Apparatus, systems, and methods for gathering and processing biometric and biomechanical data

• US 7,602,301 B1
• Filed: 11/17/2006
• Issued: 10/13/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/09/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nike, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Applied Technology Holdings, Inc.
• Inventors: Stirling, Harold Dan, Shears, Jay Allan, Cusey, Lee Norman
• Primary Examiner(s): TRIEU, VAN THANH
• Application Number:
  US11/601,438
• Time in Patent Office: 1,061 Days
• Field of Search: 340/573.1, 340/573.4, 340/573.5, 340/573.7, 340/539.11, 340/539.22, 340/323.R, 340/323.B, 702/141, 702/142, 702/160, 702/182, 702/153, 473/212, 473/131
• US Class Current: 340/573.1
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0219 Inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt switches
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/11 Measuring movement of the entire body or parts thereof, e.g. head or hand tremor, mobility of a limb for measuring pulse A61B5/02 ;A61B5/1038 takes precedence; motion detection to correct for motion artifacts in physiological signals A61B5/721
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1114 Tracking parts of the body
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1124 Determining motor skills
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1127 using markers
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/22 Ergometry; Measuring muscular strength or the force of a muscular blow exercising apparatus A63B21/00 ; measuring of work or force in general G01L
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4528 Joints A61B5/4533, A61B5/4538 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6802 Sensor mounted on worn items
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6804 Garments; Clothes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6824 Arm or wrist
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7405 using sound
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2024/0012 Comparing movements or motion sequences with a registered reference
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2209/08 magnetic
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2209/10 with adhesive type surfaces, i.e. hook and loop-type fastener
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/10 Positions
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/13 Relative positions
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/24 Angular displacement
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/30 Speed
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/40 Acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/803 Motion sensors
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/836 : Sensors arranged on the body of the user
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2225/20 : with means for remote communication, e.g. internet or the like
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2225/50 : Wireless data transmission, e.g. by radio transmitters or telemetry
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 24/0006 : Computerised comparison for qualitative assessment of motion sequences or the course of a movement
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 24/0062 : Monitoring athletic performances, e.g. for determining the work of a user on an exercise apparatus, the completed jogging or cycling distance
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 5/11 : Trampolines
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 69/3608 : Attachments on the body, e.g. for measuring, aligning, restraining A63B69/0059, A63B69/3673 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 69/3667 : Golf stance aids, e.g. means for positioning a golfer's feet
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 18/00 : Pattern recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/011 : Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality blind teaching G09B21/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/23 : Recognition of whole body movements, e.g. for sport training
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/30 : relating to physical therapies or activities, e.g. physiotherapy, acupressure or exercising
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 : for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 80/00 : ICT specially adapted for facilitating communication between medical practitioners or patients, e.g. for collaborative diagnosis, therapy or health monitoring

Abstract

Apparatus, systems, and methods are provided for measuring and analyzing movements of a body and for communicating information related to such body movements over a network. In certain embodiments, a system gathers biometric and biomechanical data relating to positions, orientations, and movements of various body parts of a user performed during sports activities, physical rehabilitation, or military or law enforcement activities. The biometric and biomechanical data can be communicated to a local and/or remote interface, which uses digital performance assessment tools to provide a performance evaluation to the user. The performance evaluation may include a graphical representation (e.g., a video), statistical information, and/or a comparison to another user and/or instructor. In some embodiments, the biometric and biomechanical data is communicated wirelessly to one or more devices including a processor, display, and/or data storage medium for further analysis, archiving, and data mining. In some embodiments, the device includes a cellular telephone.

Claims

1. A body movement sensor system for tracking and recording body movement data, the system comprising:

at least two sensors associated with a first appendage of a user, each of said sensors having an adjustable sample rate and each sensor comprising each of the following;

an accelerometer configured to determine the position of said sensor in three dimensional space in terms of Cartesian coordinates and output position data corresponding to three orthogonal axes in that space;

a magnetometer configured to sense the orientation of said sensor relative to surrounding magnetic fields and output magnetic orientation data;

a gyroscope configured to establish an orientation, sense deviations from that orientation using the principle of conservation of angular momentum, and output gyroscopic orientation data;

at least two sensors associated with a second appendage of a user, each of said sensors having an adjustable sample rate and each sensor comprising each of the following;

an accelerometer configured to determine the position of said sensor in three dimensional space in terms of Cartesian coordinates and output position data corresponding to three orthogonal axes in that space;

a magnetometer configured to sense the orientation of said sensor relative to surrounding magnetic fields and output magnetic orientation data;

a gyroscope configured to establish an orientation, sense deviations from that orientation using the principle of conservation of angular momentum, and output gyroscopic orientation data;

a transceiver configured to accompany the user during a sports activity, the transceiver further configured to communicate with said sensors and wirelessly transmit data received from said sensors, said transceiver further configured to communicate a command to at least one sensor associated with the first appendage to adjust the sample rate independently of the sample rate of any other sensor;

a first processor, configured to remotely receive said data from said sensors and process said data, said first processor having an interface to illustrate characteristics of the user'"'"'s performance in real time; and

a second processor configured to receive and store said data for research or archival purposes.

2. The body movement sensor system of claim 1, further comprising a three-axis magnetometer, or a three-axis gyroscopic detector.

3. The body movement sensor system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the sensors is substantially water resistant.

4. The body movement sensor system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the sensors is configured to be associated with an appendage of a user using a hook and loop material.

5. The body movement sensor system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the sensors is configured to be associated with an appendage of a user by being attached to a garment.

6. The body movement sensor system of claim 5, wherein the garment is configured not to interfere substantially with movements of the user during the sports activity.

7. The body movement sensor system of claim 5, wherein the garment is configured to conform substantially to the appendage of the user.

8. The body movement sensor system of claim 1, wherein the sensors are configured to substantially maintain their orientation and position relative to the appendage during the sports activity.

9. The body movement sensor system of claim 1, wherein the transceiver is further configured to communicate with the sensors wirelessly.

10. The body movement sensor system of claim 1, wherein the first processor comprises a cellular telephone.

11. The body movement sensor system of claim 1, wherein the research purposes comprise medical research related to body movements.

12. The body movement sensor system of claim 1, wherein the second processor is configured to store received data in a short-term data storage device and to transfer at least some of the received data from the short-term data storage device to a long-term data storage device for the archival purposes.

13. The body movement sensor system of claim 1, wherein the data is organized for efficient communication over a wireless channel.

14. A measurement system comprising:

at least one sensor configured to associate with a first body portion and output data relating to movement of said first body portion, said movement of said first body portion with respect to the movement of a second body portion;

a first processor configured to receive and process the data;

a second processor configured to receive and process the data; and

a transceiver configured to communicate with said sensor and communicate wirelessly with the first processor and the second processor;

wherein the at least one sensor is configured to operate at a sample rate that is adjustable independently of the sample rate of any other sensor, thus allowing output of data from the at least one sensor to be increased if the first body portion (with which the sensor is associated) is expected to move more quickly than a second body portion and also allowing output of data from the at least one sensor to be decreased if the first body portion is expected to move more slowly than a second body portion.

15. The measurement system of claim 14, wherein the sample rate is adjusted by the transceiver, the first processor, or the second processor.

16. The measurement system of claim 14, wherein the sample rate is adjusted by a user.

17. The measurement system of claim 14, wherein the sample rate is in a range from about 1 Hz to about 10 kHz.

18. The measurement system of claim 14, wherein the sample rate corresponds to a Nyquist sample rate for motion of the body part to which the sensor is associated.

19. The measurement system of claim 14, wherein at least one of the first processor and the second processor comprises a cellular telephone.

20. A body movement monitoring system comprising:

at least two body movement sensors configured to attach to first and second body appendages that move with respect to one another each sensor further configured to sense and transmit data relating to position and orientation of the sensors in three-dimensional space over time;

a master control unit configured to receive information from the sensors and transmit that information wirelessly;

a first storage medium having reference information for comparison to the sensor information;

a first processor configured to analyze the sensor information, compare it to reference information, and generate visual images related to the sensor information and the relative movement of the first and second body appendages in three-dimensional space over time;

a display device allowing the user to view the visual images during or shortly after the body movements have been made; and

a second storage medium for retaining the sensor information for later comparison.

21. The body movement monitoring system of claim 20, wherein at least one of the body movement sensors comprises an accelerometer, a magnetometer, or a gyroscopic sensor.

22. The body movement monitoring system of claim 20, wherein at least one of the body movement sensors is configured to be substantially water resistant.

23. The body movement monitoring system of claim 20, wherein the first processor comprises a cellular telephone having a graphics display, and the display device comprises the graphics display.

24. The body movement monitoring system of claim 20, wherein the first processor and the display device are configured to display—

using perspective and animation techniques—

a visual representation such that the body movements can be seen from different angles and perspectives in three-dimensional space.

25. The body movement monitoring system of claim 20, wherein the reference information comprises body movement data from the same body performing a similar movement at a previous time.

26. The body movement monitoring system of claim 20, wherein the reference information comprises body movement data from a different body performing an aspired-to movement.

27. The body movement monitoring system of claim 20, further comprising at least one biometric sensor.

28. The body movement monitoring system of claim 27, wherein the biometric sensor comprises a sensor selected from the group of sensors consisting of those that monitor:

temperatures, heart rate, EKG, EMG, blood pressure, blood oxygen content, and glucose levels.

29. A method of monitoring body movement using a body movement monitoring system, the method comprising:

associating at least two sensors with a first appendage of a user, each of said sensors having an adjustable sample rate, and each sensor comprising an accelerometer, a magnetometer, and a gyroscope;

associating at least two sensors with a second appendage of a user, each sensor comprising an accelerometer, a magnetometer, and a gyroscope;

connecting a transceiver to a user such that the transceiver accompanies the user during a sports activity and is configured to communicate with said sensors and wirelessly transmit data received from said sensors;

communicating a command from the transceiver to at least one of the sensors associated with the first appendage to adjust the sample rate of that sensor without affecting a sample rate of any other sensor;

remotely receiving and processing data from said sensors with a first processor;

displaying characteristics of the user'"'"'s performance based on said data processed by said first processor; and

receiving and storing data for research or archival purposes with a second processor.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein displaying characteristics of the user'"'"'s performance comprises using perspective techniques to display a three-dimensional animation based on biomechanical data collected by the sensors such that body movements can be seen from different angles and perspectives in three-dimensional space.