Method and System for Functional Balance Assessment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016128642-A1
Application number	US-201514934531-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Nov 6, 2015
Priority date	Nov 6, 2014
Publication date	May 12, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A system comprising: at least one platform configured for, in use, having a person on it, said platform comprising a plurality of sensors configured for capturing information of forces/pressures applied by the feet of the person or of the position of the person's feet; means for, from said captured information, respectively extracting either a center of pressure or the position of the feet; at least one reference signal disposed at a known location with respect to said platform; at least one sensor which, in use, is connected to the body of the person situated on said platform, the sensor being configured for capturing said at least one reference signal; processing means for extracting information from said at least one captured reference signal and for estimating the position and/or orientation of said at least one sensor; processing means for estimating the position and/or orientation of the body of said person; processing means for calculating a stability index from said position and/or orientation of the body of said person and from said extracted feet position or center of pressure.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 - A system comprising:
at least one platform configured for, in use, having a person on it, said platform comprising a plurality of sensors configured for capturing information of forces/pressures applied by the feet of the person or of the position of the person's feet; means for, from said captured information, respectively extracting either a center of pressure or the position of the feet; the system being characterized in that it further comprises:
at least one reference signal disposed at a known location with respect to said platform;
at least one sensor which, in use, is connected to the body of the person situated on said platform, the sensor being configured for capturing said at least one reference signal;
processing means for extracting information from said at least one captured reference signal and for estimating the position and/or orientation of said at least one sensor;
processing means for estimating the position and/or orientation of the body of said person; and
processing means for calculating a stability index from said position and/or orientation of the body of said person and from said extracted feet position or center of pressure.

2 - The system of claim 1 , wherein said at least one sensor connected to the body of the person situated on said platform comprises a camera and said at least one reference signal disposed at a known location with respect to said platform is a visual pattern.

3 - The system of claim 2 , wherein said at least one visual pattern is an infrared visual pattern and said at least one camera is configured to capture images in the infrared range of light.

4 - The system of claim 1 , wherein said platform is a plantar pressure distribution system or a force platform.

5 - The system of claim 1 , wherein said stability index is a function of the position and orientation of said at least one sensor connected to the body of the person situated on said platform and at least one of the following inputs: a base of support (BoS), a center of pressure (CoP), a ground reaction force (GRF) and one or more features derived from said inputs.

6 - The system of claim 1 , wherein said at least one sensor connected to the body of the person situated on said platform is adapted to be connected to the trunk of said person.

7 - The system of claim 1 , wherein said at least one sensor connected to the body of the person situated on said platform comprises at least one acceleration transducer for measuring the sensor acceleration or at least one angular velocity transducer for measuring the sensor angular velocity.

8 - The system of claim 1 , wherein said at least one reference signal is placed on or outside said platform.

9 - The system of claim 1 , wherein the orientation of the at least one sensor connected to the body is actuated by at least one servo motor.

10 - A method comprising the steps:
at a plurality of sensors located at a platform on which a person is situated, capturing information of the pressure applied by the feet of the person or of the position of the person's feet; from said captured information, respectively extracting either a center of pressure or a feet position; the method being characterized in that it comprises the steps of:
by means of at least one sensor connected to the body of the person situated on said platform, capturing at least one reference signal disposed at a known location with respect to said platform;
extracting information from said at least one captured reference signal;
estimating the position and/or orientation of said at least one sensor;
estimating the position and/or orientation of the body of said person;
calculating a stability index from said position and/or orientation of the body of said person and from said extracted feet position or center of pressure.

11 - The method of claim 10 , wherein said stage of estimating the position and/or orientation of the body of said person is done as follows:
extracting a point of interest from said at least one image; estimating the relative position of the sensor with respect to the visual pattern and the orientation of the sensor; estimating the center of mass (CoM) of the person from said relative position and orientation of the sensor.

12 - The method of either claim 10 or 11 , further comprising the step of measuring the sensor acceleration and/or the sensor angular velocity and/or the magnetic orientation of the sensor.

13 - The method of claim 12 , wherein said stage of estimating the position and/or orientation of the at least one sensor is refined as follows:
acquiring the acceleration and/or angular velocity and/or magnetic orientation of the sensor; estimating the sensor relative translation and orientation; refining the estimation of the sensor position and orientation by combining the initial estimation with the additional information available.

Assignees

• Fundacion Tecnalia Res & Innovation

Inventors

• Barralon Pierre

Classifications

• A61B2562/0219

  Inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt switches · CPC title

• A61B5/7278 Primary

  Artificial waveform generation or derivation, e.g. synthesizing signals from measured signals · CPC title

• A61B5/0059

  using light, e.g. diagnosis by transillumination, diascopy, fluorescence (photoacoustic A61B5/0093; optical measurement of heart rate A61B5/02416; optical measurement of blood flow A61B5/0261; optical measurement of analytes A61B5/1455) · CPC title

• A61B5/6887

  mounted on external non-worn devices, e.g. non-medical devices · CPC title

• A61B5/1036 Primary

  Measuring load distribution, e.g. podologic studies · CPC title