TREATMENT APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR TREATING A GAIT IRREGULARITY OF A PERSON

Abstract

The invention relates to a treatment apparatus for treating a gait irregularity of a person (1). The treatment apparatus (10) comprises a gait irregularity monitoring unit (11) for detecting a gait irregularity of the person, (a) cueing unit(s) (15, 16, 17), and a cueing control unit (14) for controlling the cueing unit(s) to provide, in response to the detection of the gait irregularity, a first cue set for treating the gait irregularity to the person. The gait irregularity monitoring unit monitors the effect of the providing of the first cue set to the person and determines whether the detected gait irregularity is being overcome. The cueing control unit controls the cueing unit(s) to provide a different second cue set to the person, if it has been determined that the detected gait irregularity has not been overcome. This improves the likelihood of being able to effectively treat the detected gait irregularity.

Claims

1. A treatment apparatus for treating a gait irregularity of a person, wherein the gait irregularity is Freezing of Gait (FoG), the treatment apparatus comprising: a gait irregularity monitoring unit for detecting a gait irregularity of the person, one or more cueing units, and a cueing control unit for controlling, in response to the detection of the gait irregularity, the one or more cueing units to provide a first cue set of one or more cues for treating the detected gait irregularity to the person, wherein the gait irregularity monitoring unit is adapted to monitor the effect of the providing of the first cue set to the person and to determine whether the detected gait irregularity is being overcome, and wherein the cueing control unit is adapted to control the one or more cueing units to provide a different second cue set of one or more cues to the person, if it has been determined that the detected gait irregularity has not been overcome.

2. The treatment apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the first and the second cue set differ in any one or more of: (i) a modality of at least one cue, (ii) that the second cue set comprises at least one cue of an additional modality compared to the first cue set or vice versa, and (iii) that an information provided by at least one cue of a given modality differs between the first and the second cue set.

3. The treatment apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the cueing control unit is adapted to control the one or more cueing units to provide the first cue set to the person for a first predetermined period of time and the gait irregularity monitoring unit is adapted to determine that the detected gait irregularity has not been overcome if the detected gait irregularity has not ceased until the end of the first predetermined period of time.

4. The treatment apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the first and the second cue set form part of a cue set sequence of different cue sets, wherein the cueing control unit is adapted to control the one or more cueing units to successively provide the different cue sets to the person, as long as it is determined by the gait irregularity determining unit that the detected gait irregularity has not been overcome.

5. The treatment apparatus as defined in claim 4, further comprising: a gait irregularity qualifying unit for qualifying the detected gait irregularity based on information that is indicative of any one or more of: a current context of the person, past gait irregularities of the person, and/ gait irregularities of a population of persons, wherein the cueing control unit is adapted to construct the cue set sequence based on the outcome of the qualifying.

6. The treatment apparatus as defined in claim 5, wherein where the gait irregularity qualifying unit is for qualifying the detected gait irregularity based on information that is indicative of a current context of the person, the apparatus further comprises: one or more context information providing units for providing the information that is indicative of the current context of the person.

7. The treatment apparatus as defined in claim 6, wherein the one or more context information providing units comprise: an input unit for inputting information about a medication administration of the person, wherein the gait irregularity qualifying unit is adapted to qualify the detected gait irregularity based on information that is indicative of a current context of the person, wherein the current context of the person comprises the current medication status of the person.

8. The treatment apparatus as defined in claim 4, wherein the gait irregularity determining unit is adapted to detect, monitor or detect and monitor the gait irregularity by means of an algorithm, and/or the cueing control unit is adapted to construct the cue set sequence by means of an algorithm, wherein the treatment apparatus further comprises: an update unit for allowing the algorithm(s), data that is input to the algorithm(s) or algorithm(s) and data that is input to the algorithm(s) to be updated.

9. The treatment apparatus as defined in claim 4, further comprising: an alarm communication unit for automatically communicating an alarm to a remote location, if it is determined by the gait irregularity determining unit that, after the providing of a predetermined number of the different cue sets to the person or after a second predetermined period of time, the detected gait irregularity has still not been overcome.

10. The treatment apparatus as defined in claim 4, further comprising: a user interface for allowing the person to input a stop command, a sensitivity change command, or a stop command and a sensitivity change command, wherein the cueing control unit is adapted to stop, in response to the input of the stop command, the one or more cueing units to provide the different cue sets to the person, and wherein the gait irregularity monitoring unit is adapted to change, in response to the input of the sensitivity change command, a sensitivity of the detecting of the gait irregularity of the person.

11. The treatment apparatus as defined in claim 1, further comprising: one or more gait information sensing units for sensing information that is indicative of a current gait of the person, wherein the gait irregularity monitoring unit is adapted to detect the gait irregularity based on the sensed information.

12. The treatment apparatus as defined in claim 11, wherein the one or more gait information sensing units comprise any one or more of: (i) an accelerometer, (ii) a gyroscope, and (iii) a muscle tension sensor.

13. A method of operating an apparatus for treating a gait irregularity of a person, wherein the gait irregularity is Freezing of Gait (FoG), the method comprising: detecting a gait irregularity of the person, by a gait irregularity monitoring unit, and controlling, in response to the detection of the gait irregularity, one or more cueing units to provide a first cue set of one or more cues for treating the detected gait irregularity to the person, by a cueing control unit, wherein the effect of the providing of the first cue set to the person is monitored and it is determined whether the detected gait irregularity is being overcome, by the gait irregularity monitoring unit, and wherein the one or more cueing units are controlled, by the cueing control unit, to provide a different second cue set of one or more cues to the person, if it has been determined that the detected gait irregularity has not been overcome.

14. A computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein, the code being configured such that, on execution by a suitable processor, the processor is caused to carry out the method as defined in claim 13.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0060] In the following drawings:

[0061] FIG. 1 shows schematically and exemplarily a person using an embodiment of a treatment apparatus for treating a gait irregularity of the person,

[0062] FIG. 2 illustrates further details of the treatment apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and

[0063] FIG. 3 shows a flowchart exemplarily illustrating an embodiment of a treatment method for treating a gait irregularity of a person.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0064] FIG. 1 shows schematically and exemplarily a person 1 using an embodiment of a treatment apparatus 10 for treating a gait irregularity of the person 1. The person 1, in this embodiment, is an elderly person having e.g. PD, wherein the gait irregularity is FoG. The treatment apparatus 10 comprises one or more, in this example, three cueing units 15, 16, and 17. A first cueing unit 15, here, an in-ear headphone, is adapted to provide an auditory cue to the person 1, a second cueing unit 16, here, a laser pointer arranged at the spectacles of the person 1, is adapted to provide a visual cue to the person 1, and the third cueing unit 17, here, an electrode patch, is adapted to provide an electrical stimulation cue to the thigh muscles of the person 1. The auditory cue can be or comprise, for instance, a rhythmic sound, such as drumming, a verbal command, like Walk 1, 2, 3, 4 or a music sample, such as I'm Walking from Fats Domino, reproduced via the in-ear headphone 15. The visual cue is, in this example, a light dot projected by the laser pointer 16 in front of the person's feet. The treatment apparatus 10 further comprises a gait irregularity monitoring unit 11 for detecting the gait irregularity of the person 1 as well as one or more, in this example, two gait information sensing units 12 and 13 for sensing information that is indicative of a current gait of the person 1, wherein gait irregularity monitoring unit 11 is adapted to detect the gait irregularity based on the sensed information. The two gait information sensing units 12 and 13, here, are both accelerometers, wherein a first accelerometer 12 is attached to the shank (e.g., just above the ankle) of the person 1 and the second accelerometer 13 is attached to the thigh (e.g., just above the knee) of the person 1. For attaching the two accelerometers 12 and 13 to the person 1, elasticized straps and Velcro may be used. The gait irregularity monitoring unit 11, here, is included in a housing 8 that is worn by the person 1 at his belt. The communication between the two accelerometers 12 and 13 and the gait irregularity monitoring unit 11 can be performed, for instance, by means of a wired connection or, preferably, by using a suitable wireless communication technique.

[0065] The gait irregularity monitoring unit 11 is adapted to detect the gait irregularity based on the sensed acceleration information from the two accelerometers 12 and 13 (gait information sensing units). It may thereby use an approach as described, for example, in Bachlin et al., Potentials of enhanced context awareness in wearable assistants for Parkinson's disease patients with the freezing of gait syndrome, in Proceedings of 16th International Symposium on Wearable Computers, Linz, Austria, pages 123 to 130 (2009).

[0066] The treatment apparatus 10 further comprises a cueing control unit 14 for controlling, in response to the detection of the gait irregularity, the in-ear headphone 15, the laser pointer 16, and the electrode patch 17 (cueing units) to provide a first cue set of one or more cues for treating the detected gait irregularity to the person 1. Here, the cueing control unit 14 is also included in the housing 8 that is worn by the person 1 at his belt. The communication between the cueing control unit 14 and the three cueing units 15, 16, and 17 can be performed, for instance, by means of a wired connection or, preferably, by using a suitable wireless communication technique.

[0067] In this example, the first cue set consists of the verbal command Walk 1, 2, 3, 4, reproduced by the in-ear headphone 15, and the light dot, projected by the laser pointer 16. In contrast, the electrical stimulation cue that can be provided by the electrode patch 17 is not included in the first cue set.

[0068] The gait irregularity monitoring unit 11 is adapted to monitor the effect of the providing of the first cue set, here, the verbal command Walk 1, 2, 3, 4 and the light dot, to the person 1 and to determine whether the detected gait irregularity is being overcome. The cueing control unit 14 is adapted to control the one or more cueing units 15, 16, and 17 to provide a different second cue set of one or more cues to the person 1, if it has been determined that the detected gait irregularity has not been overcome.

[0069] In this embodiment, the cueing control unit 14 is adapted to control the in-ear headphone 15, the laser pointer 16, and the electrode patch 17 (cueing units) to provide the first cue set to the person for a first predetermined period of time, here, 2 seconds, and the gait irregularity monitoring unit 11 is adapted to determine that the detected gait irregularity has not been overcome if the detected gait irregularity has not ceased until the end of the first predetermined period of time.

[0070] In this example, the second cue set consists of the verbal command Walk 1, 2, 3, 4, reproduced by the in-ear headphone 15, the light dot, projected by the laser pointer 16, and the electrical stimulation provided by the electrode patch 17. In other words, the first and the second cue set differ in that the second cue set comprises a cue of an additional modality compared to the first cue set. Additionally or alternatively, however, the first and the second cue set could also differ in a modality of at least one cue, and/or in that the first cue set comprises at least one cue of an additional modality compared to the second cue set, and/or in that an information provided by at least one cue of a given modality differs between the first and the second cue set.

[0071] The first and the second cue set, here, form part of a cue set sequence of different cue sets, wherein the cueing control unit 14 is adapted to control the in-ear headphone 15, the laser pointer 16, and the electrode patch 17 (cueing units) to successively provide the different cue sets to the person 1, as long as it is determined by the gait irregularity determining unit 11 that the detected gait irregularity has not been overcome.

[0072] Further details of the treatment apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 are illustrated in FIG. 2. The treatment apparatus 10 comprises the elements that have already been explained with reference to FIG. 1 above: the gait irregularity monitoring unit 11 and the cueing control unit 14 included in the housing 8; the in-ear headphone 15, the laser pointer 16, and the electrode patch 17 (cueing units), and; the two accelerometers 12 and 13 (gait information sensing units).

[0073] In addition, the treatment apparatus 10, here, further comprises a gait irregularity qualifying unit 18 for qualifying the detected gait irregularity based on information that is indicative of a current context of the person 1. To this end, the treatment apparatus 10 further comprises one or more, in this example, primarily two context information providing units 19 and 20 for providing the information that is indicative of the current context of the person 1. Here, a first context information providing unit 19 is adapted to just give the time of the day, and the second context information providing unit 20 is a turning sensing unit that is adapted to sense a turning of the person 1. In particular, the turning sensing unit 20 is a gyroscope that is worn by the person at his belt, as also shown in FIG. 1.

[0074] In this embodiment, the cueing control unit 14 is adapted to construct the cue set sequence based on the outcome of the qualifying. This makes it possible to tailor the cue set sequence to the specifics of the detected gait irregularity. In particular, the order to the cue sets and/or their composition is specifically chosen in terms of modalities and/or information for the detected gait irregularity. Additionally or alternatively, the qualifying can also be based on information that is indicative of past gait irregularities of the person 1 and/or of gait irregularities of a population of persons. In order to store the available information, in particular, the information that is indicative of past gait irregularities of the person 1, the treatment apparatus 10 can then further comprise a suitable storage unit (not shown in the figure). Also, an information communication unit (also not shown in the figure) can be foreseen, for instance, in order to allow the information that is indicative of gait irregularities of a population of persons to be communicated to the treatment apparatus 10.

[0075] The one or more context information providing units, here, further comprise an input unit 21 for inputting information about a medication administration of the person 1, wherein the current context of the person 1 comprises the current medication status of the person 1.

[0076] In this embodiment, the gait irregularity determining unit 11 is adapted to detect and monitor the gait irregularity by means of an algorithm, and the cueing control unit 14 is adapted to construct the cue set sequence by means of an algorithm. In this case, the treatment apparatus 10 further comprises an update unit 22 for allowing the algorithms and/or data that is input to the algorithms to be updated. The data can be, for instance, information that is indicative of gait irregularities of a population of persons. The update unit, here, comprises an interface for inserting a data storage device, such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) stick, that can be used for uploading (a) new algorithm(s) and/or data to the treatment apparatus. Additionally or alternatively, it can also comprise a suitable communication interface for allowing an upload from a remote location.

[0077] The treatment apparatus 10 further comprises, in this embodiment, an alarm communication unit 23 for automatically communicating an alarm to a remote location, if it is determined by the gait irregularity determining unit 11 that, after the providing of a predetermined number of the different cue sets to the person 1, the detected gait irregularity has still not been overcome. The alarm communication unit 23, here, is a mobile communication unit that is adapted to automatically call a responsible person using suitable mobile communication technologies. The treatment apparatus 10 comprises a hands-free speaking system (not shown in the figure), such that the person 1 can tell the receiver of the call where he is currently located and how his current situation is. In this example, the predetermined number of the different cue sets is 10.

[0078] Here, the treatment apparatus 10 further comprises a user interface 24 for allowing the person 1 to input a stop command and a sensitivity change command. In this example, the cueing control unit 14 is adapted to stop, in response to the input of the stop command, the in-ear headphone 15, the laser pointer 16, and the electrode patch 17 (cueing units) to provide the different cue sets to the person 1, and the gait irregularity monitoring unit 11 is adapted to change, in response to the input of the sensitivity change command, a sensitivity of the detecting of the gait irregularity of the person 1. The user interface unit 24, here, comprises one or more simple manual controls, like buttons, jog dials, or the like (not shown in detail in the figure).

[0079] In the following, an embodiment of a treatment method for treating a gait irregularity of a person will exemplarily be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. 3. The treatment method can be performed, for instance, with the treatment apparatus 10 described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

[0080] In step 101, a gait irregularity of the person 1 is detected, by a gait irregularity monitoring unit 11.

[0081] In step 102, in response to the detection of the gait irregularity, one or more cueing units 15, 16, and 17 are controlled to provide a first cue set of one or more cues for treating the detected gait irregularity to the person 1, by a cueing control unit 14.

[0082] In step 103, the effect of the providing of the first cue set to the person 1 is monitored and it is determined whether the detected gait irregularity is being overcome, by the gait irregularity monitoring unit 11.

[0083] In step 104, the one or more cueing units 15, 16 and 17 are controlled, by the cueing control unit 14, to provide a different second cue set of one or more cues to the person 1, if it has been determined that the detected gait irregularity has not been overcome.

[0084] While in the embodiment of the treatment apparatus 10 described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 above, the treatment apparatus 10 comprises three cueing units, namely, an in-ear headphone 15, a laser pointer 16, and an electrode patch 17, other embodiments can comprise a different number of cueing units. For example, in one embodiment, a vibration unit for providing a tactile stimulation, such as a vibration, to the person's feet in the rhythm of the desired walking pace could additionally be provided in the soles of the shoes of the person. In another embodiment, video glasses for showing a different visual cue, such as a red line or a set of walking feet over the actual surroundings of the person could be provided.

[0085] Embodiments of the treatment apparatus can be realized in the form of an integrated wearable device. For instance, such a device can comprise the gait irregularity monitoring unit, the cueing control unit, an accelerometer as a gait information sensing unit, one or more cueing units, such as a loudspeaker for providing an auditory cue to the person and an electrode patch for providing an electrical stimulation cue to the muscles of the person, and, optionally, the gait irregularity qualifying unit and/or other elements, all integrated into a joint housing. The device can be adapted, for instance, to be worn by the person at his/her shank (e.g., just above the ankle).

[0086] Embodiments of the treatment apparatus can further include a functionality of providing guidance to a person experiencing gait irregularities. For instance, a suitable user interface can be provided for reminding the person to take his/her medication or to take any other preventive or reactive personal action related to episodes of the gait irregularity.

[0087] Other variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed invention, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims.

[0088] In the claims, the word comprising does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article a or an does not exclude a plurality.

[0089] A single unit or device may fulfill the functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.

[0090] Procedures like the detecting of the gait irregularity of the person, the control of the one or more cueing units to provide a cue set of one or more cues to the person, the monitoring of the effect of the providing of a cue set of one or more cues to the person, et cetera, performed by one or several units or devices can be performed by any other number of units or devices. These procedures and/or the control of the treatment apparatus in accordance with the treatment method can be implemented as program code means of a computer program and/or as dedicated hardware.

[0091] A computer program may be stored/distributed on a suitable medium, such as an optical storage medium or a solid-state medium, supplied together with or as part of other hardware, but may also be distributed in other forms, such as via the Internet or other wired or wireless telecommunication systems.

[0092] Any reference signs in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope.

[0093] The invention relates to a treatment apparatus for treating a gait irregularity of a person. The treatment apparatus comprises a gait irregularity monitoring unit for detecting a gait irregularity of the person, one or more cueing units, and a cueing control unit for controlling the one or more cueing units to provide, in response to the detection of the gait irregularity, a first cue set of one or more cues for treating the gait irregularity to the person. The gait irregularity monitoring unit is adapted to monitor the effect of the providing of the first cue set to the person and to determine whether the detected gait irregularity is being overcome. The cueing control unit is adapted to control the one or more cueing units to provide a different second cue set of one or more cues to the person, if it has been determined that the detected gait irregularity has not been overcome. This improves the likelihood of being able to effectively treat the detected gait irregularity.