System and method for animal gait characterization from bottom view using video analysis
First Claim
1. An animal gait analysis system, comprising:
- a computer configuredto determine a shape of at least one animal and position and shape of the animal'"'"'s feet from a plurality of images whether or not the feet are in contact with the floor, wherein the images are images of a bottom view of the at least one animal through a transparent floor of an arena; and
to characterize activity of the animal at least in part based on analysis of the shape of the animal and the position and shape of the feet.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In general, the present invention is directed to systems and methods for finding the gait parameters of an animal using video. The invention includes a system with a video camera coupled to a computer in which the computer is configured to automatically provide animal segmentation, foot identification, foot tracking, and gait parameter calculation. In a preferred embodiment, the present invention may use a treadmill apparatus with a transparent tread or belt for gait parameter calculation. A camera may be placed directly underneath the transparent tread such that the bottom view of the animal walking or running on the transparent tread is captured by the camera. A tilted mirror may also be placed directly underneath the transparent tread in order to reflect the bottom view images to the side where they are captured by a high-speed camera. Thus, the present invention is capable of automatically monitoring a video image to identify, track and classify the actions of various animals'"'"' feet within the image. The image may be provided in real time or from storage. The invention is particularly useful for monitoring and characterizing gait behavior such as walking and running behavior and their patterns for assessing neurological functions, testing drugs and genetic mutations, but may be used in any of a number of other monitoring and surveillance applications.
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Citations
44 Claims
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1. An animal gait analysis system, comprising:
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a computer configured to determine a shape of at least one animal and position and shape of the animal'"'"'s feet from a plurality of images whether or not the feet are in contact with the floor, wherein the images are images of a bottom view of the at least one animal through a transparent floor of an arena; and to characterize activity of the animal at least in part based on analysis of the shape of the animal and the position and shape of the feet. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 22, 23, 24, 25, 43)
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9. A method of analyzing gait activity of at least one animal using computer processing of images, comprising:
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acquiring a plurality of images of a bottom view of the animal through a transparent floor of an arena; analyzing the shape of the animal in said images; identifying all feet of the animal over a plurality of said images; determining the motion of each foot independently whether or not the feet are in contact with the floor of the arena; calculating gait parameters of the animal based on the motion of the feet; and characterizing gait activity of said animal based on the gait parameters. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 44)
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35. An animal gait analysis system, comprising
a computer configured to analyze a plurality of images of at least one animal, wherein the images are images of a bottom view of the animal through a transparent movable belt of a treadmill apparatus; -
determine the motion of at least one foot of the animal whether or not the foot is in contact with the transparent belt; characterize activity of the animal based at least in part on analysis of the motion of the feet. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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Specification