Body movement monitoring device

• US 8,109,890 B2
• Filed: 02/06/2003
• Issued: 02/07/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/07/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: EPFL - Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne
• Original Assignee: EPFL - Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne
• Inventors: Bijan, Najafi, Kamiar, Aminian, Jean, Gramiger, Pascal, Morel
• Primary Examiner(s): Szmal, Brian
• Application Number:
  US10/502,850
• Publication Number:
  US 20050010139A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,288 Days
• Field of Search: 600/587, 600/595, 734/90, 738/654, 735/10, 735/041.2, 735/041.3, 702/160
• US Class Current: 600/595
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0219 Inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt switches
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1038 Measuring plantar pressure during gait
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/112 Gait analysis
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6828 Leg
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7225 Details of analog processing, e.g. isolation amplifier, gain or sensitivity adjustment, filtering, baseline or drift compensation A61B5/30, A61B5/316 take precedence; transformers for specific applications H01F38/00; amplifiers H03F
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/726 using Wavelet transforms
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 22/006 Pedometers
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/25 Recognition of walking or running movements, e.g. gait recognition

Abstract

An autonomous sensing unit and system that includes a set of sensors, a conditioning means for deriving information from the sensors, display means for displaying the information to an operator, and a means for recording the kinematic parameters of a body segment, and a method for using the system.

Claims

1. A body monitoring system comprising:

(1) an autonomous sensing unit comprising;

a. a set of gyroscope sensors for sensing and recording time event parameters of gait and stride velocity and stride length,

b. a conditioning circuit for deriving information from said sensors,

c. a display for displaying said information to an operator, and

d. a non-transitory digital memory for recording kinematic parameters of a body segment consisting of the lower limbs of a human body, wherein the sensing unit is configured to be attached on a human'"'"'s lower limbs, and wherein the lower limbs are shanks and thighs,

and

(2) a computer configured to determine the time of initial and terminal contact (heelstrike and toe-off) of each foot, the range of rotation of each shank, each thigh and each knee, as well as the stride length and stride velocity during walking, wherein the stride length and stride velocity are determined at each cycle consisting of two steps, and wherein a double segment gait model is utilized to determine stride length based on a double pendulum during swing and an inverse double pendulum during stance, and

wherein the computer is configured to determine the local minimum negative peaks of the shank angular velocity in order to find initial and terminal contact of the foot, and wherein the double segment gait model involving both shank and thigh is utilized in order to estimate angular rotation of lower limbs, stride length, and stride velocity.

2. A body monitoring system according to claim 1 wherein at least one of the gyroscope sensors is an angular rate sensor designed for measuring rotation of the segment on which the sensing unit is attached.

3. A body monitoring system comprising:

(1) a plurality of autonomous sensing units, and each autonomous sensing unit comprises;

a. a set of gyroscope sensors for sensing and recording time event parameters of gait and stride velocity and stride length,

b. a conditioning circuit for deriving information from said sensors,

c. a display for displaying said information to an operator, and

d. a non-transitory digital memory for recording kinematic parameters of a body segment consisting of the lower limbs of a human body, wherein the sensing unit is configured to be attached on a human'"'"'s lower limbs, and wherein the lower limbs are shanks and thighs,

and

(2) a computer configured to determine the time of initial and terminal contact (heelstrike and toe-off) of each foot, the range of rotation of each shank, each thigh and each knee, as well as the stride length and stride velocity during walking, wherein the stride length and stride velocity are determined at each cycle consisting of two steps, and wherein a double segment gait model is utilized to determine stride length based on a double pendulum during swing and an inverse double pendulum during stance, and

wherein the computer is configured to determine the local minimum negative peaks of the shank angular velocity in order to find initial and terminal contact of the foot, and wherein the double segment gait model involving both shank and thigh is utilized in order to estimate angular rotation of lower limbs, stride length, and stride velocity.

4. A body monitoring system according to claim 3 wherein at least one of the gyroscope sensors in each sensing unit is an angular rate sensor designed for measuring rotation of the segment on which the sensing unit is attached.

5. A body monitoring system according to claim 3 wherein the plurality of autonomous sensing units comprise four autonomous sensing units.