Method and apparatus for mapping a region of a body

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10353377-B2
Application number	US-201515125748-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 10, 2015
Priority date	Mar 14, 2014
Publication date	Jul 16, 2019
Grant date	Jul 16, 2019

Abstract

A method of generating a topographic map of a region of a body for the manufacture of a body fitting article to be fitted to the region of the body. The method allows for the resultant topographical map of the body feature to be coupled to an anatomical and functional datum on the body. The method involves use of a contact probe which is configured to generate positional data which defines the surface it is drawn across. The method comprises the steps of urging a contact probe towards the outer surface of the body such that the contact probe is touching the outer surface of the body or separated from the outer surface of the body only by a barrier layer which is flattened against the outer surface of the body by the probe. The contact probe is drawn over the region of the body where the body fitting article is to be located such that the contact probe generates 3D positional data of the surface of the outer surface of the body in the region of the body where the body fitting article is to be located.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
placing a contact probe in contact with either an outer surface of a region of a body or a barrier layer which is flattened against the outer surface of the region of the body by the contact probe, the contact probe being configured to generate, while the contact probe is drawn over the outer surface of the region of the body, a first set of 3D positional data which defines the outer surface of the region of the body, wherein a body fitting article is to be fitted over the outer surface of the region of the body;
drawing the contact probe over the region of the outer surface of the region of the body where the body fitting article is to be fitted, such that the contact probe generates the first set of 3D positional data;
touching a pre-determined datum location on a reference fixture with the contact probe to generate a second set of 3D positional data which defines a datum position on the body spaced apart from the region of the body where the body fitting article is to be fitted, wherein the first and second sets of 3D position data are different; and
causing a computer aided design (CAD) tool to process a surface map based on the first and second sets of 3D positional data such that the surface map conforms to a shape of the region of the body where the body fitting article is to be fitted, or
causing a manufacturing tool to manufacture the body fitting article according to the surface map, or
both.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein placing the contact probe comprises placing the contact probe in contact with the barrier layer, the barrier layer comprising hair, a flexible close-fitting material provided over the region of the body to press hair towards the body, or both hair and the flexible close-fitting material.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the method further comprises:
selecting a subset of the first set of 3D positional data to define a topography of an interface surface of the body fitting article to be in contact with the outer surface of the region of the body while the body fitting article is fitted over the outer surface of the region of the body.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the method further comprises:
locating, via the reference fixture, a datum feature of the body positioned at the datum position, the reference fixture being in contact with the datum feature of the body and comprising a region that contacts the pre-determined datum location.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the body fitting article is a helmet and the region of the body is a head.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the reference fixture is an eye reference fixture configured to stabilize and immobilize the head.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein the datum feature of the body is an eye socket.

8. The method of claim 5 wherein the pre-determined datum location is a sighting means aligned with sight of a subject.

9. The method of claim 5 , wherein the method further comprises:
causing a custom-fit liner for use inside the helmet to be manufactured based on the first and second sets of 3D positional data, the custom-fit liner being configured to align optics integrated within the helmet with an eye line of a wearer of the helmet.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the first and second sets of 3D positional data are acquired from the contact probe.

11. An apparatus comprising:
a contact probe having a measurement end for contacting an outer surface of a region of a body, the measurement end being either a sphere or a truncated sphere, the contact probe being configured to
generate, while the measurement end is drawn over the outer surface of the region of the body, a first set of 3D positional data which defines the outer surface of the region of the body, wherein a body fitting article is to be fitted over the outer surface of the region of the body, and
generate, while the measurement end is touched to a pre-determined datum location on a reference fixture, a second set of 3D positional data which defines a datum position on the body spaced apart from the region of the body where the body fitting article is to be fitted, wherein the first and second sets of 3D positional data are different;

a 3D positional data transmitter element provided at a geometric center of the measurement end; and
a receiving unit configured to
cause a computer aided design (CAD) tool to process a surface map based on the first and second sets of 3D positional data such that the surface map conforms to a shape of the region of the body where the body fitting article is to be fitted, or
cause a manufacturing tool to manufacture the body fitting article according to the surface map, or
both.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 further comprising:
the reference fixture, wherein the reference fixture is configured to stabilize and immobilize the region of the body while the contact probe is drawn over the outer surface of the region of the body where the body fitting article is to be fitted.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 further comprising:
a computing system configured to process the first and second sets of 3D positional data from the 3D positional data transmitter element into the surface map.

14. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the body fitting article is a helmet and the region of the body is a head.

15. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein
the receiving unit is further configured to receive the first and second sets of 3D positional data from the 3D positional data transmitter element.

Assignees

• Bae Systems Plc

Inventors

• Ingleton Martyn
• Jenkins Jordan Henry Walker
• Yip Tom Hon Pan
• Norman Raife Edwin Thompson

Classifications

• G01B7/003

  for measuring position, not involving coordinate determination (coordinate measuring G01B7/004) · CPC title

• A61B5/6843

  Monitoring or controlling sensor contact pressure · CPC title

• G06F3/0346

  with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a three-dimensional [3D] space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors · CPC title

• A42C2/007

  Manufacturing custom-sized helmets · CPC title

• G05B2219/49023

  3-D printing, layer of powder, add drops of binder in layer, new powder · CPC title