METHOD FOR ALIGNING A PROSTHESIS
First Claim
1. A method for aligning a prosthesis, comprising:
- coupling a transducer that measures moments in the anterior/posterior plane and right/left plane to a prosthesis, the transducer having an initial alignment;
attaching the prosthesis to a patient;
obtaining signals representative of moments in the anterior/posterior plane and right/left plane as the patient walks along a line of progression;
comparing the signals representative of moments obtained during walking to a model of alignment; and
making an adjustment to the initial alignment to bring the initial alignment closer to the model of alignment.
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Abstract
A computerized prosthesis alignment system includes a transducer that can measure socket reactions in the anterior/posterior plane and the right/left planes, while canceling or reducing the transverse forces on the measurements of these socket reactions. In addition, the transducer is also capable of determining the axial load or weight experienced by the prosthesis. The computerized prosthesis alignment system is in communication with a host computer. The moment data from the transducer is interpreted by the user via a computer interface. The host computer includes memory for storing one or more applications. These applications receive data from the transducer, interpret the data with discrete algebraic or fuzzy logic algorithms, and display the output numerically and graphically. Applications may also interpret the data to provide analyses to the user for aligning the prosthesis.
42 Citations
42 Claims
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1. A method for aligning a prosthesis, comprising:
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coupling a transducer that measures moments in the anterior/posterior plane and right/left plane to a prosthesis, the transducer having an initial alignment; attaching the prosthesis to a patient; obtaining signals representative of moments in the anterior/posterior plane and right/left plane as the patient walks along a line of progression; comparing the signals representative of moments obtained during walking to a model of alignment; and making an adjustment to the initial alignment to bring the initial alignment closer to the model of alignment. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for aligning a prosthesis, comprising:
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obtaining signals representative of moments in the anterior/posterior plane and right/left plane acting on the prosthesis; obtaining corrected signals by applying a correction factor to the signals; computing gait variables from the corrected signals; and applying the gait variables to a model of alignment. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions that, when executed, perform a method for analyzing misalignment of a prosthesis, the method comprising:
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obtaining signals representative of moments in the anterior/posterior plane and right/left plane; obtaining corrected signals by applying a correction factor to the signals; computing gait variables from the corrected signals; and applying the gait variables to a model of alignment. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. A computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions that, when executed, perform a method for aligning a prosthesis, comprising:
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obtaining the anterior/posterior moment and the right/left moment acting on a prosthesis when a patient walks wearing the prosthesis; obtaining increments of the stance phases during walking; computing gait variables from the anterior/posterior moment, the right/left moment, and stance phase increments; applying the gait variables to a predefined model of alignment derived as a series of simultaneous equations that describe the relationships of combinations of the gait variables to possible prosthesis misalignments; solving the equations to determine whether the prosthesis is misaligned; and providing instructions to align the prosthesis.
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Specification