System to assess amputee patient function

• US 8,998,829 B1
• Filed: 09/20/2010
• Issued: 04/07/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/18/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Modus Health LLC
• Original Assignee: Orthocare Innovations, LLC
• Inventors: Coleman Boone, Kim Lisa, Boone, David Alan
• Primary Examiner(s): Dougherty, Sean
• Assistant Examiner(s): Stout, Michael C
• Application Number:
  US12/886,374
• Time in Patent Office: 1,660 Days
• Field of Search: 600/595, 600/592
• US Class Current: 600/595
• 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 5/1118 Determining activity level
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/112 Gait analysis
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1124 Determining motor skills
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4851 Prosthesis assessment or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6829 Foot or ankle
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 22/006 Pedometers
• 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

Abstract

A pedometer that records the number of steps over a defined period of time and a moment sensor that records the moments experienced by a prosthesis are used in a networked computer environment to assess the functional activity level and instability of a lower limb amputee. The networked environment may include a user computer and a server computer in communication through the Internet. Both the user computer and the server computer include a functional assessment tool and a stability assessment tool. The tools on the user computer and server computer cooperate in assessing the activity level and the instability of a lower limb amputee. The server computer may further host a Website and a secure online database that provides support to the user including the managing of clients and their medical records.

Claims

1. A system for assessing the activity level of prescribing the components of a prosthesis to a lower limb amputee, comprising:

a pedometer comprising a sensor to determine a step, a clock to keep track of the time period that the pedometer is recording steps and a memory to record the steps and time;

a user computer connected to a network in communication with a server computer, wherein the user computer comprises a local functional assessment tool that configures the pedometer to record step data and receives recorded step data from the pedometer; and

a server computer in communication with the user computer through a communication network, wherein the server computer comprises a remote functional assessment tool that receives the step data from the user computer and processes the data to provide a value determinative of a functional ability of the amputee, wherein the value of the functional ability is an average derived from a value representing cadence variability, a value representing potential to ambulate, a value representing ambulation requirement, and a value representing a clinical observation.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the server computer hosts a Web site that provides a service for assessing the functional activity level of a lower limb amputee, a client manager tool, and an online database.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the remote functional assessment tool provides the value describing a cadence variability as the variance in the amount of time that the amputee spends at a plurality of levels of step rate in a defined period of time.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the remote functional assessment tool provides the value describing the potential to ambulate as a number of steps taken by the amputee in a defined period of time.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the remote functional assessment tool provides the value describing the ambulation requirement as a maximum number of steps taken by the amputee in a defined period of time.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising a docking station connected to the user computer, wherein the docking station communicates with the pedometer.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the server computer further provides a value that is determinative for a prescription of components for a prosthesis.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the value representing cadence variability or the value representing potential to ambulate includes a comparison of the step activity compared to a sample of amputees.