SYSTEM FOR THE BIOMECHANICAL EXAMINATION OF A PERSON'S MOVEMENT

Description

Technique sector

[0001] This invention refers to a system that allows to assess the biomechanics of an individual's motion while walking, running or performing specific sports gestures. Said system has a computer system fitted with intelligent software that measures and provides real-time parameterisation of the individual's dynamic bodily behaviour and the pressure exerted by said individual's feet on the treading surface while performing an exercise, it automatically prepares a diagnosis and a treatment based on customised insoles generated from the data obtained during the assessment performed. This system is applicable in the fields of biomechanics, podiatry, sports medicine, physiotherapy, readjustment and physical preparation.Status of the previous technique

[0002] At present, the biomechanical studies consisting of the analysis of the way of stepping are widely known. These studies are carried out by observing the different treading and pressure areas of feet on a surface.

[0003] When some kind of anomaly is detect in the footfall, the usual solution is the use of corrective insoles, however the current technique does not thoroughly analyse the movements of the entire body while performing exercise. At best, a simple observation is made of the individual while performing an exercise, which prevents the analytical determination of the body's movements that lead to a poor footfall and, therefore, not allowing to correct the cause of said poor footfall.

[0004] Other techniques involving the observation of an individual's movements during exercise require the use of specific markers and the use of a calibrated space to determine the individual's position. These techniques do not allow for the automatic preparation of a biomechanical diagnosis and for relating this to the injuries that the individual is suffering or may suffer, in order to prevent them.

[0005] The applicant of the invention does not know of the existence in present day podiatry of any dynamic assessment system capable of assessing and measuring the kinetic and kinematics of the human body in real-time. So far everything has been based on the experience and power of observation of the specialist's eye, but no numerical results are obtained to validate said observation.

[0006] Prior art on biomechanical studies for custom footwear design is disclosed in EP2308373A1 and US2017 / 068774A1.Explanation of the invention

[0007] The system for the biomechanical study of an individual's motion, purpose of this invention, allows to perform a three-dimensional study of an individual's entire body in real-time, and to analyse the kinetics and kinematics of the individual for maintaining balance in bipedal and when walking and running. This system also allows to analyse the biomechanics of specific sports gestures found in different sports, such as football, basketball, tennis, paddle tennis, cycling, etc.

[0008] This system is based on the combination of the concept of three-dimensional vision and continuous monitoring of foot plantar pressure in real-time to be able to monitor and parameterise body motion. All this is integrated into a system capable of working autonomously, following working protocols validated by ergodynamics.

[0009] The system has its own intelligence to be able to automatically diagnose different pathologies in the process of motion of the human body by studying the kinematic and dynamic motion that intervenes in the process of walking and / or running, comparing the data obtained with an extensive database that is the result of long-standing experience. This system is unlike other technologies that only focus on the study of the lower limbs (feet) of the human body.

[0010] According to the invention, this system comprises the features as defined in appended claim 1.

[0011] According to the invention, the real-time video capture cameras can comprise one or more RGB-D vision sensors capable of measuring the depth at which the objects in the image are, or multiple fixed and calibrated sensors.

[0012] The video capture cameras used are suitable and capable of delivering 60 to 90 fps, that is, two or three times what the human eye is capable of seeing. This allows to view movements focused on detecting abnormalities in the individual's motion.

[0013] Image processing allows to process and analyse in real-time the initial position (static) of the individual and its kinematic and dynamic evolution during exercise and have real-time access to the evolution of the joint angles, angular velocity and position in the three planes of space of the more relevant anatomical references such as the knees, hips and spine.

[0014] The software responsible for processing the images provided by the vision sensors comprises an algorithm that records 3D point clouds in an single point cloud and an optimisation algorithm that extracts a representation of the individual's skeleton from each image.

[0015] The processing of such images eventually includes the application of a smoothing technique, the post-processing of the sequence of skeletons in order to eliminate estimation noise from the independent frames and the processing to obtain the data concerning the movements: positions, angles, linear or angular velocities and linear or angular accelerations in the three planes of space.

[0016] The system allows users to configure each metric independently, from the specialist user interface, by setting the normal / poor / optimal / pathological ranges from a the point of view of interest or clinical use. These ranges are used to detect points of interest in the sequence of images in which the individual performs movements that are outside what is considered as the normal range.

[0017] The system is configured to allow two modes of operation: a streaming / recording mode, in which data is sent to the user interface, at the same time as being recorded on a hard drive within the system, and a playback mode, in which the data saved in a user interface is loaded for scanning.

[0018] The system also comprises a user interface for the individual, which plays the video and shows the posture, the pressure image of the feet, and a series of markers with the angles determined by the specialist.

[0019] The processing of baropodometric images involves the application of a local optimisation algorithm at subpixel level to temporarily align the sequence of such baropodometric images, determining the displacement between consecutive frames. This information is used to extract the historical image of the footsteps, displaying the entire temporal sequence in space.

[0020] Capturing baropodometric images allows to obtain data that would otherwise be impossible to gather using a small static platform, and to correlate the detrimental mechanism, at any level, with the behaviour of the foot and of the individual's balance at each moment while exercising.

[0021] In addition to providing all analytical data for the individualised biomechanical study and adjusted to the individual's age and activity, the system is able to identify biomechanical alterations that are the cause of an injury, or that may pose a risk of injury to the individual.

[0022] The system itself is designed so that the obtained data can lead to a biomechanical diagnosis and designing the best fully customised treatment (insoles) for the alterations.

[0023] One of the features of the system is that it combines three dimensions: length, width and depth of 3D technology, with the dimension of time, therefore data collection takes place in real time and space, allowing users to access all the information instantly and to immediately determine the action plan to be implemented.Brief description of the drawings' content.

[0024] To complement the description provided and for the purpose of helping to understand the features of the invention, this description is accompanied by a set of drawings for illustrative but not limiting purposes, representing the following: Figure 1 shows a diagram of the system for the biomechanical study of an individual's motion, according to the intervention. Detailed display of mode for implementing the invention.

[0025] In the example of implementation shown in figure 1, the components of the invention system have been represented schematically, comprising: - a treadmill (1) fitted with a pressure platform (2) equipped with a high-resolution pressure sensor, which obtains real-time baropodometric images of the individual's footfall as he / she walks or runs on said treadmill; - real-time video capture media (3) of the individual's body posture while exercising on the treadmill and, - a computer system (4) equipped with intelligent software, to which the video capture media (2) and said pressure platform (3) are connected.

[0026] The video capture media (3) are in this case cameras with fixed and calibrated sensors, and are suitable for delivering between 60 and 90 fps (frames per second).

[0027] The system comprises a user interface (41) for a specialist responsible for controlling the execution mode of the computer software and the information of the individual that is displayed on a screen (5) and a user interface (6) for the individual, represented by a screen showing the individual's video and posture during exercise, the image of the foot pressures, and a series of markers with different angles of movement.

[0028] The intelligent software of the computer equipment processes the information provided by the video capture media and the baropodometric images provided by the pressure platform, provides analytical data for the individual's personalised biomechanical study, identifying the biomechanical alterations that are the cause of an injury, or which may pose a risk of injury to the individual, and eventually designs a fully personalised treatment using insoles which are designed to correct the detected alterations.

[0029] Once the nature of the invention has been sufficiently described, as well as an example of preferential implementation, it is stated for the appropriate purposes that the materials, shape, size and arrangement of the described elements may be modified, provided this does not alter the essential features of the invention as claimed below.

Claims

1. System for the biomechanical study of an individual's motion; characterised by comprising: - a treadmill (1) fitted with a pressure platform (2) equipped with a high-resolution pressure sensor configured to obtain information in the form of real-time high-resolution baropodometric images of the individual's footfall while walking or running on the treadmill; - real-time video capture media (3) configured to obtain information of the individual's body posture while exercising on the treadmill; - computer equipment (4) to which the following are connected: the real-time video capture media (3) and the pressure platform (2), a user interface (41) for a specialist in charge of controlling the execution mode of the software and the individual's information that is displayed on a screen (5), wherein the computer equipment is equipped with intelligent software that includes algorithms that are configured for: - processing the information obtained by the real-time video capture media (3) to obtain data related to positions, angles, speeds and accelerations of the individual's movements in the three planes of space, and comparing them with a range of predetermined values, considered normal, deficient, optimal and pathological, such that those movements of the individual that are outside normal values are determined; - processing the information obtained in the form of baropodometric images by the pressure platform (2), dynamically analysing the distribution of the pressures over time and including the entire sequence of footfalls extracted, rejecting the footfalls that do not follow the normal pattern of the sequence, and obtaining an average pressure distribution model; - providing analytical data for the individual's personalised biomechanical study, by comparing the information obtained by the real-time video capture media (3) and by the pressure platform (2) with a database, so that biomechanical alterations that are the cause of an injury, or which may pose a risk of injury to the individual, are automatically identified; and - designing a fully personalised treatment using insoles which are designed to correct the identified biomechanical alterations.

2. System, according to claim 1, whereby the real-time video capture media (3) comprise one or more RGB-D vision sensors capable of measuring the depth at which the objects in the image are located.

3. System, according to claim 1, whereby the real-time video capture media (3) comprise one or more fixed and calibrated sensors.

4. System, according to any of the previous claims, whereby the real-time video capture media (3) are suitable for delivering between 60 and 90 fps.

5. System, according to any of the previous claims, whereby the system comprises a user interface (6) for the individual, which shows the video and posture, the image of pressures of the feet, and a series of markers with different angles of movement.

6. System, according to claim 1, whereby the intelligent software for processing the images provided by the real-time video capture media (3) comprises an algorithm configured to register 3D point clouds in a single point cloud and an optimisation algorithm configured to extract for each image a representation of the individual's skeleton, and wherein the intelligent software is further configured to apply a smoothing technique, to post-process a sequence of representations of the individual's skeletons and to obtain the data concerning the movements: positions, angles, linear or angular velocities and linear or angular accelerations in the three planes of space.

7. System, according to claim 1, whereby the intelligent software comprises a local optimisation algorithm at subpixel level that temporarily aligns the sequence of such baropodometric images, determines the displacement between consecutive frames; and extracts the historical image of the footfalls, displaying the entire temporal sequence in space.