Smart joint care

• US 9,549,870 B2
• Filed: 10/13/2015
• Issued: 01/24/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/27/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Iman Shafieloo
• Original Assignee: Iman Shafieloo
• Inventors: Shafieloo, Iman
• Primary Examiner(s): Louis, LaToya M
• Application Number:
  US14/881,420
• Publication Number:
  US 20160030281A1
• Time in Patent Office: 469 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 2201/1604 Head
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 2201/1623 Back
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 2201/1635 Hand or arm, e.g. handle hand-held, A61H2201/0153; fore-arm support, A61H2003/006
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 2201/164 Feet or leg, e.g. pedal
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 2201/165 Wearable interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 2201/5002 Means for controlling a set of similar massage devices acting in sequence at different locations on a patient
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 2201/5005 for controlling frequency distribution, modulation or interference of a driving signal
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 2201/501 connected to external computer devices or networks
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 2201/5015 using specific interfaces or standards, e.g. USB, serial, parallel
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 2201/5035 Several programs selectable
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 2201/5038 freely programmable by the user
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 2201/5058 Sensors or detectors
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 2201/5084 Acceleration sensors
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 2201/5097 wireless
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 2205/02 Head
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 2205/024 Eyes
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 2205/025 Forehead
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 2205/028 Temples
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 2205/065 Hands
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 2205/102 Knee
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 2205/12 : Feet
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 2230/50 : Temperature
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 23/0245 : with ultrasonic transducers, e.g. piezoelectric
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 23/0263 : using rotating unbalanced masses

Abstract

A system that applies vibration to a desired region of a human body including a plurality of vibratory stimulators installed in a flexible material; a programmable control unit (PCU) connected to each said vibratory stimulator a plurality of sensors to collect biofeedback data; a set of programs for the operation of the PCU; a biomechanical database stored in a computer and being populated by the biomechanical data collected by the sensors after application of each said predefined pattern of vibration; and an algorithm to analyze and rank said patterns of vibration according to a ranking factor, wherein a user can choose a pattern of vibration that has a higher ranking factor.

Claims

1. A programmable vibratory sensory neural stimulation (PVSNS) system for applying vibration to a desired region of a human body comprising:

a) a plurality of vibratory stimulators installed in and throughout a flexible material forming a vibration mesh to be placed on said desired region of said human body;

b) a programmable control unit (PCU) connected by wire or wirelessly to each of said vibratory stimulators, said vibratory stimulators being miniature vibration disks;

c) a plurality of sensors installed inside the vibration mesh to collect biomechanical data from said desired region of the human body, wherein said biomechanical data comprises motion, acceleration, angular movement, orientation, and temperature;

d) a set of programs for operation of the PCU to control vibration frequency, amplitude, and period of each of the miniature vibration disks, wherein each program of the set of programs provides a predefined pattern of vibration, and wherein a set of the biomechanical data is generated for each applied pattern of the predefined patterns;

e) a biomechanical database stored in a computer and being populated by the biomechanical data collected by the sensors after application of each of the predefined patterns of vibration; and

f) an algorithm to analyze and rank said patterns of vibration according to a ranking factor, wherein said ranking factor being any one of motion, acceleration, angular movement, orientation, and temperature, whereby a user can choose a pattern of vibration of the predefined patterns that has a higher ranking factor;

wherein each said vibration disks further having a pressure sensor to be identified by pressing said vibration disks, whereby a user commands the system to activate said programs starting from said pressed vibration disk.

2. The programmable vibratory sensory neural stimulation (PVSNS) system of claim 1, wherein said system ranks said patterns of vibration according to a higher to lower ranking factor scale for said biomechanical data.

3. The programmable sensory vibratory neural stimulation (PVSNS) system of claim 1, wherein said predefined patterns of vibration comprises a vibration defined by Σ

_n=1^N a_n sin (nω

t+φ

), where N represents number of vibrators, a_n is amplitude of vibrator n, ω

is its frequency of vibration, and φ

is a phase difference, and wherein numeric value of N, a_n, n, ω

, and φ

are predefined or set by a user.

4. The programmable vibratory sensory neural stimulation (PVSNS) system of claim 1, wherein said system communicates with a user by a user interface, wherein said user interface being selected from the group consisting of (i) a software which is installed on a personal computer, (ii) an application which is installed on an android mobile, (iii) an application which is installed on an iPhone, and (iv) a handheld device designed for a specific program.

5. The programmable vibratory sensory neural stimulation (PVSNS) system of claim 1, wherein said PCU comprising:

a) a microcontroller responsible for gathering data of all said miniature vibration disks and analyzing said data and sending a command to the miniature vibration disks;

b) a memory to store said data of all said miniature vibration disks; and

c) a wireless communication unit to communicate with a personal computer or a mobile device.

6. The programmable vibratory sensory neural stimulation (PVSNS) system of claim 1, wherein said PCU further having an internet connection.

7. The programmable vibratory sensory neural stimulation (PVSNS) system of claim 1, wherein said biomechanical database being stored in a cloud storage on internet.

8. The programmable vibratory sensory neural stimulation (PVSNS) system of claim 1, wherein said system being installed in a cap adapted to be worn by a user.

9. The programmable vibratory sensory neural stimulation (PVSNS) system of claim 1, wherein said system being installed in a knee pad adapted to be worn by a user.

10. The programmable vibratory sensory neural stimulation (PVSNS) system of claim 1, wherein said system being installed in an ankle brace adapted to be worn by a user.

11. The programmable vibratory sensory neural stimulation (PVSNS) system of claim 1, wherein said system being installed in a wrist wrap adapted to be worn by a user.

12. The programmable vibratory sensory neural stimulation (PVSNS) system of claim 1, wherein said system being installed in an insole of a shoe adapted to be worn by a user.

13. A method for relieving pain and edema comprising steps of:

a) installing a plurality of miniature vibration disks in and throughout a flexible material forming a vibration mesh to be placed on a desired region of a human body;

b) connecting a programmable control unit (PCU) by wire or wirelessly to each of said miniature vibration disks;

c) installing a plurality of sensors inside said vibration mesh to collect biomechanical data from said desired region of said human body, wherein said biomechanical data comprises motion, acceleration, angular movement, orientation, and temperature;

d) providing a set of programs for the operation of the PCU to control vibration frequency, amplitude, and period of each of said miniature vibration disks, wherein each program providing a predefined pattern of vibration, and wherein a set of biomechanical data being generated for each applied pattern of the predetermined patterns;

e) generating and storing a biomechanical database in a computer, wherein said database being populated by the biomechanical data collected by said sensors after application of each said predefined pattern of vibration; and

f) analyzing and ranking said patterns of vibration by an algorithm according to a ranking factor, wherein said ranking factor being any one of motion, acceleration, angular movement, orientation, and temperature, whereby a user can choose a pattern of vibration of the predetermined patterns that has a higher ranking factor;

wherein each of said vibration disks further having a pressure sensor to be identified by pressing said vibration disk, whereby a user activates said vibration disk by pressing the vibration disk or activates said programs starting from said pressed vibration disk.

14. The method for relieving pain and edema of claim 13, wherein said method ranks said patterns of vibration according to a higher to lower ranking factor scale for said biomechanical data.

15. The method for relieving pain and edema of claim 13, wherein said predefined patterns of vibration comprises a vibration defined by Σ

_n=1^N a_n sin (nω

t+φ

), where N represents number of vibration disks, a_n is amplitude of vibration disks n, ω

is its frequency of vibration, and φ

is a phase difference, and wherein a numeric value of N, a_n, n, ω

, and φ

are predefined or set by a user.

16. The method for relieving pain and edema of claim 13, wherein said PCU comprising:

a) a microcontroller responsible for gathering data of all said miniature vibration disks and analyzing said data and sending a command to the miniature vibration disks;

b) a memory to store said data of all said miniature vibration disks; and

c) a wireless communication unit to communicate with a personal computer or a mobile device.

17. The method for relieving pain and edema of claim 13, wherein said biomechanical database being stored in cloud storage on internet.

18. The method for relieving pain and edema of claim 13, wherein said sensors associate a level of pain and edema based on a change in range of motion and acceleration.