Fingertip tracker

• US 7,662,113 B2
• Filed: 11/07/2005
• Issued: 02/16/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/05/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: California Institute of Technology, Quaternion Applications, Inc.
• Original Assignee: California Institute of Technology
• Inventors: Fischer, Kathleen E., Kwok, Andrew Nicholas, Burdick, Joel W., Pearl, Michael Lawrence, Gao, Steven S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hindenburg; Max
• Assistant Examiner(s): SZMAL, BRIAN SCOTT
• Application Number:
  US11/268,299
• Publication Number:
  US 20060129070A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,562 Days
• Field of Search: 600/587, 600/595, 600/407, 600/424, 600/425, 600/594, 600/427, 600/409, 382/103, 382/151, 382/152, 382/291, 324/226, 324/207.12, 702/94, 356/614
• US Class Current: 600/587
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0223 of calibration, e.g. protocols for calibrating sensors
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0057 by applying motion other than vibrations, e.g. rolling, rubbing, applying a torque, tribometry
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/107 Measuring physical dimensions, e.g. size of the entire body or parts thereof
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/415 the glands, e.g. tonsils, adenoids or thymus
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/418 lymph vessels, ducts or nodes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/444 Evaluating skin marks, e.g. mole, nevi, tumour, scar
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4528 Joints A61B5/4533, A61B5/4538 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6826 Finger
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 80/00 Products made by additive manufacturing

Abstract

A method, apparatus, system, and article of manufacture provide the ability to utilize fingertip tracking technology during the course of a medical examination. A sensor is mounted on a fingertip of a finger of a first person. Such a sensor is communicatively coupled to a computer to record measurements. The sensor is calibrated using a known target. The finger having the sensor is then engaged to perform a medical examination directly on a second person. Measurements are obtained from the sensor on the fingertip during the medical examination. Data is obtained (e.g., via calculations or interpolation) based on the measurements.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for conducting a medical exam comprising:

(a) mounting a sensor on a fingertip of a finger of a first person, wherein the sensor is communicatively coupled to a computer;

(b) calibrating the sensor using a known target;

(c) engaging the finger having the sensor to perform a medical examination directly on a second person;

(d) obtaining measurements from the sensor on the fingertip during the medical examination, wherein the measurements;

(i) relate to a position of the sensor with respect to an anatomical element of the second person; and

(ii) comprise a distance between a sensor on a left hand and a sensor on a right hand of the first person; and

(e) obtaining data based on the measurements.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the sensor comprises an electromagnetic motion sensor.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising correcting all data using a best-fit calibration function prior to calibrating the sensor.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the calibrating comprises:

inserting the sensor into a calibration device prior to mounting the sensor on the fingertip, wherein the calibration device comprises one or more known points;

storing coordinates of the one or more known points based on the sensor to provide one or more locations in space;

touching the one or more known points in the calibration device with the sensor mounted on the fingertip to obtain coordinates of the sensor;

subtracting the coordinates of the one or more known points from the coordinates of the sensor to provide a vector pointing from the sensor to the known point at the fingertip; and

determining a matrix based on the vector that will rotate the vector to account for a position of the fingertip.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

determining if an accuracy of the coordinates of the sensor are within a defined threshold; and

repeating the touching and determining steps until the accuracy of the coordinates of the sensor are within the defined threshold.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein multiple sensors are used on two or more fingertips of the user.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the measurements comprise a distance between two sensors on a single hand of the first person.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the measurements comprise a distance between a midpoint of two sensors on the right hand to a midpoint of two sensors on the left hand.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the measurement comprises a depth of an object on the second person.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the data obtained comprises a plot of the measurements on a display device of the computer.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the measurements comprise reference points of a first limb that is serving as a reference to a fractured bone on a second limb of the second person; and

the data is displayed on a display device of the computer system;

the first person utilizes the fingertip having the sensor to perform a fracture reduction on the fractured bone of the second person; and

data is displayed during the fracture reduction, wherein the data indicates whether a successful reduction has been achieved based on the reference points of the first limb and the measurements obtained from the sensor during the fracture reduction.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the measurements comprise a path traced by the first person with the finger during the medical examination.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the data comprises a range of motion of a joint of the second person.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the measurements comprise a length of a skeletal segment.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the measurements are obtained for an object that is not directly visible by a human eye.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising mounting a placement object comprised of a nub that assists the first person in finding a particular spot on the finger, wherein such a placement object enhances a precision of point localization.

17. An apparatus for conducting a medical exam comprising:

(a) a computer;

(b) a sensor adapted to be mounted on a fingertip of a finger of a first person, wherein the sensor is communicatively coupled to the computer; and

(c) a known target, wherein the sensor is calibrated using the known target;

wherein;

(i) the finger having the sensor performs a medical examination directly on a second person;

(ii) measurements are obtained from the sensor on the fingertip during the medical examination, wherein the measurements relate to a position of the sensor with respect to an anatomical element of the second person;

(iii) the measurements comprise a distance between a sensor on a left hand and a sensor on a right hand of the first person; and

(iv) data based on the measurements is obtained and provided to the computer.