of force transducers being arranged in a grid, n transducers wide by m transducers long, where both n and m are both greater than 2, the matrix of force transducers being mounted in a fixed position beneath the movable support surface in such a way as to permit motion of the support surface across such matrix and to permit each transducer to receive substantially all of the vertical force exerted by the subject'"'"'s foot on the portion of the tread area associated with that transducer;

    (C) instructing the subject to perform locomotion on the movable surface;

    (D) accepting the output signal from each transducer, at each of a series of points in time, during a period of time; and

    (E) processing the output signals to provide quantities related to the vertical forces exerted by each foot on the movable support surface.

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