Muscle tone measuring apparatus

Abstract

The present invention provides a muscle tone measuring apparatus, wherein the forces applied for flexion and extension of a muscle of a subject (1) are detected by at least one force sensor (20a, 20b). Then the muscle torque for flexing and extending the muscle is calculated. In addition, the muscle angle of the muscle of the subject is measured by a sensor (30). Then the changes over time of themuscle torque and the muscle angle during the flexion and extension of the muscle of the subject are separated into the maximum extension static phase, dynamic flexion phase, maximum flexion static phase, and dynamic extension phase. The muscle tone feature quantities are extracted from the relationship between the muscle angle and the muscle torque in at least one of the dynamic flexion phase and the dynamic extension phase. By using the muscle tone feature quantities, the muscle tone can be objectively evaluated using a very simple apparatus and a method which is close to the diagnostic method performed in the past by a doctor.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to a muscle tone measuring device for measuring and objectively evaluating the muscle tone characteristics of patients with Parkinson's disease or cerebral apoplexy. Background technique [0002] Muscle tension abnormalities such as spasms and muscle rigidity (muscle rigidity) that cause stretch reflexes are caused by disorders of the pyramidal tract and extrapyramidal tracts, and are very useful diagnostic insights as a scale for evaluating the degree of central disorder. However, it is difficult to accurately evaluate the degree without a skilled physician. Currently, as commonly used evaluation indicators in the clinical field, it is known that there is a Modified Ashworth Scale (Modified Ashworth Scale) for spasticity, and a UPDRS (Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale, Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale) for myotonia, but their benchmarks are all It is semi-quantitative, and inter- and intra-assessor differences...

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Problems solved by technology

[0010] However, the correlation between the data obtained from the dynamometers of Patent Document 1 and Non-Patent Document 1 and clinical evaluation scores is low, and abnormal muscle tone cannot be objectively evaluated.

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