TW201717881A - Walking stick - Google Patents

Abstract

A crutch walker having an embedded monitoring system, comprising a handle, a cane body and a plurality of feet providing support at the ground, the walker further comprising: a first sensor disposed in the handle or cane body, being for detecting a state of the crutch so as to provide a first movement parameter; at least one second sensor disposed in at least one foot of the plurality of feet, for detecting a state of the crutch so as to provide a second movement parameter; a central controller, configured to determine a movement state on the basis of at least one of the first movement parameter and the second movement parameter so as to enable more timely, more accurate acquisition of user rehabilitation level data, thereby providing more targeted and timely training plans.

Description

Crutches walker

The present invention relates to crutches, and more particularly to crutches walkers with assisted monitoring functions.

Crutches can allow the elderly, patients, and other users with inflexible legs and even walking ability to take care of themselves, maintain a certain ability to move, and can also assist the elderly or patients to enhance their ability to achieve rehabilitation.

At present, for patients or elderly people who need rehabilitation training, the pathological and physiological examinations of the patients are usually performed by a rehabilitation physician or a rehabilitation engineer, and the types of walking aids to be used are determined under the guidance of a rehabilitation physician or a rehabilitation engineer. And determine the auxiliary training program. The patient is trained in the use of some of the walking sticks under the instructions of the rehabilitation teacher. At the same time, the rehabilitation physician also needs regular follow-up to accurately understand the patient's recovery, so as to further improve the training program to achieve the best results.

However, in reality, users who use crutches cannot intuitively understand the state of their training and the dangers that may occur. At the same time, the rehabilitation doctor cannot always be with the patient, so it is impossible to immediately understand the patient's use of the crutches and the level of rehabilitation. At the same time, it is not possible to provide advice to patients in a timely manner, thus affecting the quality and progress of rehabilitation.

The present invention provides a crutches walker that not only provides the user with a conventional auxiliary support function, but also can monitor the user's usage and promptly warn. Moreover, it is also possible to receive the update of the training plan in a timely manner according to the rehabilitation situation of the user and apply it to the training of the user.

According to the present invention, there is provided a crutches walker comprising a handle, a wand body and a plurality of legs supported on the ground, the walker further comprising: a first sensor located in the handle or the stick body, Detecting a state of the crutch to provide a first motion parameter; at least one second sensor located in at least one of the plurality of legs for detecting a state of the crutch to provide a second motion parameter; a central controller And configured to determine a motion state of the user based on at least one of the first motion parameter and the second motion parameter.

Preferably, wherein the central controller determines the motion state according to a predetermined criterion; the central controller is further configured to receive a training plan from the remote server through the user terminal, and adjust according to the training plan The standard.

Preferably, the central controller determines a road feature that the user walks according to the first motion parameter and the second motion parameter, and determines a motion state of the user based on the road feature and the first motion parameter and the second motion parameter. Is it normal?

Preferably, the user terminal is a mobile terminal, and the central controller communicates with the mobile terminal by wireless or wired.

101‧‧‧handle

102-1‧‧‧ feet

102-2‧‧‧ feet

102-3‧‧‧ feet

102-4‧‧‧ feet

103‧‧‧ ‧ body

201‧‧‧First sensor

202-1‧‧‧Second sensor

202-2‧‧‧Second sensor

202-3‧‧‧Second sensor

202-4‧‧‧Second sensor

203‧‧‧Central controller

204‧‧‧Alarm

205‧‧‧User terminal

206‧‧‧Remote Server

F1‧‧‧ pressure

F2‧‧‧ pressure

F3‧‧‧ pressure

F4‧‧‧ pressure

Q‧‧‧Center of Mind

Q’‧‧‧ Center of Mind

1 shows a schematic view of a walking stick walker according to an example of the present invention; FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a walking aid monitoring system in a walking stick walker according to an example of the present invention; Figure 3 shows a pressure mode diagram in accordance with one example of the present invention.

1 shows a crutches 100 including a handle 101 for hand grip, four legs 102-1, 102-2, 102-3, 102-4 supported on the ground, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The handle body 101 and the rod body 103 of the leg 102 are connected.

In addition, a walking aid monitoring system is also installed in the crutches 100. As shown in FIG. 2, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, one or more sensors, such as a pressure sensor, an acceleration sensor, a gyroscope, etc., are incorporated in the handle 101, for convenience, in this paper. Hereinafter, it is collectively referred to as the first sensor 201. The first sensor 201 can detect the movement of the crutches and provide first motion measurement parameters, such as using a gyroscope to determine the direction of gravity, or using an electronic compass to determine which direction of the southeast and northwest of the crutches movement, or using multi-axis acceleration. The sensor measures multi-dimensional acceleration information. One or more sensors, such as a pressure sensor, an acceleration sensor, etc., are respectively mounted in each of the four legs 102-1, 102-2, 102-3, and 102-4. For convenience, the second sensor 202 is hereinafter collectively referred to as hereinafter. The second sensor 202 is used to detect changes in the force of the foot of the crutches due to dropping, tilting, motion, and impact, and to provide second motion mechanics measurement parameters. It should be noted that although the four-legged crutches are used herein, it is obvious that the invention is not limited to four legs, and the sensors provided may be installed in all or at least some of the legs as needed. As long as the measurement of the user's motion mechanics parameters can be achieved.

In addition, the crutches 100 further includes a central controller 203, which may be located in any part of the handle, the rod body or the legs of the crutches, the central controller 203 and the first sensor 201, multiple The second sensor 203 communicates. The central controller 203 can analyze the instantaneous measurement data provided by the first and second sensors to determine the motion state of the user, etc. The status may include tilt, fall, speed too fast, too slow, number of walking steps, and the like. In addition, the crutch 100 may further include an alarm 204, such as a speaker, through which the central controller 203 may report motion information to the user, or may determine an abnormal situation in the user's motion, such as a tendency to fall. When the output sounds to alert the user.

In addition, the central controller has a storage device (not shown) for storing system application data, user information, recorded data from the first and second sensors, and the like. The application data includes, for example, parameter settings and address information for communication with the outside, and the user information may include user account information, a training plan customized for the user, and the like. As a preferred solution, the controller 203 formulates a determination criterion of the user's motion state based on the training plan. For example, in the early stage of leg injury rehabilitation, the user is advised to walk at a slow speed according to the training plan, so the slow threshold standard is set. However, after a period of time, after determining the predetermined effect according to the recorded sensor history data, the user is allowed and instructed to speed up the walking speed to achieve a better training step, so the fast threshold criterion should be set. Therefore, during a slow period, if the user's speed is too fast, which is greater than the slow threshold, the central controller will issue a warning and prompt the user to make an adjustment through the alarm 204. Similarly, if during the fast walking workout period, if the user's pace is too low, below the fast threshold criteria, a warning is also issued indicating that the user should speed up the pace.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the central controller 203 can communicate with the external user terminal 205 to upload the stored motion history data to the user terminal, and the user terminal can be the user's own mobile phone and family members. An external device such as a mobile phone or a home computer, which in turn can communicate with other external devices, such as a remote server 206 belonging to the medical service company, uploading user motion history data to the remote server. In an embodiment of the present invention, the central controller 203 can integrate the SIM card of the mobile operator, thereby Communicate with the above external devices through a mobile communication network such as a 3G or 4G network. Due to the wide-area nature of the mobile communication network, the central controller 203 can upload the user's motion history data to the user terminal or directly to the remote server 206. The central controller can also integrate a Bluetooth module or a wireless module to communicate with external devices such as user terminals and routers via Bluetooth or WiFi networks. Therefore, the central controller 203 can temporarily store the user motion history data in the local storage area device, and then pass through the Bluetooth or WiFi network to connect to an external device such as a home router, a user's mobile phone, or a computer. These devices upload athletic history data to the remote server 206. In another embodiment, the central controller 203 can also communicate with external devices via a wired method such as a USB standard. The built-in battery of the monitoring system in the crutches can also be charged using the USB port on the crutches.

After analyzing the motion history data of the uploaded user, the rehabilitation service of the medical service company adjusts the original rehabilitation plan, and transmits the updated rehabilitation plan to the communication terminal 205 of the user, and the communication terminal 205 reuses the The rehabilitation program updates the pre-existing rehabilitation program in the memory of the crutches. For example, during the above-mentioned leg injury rehabilitation, if the rehabilitation engineer finds that the user recovers better than expected by the uploaded historical data and needs to increase the walking speed of the user, the user's rehabilitation plan is modified. The central controller 203 can update the criteria for determining the state of motion of the user after receiving the modified rehabilitation program, such as increasing the fast threshold criteria described above to enhance training and the like.

[Example 1]

In this example, a gyroscope known in the prior art is provided in the handle of the crutches for providing a gravity direction reference G1; and four pressure sensors are mounted in the four legs for detecting Acted on the four legs on the pressure F1, F2, F3, F4. As shown in Figure 3, according to the level According to the balance algorithm, in the case of the normal use of the crutches, the pressures detected on the four legs are substantially evenly distributed, that is, F1, F2, F3, and F4 are substantially equal, whereby the central controller 203 can sense according to the sensing. The device data establishes a sensor data pattern diagram, as shown in FIG. 3A, the center of mass Q of the figure is substantially at the center, and coincides with the gravity direction G1, or may be within a predetermined deviation range, the sensor data pattern The figure serves as a baseline map.

When the user has an indication of falling, the use of the cane must be abnormal. Therefore, the pressures F1, F2, F3, and F4 detected on the four legs will be significantly different. Taking FIG. 3B as an example, when the forward extension of the crutches is too large, the force of the user's crutches is more concentrated on the rear two legs 102-2, 102-4, thus resulting in the first two legs. The forces F1 and F2 detected on 102-1 and 102-2 are smaller than the pressures F3 and F4 of the latter two legs. Therefore, the centroid Q of the pattern map synthesized by the central controller 203 is necessarily shifted toward the rear two legs, as indicated by Q', and the crutches and the original gravity direction G can be calculated according to the offset Q-Q'. Offset angle. Obviously, when the offset angle exceeds a certain limit, it will inevitably lead to falling. Therefore, in this example, an angle threshold and a pressure difference threshold are set, and when the offset angle exceeds the angle threshold and the front-back pressure difference (ie, F3-F1, F4-F2) is greater than the pressure difference threshold, the tilt occurs. Then, the central controller 203 triggers the alarm 204 to output a prompt tone, prompting the user to correctly use the crutches, preventing the fall, and the like. The purpose of setting the pressure difference threshold is to avoid false positives. For example, when walking on an uphill section or a downhill section, the offset angle is necessarily larger than that on a flat road, so simply using the offset angle may be misjudged; however, since the pressure on the four legs is substantially uniform at this time Therefore, the use of the pressure difference threshold can effectively avoid such misjudgment. Using the instantaneously monitored sensor pressure data F1, F2, F3, F4, the central controller can also determine the user's direction of fall. For example, when F1 and F3 are greater than F2 and F4, the center of mass Q is shifted to the left. At this time, the user may fall to the left; and when F1 and F3 are smaller than F2 and F4, the center of mass Q is to the right. Offset, at this point the user has the possibility of falling to the right.

At the same time, the controller 203 summarizes and stores the sensor pressure data recorded during the user's walking as historical data, and then provides it to the remote server 206 periodically or according to external instructions, for the physician or the rehabilitation engineer to monitor the degree of rehabilitation of the user. . For example, if the physician finds that the user is likely to fall to one side frequently, there may be a problem with the user's function, and thus the user may be provided with further medical advice. If the physician finds that the user has used the crutches in a good condition in the near future, it is considered necessary to suggest that the user increase the intensity or strength of the activity, etc., so that the updated rehabilitation plan is sent to the memory of the central controller 203 through the remote server. After receiving the updated rehabilitation plan, the central controller prompts the user to change the intensity of the activity, for example, increases the walking distance, and changes the reference, for example, to determine the motion state of the user, for example, increasing the angle threshold and the pressure difference threshold, thereby avoiding mistakes. alarm.

[Example 2]

In this example, the first sensor or the second sensor may also include a pressure sensor and an acceleration sensor or a separate acceleration sensor. The development of the prior art makes it possible to achieve accurate motion detection using an acceleration sensor, detecting changes in force due to drop, tilt, motion, position, impact, and vibration, and implementing a step function. The number of steps by the user in the unit or period of time is very advantageous for judging the health of the user. Moreover, the use of an acceleration sensor to calculate the number of steps is lower than the cost of GPS commonly used in electronic devices, and is not affected by GPS accuracy. Of course, the invention is not limited to the acceleration sensor, and GPS can still be used to implement functions such as positioning and distance calculation. For example, a positioning device such as a GPS receiver, a Beidou positioning system receiver, which can be located at any position of the crutches, can be separately provided in the crutches. The central controller 203 can upload the location information provided by the positioning device to the external device in an instant, for example. Such as family or carer's mobile phone, so that family members, carers can be tracked and the user's location can be known in time. Of course, the central controller 203 can also transmit the location information of the user in response to an external command.

As an example, a three-axis acceleration sensor can be provided in the crutch to detect acceleration changes in three directions of walking crutch. The triaxial acceleration sensor can be placed either in the handle or in any of the legs. According to the use characteristics of the crutches, the lifting and falling process of the crutches can relatively accurately reflect the user's step characteristics. Generally, in the horizontal walking motion, the user's vertical and forward accelerations will exhibit periodic changes. For example, in the action of lifting the crutches, the center of gravity is upward, and the acceleration in the vertical direction is a tendency to increase in the positive direction, and then continues to move forward, and the center of gravity moves the crutches down to touch the ground, and the acceleration is reversed. The horizontal acceleration is reduced when the crutches are raised to the high point, and is increased when falling. It can be seen that in the walking movement, the vertical and forward accelerations are wave advances with respect to time, and a peak appears at a certain point in time. The acceleration in the vertical direction changes the most. Therefore, by calculating the peak value and comparing with the set acceleration threshold, the number of steps of the user walking can be calculated instantaneously, and the distance and pace of the user walking can be estimated according to the time measured by the system. The acceleration threshold here varies from person to person and can be set as an experimental value. The threshold is set to determine whether the motion is valid, and only effective motion is performed. The detection of the peak value can be realized by judging the measured acceleration direction and comparing with the recorded previous acceleration direction. For example, if the direction of the secondary recording is opposite, it indicates that the peak state is just over the step, otherwise it continues. The next value is measured, and the number of steps of the user can be obtained by accumulating the peak value.

According to this embodiment, in a pre-existing training program, the rehabilitation engineer can pre-set the standard pace or number of steps for the training for the user. The central controller determines that the actual pace is too slow to be less than the standard step At the time of the speed, an alert signal is sent to the user to prompt the user to speed up the walking. Similarly, when the user's actual pace is too fast for rehabilitation, the user is also given a warning signal to slow down the speed. When the number of steps of the user in a certain period of time is less than the preset number of steps, an alert signal for enhancing the motion is sent to the user. Again, these athletic data can be uploaded to the remote server 206, where the rehabilitation engineer can adjust the training plan and send it back to the central controller of the user's crutches. In addition, the central controller 203 can also play the number of steps of the user's walking through the alarm 204 to the user so that the user can know his or her movement at any time.

Further, by determining the change of the wave curve of the acceleration, the user's fall state can also be judged, and the user can be warned accordingly.

Further, with the acceleration sensor disposed in the handle, the acceleration change closely related to the user's hand can be measured, for example, by determining the degree of change of the measured acceleration direction, the central controller 203 can determine the stability of the user holding the crutches Sex, for example, when the direction changes too frequently beyond a certain threshold, the crutches are determined to be unstable. In addition, if the acceleration measured by the acceleration sensor in the handle changes greatly, and the acceleration measured by the acceleration sensor located in the leg does not change much, the crutches themselves are greatly shaken. If the acceleration data sensed by the acceleration sensor in the handle and the foot is not much different, the stick itself is relatively stable. When the crutches are detected to be unstable, the central controller 203 issues a reminder to the user via the alarm 204.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the first and second sensors in the crutch can be used to determine the road condition, thereby providing a better reference for determining the motion state of the user. As described above, the acceleration sensor in the handle or the foot can be used to judge the upward and downward movement direction of the crutches or to additionally determine the moving speed of the user or the crutches, and the pressure sensor in the legs can be used to judge the falling and lifting of the crutches. Direction and rhythm, the gravitational side is judged by the gyroscope sensor in the handle to. Based on the above sensing data, it can be judged that the current walking road is uphill or downhill. Therefore, the central controller 203 can instantly adjust the respective threshold criteria employed in the motion state determination. For example, if the information provided by the acceleration sensor in the analysis handle is used to determine that the upward movement direction of the crutches is greater than the downward movement direction or time and/or the movement speed of the user is slow, the pressure sense in the legs as described above The detector detects that the crutches form a large offset angle with the direction of gravity, and the two legs on the rear side of the crutches in the moving direction are subjected to a large and uniform force, and it can be judged that the vehicle is uphill. Therefore, the central controller 203 can instantly adjust the angle threshold and increase the threshold to avoid false alarms. Similarly, when going downhill, the direction in which the crutches fall can be allowed to deviate significantly from the direction of gravity. In addition, if the crutches move too fast or the pace is too fast in the case of downhill, an alarm will be triggered; if the direction of movement is unstable, frequent changes will trigger an alarm.

It can be seen that, according to the solution of the present invention, the rehabilitation teacher can be required to guide the user to train and save the cost; and the crutches embedded with the intelligent system can be used to obtain the user's time in a more timely and accurate manner. Rehabilitation standards, which can provide a more targeted and timely training program.

The invention has been described above in connection with specific embodiments. It is to be noted that the embodiments discussed above are for the purpose of illustrating the invention. It is to be understood that any combination, deletion or modification of the above-described embodiments may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

101‧‧‧handle

102-1‧‧‧ feet

102-2‧‧‧ feet

102-3‧‧‧ feet

102-4‧‧‧ feet

103‧‧‧ ‧ body

Claims (10)

A crutches walker includes a handle, a rod body and a plurality of legs supported on the ground, the walker further comprising: a first sensor located in the handle or the rod body for detecting the state of the crutches Providing a first motion parameter; at least one second sensor located in at least one of the plurality of legs for detecting a state of the crutch to provide a second motion parameter; a central controller configured to be based Determining a motion state of the user by at least one of the second motion parameter and the first motion parameter. The crutches walker of claim 1, wherein the central controller determines the motion state according to a predetermined criterion; the central controller is further configured to receive a training program from the remote server, and The criteria are adjusted according to the training program. The crutches walker of claim 1, wherein the central controller determines a road feature of the user to walk according to the first motion parameter and the second motion parameter, and based on the road feature and The first motion parameter and the second motion parameter determine whether the motion state of the user is normal. The crutches walker of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the central controller communicates with an external device by wired transmission or wireless transmission, the external device comprising a user terminal or the remote server, The wireless transmission includes a mobile communication network, a Bluetooth or a WiFi network. The crutches walker of claim 4, further comprising an alarm, wherein the central controller passes the alarm if it is determined that the motion state of the user is abnormal The device issues an alert or sends information indicating the abnormal state of motion to the user terminal or remote server. A crutches walker according to claim 5, wherein the first sensor provides gravity direction information, and the second sensor is configured to detect pressure on the leg, using the detected pressure value a distribution of differences between the central controllers determining a degree of deviation of the rod body from the direction of gravity, wherein the central controller determines the user when the degree of offset is greater than an offset threshold The motion state is abnormal. The crutches walker of claim 3, wherein the first sensor comprises an acceleration sensor configured to detect a vertical movement direction of the crutches as the first motion parameter, the second sensing The apparatus includes at least one pressure sensor configured to detect a falling and lifting direction of the crutch as the second motion parameter, wherein the central controller is based on the up and down moving direction of the crutch, the drop and Raise the direction and the direction of gravity to determine whether the road is uphill or downhill. The crutches walker of claim 5, wherein the first sensor and the second sensor are multi-axis acceleration sensors when used as a sense of acceleration of the first sensor The central controller determines that the motion state of the user is abnormal when the acceleration change measured by the detector is greater than the acceleration measured by the acceleration sensor of the second sensor. A crutches walker according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the second sensor comprises a multi-axis acceleration sensor, wherein the central controller is determined according to an acceleration vector signal provided by the second sensor The number of lifting/falling of the crutches, as the number of steps of the user or for calculation The pace of the household. The crutches walker of claim 4, further comprising a positioning device, wherein the central controller transmits location information provided by the positioning device to an external device, the positioning device comprising a GPS receiver or a Beidou positioning system receiving Device.