JP2007202612A - System apparatus for quantifying the quality of body motion capability - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To develop an apparatus for making evaluation on the quality of activity of muscles and evaluation on the smoothness of motion which has been impossible heretofore, although the potential of muscles has been taken out heretofore. <P>SOLUTION: A plurality of electrodes of an electromyogram for detecting the muscular activity and an angular velocity sensor are installed on the surface of the body, and these electronic data are wire-transmitted or radio-transmitted through an amplifier in the form to a receiving part, and in the receiving part, wavelet frequency analysis is made on the obtained data. By the wavelet frequency analysis, data from the electrodes of the electromyogram can be evaluated about the quality of activity of muscles. Further, from the angular velocity data, smoothness of the motion in walking can be evaluated by comparison of ideal bilateral symmetrical waveform. Two effective data are simultaneously given to provide the first apparatus effective for confirming the progress of effective rehabilitation and developing the technique. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention displays and analyzes the signal from the electromyogram sensor and the signal from the angular velocity sensor, and quantifies the quality of muscle activity and the “smoothness” of the movement in the movement such as walking and running. The present invention relates to a portable monitor that is effective for therapeutic effect, performance evaluation in sports field, or motor function evaluation of the elderly.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a system for measuring electrical activity of a muscle through an electrode placed on the skin on the muscle, or biofeedback training for detecting the signal and performing electrical stimulation is well known.

Among them, the device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-41964 can simultaneously collect many kinds of musculoskeletal stress data such as electromyographic sensors and force sensing resistors. A portable feedback system, for example, a biofeedback unit that attempts to measure pressure, muscle activity, and posture at the same time studies the muscle force (Effort) and posture required to maintain a specific force during work It is an invention of a device that can be determined at a glance.

In addition, the device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-81676 is used when the anterior tibialis muscle is active when the ankle joint is dorsiflexed to the target ankle dorsiflexion angle by the muscle force of the patient's voluntary intention. Only a biofeedback device that can apply electrical stimulation to the radial nerve.

To explain the mechanism, in the biofeedback apparatus having a driving means for driving the patient's limb along a preset trajectory and a presentation means for presenting the state of the affected part of the limb to the patient or physical therapist, A device comprising: a joint angular velocity measuring means for measuring the joint angle of the patient; and a judging means for judging the training content of the patient, and applying therapeutic electrical stimulation when there is muscle activity based on the electromyogram .
JP2000-41964 JP2004-81676

Both the first conventional example and the second conventional example represent an electrical signal of muscle activity on a display device together with other signals, and provide physical therapists and the like with useful data for rehabilitation and the like. However, the data currently provided is a situation in which no qualitative evaluation of muscle in a dynamic environment has been established. Therefore, there was a fatal defect that the "quality" of muscle activity necessary for daily life such as walking and stairs climbing could not be evaluated.

Furthermore, there was no means for evaluating not only the qualitative evaluation of individual muscles but also the “smoothness” of the entire walking motion, for example. This should be a fatal defect as a rehabilitation evaluation technique.
Furthermore, from an economic point of view, conventional evaluation systems such as electromyographs are expensive at an average of 4 to 6 million yen including software for analysis, and are based on the assumption that some researchers use them. Many of them have been used, and it cannot be said that physical therapists and occupational therapists in general medical facilities can always be used for patient rehabilitation.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a simple evaluation system for quantifying the qualitative evaluation of muscles in various daily life activities, sports areas, and the like, and the smoothness of movement at low cost.

The features and novel mechanisms of the present invention will be described in the following description, but can be realized and achieved by means and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The above-described problem according to claim 1 is a surface electromyograph in which an electric signal from a group of muscle activity sensors installed on the body is amplified and transmitted, and the transmitted signal is analyzed and displayed on a display device as a time function. At the same time, a signal group from the angular velocity sensor group installed on the body is amplified, analyzed, and displayed as a time function on the display device, thereby evaluating the muscle "quality" during normal daily activities and sports activities. It is possible to simultaneously evaluate the “smoothness” of the movement.

The device according to claim 2 relates to a device in which the muscle activity sensor includes an electromyograph electrode, and an electrical signal is transmitted from the electrode, and the signal is analyzed and displayed.

The apparatus according to claim 3 is characterized in that an angular velocity sensor is attached to the ninth thoracic spine and the second sacral spine, receives signals of the sagittal plane and the horizontal plane of both angular velocities, and analyzes the phase difference. The “smoothness” of walking can be quantified as described in the examples. That is, in a smooth walking of a healthy person, the rotation angle of the shoulder blade and the rotation angle of the pelvic belt are shifted by a half cycle. By quantifying this phase difference, “smoothness” can be quantified. Quantifying the smoothness of walking is extremely important for rehabilitation of walking.

In the apparatus according to claim 4, the analysis of the muscle activity and the movement of the position is not based on the conventional frequency analysis called Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), but the analysis called wavelet transform (WT). It depends on the method. The conventional FFT is based on the continuity of the signal waveform to be analyzed, so the measurement method is limited to a static one. Therefore, it is not suitable for the qualitative evaluation of the dynamic muscles in which the muscle activity changes instantaneously, such as the lower limb muscles during jumping and stair climbing, or jumping motion. Therefore, we applied WT, which is attracting attention in the engineering field, to surface electromyographic frequency analysis. The biggest feature of WT is that it is possible to provide frequency information (scale parameter) and time information at the same time without degrading the quality of analysis even for non-stationary short-term electromyogram information.

The apparatus described in claim 5 provides a plurality of data obtained by analyzing the analysis waveform from the surface myoelectric sensor group and the phase difference of the angular velocity sensor group simultaneously on the electronic data collection device, thereby It simultaneously provides quantitative evaluation data of the quality of muscle activity during walking and running and the smoothness of movement during movement. Using this data, physical therapists and occupational therapists can provide patients with a specific rehabilitation recovery level that is appropriate for patients, and more improved rehabilitation techniques. Of course, it can also be used as an index for improving motor function in sports centers and the like.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the signal group from the surface myoelectric sensor group and the signal group from the angular velocity sensor group are transmitted to the electronic data collection device via a wired cable or wireless LAN, stored, analyzed, and displayed. Displayed above. It goes without saying that a wireless LAN transmission / reception system is preferable to a wired cable that restricts the free activity of the patient and the subject, but both can be used. In addition, the use of wireless LAN in hospitals, facilities, etc. is restricted by the usable frequency band.

The device described in claim 7 is a device in which the electronic data collection device is portable and its power source is a battery. Using this device, rehabilitation is performed on the patient or subject and, for example, a physical therapist walks alongside the patient during gait training, and evaluates the muscle quality during walking and the quantitative data of smoothness. You can also give the above instructions. It is also possible to stop at a certain place, walk only the patient and the subject, and view the data.

According to the electronic data collection apparatus of the present invention, the electromyogram data of the body and the data indicating the movement of the body position are displayed in real time as a time function, so that the patient during rehabilitation or muscle strengthening Can present quantitatively and visually the actual state of the current movement to the subject during the exercise. Also, for new attempts at rehabilitation and exercise for muscle strengthening, both the above data will be presented immediately, and effective advice and guidance that will be easy for patients and subjects to understand. Is possible.

Objects and features of the present invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description. In the following description, only the preferred embodiments of the invention are shown and described by way of illustration only of what is believed to be the best mode for carrying out the invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other and different embodiments, and its details are capable of modifications in various obvious respects, without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the invention of the drawings is exemplary in nature and should not be considered limiting.

FIG. 1 illustrates a portable electronic data integration device constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Electrical signals measured by EMG sensor 1-a, angular velocity sensor 2-a, and foot switch sensor 3-a are amplified by each EMG amplifier (electromyogram amplifier) 1, angular velocity amplifier 2, and foot switch amplifier 3. The electric signal is input to the condition amplifier 4 via the input box 4. The multiplexer 6 switches the analog signal of each 6ch and transfers it to the A / D converter 7. The A / D converter 7 converts the analog signal into digital (11 bits 180 μsec 8ch) and transmits each digital signal at the Transmit unit. Transmission is performed using a wireless protocol (IEEE802.11b). The CPU 3 controls the multiplexer 6, the A / D converter 7, and the Transmit unit 3 with the clock signal, and converts the multiplexer to the A / D conversion and the radio unit signal (2.4G 802.11b) with the Transmit unit 3. A power supply 10 supplies power to the CPU, condition amplifier, and biological amplifier.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a display screen constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The EMG 4 channel can display IEMG (integrated electromyogram analysis) and MPF (average frequency) in real time. Further, the angular velocity data is displayed as a pie chart so that the rotation of the trunk can be easily grasped visually. Evaluation of the “quality” of these muscle activities and the evaluation of “smoothness” of physical movement can be simultaneously displayed in real time, and basic data for rehabilitation is displayed at the same time.

3-1 and 2 show the angular velocity data of the sagittal plane and the horizontal plane of the ninth thoracic spine and the second sacral spine attached to the body, respectively. FIG. 3A shows that by using the angular velocity sensor, it is possible to evaluate the characteristics of the individual swing by comparing the peak value of the amplitude of the left turn and the right turn during walking.
FIG. 3-2 shows that the smoothness of the person's movement during walking can be evaluated by extracting the portion of the small angular velocity swing by frequency analysis.

FIG. 4 shows electromyogram data, and shows a qualitative evaluation of muscle activity by wavelet frequency analysis. The muscle activity of type1 and type2 fibers is thought to reflect the power in the low and high frequency regions of the power spectrum, respectively. Average frequency (MPF) is often used as an indicator of the central tendency of the power spectrum, and it can estimate the activity state at the muscle fiber level.

The present invention is intended to use an electromyograph, which has insufficient functions and is expensive only for research purposes due to its high equipment cost, in place of a stethoscope in terms of rehabilitation and strength training. Therefore, industrial applicability is extremely high.

Represents a general view of the sensor, transmitter / receiver, etc. Represents a display screen that displays EMG and angular velocity data Angular velocity data. The evaluation of the left-right symmetry of the motion during walking is shown. Angular velocity data. An evaluation of the smoothness of movement during walking is shown. EMG data. Qualitative evaluation of muscle activity by WT frequency analysis

Explanation of symbols

2chEMG amplifier (electromyogram amplifier) Amplifies myoelectric potential from electrodes attached to the body surface
1-a Electromyogram electrode sensor
2 Angular velocity amplifier Amplifies the angular velocity of 2 channels
2-a angular velocity sensor
3 foot switch amplifier Creates 2 channel foot signal
3-a foot switch sensor
4 Input box Inputs signals to the condition amplifier.
5 condition amplifier 6ch input amplifier ± 2.5V
6 multiplexer Transfer analog signal of 6ch to switching A / D conversion
7A / D conversion Analog signal is converted to digital (11 bits 180μsec / 8ch) and transferred to Transmit LAN
Controls 8CPU multiplexer, A / D, and Transmit unit
9Transmit digital signal transmitted wirelessly (2.4G 802.11b)
10 Power Supply ± 5 + 3.3v

Claims (7)

In a surface electromyograph, a) a plurality of muscle activity sensors for detecting muscle activity at a position of the body, b) a plurality of angular velocity sensors for detecting movement of the position of the body, and c) the sensor A device for amplifying and transmitting a signal group from the group; and d) a display device for displaying in real time a selected electrical signal as a time function among electrical signals from the sensor group indicating the muscle activity, position movement, and the like. Including electronic data collection device. The electronic data collection device of claim 1, wherein the muscle activity sensor comprises an electromyograph electrode. Attaching the angular velocity sensor to the 9th thoracic spine and the second sacral spine, and evaluating `` smoothness '' in physical movements such as walking and running from the phase difference between the sagittal plane and the horizontal plane of both, The electronic data collection device according to claim 1. 3. The electronic data collection device according to claim 2, wherein wavelet frequency analysis is performed on the muscle activity and angular velocity data to perform qualitative evaluation of muscles and smoothness of physical movement. The electronic data collection apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a defect in muscle activity, a right / left ratio symmetry of physical movement, and the like are clearly shown as a graph and a figure based on the analysis result. The electronic data collection device according to claim 2, wherein a mechanism for transmitting a signal from the sensor group uses radio. The electronic data collecting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the electronic data collecting apparatus for analyzing and displaying the muscle activity is portable and uses a battery as a power source.