Method and apparatus for assessing the lumbar spine
First Claim
1. An apparatus for assessing the condition of the lumbar spine of a patient comprising:
- a pelvis restraining means for holding the patient'"'"'s pelvis fixed;
a harness adapted to be secured in a fixed orientation to the patient above the lumbar spine, said harness being connected to said pelvis restraining means and movable relative thereto and said harness being spring biased to a neutral position and rotatable therefrom in a first or second rotational direction against said spring biasing whereby force applied by said spring biasing increases with annular displacement from the neutral position; and
,torque measuring means associated with said harness for measuring torque generated by a patient who twists his back in the first rotational direction and in the second rotational direction against said spring biasing.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and a method are provided for assessing the condition of the lumbar spine of a patient. The apparatus comprises a pelvis restraint for holding the patient'"'"'s pelvis fixed, a harness adapted to be secured in a fixed orientation to the patient above the lumbar spine, the harness being connected to the pelvis restraint and movable relative thereto and the harness being spring biased to a neutral position and rotatable therefrom in a first or second rotational direction against the spring biasing, and, a torque measurement device associated with the harness for measuring torque generated by the patient who twists his back in the first rotational direction and in the second rotational direction.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. An apparatus for assessing the condition of the lumbar spine of a patient comprising:
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a pelvis restraining means for holding the patient'"'"'s pelvis fixed; a harness adapted to be secured in a fixed orientation to the patient above the lumbar spine, said harness being connected to said pelvis restraining means and movable relative thereto and said harness being spring biased to a neutral position and rotatable therefrom in a first or second rotational direction against said spring biasing whereby force applied by said spring biasing increases with annular displacement from the neutral position; and
,torque measuring means associated with said harness for measuring torque generated by a patient who twists his back in the first rotational direction and in the second rotational direction against said spring biasing. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for assessing the condition of the lumbar spine of a patient comprising:
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measuring the maximum torque the patient is capable of generating by twisting his back in a first rotational direction; measuring the maximum torque the patient is capable of generating by twisting his back in a second rotational direction; and
,comparing the two measurements in a first comparison. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. An apparatus for assessing the condition of the lumbar spine of a patient comprising:
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torque measuring means for measuring the maximum torque generated by the patient who twists his back in a first rotational direction and for measuring the maximum torque generated by the patient who twists his back in a second rotational direction; means for comparing the two torque measurements in a first comparison.
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Specification