Patient rehabilitation aid that varies treadmill belt speed to match a user's own step cycle based on leg length or step length
First Claim
1. A gait rehabilitation aid, comprising:
- a treadmill belt having a belt speed;
a user input device; and
a controller responsive to entry into the user input device of information pertaining to any one of cadence and leg length to set the belt speed to match an appropriate step cycle that is based on the information.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The invention is directed to a gait rehabilitation aid and to a method for aiding gait rehabilitation. The gait rehabilitation aid resides in a treadmill having a belt which speed matches a user'"'"'s own step cycle based on let length and which provides feedback in the form of an evaluation with respect to the user'"'"'s length, cadence, gait velocity and gait pattern. A controller that is responsive to a user input device is employed to input information that inputs information pertaining to any one of cadence and leg length sets the belt speed to match an appropriate step cycle. In addition, footprints are scrolled on a display together with foot falls that correspond to actual heel strike events on the treadmill belt. The footprints appear in accordance with the user'"'"'s own step cycle.
-
Citations
25 Claims
-
1. A gait rehabilitation aid, comprising:
-
a treadmill belt having a belt speed;
a user input device; and
a controller responsive to entry into the user input device of information pertaining to any one of cadence and leg length to set the belt speed to match an appropriate step cycle that is based on the information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. A method of aiding gait rehabilitation, comprising the steps of:
- setting treadmill belt speed to match an appropriate step cycle based on one of measured leg length and cadence;
running the treadmill belt to increase speed until reaching the set treadmill belt speed; and
scrolling foot prints in a display in accordance with the appropriate step cycle. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
- setting treadmill belt speed to match an appropriate step cycle based on one of measured leg length and cadence;
-
21. A gait rehabilitation aid, comprising:
-
a treadmill having a belt speed;
a user input device;
a display screen;
a sensor arranged in the treadmill to sense a gait parameter; and
a processor responsive to the sensor to direct the display screen to display a representation of a foot fall corresponding to the sensed gait parameter, the processor being responsive to the user input device to change the belt speed of the treadmill. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 25)
scrolling ideal foot prints on the display in accordance with the appropriate step cycle; and
varying step lengths to match the depicted representations of the sensed foot falls with the ideal foot prints scrolling on the screen.
-
-
24. A method of aiding gait rehabilitation, comprising the steps of:
-
entering information via a user input device that is one of leg length and cadence;
determining an appropriate step cycle based on the information;
running a treadmill belt at a speed that matches the appropriate step cycle;
sensing foot falls on a belt of the treadmill; and
depicting representations of the foot falls on a display screen.
-
Specification