Simulating a split-belt with a single-belt treadmill

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12370404-B2
Application number	US-202117498986-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 12, 2021
Priority date	Oct 13, 2020
Publication date	Jul 29, 2025
Grant date	Jul 29, 2025

Abstract

The present disclosure presents improved treadmill control systems and methods. One such method comprises initiating a recording a video sequence of a walking exercise by a subject on a treadmill device; extracting intra-gait phases of the subject from the recorded video sequence using a video temporal alignment with a neural network; generating a series of treadmill belt control settings for the treadmill device corresponding to each phase of the gait pattern of the subject; and signaling the series of treadmill belt control settings to a motor controller of the treadmill device. Other methods and systems are also provided.

First claim

Therefore, at least the following is claimed:

1. A method comprising:
initiating, by a computing device, a recording of a video sequence of a walking exercise by a subject on a treadmill device;
extracting, by the computing device, intra-gait phases of the subject from the recorded video sequence using a video temporal alignment with a neural network;
generating, by the computing device, a series of treadmill belt control settings for the treadmill device corresponding to each intra-gait phase of a gait pattern of the subject; and
signaling, by the computing device, the series of treadmill belt control settings to a motor controller of the treadmill device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the treadmill device comprises a single-belt treadmill device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the computing device comprises a convolutional neural network device.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the subject has an asymmetric gait pattern.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the series of belt control settings are configured to lower a value of the belt control settings during an intra-gait phase of the gait pattern of the subject in which the subject's leg is in contact with a belt of the treadmill device and raise a value of the belt control settings when the subject's leg is not in contact with the belt of the treadmill device.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the treadmill device comprises a single-belt treadmill device.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the subject has an impaired leg resulting in an asymmetric gait pattern, wherein the series of belt control settings are configured to slow down the treadmill device during an intra-gait phase of the gait pattern of the subject in which the subject's impaired leg is in contact with a belt of the treadmill device and increase a speed of the treadmill device when the subject's impaired leg is not in contact with the belt of the treadmill device.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the series of treadmill belt control settings are input as feedback to the computing device during the walking exercise.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the intra-gait phases of the subject are extracted using temporal alignment and a self-supervised learning scheme during the walking exercise.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the treadmill belt control settings configure a speed setting and an acceleration setting for a motor controller of the treadmill device.

11. A treadmill control system comprising:
a memory of a computing device; and
a hardware processor of the computing device operatively coupled to the memory, wherein the hardware processor is configured to:
obtain a video sequence of a walking exercise by a subject on a treadmill device;
extract intra-gait phases of the subject from the video sequence using a video temporal alignment with a neural network;
generate a series of treadmill belt control settings for the treadmill device corresponding to each intra-gait phase of a gait pattern of the subject; and
signal the series of treadmill belt control settings to a motor controller of the treadmill device.

12. The treadmill control system of claim 11 , further comprising the treadmill device and one or more video cameras for recording the video sequence.

13. The treadmill control system of claim 12 , wherein the treadmill device comprises a single-belt treadmill device.

14. The treadmill control system of claim 11 , wherein the computing device comprises a convolutional neural network device.

15. The treadmill control system of claim 11 , wherein the computing device is configured to input the series of treadmill belt control settings as feedback to the computing device during the walking exercise.

16. The treadmill control system of claim 11 , wherein the intra-gait phases of the subject are extracted using temporal alignment and a self-supervised learning scheme during the walking exercise.

17. The treadmill control system of claim 11 , wherein the treadmill belt control settings configure a speed setting and an acceleration setting for a motor controller of the treadmill.

18. The treadmill control system of claim 11 , wherein the series of belt control settings are configured to lower a value of the belt control settings during an intra-gait phase of the gait pattern of the subject in which the subject's leg is in contact with a belt of the treadmill device and raise the value of the belt control settings when the subject's leg is not in contact with the belt of the treadmill device.

19. The treadmill control system of claim 18 , wherein the value of the belt control settings comprises a value for a speed or acceleration setting.

Assignees

• Univ Texas
• The Univ Of Alabama

Inventors

• Brown David A
• Li Chih-Ying
• Ko Mansoo
• Cao Shengting
• Wang Xuefeng
• Hu Fei
• Gan Yu
• Zhang Liang

Classifications

• A63B24/0087

  Electric or electronic controls for exercising apparatus of groups A63B21/00 - A63B23/00, e.g. controlling load · CPC title

• A63B24/0003

  Analysing the course of a movement or motion sequences during an exercise or trainings sequence, e.g. swing for golf or tennis · CPC title

• A63B2071/0652

  Visualisation or indication relating to symmetrical exercise, e.g. right-left performance related to spinal column · CPC title

• A63B2071/0677

  Input by image recognition, e.g. video signals · CPC title

• A63B2225/50

  Wireless data transmission, e.g. by radio transmitters or telemetry · CPC title