Equipment and method for judging and evaluating single-joint spasm in motion

Abstract

The invention discloses equipment and a method for evaluating and judging spasm of a single joint during movement. The equipment comprises a sleeve-shaped soft cushion structure, a body surface fixing device, a plurality of pressure sensors, a plurality of torque sensors, arm-of-force fixing devices on two sides, surface myoelectricity acquisition equipment, a plurality of inertial measurement units and a signal conditioning module. The evaluation method comprises three modes, namely passive movement of electrode traction, active movement and active movement of electrode traction. By combining an existing muscular tension assessment method and a method for judging abnormal muscular tension changes in movement, the technical problem of monitoring time points and induction factors of abnormal muscular tension in the movement process of a patient is solved, and the selection range of a treatment scheme of the patient is conveniently enlarged.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the field of health detection, and in particular to a device and method for evaluating single joint spasticity in motion. Background Art

[0002] Spasticity is a symptom of neurological injury and is common in patients with brain damage such as stroke, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, Parkinson's disease, and other central nervous system pathologies. The most common clinical definition of spasticity is based on the velocity dependence of stretch reflex activity, but the syndrome also involves other symptoms such as hypertonia, spasms, clonus, hyperreflexia, and muscle coactivation, all of which are related to dysfunctional muscle activity.

[0003] Clinically, the changes in the patient's limb spasticity are measured to assess the patient's condition and develop an appropriate treatment plan. Studies have shown that during the movement of patients with spasticity, the hyperactive reflexes in the resting state have little effect on the movement disorder, while changes in muscle fiber properties are the main influencing factor. Currently available and easy-to-use spasticity assessment methods, such as the modified Ashworth scale (MAS) and the modified Tardieu scale, are still insufficient in quantifying spasticity and monitoring the occurrence of spasticity during exercise. This will limit the choice of assistive devices during the treatment of patients with neurological injuries. For example, the indications for assistive exercise devices rarely include patients with spasticity, and it is difficult to determine the threshold for inducing spasticity when setting the auxiliary force parameters. Summary of the invention

[0004] The object of the present invention is to provide a device and method for evaluating single joint spasticity in order to solve the problems raised in the above-mentioned background technology.

[0005] To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present invention provides a device for evaluating the spasticity of a single joint during movement, comprising: a sleeve-like cushion structure and a body surface fixing device, a plurality of pressure sensors, a plurality of torque sensors and a bilateral force arm fixing device, a surface electromyography acquisition device, a plurality of inertial measurement units, and a signal conditioning module, wherein:

[0006] The sleeve-like cushion structure wraps around the limbs and joints along the axial direction, and the inner surface is velvet, and is pressed and fixed to the limbs by a body surface fixing device;

[0007] The pressure sensors are evenly distributed axially inside the sleeve-like cushion to fit the subject's skin and cover the motor muscles. The piezoresistive pressure sensing element in the pressure sensor senses the mechanical stress, and the electrical signal is amplified and filtered by the signal processing circuit and transmitted to the signal conditioning module by the connector.

[0008] The torque sensor is placed at the axis of the single joint movement, fixed using a bilateral force arm fixing device, parallel to the joint movement plane, and fixed to the outer side of the cushion along the central axis of the limb being tested, for collecting torque signals and transmitting them to the signal conditioning module;

[0009] The surface electromyography acquisition device patch is located on the agonist or antagonist muscle belly on both sides of the limb to be tested, and is used to collect the electromyography signal generated during movement and transmit it to the signal conditioning module;

[0010] The inertial measurement unit is fixed to the axis of the joint movement, the fixed arm and the outer side of the end of the movable arm, and is used to measure the relative position of the limbs and joints in motion, and collect data to transmit to the signal conditioning module;

[0011] The signal conditioning module is used to receive, synchronize, integrate and analyze the signals collected by the pressure sensor, torque sensor, surface electromyography acquisition equipment and inertial measurement unit.

[0012] Furthermore, the torque sensor is adapted to the measurement of different joint activities by replacing the force arms with different standard lengths.

[0013] Furthermore, the resistive sensing element of the torque sensor converts the mechanical torque into an electrical signal, and the signal processing circuit amplifies and filters the electrical signal, which is then transmitted to the signal conditioning module via the connector.

[0014] Another aspect of the present invention provides a method for evaluating single joint spasticity during movement, which includes three modes, namely, passive movement pulled by electrodes, active movement, and active movement pulled by electrodes.

[0015] Further, the evaluation method of the passive movement pulled by the electrode is:

[0016] After the subject puts on the device, he / she remains relaxed. The motor applies a stable and continuous driving force in one direction of the subject's joint movement until the joint movement range allowed by the pre-test is completed. During this period, abnormal limb resistance and abnormal electromyographic signals are monitored as a basis for passive movement-induced abnormal muscle tension.

[0017] Furthermore, the active movement evaluation method is:

[0018] In the absence of motor driving force, the subjects wore the device to complete the joint range of motion allowed by the pre-test, and abnormal electrical signals outside the baseline were monitored during active movement as the basis for inducing abnormal muscle tension.

[0019] Furthermore, the active movement evaluation method pulled by the motor is:

[0020] During the active activity of the subject, the motor applies a reverse, same, and reverse resistance at random joint angles as interference. The fluctuation of the subject's force, torque, and electromyographic signal outside the baseline range after the interference is monitored as the basis for inducing abnormal muscle tension.

[0021] Compared with the prior art, the present system and method have the following advantages:

[0022] 1. The present invention integrates multiple pressure sensors, torque sensors, inertial measurement units and surface electromyography acquisition devices, which can collect data from four aspects: mechanical pressure, torque, position change and electromyography signal, and evaluate the characteristics of single joint spasm in multiple dimensions.

[0023] 2. The piezoresistive pressure sensor and resistive torque sensor used in the present invention can capture and convert mechanical stress and torque signals with high sensitivity, and at the same time amplify and filter the data through an optimized signal conditioning module to reduce interference and ensure the accuracy of data acquisition.

[0024] 3. The present invention supports multiple evaluation modes, including passive movement, active movement and active movement pulled by a motor, which can dynamically monitor indicators during the exercise process and more comprehensively and accurately determine the characteristics and degree of single joint spasm. Each module of the system is designed independently and can work together or be used alone, which is convenient for flexible configuration according to needs and adaptable to different evaluation scenarios.

[0025] 4. The sleeve-like cushion design of the present invention adopts suede material, which can fit the limbs comfortably in combination with the surface fixing device, reduce the discomfort of the subjects when wearing it, improve the compliance of the equipment and the quality of data collection, and is particularly suitable for passive testing scenarios.

[0026] 5. The present invention combines the existing muscle tension assessment method with the method for determining abnormal muscle tension changes during exercise to improve the monitoring technology of the time point and inducing factors of abnormal muscle tension during the patient's exercise, and can achieve objective and quantitative evaluation of spasticity characteristics, avoid the errors caused by traditional evaluation relying on subjective observation, and facilitate increasing the range of patient treatment options. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] Figure 1 This is a structural diagram of a device for evaluating single joint spasticity during movement, including: 1. Sleeve-like cushion structure 2. Lever 3. Inertial measurement unit 4. Inner side of sleeve-like cushion structure 5. Pressure sensor 6. Surface electromyography acquisition device 7. Torque sensor 8. Lever fixing device 9. Motor. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0029] The present invention provides a device for acquiring and analyzing data from a single joint movement process of a spastic subject, the device comprising a measuring device and a processing device.

[0030] like Figure 1 The figure shows a schematic diagram of the measuring device in the present invention in the measuring state, wherein the measuring device comprises: a sleeve-like cushion structure 1 and a body surface fixing device, a plurality of pressure sensors 5, a plurality of torque sensors 7 and a bilateral force arm fixing device 8, a surface electromyography acquisition device 6, a plurality of inertial measurement units 3, and a signal conditioning module.

[0031] The sleeve-like cushion structure 1 wraps around the limbs and joints along the axial direction, and the inner side 4 is velvet, which is pressed and fixed to the limb by a body surface fixing device. The inner side interlayer of the cushion structure is distributed with pressure sensors, the inner side is distributed with surface electromyography acquisition patches, and the outer side is fixed with an inertial measurement unit 3.

[0032] The pressure sensors 5 are evenly distributed axially inside the cushion to fit the subject's skin and cover the motor muscles as much as possible. The piezoresistive pressure sensing element senses the mechanical stress, and the signal processing circuit amplifies and filters the electrical signal, which is then transmitted to the signal conditioning module through the connector.

[0033] The torque sensor 7 is located at the axis of the single joint movement, with fixed length force arms 2 on both sides, parallel to the joint movement plane, and fixed on the outer side of the cushion along the central axis of the limb being tested. The force arms of different standard lengths can be replaced to adapt to the measurement of different joint movements. The resistive sensor element (strain gauge) converts the mechanical torque into an electrical signal, the signal processing circuit amplifies and filters the electrical signal, and transmits it to the signal conditioning module through the connector.

[0034] The surface electromyography acquisition device patch is located on the agonist or antagonist muscle belly on both sides of the limb being tested, and is used to collect the electromyography signals generated during movement and transmit them to the signal conditioning module.

[0035] The inertial measurement unit 3 is fixed to the axis of joint movement, the outer side of the ends of the fixed arm and the movable arm, and is used to measure the relative positions of the limbs and joints in motion, and collect data for transmission to the signal conditioning module.

[0036] The signal conditioning module is used to receive, synchronize, integrate and analyze the signals collected by the pressure sensor 5 , the torque sensor 7 , the surface electromyography acquisition device 6 and the inertial measurement unit 3 .

[0037] The method of using the device includes three ways, namely passive movement pulled by electrodes, active movement, and active movement pulled by electrodes.

[0038] The method of using passive movement pulled by electrodes is: the subject wears the device and remains relaxed, and the motor 9 applies a stable and continuous driving force in one direction of the joint movement until the joint movement range allowed by the pre-test is completed. During this period, abnormal limb resistance and abnormal electromyographic signals are monitored as a basis for passive movement to induce abnormal muscle tension.

[0039] The method of using active movement is: in the state without motor driving force, the subject wears the device to complete the joint range of motion allowed by the pre-test, and the abnormal electrical signals outside the baseline are monitored during the active movement as the basis for inducing abnormal muscle tension.

[0040] The method of using active movement pulled by electrodes is: during the active activity of the subject, the motor 9 applies a reverse, same, and reverse resistance at random joint angles as interference, and the fluctuation of the subject's force, torque, and electromyographic model outside the baseline range after the interference is monitored as the basis for inducing abnormal muscle tension.

[0041] Previous studies have shown that the nervous system and the musculoskeletal system can effectively handle musculoskeletal redundancy and simplify motor control by simultaneously activating muscle groups as movement building blocks. The definition of muscle synergy is that a group of muscles are activated in coordination to perform a specific task, which enables the central nervous system to achieve motor control tasks by controlling a small amount of synergy. In patients with central nervous system lesions, nerve damage interferes with the neural processing of control signals at all levels from the motor cortex area to the spinal cord, resulting in changes in muscle synergy patterns. The present invention improves the technical issues of monitoring the time point and inducing factors of abnormal muscle tension during patient movement by combining existing muscle tension assessment methods and methods for determining abnormal muscle tension changes during movement, thereby increasing the range of treatment options for patients.

[0042] Although embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes, modifications, substitutions and variations may be made to the embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention, and that the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A device for evaluating the spasticity of a single joint, characterized in that: include: Sleeve-like cushion structure and surface fixing device, multiple pressure sensors, multiple torque sensors and bilateral force arm fixing devices, surface electromyography acquisition equipment, multiple inertial measurement units, signal conditioning module, including: The sleeve-like cushion structure wraps around the limbs and joints along the axial direction, and the inner side is velvet, and is pressed and fixed to the limb by a body surface fixing device; The pressure sensors are evenly distributed axially inside the sleeve-like cushion to fit the subject's skin and cover the motor muscles. The piezoresistive pressure sensing element in the pressure sensor senses the mechanical stress, and the electrical signal is amplified and filtered by the signal processing circuit and transmitted to the signal conditioning module by the connector. The torque sensor is placed at the axis of the single joint movement, fixed using a bilateral force arm fixing device, parallel to the joint movement plane, and fixed to the outer side of the cushion along the central axis of the limb being tested, for collecting torque signals and transmitting them to the signal conditioning module; The surface electromyography acquisition device patch is located on the agonist or antagonist muscle belly on both sides of the limb to be tested, and is used to collect the electromyography signal generated during movement and transmit it to the signal conditioning module; The inertial measurement unit is fixed to the axis of the joint movement, the fixed arm and the outer side of the end of the movable arm, and is used to measure the relative position of the limbs and joints in motion, and collect data to transmit to the signal conditioning module; The signal conditioning module is used to receive, synchronize, integrate and analyze the signals collected by the pressure sensor, torque sensor, surface electromyography acquisition equipment and inertial measurement unit.

2. The device for determining the spasticity of a single joint according to claim 1, characterized in that: The torque sensor is adapted to the measurement of different joint activities by replacing force arms of different standard lengths.

3. The device for determining the spasticity of a single joint according to claim 1, characterized in that: The resistive sensing element of the torque sensor converts the mechanical torque into an electrical signal, and the signal processing circuit amplifies and filters the electrical signal, which is then transmitted to the signal conditioning module through the connector.

4. A method for determining the evaluation of single joint spasticity during movement, characterized in that: There are three methods: passive movement pulled by electrodes, active movement, and active movement pulled by electrodes.

5. A method for determining and evaluating single joint spasticity according to claim 1, characterized in that: The passive motion evaluation method pulled by the electrode is: After the subject puts on the device, he / she remains relaxed. The motor applies a stable and continuous driving force in one direction of the subject's joint movement until the joint movement range allowed by the pre-test is completed. During this period, abnormal limb resistance and abnormal electromyographic signals are monitored as a basis for passive movement-induced abnormal muscle tension.

6. A method for determining and evaluating single joint spasticity according to claim 1, characterized in that: The active motion evaluation method is: In the absence of motor driving force, the subjects wore the device to complete the joint range of motion allowed by the pre-test, and abnormal electrical signals outside the baseline were monitored during active movement as the basis for inducing abnormal muscle tension.

7. A method for determining and evaluating single joint spasticity according to claim 1, characterized in that: The active motion evaluation method pulled by the motor is: During the active activities of the subjects, the motor applied a reverse, same, and reverse resistance at random joint angles as interference. The fluctuations of the subject's force, torque, and electromyographic model outside the baseline range after the interference were monitored as the basis for inducing abnormal muscle tension.

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