Method and apparatus of monitoring foot inflammation
DCFirst Claim
1. A method of evaluating foot inflammation of at least one foot of a patient, each foot having a sole, the method comprising:
- providing one or more processors;
generating, using at least one of the one or more processors and temperature data produced by at least one temperature detection modality, a first thermogram and a separate second thermogram of a sole of each of the at least one foot, each thermogram forming a spatially continuous data set of two-dimensional temperature values across a sole of each of the at least one foot, the first thermogram having first features, the second thermogram having second features;
controlling at least one of the one or more processors to apply at least one transformation to one or both of the first and second thermograms to align the first features of the first thermogram with corresponding second features of the second thermogram;
determining, by at least one of the one or more processors, at any thermogram location, if at least one of the thermograms presents one of a plurality of patterns indicative of foot inflammation; and
producing, by at least one of the one or more processors, output information indicating a result of the determination of whether the thermograms present one of the plurality of patterns.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for evaluating foot inflammation each uses at least one temperature detection modality to form a first thermogram and a second thermogram of the sole of at least one foot. Each thermogram forms a substantially continuous set of two-dimensional temperature values across the sole of the (at least one) foot. The thermograms have features; namely, the first thermogram has first features and the second thermogram has second features. The method and apparatus thus control a device to apply at least one transformation to the first and second thermograms to align the first features with corresponding second features, and determine, at any thermogram location, if at least one of the thermograms presents one of a plurality of patterns indicative of inflammation. Finally, the method and apparatus each produce output information indicating the result of the determination of whether the thermograms present one of the plurality of patterns.
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Citations
37 Claims
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1. A method of evaluating foot inflammation of at least one foot of a patient, each foot having a sole, the method comprising:
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providing one or more processors; generating, using at least one of the one or more processors and temperature data produced by at least one temperature detection modality, a first thermogram and a separate second thermogram of a sole of each of the at least one foot, each thermogram forming a spatially continuous data set of two-dimensional temperature values across a sole of each of the at least one foot, the first thermogram having first features, the second thermogram having second features; controlling at least one of the one or more processors to apply at least one transformation to one or both of the first and second thermograms to align the first features of the first thermogram with corresponding second features of the second thermogram; determining, by at least one of the one or more processors, at any thermogram location, if at least one of the thermograms presents one of a plurality of patterns indicative of foot inflammation; and producing, by at least one of the one or more processors, output information indicating a result of the determination of whether the thermograms present one of the plurality of patterns. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A system for evaluating foot inflammation of at least one foot of a patient, each foot having a sole, the system comprising:
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a thermogram generator having a processor configured to form a first thermogram and a second thermogram from temperature data of a sole of each of the at least one foot, each thermogram forming a spatially continuous data set of two-dimensional temperature values across a sole of each of the at least one foot, the first thermogram having first features, the second thermogram having second features; an orientation module operatively coupled with the thermogram generator, the orientation module being configured to apply at least one affine transformation to at least the first thermogram to align the first features of first thermogram with corresponding second features of the second thermogram; a pattern recognition system operatively coupled with the orientation module, the pattern recognition module being configured to determine, at any location within the first thermogram and the second thermogram, if the thermograms present one of a plurality of patterns indicative of foot inflammation; and an analyzer operatively coupled with the pattern recognition system, the analyzer being configured to produce output information indicating a result of the determination of whether the thermograms present one of the plurality of patterns. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A computer program product for use on a computer system for evaluating foot inflammation of at least one foot of a patient, each foot having a sole, the computer program product comprising a tangible, non-transient computer usable medium having computer readable program code thereon, the computer readable program code comprising:
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program code for using temperature data produced by at least one temperature detection modality to form a first thermogram and a second thermogram of a sole of each of the at least one foot, each thermogram forming a spatially continuous data set of two-dimensional temperature values across a sole of each of the at least one foot, the first thermogram having first features, the second thermogram having second features; program code for controlling a device to apply at least one affine transformation to the first and second thermograms to align the first features of the first thermogram with corresponding second features of the second thermogram; program code for determining, at any location within one or both of the first and second thermograms, if at least one of the thermograms presents one of a plurality of patterns indicative of foot inflammation; and program code for producing output information indicating a result of the determination of whether the thermograms present one of the plurality of patterns. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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Specification