APPARATUSES AND METHODS FOR EVALUATING A PATIENT
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A patient evaluation apparatus comprising:
- a glove body adapted to be worn on an examiner'"'"'s hand;
finger orientation sensors mounted to the glove body adapted to sense the orientation of the fingers and thumb of the examiner'"'"'s hand;
force sensors mounted to the glove body adapted to measure forces applied against the examiner'"'"'s hand; and
a motion sensor mounted to the glove body adapted to detect motion of the examiner'"'"'s hand.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
In one embodiment, a patient evaluation apparatus includes a glove body adapted to be worn on an examiner'"'"'s hand, finger orientation sensors mounted to the glove body adapted to sense the orientation of the fingers and thumb of the examiner'"'"'s hand, force sensors mounted to the glove body adapted to measure forces applied against the examiner'"'"'s hand, and a motion sensor mounted to the glove body adapted to detect motion of the examiner'"'"'s hand.
51 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A patient evaluation apparatus comprising:
-
a glove body adapted to be worn on an examiner'"'"'s hand; finger orientation sensors mounted to the glove body adapted to sense the orientation of the fingers and thumb of the examiner'"'"'s hand; force sensors mounted to the glove body adapted to measure forces applied against the examiner'"'"'s hand; and a motion sensor mounted to the glove body adapted to detect motion of the examiner'"'"'s hand. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
-
-
16. A glove device for evaluating muscle strength or muscle tone of a patient, the device comprising:
-
a glove body adapted to be worn on an examiner'"'"'s hand, the body including a cuff that wraps around the wrist, a central portion that wraps around a central portion of the hand, and finger sleeves that wrap around the fingers and thumb; finger orientation sensors mounted to the glove body adapted to sense the orientation of the fingers and thumb of the examiner'"'"'s hand, the orientation sensors including strands that extend from the central portion of the glove body and attach to the tips of the finger sleeves or positions along the finger sleeve that correspond to joints of the examiner'"'"'s hand; force sensors mounted to the glove body adapted to measure forces applied against the examiner'"'"'s hand, the force sensors being positioned on or within the finger sleeves at positions that correspond to pads of the examiner'"'"'s fingers and thumb and to the examiner'"'"'s palm; an accelerometer mounted to the glove body adapted to detect motion of the examiner'"'"'s hand; and a distance measurement device mounted to the glove body. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
-
-
19. A method for evaluating muscle strength of a patient, the method comprising:
-
an examiner donning a glove device on the examiner'"'"'s hand, the glove device including the examiner grasping a body part of the patient with the hand on which the glove device is worn; the examiner holding the body part steady while the patient attempts to move the body part; measuring the forces applied to the glove device by the body part with sensors of the glove device; determining the joint angles of joints of the examiner'"'"'s hand with other sensors of the glove device; and determining a force vector that identifies the magnitude and direction of a net force applied to the glove device.
-
-
20. A method for evaluating muscle tone of a patient, the method comprising:
-
an examiner donning a glove device on the examiner'"'"'s hand, the glove device including the examiner grasping a body part of the patient with the hand on which the glove device is worn; the examiner moving the body part with the body part relaxed; measuring the forces applied to the glove device by the body part with sensors of the glove device; determining the joint angles of joints of the examiner'"'"'s hand with other sensors of the glove device; measuring a velocity of movement of the glove device with a further sensor of the glove device; and determining a force vector that identifies the magnitude and direction of a net force applied to the glove device.
-
Specification