SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PHYSICAL THERAPY USING AUGMENTED REALITY AND TREATMENT DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Abstract

The present invention relates to systems and methods for physical therapy in augmented reality (A R) comprising: at least one projector; at least one motion capture sensor; at least one surface E MG sensor, balance sensing unit; a computer in connection to said at least one projector, at least one motion capture sensor, and at least one surface E MG sensor and balance sensing unit. Wherein, movement instructions are provided to a patient in visual cues projected on a surface in patient's vicinity; and further wherein, data regarding patient's movements are collected by said at least one motion capture sensor and at least one surface E M G sensor and balance sensing unit. It is within the provision of the invention that said data is processed and analyzed into a representation of patient's status and progress, further providing suitable therapy and exercise plans.

Claims

1. A system for physical therapy in augmented reality, comprising: a. at least one projector; b. at least one motion capture sensor; c. at least one surface EMG sensor; d. a balance sensing unit; e. a computer in connection to said at least one projector, at least one motion capture sensor, and at least one surface EMG sensor, and a balance sensing unit; wherein, movement instructions are provided to a patient in visual cues projected on a surface in patient's vicinity; and further wherein, data regarding patient's movements are collected by said at least one motion capture sensor and at least one surface EMG sensor, and balance sensing unit.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said data is processed and analyzed into a representation of patient's status and progress, further providing suitable therapy and exercise plans.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein said surface EMG sensor is arranged in a limb band and comprises a plurality of surface electrode pads dispersed in the perimeter of said limb band.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein said surface EMG sensor further comprises a vibrating component for providing feedback to a patient.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein said surface EMG sensor further comprises LED lights for providing feedback to a patient.

6. A method for using a system of claim 1, comprising steps of: a. providing movement instructions by projecting visual cues on adjacent surfaces to a patient using said at least one projector; b. collecting raw data regarding a patient's movements from said at least one motion capture sensor, balance sensing unit, and at least one surface EMG sensor; c. evaluating patient's movements in relation to said movement instructions; d. providing feedback regarding patient's movement performance.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the step of providing feedback is performed by projecting feedback on adjacent surfaces.

8. A method for using a system of claim 4, comprising steps of: a. providing movement instructions by projecting visual cues on adjacent surfaces to a patient using said at least one projector; b. collecting raw data regarding a patient's movements from said at least one motion capture sensor and at least one surface EMG sensor; c. evaluating patient's movements in relation to said movement instructions; d. providing feedback regarding patient's movement performance with vibration cues generated by said vibrating component.

9. A method for using a system of claim 5, comprising steps of: a. providing movement instructions by projecting visual cues on adjacent surfaces to a patient using said at least one projector; b. collecting raw data regarding a patient's movements from said at least one motion capture sensor and at least one surface EMG sensor; c. evaluating patient's movements in relation to said movement instructions; d. providing feedback regarding patient's movement performance with cues generated by said LED lights.

10. A method for using a system of claim 1, comprising steps of: a. providing movement instructions by projecting visual cues on adjacent surfaces to a patient using said at least one projector; b. collecting raw data regarding a patient's movements from said at least one motion capture sensor and at least one surface EMG sensor; c. evaluating patient's movements; d. adjusting patient's therapy and exercise plans.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of evaluating patient's movement is comprised the steps of: a. recording raw data regarding a patient's movements during a therapeutic session into a database located in said computer; b. sorting said raw data by type of movement; c. accessing at least two databases with recordings of previous therapeutic treatments of said patient; d. comparing data recorded in accessed databases in chosen type of movement 604; e. evaluating improvement in said chosen type of movement in comparison to previous recording of a therapeutic session.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of evaluating patient's movement is comprised the steps of: a. recording raw data regarding a patient's movements during a therapeutic session into a database located in said computer; b. sorting said raw data by type of movement; c. accessing a database with recordings of type of movements by a healthy patient having similar characteristics to said patient; d. comparing data recorded in accessed databases in chosen type of movement; e. evaluating performance of said patient in relation to healthy patient performing said chosen type of movement.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] Embodiments and features of the present invention are described herein in conjunction with the following drawings:

[0029] FIG. 1 is a diagram depicting a system of the present invention.

[0030] FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method of the present invention.

[0031] FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method of the present invention.

[0032] FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method of the present invention.

[0033] FIG. 5 is a diagram depicting an embodiment of a system of the present invention.

[0034] FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method of the present invention.

[0035] FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a method of the present invention.

[0036] FIG. 8 is a diagram depicting a therapeutic exercise executed by an embodiment of the present invention.

[0037] FIG. 9 is a diagram depicting a therapeutic exercise executed by an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0038] The present invention will be understood from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, which are meant to be descriptive and not limiting. For the sake of brevity, some well-known features, methods, systems, procedures, components, circuits, and so on, are not described in detail.

[0039] FIG. 1 depicts a system for physical therapy in augmented reality (AR) comprising: [0040] a. one projector 101 that is capable of projecting visual cues on top of adjacent surfaces at normal interior lighting conditions; a BenQ MX620ST projector is suitable for this purpose but it should be mentioned that projectors of other types and makes may be also suitable to fill this purpose; [0041] b. one motion capture sensor 102; a Microsoft Kinect sensor having 3d image capture capabilities is suitable for this purpose but it should be mentioned that other types and makes may be suitable to fill this purpose if they can detect movement and provide data regarding the patient's movements. [0042] c. two surface EMG sensors 103, 104; This embodiment uses a limb band with a MyoWare EMG sensor coupled with several surface electrode pads 106 dispersed in the perimeter of said limb band. [0043] The surface EMG sensor may optionally further comprise a vibrating component (not shown) for providing feedback to a patient. Considering a patient wearing an EMG sensor with a vibrating component on each limb. If the system would determine that the patient is not properly activating a muscle in a certain limb, the system shall activate the vibrating component that is attached to the limb with the deficiency. [0044] The surface EMG sensor may optionally further LED lights (not shown) for providing feedback to a patient. Considering a patient wearing an EMG sensor with LED lights on each limb. If the system would determine that the patient is not properly activating a muscle in a certain limb, the system shall activate the LED lights that are attached to the limb with the deficiency. [0045] d. a balance sensing unit 110; [0046] In this embodiment, the balance sensing unit is comprised of four pressure sensors 113 distributed evenly in 2 insoles for insertion in a patient's shoes. [0047] FlexiForce pressure sensors are suitable for this purpose but it should be mentioned that pressure sensors of other types and makes may be also suitable to fill this purpose. [0048] It should be mentioned that Tekscan iShoe insoles may be adapted for use in the system of the present invention without undue experimentation on-behalf of a person of average skill in the field of the present invention. [0049] One such pressure sensor is built into the heel of the insole 117 while the other pressure sensor is built into the fore of the insole 118. Each insole further comprises a battery, a microprocessor, a memory unit, and wireless communication module for transmitting collected data to the system (not shown). [0050] This configuration allows the inventive system to gather data regarding patient's weight distribution in movement. [0051] e. a computer 105 in connection to said one projector, one motion capture sensor, two surface EMG sensors, and balance sensing unit; [0052] said computer may be a PC, a laptop, tablet or any computerized device capable of receiving input data from the sensors, making the necessary calculations for analyzing the raw data into a representation of patient's status and progress, comparing said representation of patient's status and progress to representations of other patients, further providing suitable therapy and exercise plans, and providing feedback through the projector and through other peripherals such as the vibrating component and the LED lights.

[0053] Movement instructions are provided to a patient in visual cues projected on a surface in patient's vicinity; while data regarding a patient's movements are collected by said motion capture sensor 102, the surface EMG sensors 103, 104, and balance sensing unit.

[0054] Among others, the system collects the following types of data: patient's movement in area, distance of patient relative to a certain point in area, EMG signals, balance, patient's stride length, number of steps per exercise, length of practice and etc.

[0055] The computer 105 may be connected by wire or by wireless network protocols such as Bluetooth and WIFI. The computer 105 that processes the data may be physically located at the same room as the sensors or may be a distant server that serves data from multiple users geographically distant from each other, at which case, a terminal computer is used for collecting the raw data, transmitting it for processing to the server computer, and for receiving and displaying the exercise/practice and performance data to user.

[0056] FIG. 2 depicts a method of an exemplary application for executing upon said computer, comprising steps of: [0057] a. providing movement instructions by projecting visual cues on adjacent surfaces to a patient using said at least one projector 201; [0058] b. collecting raw data regarding a patient's movements from said at least one motion capture sensor and at least one surface EMG sensor 202 balance sensing unit; [0059] c. evaluating patient's movements in relation to said movement instructions 203; [0060] d. projecting feedback regarding patient's performance 204 on adjacent surfaces.

[0061] FIG. 3 depicts a method of an exemplary application for executing upon said computer, comprising steps of: [0062] a. providing movement instructions by projecting visual cues on adjacent surfaces to a patient using said at least one projector 301; [0063] b. collecting raw data regarding a patient's movements from said at least one motion capture sensor, at least one surface EMG sensor, and balance sensing unit 302; [0064] c. evaluating patient's movements in relation to patient's previous sessions with the system 303; [0065] d. adjusting patient's therapy and exercise plans 304.

[0066] FIG. 4 depicts a method of an exemplary application for executing upon said computer, comprising steps of: [0067] a. providing movement instructions by projecting visual cues on adjacent surfaces to a patient using said at least one projector 401; [0068] b. collecting raw data regarding a patient's movements from said at least one motion capture sensor and at least one surface EMG sensor, balance sensing unit 402; [0069] c. evaluating patient's movements in relation to said movement instructions 403; [0070] d. providing feedback regarding patient's movement performance with vibration cues generated by said vibrating component 404.

[0071] FIG. 5 depicts an exemplary configuration of a system consistent with the present invention. As can be seen the components of the system are distributed within a room. Presented is an exemplary configuration of a kinetic camera 501, and a projector 502.

[0072] In this preferred configuration both the projector and the kinetic camera are directed to a general direction of the interaction area 503 wherein, a patient is instructed by visual cues from the projector, and wherein the kinetic camera captures the movements of the patient.

[0073] In this exemplary configuration, the projector is configured to project on an interaction area of 200 cm length and 267 cm width. Using a BenQ MX620ST projector results in a 240 cm preferred throw range. The projector is also configured to an image brightness of 179 nits to provide sufficient luminosity in regular living room conditions.

[0074] Therefore, in this configuration, the projector is positioned directly on top of the closest edge of the interaction area in an approximate height of 2 meters. The kinetic camera on the other hand, is positioned horizontally 1 meter from the interaction area and 1.6 meters vertically therefrom.

[0075] This embodiment further comprises a screen 504 connected to the computer for presenting instructions and statistical data regarding the patient.

[0076] FIG. 6 depicts a method for evaluating patient's movements. The method is comprised the steps of: [0077] a. recording raw data regarding a patient's movements during a therapeutic session into a database located in said computer 601; [0078] b. sorting said raw data by type of movement 602; [0079] For example: raw data that was collected during an attempt to perform a step with left leg will be recorded in a single column of said database. [0080] c. accessing at least two databases with recordings of therapeutic treatments of said patient 603; [0081] For example: accessing the database of the present treatment and the 4 last treatments. [0082] d. comparing data recorded in accessed databases in chosen type of movement 604; [0083] e. evaluating improvement in said chosen type of movement in comparison to previous recording of a therapeutic session 605;

[0084] FIG. 7 depicts a method for evaluating patient's movements. The method is comprised the steps of: [0085] a. recording raw data regarding a patient's movements during a therapeutic session into a database located in said computer 701; [0086] b. sorting said raw data by type of movement 702; [0087] c. accessing a database with recordings of type of movements by a healthy patient having similar characteristics (e.g. height, weight, age, gender) to said patient 703; [0088] d. comparing data recorded in accessed databases in chosen type of movement 704; [0089] e. evaluating performance of said patient in relation to healthy patient performing said chosen type of movement 705.

[0090] FIG. 8 depicts a projection of visual cues on an interaction area 801. The projector (not shown) projects an image of a square 802 on top of the interaction area 801. The patient is instructed through various audio-visual cues to walk along the lines of the square.

[0091] FIG. 9 depicts a projection of visual cues on an interaction area 901. Within the interaction area there is a stair 902. The projector (not shown) projects an image on top of the stair 802. The patient is instructed through various audio-visual cues to walk to the stair and step upon it.

[0092] The foregoing description and illustrations of the embodiments of the invention has been presented for the purposes of illustration. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the above description in any form.

[0093] Any term that has been defined above and used in the claims, should be interpreted according to this definition.