Wearable Technologies For Joint Health Assessment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018160966-A1
Application number	US-201615577253-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 27, 2016
Priority date	May 27, 2015
Publication date	Jun 14, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

Multi-modal sensing relating to joint acoustic emission and joint bioimpedance. Custom-design analog electronics and electrodes provide high resolution sensing of bioimpedance, microphones and their front-end electronics for capturing sound signals from the joints, rate sensors for identifying joint motions (linear and rotational), and a processor unit for interpretation of the signals. These components are packed into a wearable form factor, which also encapsulates the hardware required to minimize the negative effects of motion artifacts on the signals.

First claim

1 . A system for assessing joint health comprising:
a first sensing assembly for sensing characteristics related to joint physiology; a second sensing assembly for sensing characteristics related to joint structure; and a health assessor that provides an assessment of joint health through interpretation of characteristics from the first and the second sensing assemblies; wherein the first sensing assembly comprises a first wearable sensor for placement proximate the joint; and wherein the second sensing assembly comprises a second wearable sensor for placement proximate the joint.

2 . The system of claim 1 further comprising an output assembly capable of providing an indication of joint health to a user of the system.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first wearable sensor comprises a wearable acoustic sensor to measure acoustic emissions from the joint during movement.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first wearable sensor comprises a wearable sensor to measure at least one non-acoustic characteristic of joint movement.

5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein a non-acoustic characteristic of joint movement is selected from the group consisting of linear acceleration and angular velocity.

6 . (canceled)

7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the second wearable sensor comprises a wearable sensor to measure bioimpedance of the joint.

8 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the second sensing assembly comprises a plurality of second wearable sensors to measure bioimpedance of the joint in the form of surface electrodes configured to measure proximal electrical bioimpedance of tissue and blood in proximity of the joint.

9 . The system of claim 1 further comprising:
an output assembly capable of providing an indication of joint health to a user of the system;
wherein the first sensing assembly comprising comprises:
an acoustic sensor to measure acoustic emissions from the joint during movement; and
the first wearable sensor to measure at least one non-acoustic characteristic of joint movement selected from the group consisting of linear acceleration and angular velocity; and

wherein the second wearable sensor comprises a sensor to measure bioimpedance of the joint.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the acoustic sensor comprises a wearable acoustic sensor for placement proximate the joint.

11 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the acoustic sensor comprises a sensor for placement distal the joint.

12 .- 13 . (canceled)

14 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the wearable acoustic sensor comprises piezoelectric film and is capable of measuring surface vibrations of the skin associated with acoustic emissions from the joint.

15 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the acoustic sensor distal the joint comprises a microphone capable of measuring airborne acoustic emissions from the joint.

16 . A system for assessing joint health comprising:
a first sensing assembly for sensing characteristics related to joint physiology, the first sensing assembly comprising:
acoustic sensors to measure acoustic emissions from the joint during movement; and
sensors to measure at least one non-acoustic characteristic of joint movement selected from the group consisting of linear acceleration and angular velocity;
a second sensing assembly for sensing characteristics related to joint structure comprising sensors to measure bioimpedance of the joint; a health assessor that provides an assessment of joint health through interpretation of characteristics from the first and the second sensing assemblies; and an output assembly capable of providing an indication of joint health to a user of the system; wherein at least a portion of the acoustic sensors comprise wearable acoustic sensors for placement proximate the joint capable of measuring surface vibrations of the skin associated with acoustic emissions from the joint; wherein the sensors to measure at least one non-acoustic characteristic of joint movement and the sensors to measure bioimpedance of the joint comprise wearable sensors for placement proximate the joint; and wherein at least a portion of the acoustic sensors comprise microphones distal the joint and capable of measuring airborne acoustic emissions from the joint.

17 . The system of claim 16 , wherein at least a portion of the wearable sensors comprise surface silver/silver-chloride (Ag/AgCl) gel electrodes.

18 . The system of claim 16 , wherein at least a portion of the wearable sensors comprise capacitive dry electrodes.

19 . The system of claim 16 , wherein at least a portion of the wearable sensors comprise textile electrodes.

20 . A system for assessing joint health comprising:
a first sensing assembly for sensing characteristics related to joint physiology, the first sensing assembly comprising:
acoustic sensors capable of sending at least one signal representative of acoustic emissions from the joint during movement; and
sensors capable of sending at least one signal representative of at least one non-acoustic characteristic of joint movement selected from the group consisting of linear acceleration and angular velocity;
a second sensing assembly for sensing characteristics related to joint structure comprising sensors capable of sending at least one signal representative of bioimpedance of the joint; a health assessor comprising at least one processor that provides an assessment of joint health through processing the signals from the first and the second sensing assemblies; and an output assembly capable of providing an indication of the joint health from the health assessor to a user of the system; wherein the health assessor processor is selected from the group consisting of a processor that:
automatically and periodically calibrates the bioimpedance measurements using electronic loads and an algorithm;
processes at least one signal representative of acoustic emissions from the joint in the context of joint angle;
processes acoustic emissions from the joint using filter banks to separate signals based on frequency content;
detects a type of activity occurring in proximity to the joint, and processes acoustic emissions from the joint during the activity based on the type of activity;
processes at least one signal representative of bioimpedance of the joint, which processing provides an indication of joint swelling;
processes at least one signal representative of bioimpedance of the joint, which processing provides an indication of blood flow proximate the joint; and
processes at least one signal representative of bioimpedance of the joint, which processing provides an indication of blood volume proximate the joint.

21 . The system of claim 20 , wherein the second sensing assembly further comprises an electronic interface to the sensors capable of sending at least one signal representative of bioimpedance of the joint.

22 .- 25 . (canceled)

26 . The system of claim 20 , wherein the health assessor processor detects a type of activity occurring in proximity to the joint, and processes acoustic emissions from the joint during the activity based on the type of activity; and
wherein a type of activity is selected from the group consisting of unloaded knee flexion/extension exercise, sit-to-stand exercise, walking, and stair-climbing.

27 .- 29 . (canceled)

30 . A wearable system for assessing joint health of a user comprising:
a first sensing modality assembly for sensing

Assignees

• Georgia Tech Res Inst

Inventors

• Inan Omer T
• Sawka Michael N
• Hasler Jennifer O
• Toreyin Hakan
• Millard-Stafford Mindy I
• Kogler Geza
• Hersek Sinan
• Teague Caitlin

Classifications

• A61B5/4528

  Joints (A61B5/4533, A61B5/4538 take precedence) · CPC title

• A61B5/026

  Measuring blood flow {(A61B3/1233, A61B3/1241 take precedence)} · CPC title

• A61B5/053

  Measuring electrical impedance or conductance of a portion of the body · CPC title

• A61B5/1116

  Determining posture transitions · CPC title

• A61B5/4878

  Evaluating oedema · CPC title