CN221579465U - Leg exercise auxiliary equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model relates to the field of orthopaedics equipment, in particular to leg exercise auxiliary equipment; comprising the following steps: an elastic inner liner; an auxiliary support disposed on the resilient inner liner and comprising at least one force strap providing a correct orientation of the joint; the electric stimulation component is arranged on the elastic lining; wherein, the electrical stimulation subassembly includes: at least one electrical stage for providing electrical stimulation to the muscle groups; a sensor module that detects a joint position; the control unit is connected with the sensor module and at least one electrode; the electro-stimulation component cooperates with at least one force strap that provides the correct orientation of the joint, providing biofeedback to the muscle groups out of the joint's location; the utility model can assist the movement of the patient by electric stimulation, thereby helping to ease pain and restore joints.

Description

Leg exercise assisting device

Technical Field

The utility model relates to the field of orthopedic equipment, in particular to a leg movement auxiliary device.

Background Art

Orthoses are regularly phased out due to the wearer's tendency to become overly dependent on the brace, weakening the muscles. This occurs when the brace immobilizes the target condition (e.g., osteoarthritis) that should be treated by delaying final rehabilitation. The wearer may become more dependent on the brace for support and less dependent on the actual muscles to stabilize the joint.

Osteoarthritis is a progressive, degenerative joint disease that often leads to disability and loss of joint function. Osteoarthritis of the knee can be debilitating because everyday activities, such as walking up and down stairs or even while resting, put stress on the knee. Osteoarthritis causes the cartilage in the joints to gradually break down. As the disease progresses and the cartilage disappears, the bones rub and grind against each other, causing pain.

Knee osteoarthritis is a chronic degenerative disease that gradually worsens. In the early stages of development, people often reduce their activities or work due to discomfort and pain. Advanced knee osteoarthritis is associated with pain, stiffness, and inflammation.

In a healthy knee, cartilage covers the ends of the bones and keeps them from rubbing against each other. When the surface of the cartilage breaks down, small cracks and pits may form. In mild cases of osteoarthritis, the knee may show signs of varus misalignment. Over time, sections of the cartilage gradually wear away, reducing flexibility and increasing the likelihood of damage from daily activities. The lubricating fluid (synovial fluid) breaks down and becomes ineffective, while cracks and pits continue to appear in the cartilage. As the knee degenerates, the leg can become bowed.

In severe osteoarthritis, the bones are not protected because large parts of the cartilage are worn away, causing the bones to rub against each other when they move. Pain and damage may be caused by small pieces of cartilage that break off and may float around the joint. Externally, the leg often appears severely bent relative to the thigh.

The quadriceps are muscles on the anterior surface of the thigh that include four separate muscle groups: the rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, and vastus intermedius. Quadriceps weakness is commonly associated with knee osteoarthritis and is generally believed to be caused by atrophic atrophy secondary to pain in the affected joint. Quadriceps weakness is a major risk factor for the progression of knee pain, disability, and joint damage in patients with knee osteoarthritis.

Studies have shown that regular moderate exercise is also beneficial for people with arthritis. It helps keep joints flexible and increases range of motion. When you engage in a bout of exercise, your body releases endorphins, which are natural painkillers. So not only is using and strengthening your muscles beneficial, but moderate use of your muscles can improve conditions for people with osteoarthritis.

Therefore, there is an urgent need to provide a technical solution that can assist patients with knee arthritis to do simple exercises to solve the above technical problems.

Utility Model Content

The purpose of the utility model is to provide a technical effect that can assist patients in exercising by stimulating muscle contraction through electric pulses in response to the above-mentioned technical problems.

In view of this, the utility model provides a leg exercise assisting device, characterized in that it includes:

Elastic lining;

an auxiliary support member disposed on the elastic liner and comprising at least one force band providing correct orientation of the joint;

an electrical stimulation component, the electrical stimulation component being disposed on the elastic lining;

The electrical stimulation components include:

at least one electrical stage for providing electrical stimulation to a muscle group;

A sensor module for detecting joint positions;

A control unit, the control unit is connected to the sensor module and at least one electrode;

The electrical stimulation component cooperates with at least one force band to provide correct orientation of the joint, providing biofeedback to the muscle groups related to the position of the joint.

Further, at least one motor is connected to the elastic liner and stimulates additional muscle groups corresponding to the user.

Furthermore, the control unit includes a processor, which is connected to the sensor module and configured to calculate the movement of the joint and guide the at least one electrode to electrically stimulate the muscle group according to the position of the joint, and to be used in conjunction with the correction direction provided by at least one force band.

Furthermore, the at least one electrode is mounted on the at least one belt.

Further, the control unit is configured to allow a user to select different levels of electrical stimulation.

Further, at least one pad or spacer element is connected to the auxiliary support, and the electrical stimulation component is integrated in the at least one pad or spacer element.

Further, the electrical stimulation component is configured to enhance and prevent muscle atrophy of the muscle group by providing neuromuscular electrical stimulation.

Further, the sensor module includes a plurality of sensors including at least one accelerometer configured to identify specific motion events of a joint.

The beneficial effects of the utility model are:

1. The utility model can assist patients in exercising through electrical stimulation, thereby helping to relieve pain and restore joints.

2. The utility model can adjust the electrical stimulation component to dynamically increase or decrease during the gait cycle, or activate the on or off setting at certain positions in the gait cycle. The electrical stimulation component can be adapted to various walking conditions, such as slopes and stairs, to provide stimulation under changing conditions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of the utility model;

FIG2 is a schematic diagram of the expanded structure of the utility model;

FIG3 is a schematic diagram of the main structure of the utility model;

FIG. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of region A in FIG. 3 .

The symbols in the figure are:

1. Elastic lining; 2. Auxiliary support; 3. Electrode; 4. Sensor module; 5. Force belt; 6. Upper support; 7. Lower support; 8. Accelerometer; 9. Strap; 10. Opening; 11. Velcro; 12. Control unit.

Specific embodiments

The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application to clearly describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field based on the embodiments in the present application belong to the scope of protection of this application.

Embodiment 1:

This embodiment provides a leg exercise assisting device, characterized in that it includes:

Elastic lining 1;

An auxiliary support 2, which is arranged on the elastic lining 1 and includes at least one force belt 5 for providing correct orientation of the joint;

An electrical stimulation component, which is arranged on the elastic lining 1;

The electrical stimulation components include:

at least one electrical stage for providing electrical stimulation to a muscle group;

A sensor module 4 for detecting joint positions;

A control unit 12, the control unit 12 is connected to the sensor module 4 and at least one electrode;

The electrical stimulation assembly cooperates with at least one force band 5 which provides correct orientation of the joint, providing biofeedback to the muscle groups indicated by the position of the joint.

The auxiliary support 2 is divided into two parts, namely, an upper support 6 and a lower support 7. The upper support 6 is arranged on the patient's thigh, and the lower support 7 is arranged on the patient's calf. The upper support 6 and the lower support 7 are hinged together. The hinge position does not affect the patient's knee flexion and other actions. The auxiliary support 2 is fixed on the elastic lining 1. The elastic lining 1 can wrap the thigh, knee and calf part. The elastic lining 1 is close to the patient's skin. Two force bands 5 are provided on the auxiliary support 2. The load applied by the force band 5 is applied to the knee, reducing the load on the knee joint, so that the patient can use the quadriceps to inhibit the possibility of muscle atrophy. The electrode 3 in the electrical stimulation component can activate certain muscles, such as the quadriceps, at certain stages of the gait cycle (such as stretching); or, the electrode 3 can provide a signal to the patient to activate certain muscles of his own, so as to know when to tighten the muscles at a specific stage of the gait cycle, tighten or stimulate the muscles in other ways, and activate the muscles even with the knee support.

The electrical stimulation component can be adjusted to dynamically increase or decrease during the gait cycle, or activated in an on or off setting at certain positions in the gait cycle. The electrical stimulation component can be adapted to various walking conditions, such as slopes and stairs, to provide stimulation under varying conditions.

The force band 5 extends between the upper and lower support members 7 and is arranged to spiral around the upper and lower leg regions of the user. The force band 5 is tightened around the knee and the user's legs are extended when the lower leg portion applies force.

The electrode 3 is aligned or arranged close to the inner side of the femur of the user's thigh portion. Placing the electrode 3 on the elastic liner 1 can ensure the correct alignment between the electrode 3 and the inner side of the thigh. The electrode 3 can be fixed to the elastic liner 1 by adhesive, or removably fixed by hook and loop fasteners or other means.

An opening 10 is provided on both the upper and lower support members 7, and a strap 9 is provided on one side of the opening 10. One side of the strap 9 is fixed to the support member on one side of the opening 10, and the other side of the strap 9 is movably connected to the support member on the other side of the opening 10. The connection can be made using Velcro 11 or adhesive tape, or a detachable structure can be used.

The control unit 12 is arranged to provide signals to the electrodes 3 depending on a number of factors.

The control unit 12 may provide signals to the electrodes 3 according to the patient's needs or other factors.

Embodiment 2:

This embodiment provides a leg movement assisting device, which, in addition to the technical solutions of the above embodiments, also has the following technical features.

At least one electrical pole is connected to the elastic lining 1 and stimulates an additional muscle group corresponding to the user.

Electrodes 3 are arranged at places where stimulation is needed. One or more electrodes 3 are arranged as needed to make muscle activation more complete.

The control unit 12 includes a processor, which is connected to the sensor module 4 and is configured to calculate the movement of the joint and guide the at least one electrode 3 to electrically stimulate the muscle group according to the position of the joint, and to cooperate with the correction direction provided by at least one force band 5.

The control unit 12 is configured to allow a user to select different levels of electrical stimulation.

The control unit 12 may be arranged to allow the user to adjust the level of stimulation applied during the current condition and gait pattern control. This arrangement takes into account a predetermined osteoarthritis severity associated with the pain the user experienced before obtaining the orthotic device. A user with greater pain may require a higher level of stimulation during gait than a user with less pain.

An electrical stimulation assembly for treating at least osteoarthritis of the knee may be arranged based on a user's adduction moment gait waveform, or may be selected at various stages of osteoarthritis. The processor may include a menu by which the user may select different levels of electrical stimulation indexed to various adduction moment gait waveforms. As the user goes through a gait cycle, and the electrical stimulation assembly tracks the user's motion, electrical stimulation is activated based on the selected level. The electrical stimulation is dynamic in that it changes based on the gait cycle.

The at least one electrode 3 is mounted on the at least one force belt 5 .

In another variation, at least one electrode 3 is mounted in or on the force belt 5, or as may be incorporated into a device placed over the patient's leg.

Embodiment 3:

At least one pad or spacer element is connected to the auxiliary support 2 and the electrical stimulation component is integrated in the at least one pad or spacer element.

A pad or a spacer element is provided inside the auxiliary support 2 to increase the comfort of the patient, and the electrical stimulation component is arranged in the pad or the spacer element.

The electrical stimulation component is configured to strengthen and prevent muscle atrophy of the muscle group by providing neuromuscular electrical stimulation.

The sensor module 4 comprises a plurality of sensors including at least one accelerometer 8 configured to identify specific movement events of a joint.

The sensor module 4 is used to determine the movement and orientation of the user's limb to selectively activate at least one electrode 3 according to predetermined criteria and feedback from the sensor module 4. The sensor module 4 may include sensors at different locations supported by the support.

The control unit 12 has a gait setting which is arranged to vary the control of an accelerometer 8 attached to the device. The accelerometer 8 can detect changes in gait speed as well as the type of gait of the walker. Gait differences include walking on level ground, going up and down stairs or inclines or gait speed, such as walking or running. Depending on the type of gait, the strength and function of the electrode 3 can be controlled or varied to provide stimulation to the medial thigh depending on the level of load passing through the affected compartment. The function of the electrode 3 can only be activated as required.

The accelerometer 8 can measure the angle of the lower limb relative to the vertical direction, and then the angle of the lower limb relative to the ground can be determined. When the limb is rotated from an upright vertical position, the corresponding gravity will change relative to the degree of rotation. When the limb is rotated from a vertical position, the accelerometer 8 can measure the portion of the earth's overall gravity relative to the changing angle of the limb relative to the ground. The sensor module 4 configured to measure acceleration in the vertical plane can determine the fixed angle of the limb relative to the ground.

The embodiments of the present application are described above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the absence of conflict, the embodiments in the present application and the features in the embodiments can be combined with each other. The present application is not limited to the above-mentioned specific embodiments. The above-mentioned specific embodiments are merely illustrative and not restrictive. Under the inspiration of the present application, ordinary technicians in this field can also make many forms without departing from the purpose of the present application and the scope of protection of the claims, all of which belong to the scope of protection of the present application.

Claims (8)

1. A leg exercise assisting apparatus, comprising:

an elastic inner liner (1);

-an auxiliary support (2), the auxiliary support (2) being arranged on the elastic lining (1) and comprising at least one force band (5) providing the correct orientation of the joint;

The electric stimulation component is arranged on the elastic lining (1);

Wherein, the electrical stimulation subassembly includes:

At least one electrical stage for providing electrical stimulation to the muscle groups;

A sensor module (4) for detecting the position of the joint;

the control unit is connected with the sensor module (4) and at least one electrode;

The electro-stimulation assembly cooperates with at least one force strip (5) providing the correct orientation of the joint, providing biofeedback to the muscle groups out of the joint's location.

2. A leg exercise assisting device according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one electrical stage is connected to the elastic lining (1) and stimulates additional muscle groups corresponding to the user.

3. A leg exercise assisting device according to claim 1, characterized in that the control unit comprises a processor connected to the sensor module (4) and configured to calculate the movement of the joint and to guide the at least one electrode (3) electrically stimulating muscle groups according to the position of the joint and to cooperate with the corrective direction provided by at least one force strap (5).

4. A leg exercise assisting device according to claim 1, characterized in that the at least one electrode (3) is mounted on at least one force strap (5).

5. A leg exercise assisting device in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the control unit is configured to allow a user to select different levels of electrical stimulation.

6. A leg exercise assisting device in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that at least one pad or spacer element is connected to the auxiliary support and the electro-stimulation component is incorporated in the at least one pad or spacer element.

7. A leg exercise assisting device in accordance with claim 1, wherein the electrical stimulation assembly is configured to enhance and prevent muscle atrophy of the muscle groups by providing neuromuscular electrical stimulation.

8. A leg exercise assisting device according to claim 1, characterized in that the sensor module (4) comprises a plurality of sensors including at least one accelerometer (8) configured for identifying a specific movement event of the joint.