Method and system for measuring anatomical dimensions from a digital photograph on a mobile device

• US 9,801,550 B2
• Filed: 09/26/2013
• Issued: 10/31/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PostureCo, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Joseph Ralph Ferrantelli
• Inventors: Ferrantelli, Joseph Ralph
• Primary Examiner(s): Cattungal, Sanjay
• Application Number:
  US14/037,526
• Publication Number:
  US 20140031700A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,496 Days
• Field of Search: 345645-680, 382128-132, 600407-410, 600473-480, 600594
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0219 Inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt switches
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0077 Devices for viewing the surface of the body, e.g. camera, magnifying lens
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/107 Measuring physical dimensions, e.g. size of the entire body or parts thereof
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1072 measuring distances on the body, e.g. measuring length, height or thickness A61B5/1076 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1116 Determining posture transitions
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1128 using image analysis A61B5/1127 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4869 Determining body composition
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6898 Portable consumer electronic devices, e.g. music players, telephones, tablet computers

Abstract

A mobile, hand-held communication device with a digital touch screen display and a camera for acquiring an image of the human body is programmed to function as a digital anthropometer. The user digitizes anatomical landmarks on the displayed image to quickly obtain linear measurements which are used with a known morphological relationship to make an anatomical prediction for clothing measurement, body composition and postural displacement with accuracy and without external equipment.

Claims

1. A method of deriving an anatomical prediction using a known morphological relationship and a programmed apparatus including a digital touch screen display and a camera configured to acquire images of a person on the digital touch screen display, the method comprising:

acquiring a plurality of images of a person on the digital touch screen display;

digitizing points on a plurality of anatomical landmarks on the displayed images;

determining linear anatomical dimensions of at least a portion of a body of a person in the displayed images using the digitized points and a scale factor for the displayed images; and

making an anatomical circumferential measurement prediction of the person based on the determined linear anatomical dimensions and a known morphological relationship.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the points on the plurality of anatomical landmarks are digitized by touching the digital touch screen display of the images at respective anatomical landmarks.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein acquiring the plurality of images of the person includes acquiring at least two different images corresponding to different views of the person on the digital display, and

digitizing points on the plurality of anatomical landmarks includes digitizing points on anatomical landmarks on each displayed image and determining linear anatomical dimensions of the at least the portion of the body of the person using the digitized points and a scale factor for each displayed image for making the anatomical circumferential measurement prediction.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the different views acquired include a front view and a side view of the person.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the scale factor is a ratio of pixel to distance.

6. A method for measuring the dimensions of a body of a person, the method comprising:

providing a digital anthropometer on a mobile device;

digitizing anatomical landmarks provided on a plurality of images of at least a portion of a body of a person displayed on the device with established calibration methods;

measuring dimensions of the at least the portion of the body of the person based on the digitized anatomical landmarks across the plurality of images; and

making an anatomical circumferential measurement prediction of the person based on the measured dimensions and a known morphological relationship.

7. A system for measuring the dimensions of a body of a person, the system comprising:

a programmed device comprising a digital touch screen display having an array of pixels and a camera configured to acquire a plurality of images of at least a portion of a body of a person on the digital touch screen display;

a digital anthropometer configured to digitize anatomical landmarks on the images of the at least the portion of the body of the person displayed on the digital touch screen display in order to measure dimensions of the at least the portion of the body of the person; and

a controller configured to make an anatomical circumferential measurement prediction of the person using the measured dimensions and a known morphological relationship.

8. The system according to claim 7, wherein the anatomical circumferential measurement prediction is a clothing measurement.

9. The system according to claim 7, wherein the anatomical circumferential measurement prediction is a body measurement.

10. The system according to claim 7, wherein the anatomical circumferential measurement prediction is a postural measurement.

11. The system according to claim 7, wherein the programmed device is a mobile, hand-held communication device having at least one positional device selected from the group consisting of a gyroscope, an accelerometer, and a level configured to level the camera.

12. A method of deriving an anatomical prediction using a programmed apparatus including a digital touch screen display and a camera configured to acquire images of a person on the digital touch screen display, the method comprising:

acquiring a first image of a frontal view of a person on the digital touch screen display;

acquiring a second image of a side view of a person on the digital touch screen display;

determining a linear anatomical width dimension of the person from the first image and a linear anatomical depth dimension of the person from the second image; and

making an anatomical circumferential measurement prediction based on the determined linear anatomical width dimension and the linear anatomical depth dimension,

wherein the anatomical circumferential measurement prediction is based on Equations (1) and (2);

13. A method of deriving an anatomical prediction using a programmed apparatus including a digital touch screen display and a camera configured to acquire images of a person on the digital touch screen display, the method comprising:

acquiring a first image of a frontal view of a person on the digital touch screen display;

acquiring a second image of a side view of a person on the digital touch screen display;

determining a linear anatomical width dimension of the person from the first image and a linear anatomical depth dimension of the person from the second image; and

making an anatomical circumferential measurement prediction of the person based on the determined linear anatomical width dimension and the linear anatomical depth dimension.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the anatomical circumferential measurement prediction is based on an average result of a plurality of mathematical determinations.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the anatomical circumferential measurement prediction is a clothing measurement.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the clothing measurement is selected from the group consisting of neck, overarm, chest, waist, hips, sleeve and outseem.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the anatomical circumferential measurement prediction is a body measurement.

18. The method of claim 13, further comprising activating at least one positional device and using an output thereof for leveling the camera configured to acquire at least one of the first image and second image of the person,

wherein the programmed apparatus is a mobile, hand-held communication device having the camera, and

the at least one positional device is selected from the group consisting of a gyroscope, an accelerometer and a level.

19. The method of claim 13, wherein the anatomical circumferential measurement prediction is a circumference of a body part.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein at least one of the first image and second image is a digital photograph.

21. The method of claim 13, further comprising displaying the anatomical circumferential measurement prediction on the digital touch screen display.

22. The method of claim 13, wherein the anatomical circumferential measurement prediction is a postural measurement.