Method for determining non-wearing state of sensor system and system for providing information about joints

Abstract

A method is disclosed for determining an unattached state of a sensor system having a pair of sensors configured for attachment to a first body part and a second body part on opposite sides of a joint. The method includes obtaining one or more measurements from each sensor, calculating a relative angle between the two sensors using one or more of the obtained measurements, calculating a joint angle between the first body part and the second body part using one or more of the obtained measurements, the joint angle being defined in a plane of normal bending of the joint, and determining whether any of the sensors are unattached based on the calculated angle, and if not, determining that the system is in an unattached state. A system is also disclosed for providing information about a joint.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of priority from UK patent application no. 1915139.8 filed on 18 October 2019, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

[0002] The present invention relates to a method for determining the non-wearing state of a system for providing information about a joint. [Background technology]

[0003] Devices that measure motion are becoming increasingly common. These sensing devices can take the form of wearable devices that measure a user's motion, smartphones held by a user to measure the user's motion, or movable devices that can generally sense motion, such as sensors attached to video game controllers or industrial equipment. In particular, wearable devices can be utilized to track the motion of humans or other animals. In particular, they can be used to monitor the motion of specific joints.

[0004] These sensing devices may include a satellite positioning sensor that can sense the location of the device and one or more motion sensors that sense the motion and / or orientation of the device. These motion sensors may include one or more of an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a magnetometer, a compass, and a barometer. Measurements taken by the sensors can be used to provide information about the joint.

[0005] When using a wearable device, it may be necessary to use the device for an extended period of time, such as a month or more, so that data that changes only slowly over time can be accumulated. This means that any sensing device used may need to be removed for any number of reasons, including, but not limited to, the need to recharge the power supply on the device, the accumulation of dirt on the sensor and the desire to clean the sensor to remove dust or spills, or to clean the part of the person or animal to which the sensor is attached. Such sensing devices may also become detached. If measurements taken by the device when it is removed or otherwise removed from its intended location are included in providing information, this may result in errors regarding monitoring the joint in question.

[0006] Therefore, it is desirable that there be improvements in how wearable sensors are operated. Summary of the Invention

[0007] According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method for determining an unattached state of a sensor system having a pair of sensors configured for attachment to a first body part and a second body part on either side of a joint, the method including: obtaining one or more measurements from each sensor; calculating a relative angle between the two sensors using one or more of the obtained measurements; calculating a joint angle between the first body part and the second body part using one or more of the obtained measurements, the joint angle being defined in a plane of normal bending of the joint; and determining whether one or both of the sensors are unattached based on the calculated angle, and if not, determining that the system is in an unattached state.

[0008] In some variations, obtaining one or more measurements from each sensor may be performed multiple times within a period of time, and calculating the relative angle and calculating the joint angle may be performed using measurements obtained at at least some of the multiple times. The method may further include, following determining that the sensor system is in an unworn state, adopting a different procedure for calculating the joint angle at a later time. The different procedure may include one or more of not calculating the joint angle at the later time, treating the joint angle calculated at the later time differently from the joint angle calculated at an earlier time of the determination, and not saving the joint angle calculated at the later time.

[0009] The method may further include correlating the joint angles and relative angles calculated at multiple times to provide information about the joint over a period of time, where adopting a different procedure may include omitting from the information any data calculated using measurements made at later times. The information may include one or more of: a change in joint angle during the period of time; a duration that the joint is in motion; a duration that the joint bears a load; a length of the period; and, if the joint is a knee, a step count over the period of time.

[0010] Adopting the different procedure can include performing calculations to provide information that is different from the information about the joint, the different information including one or more of: non-wearing time; and charging time if the first sensor is determined to be charging.

[0011] The unworn state may include one or more of: the first sensor being at least partially removed from its attached location; the first sensor being at least partially dislodged from its attached location; the first sensor being on but not attached to a first body part; and the second sensor being on but not attached to a second body part.

[0012] Determining when the first sensor is attached to the first body part may include calculating a value of a function of the calculated angle. The method may further include processing multiple calculated values of the function over a period of time to determine a running average value for the function, and determining may further include comparing the determined running average value to a threshold. The function may include a function of a joint angle penalty and a relative angle penalty. In some implementations, if the joint angle is within a feasible range for the joint, the joint angle penalty may be zero, and if the joint angle is not within the feasible range for the joint, the joint angle penalty may have a value that depends on how far outside the feasible range the joint angle is. In some implementations, if the relative angle is less than or equal to a threshold relative value, the relative angle penalty may be zero, and if the relative angle penalty is greater than the threshold relative value, the relative angle penalty may depend on how far the relative angle is above the threshold relative value.

[0013] The relative angle may be the difference in the tilt angles of two body parts, the tilt occurring around an axis perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to the plane in which the joint angle is defined.

[0014] The joint angle may be defined in the xz plane, and the tilt angle may be defined in the xy plane and may be non-zero if the first and second body parts undergo a relative roll about the x axis.

[0015] The method may further include, prior to acquiring, determining whether the first sensor and the second sensor are on appropriate respective first and second body parts and / or in substantially a predetermined orientation relative to the appropriate respective first and second body parts, and adjusting the calculating step to take into account the actual determined mounting position and / or orientation if one or both sensors are determined to be mounted on an inappropriate body part or in an orientation different from the predetermined orientation.

[0016] The method may further include, prior to the acquiring, calibrating the first sensor and the second sensor with respect to a predetermined orientation relative to the respective first and second body parts.

[0017] The joint may be a knee or elbow. The joint may be another joint, such as a shoulder or ankle joint.

[0018] Any of the above methods and features may be used in any workable combination.

[0019] According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for providing information about a joint, comprising a first sensor unit configured to be attached to a first body part on a first side of the joint, the first sensor unit comprising one or more first sensors arranged to take one or more measurements about the first body part and the one or more measurements about the first sensors, and a transmitter arranged to transmit the measurements taken; and a second master sensor unit configured to be attached to a second body part on a second side of the joint, the second master sensor unit comprising one or more second sensors arranged to take one or more measurements about the second body part; and a second master sensor unit comprising one or more second sensors arranged to take one or more measurements related to the second sensors, a receiver arranged to receive measurements transmitted from the transmitter of the first sensor unit, and a calculation unit configured to use one or more of the measurements to calculate a relative angle between the two sensors and a joint angle between the first body part and the second body part, the joint angle being defined in a plane of normal bending of the joint, and the calculation unit further configured to determine based on the calculated angle whether one or both of the sensor units are attached, and if not, determine that the system is in an unattached state.

[0020] The first and second sensor units may be configured to take measurements multiple times over a period of time, and the calculation unit may be configured to calculate the relative angle and the joint angle using measurements taken at each of at least some of the multiple times. The calculation unit may be further configured to adopt a different procedure for calculating the joint angle at a later time after determining that the system is in an unworn state. The calculation unit may be further configured to correlate the joint angles and the relative angle calculated at the multiple times to provide information about the joint over a period of time, and in some embodiments, adopting a different procedure may include omitting any data related to measurements made at a later time.

[0021] The second master sensor unit may be configured to provide information to a mobile device for viewing by a user, the information may be for use in analyzing joint health and / or rehabilitation.

[0022] In some examples, the first and second sensor units may be generally flat with a front surface and a rear surface, and the rear surfaces of the first and second sensor units may be configured to be mounted on the first and second body parts on the sides of the joint substantially parallel to the plane of normal bending of the joint.

[0023] Any of the above features may be used in any workable combination.

[0024] The invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0025] [Figure 1] FIG. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 illustrates a reference coordinate system for directions related to joints. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 illustrates a pair of sensors attached to either side of a joint, according to some embodiments. [Figure 4] 1 is a schematic diagram of a system for monitoring a joint. [Figure 5] FIG. 1 illustrates some of the features of a system for monitoring a joint. [Figure 6] FIG. 4 shows one of the sensors of FIG. 3 being removed. [Figure 7A] FIG. 10 shows a graph of knee angle. [Figure 7B] FIG. 10 is a graph showing a roll angle. [Figure 8] FIG. 1 illustrates a method according to some embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0026] In the drawings, like reference numerals refer to like parts.

[0027] The present subject matter relates to a method for determining when a body sensor is in an unworn state, and a system for implementing the method. The method is particularly directed to a system in which a pair of sensors is attached to either side of a joint, where the sensors are used to monitor the joint's angle over time. For example, if a person has a joint injury or has undergone joint surgery, the joint may not be able to flex through the full range of motion of a healthy joint. By monitoring joint motion over time, a picture can be built of the person's level of motion and whether the joint's range of motion is improving. Where this information is useful, it is preferable that the sensors only include data acquired when the sensors are attached to the person in their intended location. If the information includes data acquired when this is not the case, this may distort the information, making it less useful for joint monitoring. Embodiments of the present invention aim to avoid such distortion of information.

[0028] The following describes a specific example of the use of the sensor in relation to a human knee joint, but the underlying principles are applicable to many different joints, such as the ankle, elbow, or wrist, and may also be applied to joints associated with other animals.

[0029] FIGS. 1 and 2 are provided to allow for a simple explanation of certain terms used herein. FIG. 1 illustrates a standard leg having a femur 1, a tibia 2, and a fibula 3, which are joined at a knee joint 4. The femur 1 defines a mechanical axis 5 of the thigh that extends from the knee to a ball-and-socket joint 6 that forms part of the human hip. The mechanical axis 7 of the tibia extends from the knee 4 to the lower end 8 of the tibia 2 itself. The femur and shank (formed by the tibia 2 and fibula 3) can pivot relative to one another about the knee joint axis 9. As such, the femur and shank define a plane in which their respective mechanical axes pivot relative to one another. As such, each mechanical axis will be substantially aligned with the respective part of the leg, such that the knee joint axis 9 is perpendicular to the plane in which the axes pivot. The knee angle is therefore typically the angle between the two mechanical axes. This is an idealized situation that forms the basic geometry considered by the present invention. To address any misalignment between the axis and the respective parts of the leg, one or more correction schemes can be applied.

[0030] Figure 2 helps define the coordinate system associated with the knee joint and how the terms pitch and roll apply to the knee. The convention when discussing the knee joint is that when a person is standing upright, the x-axis points forward, parallel to the ground, i.e., away from the knee in the direction of walking; the y-axis points to the person's right; and the z-axis points downward toward the ground. This convention applies to both the left and right legs; i.e., the positive side of the y-axis is always to the right of the knee, regardless of the leg. Thus, the y-axis is analogous to the knee joint axis 9.

[0031] Any sensor orientation relative to the knee typically has two components: rotation of the sensor about the x-axis is roll motion, identified by arrow 18, and defines the roll angle; rotation of the sensor about the y-axis is pitch motion, identified by arrow 19, and defines the pitch angle; and the third component, rotation of the sensor about the z-axis is yaw motion, identified by arrow 20, and defines the yaw angle.

[0032] 3 shows a pair of sensors 10 affixed to a leg 11. Each sensor contains one or more motion sensing devices that allow either (i) determining the pitch and / or roll of an individual sensor or (ii) determining the relative pitch and / or roll between sensors. The motion sensing devices may be any suitable device, such as, but not limited to, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, or a pair of strain gauges.

[0033] The upper sensor 10a is placed on the thigh 12, and the lower sensor 10b is placed on the calf 13. The purpose of the sensors is to monitor knee contraction at the knee joint, i.e., the pitch angle about the y-axis / knee joint axis 9. If the two sensors 10a, 10b can be aligned so that their z-axes are parallel to the respective mechanical axes of the legs and their y-axes are parallel to the knee joint axis 9, then the calculation of the knee angle becomes a simple subtraction of the calf pitch angle from the thigh pitch angle. In practice, misalignment of the femur and tibia mechanical axes may occur. This misalignment must be corrected to obtain an accurate measurement of the knee angle.

[0034] In embodiments where a patient has undergone a total knee replacement or, rather, any other knee surgery or knee disease that results in limited knee motion, it may be useful for a healthcare professional, or even for the patient, to monitor the knee angle over an extended period of time, such as weeks or even months. This may present additional challenges due to the need to periodically remove the sensor for a number of reasons, including, but not limited to, cleaning the sensor, recharging the sensor, improving the patient's comfort at night, or cleaning the sensor's location on the patient. When a sensor is removed, or rather, when the sensor falls off or is removed from the location where the knee angle is being monitored, the sensor is said to be in an unattached state. It is useful to know when one or both sensors are unattached, since this state indicates that the sensor system of which they form a part is unattached. Therefore, this can be taken into consideration when providing data for monitoring. Systems and methods for detecting an unattached state are described below.

[0035] 4 shows a schematic representation of a sensor system 400 including a knee sensor 10, several components of the knee sensor 10, and operational connections to and from the sensor, as well as those components. It will be appreciated that each of the sensors 10 may form part of a sensor unit configured to be attached to a body part on one side of a joint, as described with reference to FIG. 3. As such, each sensor 10 may form part of or be attached to some type of patch that can be attached to the skin, or may be used in conjunction with an adhesive or other attachment means to allow the sensor to be attached to a body part.

[0036] The two sensors 10a, 10b comprise identical or similar components, which are in each case designated by the same reference numeral and a or b, respectively: a power receiver / voltage regulator 402 connected to a cell charging and monitoring device 404, which is connected to a cell 406 (e.g., a lithium-ion battery or other suitable energy storage device), which is connected to a power supply and support circuitry 408; a temperature sensor 410, which may actually include multiple temperature sensors, for example, an external temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the skin to which the sensor unit is attached, or one or more internal temperature sensors for detecting the temperature of one or more components of the sensor itself; a power control / push switch logic unit 412 connected to an on / off push switch 414; an inertial measurement unit (IMU) 416 including an accelerometer 418 and a gyroscope 420; and a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) module 422. All of the components discussed above are connected to the microcontroller 424. The connections on the aforementioned sensors are indicated by solid arrows. It should be understood that additional components such as a magnetometer (to determine absolute patient motion and orientation), visual status indicators, etc. may be present in the sensor 10, but these have been omitted for clarity.

[0037] The sensor 10 has additional external connections. The power receiver / voltage regulator 402 can be connected to a charging unit 426. For example, the power receiver / voltage regulators 402 may be seated in respective docking ports 428 for charging when needed (dashed lines indicate these connections). The two BLE modules 422 can communicate wirelessly. The BLE module 410a of the sensor unit 10a may transmit data to the BLE module 422b of the sensor unit 10b in embodiments where the sensor unit 10b acts as the master unit. This functionality is described in more detail below with reference to FIG. 5. The BLE module 422b of the sensor unit 10b may transmit data to a mobile phone 430 or other device, where information related to monitoring of the knee or other joint can be displayed, for example, by interacting with an application running on the mobile phone 430. Such an application may be available for download and installation and may be specifically designed to interact with the sensor 10 and allow information about the joint being monitored to be viewed. These transmissions are indicated by dashed lines.

[0038] During operation, the accelerometers 418a, 418b and gyroscopes 420a, 420b of the IMU 416 can take measurements related to the orientation and changes in orientation of their respective sensors 10, as well as the motions their respective sensors 10 undergo as a result of the movement of the body part to which they are affixed. These motions reflect the person's use of the knee joint during the period in which the sensors 10 are affixed. If desired, information calculated from these measurements, along with other sensed information, such as readings provided by the temperature sensor(s) 410a, 410b, can be provided to indicate knee function over this period. Other desired information can be provided related to knee function, such as knee temperature. Specifically, for example, by calculating the pitch and roll angles experienced by the sensors 10, the knee angle can be calculated from the accelerometer and gyroscope measurements, thereby determining a picture of the change in knee angle over a period of time, such as a day. One method for calculating knee angle using measurements from accelerometers and gyroscopes is discussed in a document from the 2011 IEEE International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics entitled "Estimation of IMU and MARG orientation using a gradient descent algorithm" by Madgwick et al., the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Those skilled in the art will understand that other methods and algorithms can be used for this purpose. Furthermore, the skilled reader will understand that other types of measurement equipment capable of determining roll and pitch between two points can be used in place of the IMU 416.

[0039] Turning to FIG. 5, some functions of the sensor unit 10 that facilitate recording the data and performing the calculations described above will now be described. FIG. 5 schematically illustrates some of the functions of the first sensor 10a and the second sensor 10b. It should be understood that the functions illustrated and described below are not an exclusive list of all functions that may be performed by the sensors, and that the illustrated functional blocks are simplified representations of some actual functions that sensors such as sensors 10a, 10b may perform for the purpose of monitoring a joint. In a manner similar to FIG. 4, functional blocks common to both sensor 10a and sensor 10b are designated by like reference numerals along with the sensor designation a or b.

[0040] Both sensors 10a and 10b share some common functions. Temperature sensor(s) 410 and IMU 416 are illustrated with some measurement functions that sensors 10a, 10b may perform. Raw measurements formed by temperature sensor(s) 410 and IMU 416 are provided to a data conversion unit 532, which processes the raw measurements. The processed measurements may be passed to a calibration unit 534, which may maintain information regarding the calibration of sensor unit 10. Calibration of sensor unit 10 may be performed in advance, including correcting for any misalignment with the femur and tibia. Such calibration may be updated periodically. The processed and calibrated data may be passed to an orientation estimation unit 536, which determines the orientation of sensor 10. In some embodiments, this data includes the pitch and roll experienced by sensor 10. The orientation estimation unit 536 may utilize methods such as those discussed above with reference to FIG. 4. The calculated parameters, such as pitch and roll data, may be passed to a transmitter, such as an orientation data packing unit 538, for onward transmission. Such onward transmission may be via a wired connection or a wireless connection, such as a Bluetooth transmission or a radio transmission. The data conversion unit 532, the calibration unit 534, the orientation estimation unit 536, and the orientation data packing unit 538 may be considered to provide a function generally referred to as a sensing algorithm unit 540.

[0041] It can be seen in FIG. 5 that the second sensor 10b, shown in FIG. 3 attached to the patient's calf 13, has some additional functionality not present in the first sensor 10a, shown in FIG. 3 attached to the patient's thigh 12. In this embodiment, the second sensor 10b is the master sensor and is configured for attachment to a lower position on the patient than the first sensor 10a. It should be understood that the master sensor could instead be the first sensor 10a applied to the patient's thigh and thus configured to be attached in an upper position relative to the second sensor 10b. The master sensor may be referred to as the fusion node, and the other sensor may be referred to as the source node.

[0042] Further functionality present in the second sensor 10b may be generally referred to as a metrology algorithm unit 542. Within the metrology algorithm unit 542 are various functions discussed below. There is a receiver, such as a first orientation data unpacking unit 544, arranged to receive data from the orientation data packing unit 538a of the first sensor 10a, and a receiver, such as a second orientation data unpacking unit 546, arranged to receive data from the orientation data packing unit 538b of the second sensor 10b. There is a calculation unit 548, which includes a knee angle estimating unit 550 and a wearing classification unit 552. Both the knee angle estimating unit 550 and the wearing classification unit 552 may receive data regarding the angle of the sensor 10 from the first orientation data unpacking unit 544 and the second orientation data unpacking unit 546. The wearing classification unit 552 may further receive an output from the knee angle estimating unit 550. The IMU 416 is again functionally shown as providing input to the metrology algorithm unit 542, and specifically to a step counting unit 554. The knee angle estimation unit 550, the wear classification unit 552, and the step counting unit 554 are all functionally connected to an Activities of Daily Living (ADL) unit 556. This ADL unit 556 can transmit data to the mobile phone 430 or other display device. This transmission is indicated by the dashed lines.

[0043] In operation, once attached in place on the person's leg 11, the sensors can begin taking measurements. One option for triggering this process is to use the switch 414 to turn on the sensor 10. Another additional or alternative option is for one or both of the sensors 10 to initiate an interaction with the aforementioned application on the phone 430. The temperature sensor(s) 10 can begin taking temperature readings. The accelerometer 418 and gyroscope 410 of the IMU 416 can begin taking orientation information for the sensor 10. Orientation information for the sensor 10 may include information about changes in roll, pitch, and, if desired, yaw angles. It is convenient to take these measurements periodically so that multiple measurements can be taken over the period that the sensor 10 is worn. For example, measurements may be taken 50 times per second, i.e., at 50 Hz, or at some other suitable interval. The measured data is passed through various functional units common to the two sensors 10 until finally, the orientation data packing unit 538 processes the data into a transmittable form. Following transfer of the orientation data to the metrology algorithm unit 542 in the second sensor 10b, specifically to the unpacking units 544, 546, various functional blocks in the metrology algorithm unit 548 can process the data, along with the temperature data. A knee angle estimation unit 550 can use this data to calculate the knee angle at least some of the time points at which measurements were taken. A wear classification unit 552 can calculate the roll angle and pitch angle of the sensor 10 at least some of the time points at which measurements were taken. These calculations are then correlated within an ADL unit 556, which stores a total of metrics calculated from the measurements taken, which may include any of the following: knee angle, step count, movement time, load bearing time, and wear time. While knee angle can be stored as a measurement at each time point, in practice, this data may be correlated over time to provide a more useful output.For example, this data may be stored as a histogram with 5-degree buckets to indicate the time elapsed in each bucket. Other possibilities for presenting knee angle data will occur to the skilled reader. Depending on the memory capacity of the ADL 556, it may be preferable to store only correlated data rather than raw measurements. The ADL unit 556 may operate to store data for the entire period the sensor 10 is worn, thereby providing an indication of knee function during the patient's daily activities. This data may be updated to the mobile phone 130 as desired, for example, upon request or at the end of the period. Data may also be further correlated over multiple periods, for example, over the course of a week. If desired, data may also be correlated over specific periods within the period the sensor is worn, for example, during periods of exercise. Such shorter bursts of data may be streamed to the mobile phone 130. Any data updated to the mobile phone 430 may be processed as needed and viewed via an application.

[0044] As discussed above, it is undesirable to provide data from measurements taken when one or both sensors 10 are not attached in their intended locations, because such data could be misleading regarding knee function. To address this issue, the present system includes a non-wearing detection system. With reference to FIG. 6 , it should be understood that if one of the sensors 10 is removed, its orientation changes dramatically. This fact is utilized in the present system to enable detection of such removal. The system and method described below may be used after a prior determination that the sensors are attached, for example, after any length of operation as described above. Such a system and method may also be used to determine that one or both sensors 10 are not yet attached, but that they are both subsequently attached to the leg 11, and thus can be used in place of providing an on / off switch 414 in some conditions. Alternatively, such a system and method may be used as a substitute for waiting for interaction with an application on the mobile phone 430. As another alternative, such systems and methods can be used where the on / off switch 414 is used to turn on the sensors before they are properly attached to the patient, thereby not accounting for any measurements made before attachment is complete. They can also be used if one or both of the sensors 10 are removed from their intended positions or fall off completely or to some extent. They may be used after initial calibration of the sensors. They may also be used after initial setup of the sensors. They may also be used after determining that the sensors are properly placed or that there is an error in their placement that can be corrected. For example, as described above, the first and second sensors 10 may include different functions and each may be configured to be placed on a particular side of a joint and in a particular orientation.Thus, such systems and methods can be used to determine whether the sensors are attached on their correct respective body parts. Any of the possibilities discussed herein can be used in any combination to determine when one or both of the sensors are not attached, and thus the system is in an unworn state. Such systems and methods are described herein.

[0045] Referring again to FIG. 6 , the exemplary first sensor 10a is removed from the thigh 12 by peeling it off, thereby tilting the sensor 10a. The exemplary tilt shown is a rolling motion. It should be understood that such motion will be out of alignment with the recorded movement of the second sensor 10b attached to the calf 13 if the second sensor 10b is still attached to the calf 13. This mismatch in the relative orientation of the two sensors 10 can be used to determine that the sensor system 400 is in an unworn state. Even though the second sensor 10b is substantially removed, the relative orientation of the two sensors will be different from their relative orientation when attached across the patient's knee. This may also be the case if the second sensor is removed before removing the first sensor. This would also be the case if any of the sensors were detached in different ways, for example, by peeling them off with different tilting motions, such as a yaw motion, or by some combination of roll and pitch motions. Furthermore, the knee angle calculated using the pitch and roll of sensor 10 would not return to a achievable knee angle in any of these situations. In other words, the observed pitch and / or roll angles and / or knee angle could be used to indicate the relative position of the body parts to which sensor 10 is configured to be attached, i.e., in this case, the thigh and calf. This is not possible or "inhuman."

[0046] An exemplary algorithm for determining the non-attachment state is now described. At each time step where measurements are taken, the attachment classification unit 552 receives the current knee angle and roll angle of both sensors. These angles are used to calculate a "penalty" that is a measure of how non-human these angles are. This penalty is calculated as follows: The units for aKnee, aRoll_F, and aRoll_S are degrees. k=aKnee (knee angle) aRoll_F = roll angle of the second sensor 10b (F indicates the fused sensor) aRoll_S = roll angle of the first sensor 10a (S indicates the source sensor) r=|aRoll_F-aRoll_S| p_k = knee angle penalty p_r = Roll angle penalty p=penalty The following conditions are determined: -10≦k≦150, p_k=0 If k<-10, p_k=0.5*((k+10) / 160)^4 If k>150, p_k=0.5*((k-150) / 160)^4

[0047] Achievable human knee angles range anywhere between about 10 degrees and about 150 degrees, so if the angle is within this range, there is zero penalty, but if the angle is outside this range, there is a penalty. If r≦40, p_r=0 If r>40, p_r=0.5*((r-40) / 140)^4

[0048] For this reason, a relative roll of up to 40 degrees between the thigh 12 and calf 13 is considered feasible and incurs zero penalty, but above this amount is considered impossible or inhuman and there is a penalty.

[0049] It should be noted that the parameters selected for the above calculations may affect the system's sensitivity to non-human orientations. Applicant has found that the more sensitive the system is set, the greater the risk of misclassifying the worn / unworn state. The above parameters are provided solely as examples, as Applicant has determined to be advantageous after considerable experimentation. Generally speaking, the parameters may be selected so that no erroneous readings occur, but the unworn state is not missed. p=p_k+p_r Thus, a combination of the roll penalty and knee angle penalty is used to determine if the sensor system 400 is in an unattached state.

[0050] 7a and 7b show graphs of knee angle penalty and roll angle penalty, respectively, as a function of input angle. In this exemplary implementation, the final penalty is calculated as the sum of these two penalties, although different mathematical combinations of knee angle penalty and roll angle penalty can be used. The final penalty is then processed into a running average (e.g., an exponential recursive filter with a forgetting rate of 0.05), which smooths the value of the final penalty over time. If this running average exceeds a threshold of 0.005, this indicates an unattached condition.

[0051] When the above-described unworn condition is detected, the sensor units, e.g., the metrology algorithm unit 548, can switch to an unworn state in terms of how they function. As mentioned above, the reason for this is that in this situation, any data collected by the IMU 416 will be “bad” data. This “bad” data does not indicate that the patient is moving their knee. For this reason, it is desirable to adopt a different procedure for calculating the knee angle at times after the unworn condition is detected than the normal operation discussed above with respect to FIGS. 4 and 5 . This is because the picture constructed over time of the patient's knee angle is an important indicator of knee health, and the system can therefore operate to avoid this data being skewed by unworn sensors or bad data calculated using measurements from multiple sensors. Various options exist for enabling the omission of data following the detection of an unworn condition from being included in the information provided by the ADL unit 556, particularly the corrected knee angle information. One option is to stop the accelerometer 418 and gyroscope 420 from collecting data. Another option is for the data not to be passed to the data conversion unit 532 but instead discarded. Alternatively, the data may not be transmitted from the orientation data packing unit 538, or the data may be transmitted but discarded after being received by the orientation data unpacking units 544, 546. Other options include the knee angle not being calculated by the knee angle estimation unit 550, or the knee angle being calculated at a later time but the wearing classification unit 552 not passing the data, or the data being passed but not included in the correlation process by the ADL unit 556. The wearing classification unit 552 can indicate the unworn state to the ADL 556 in a variety of ways that will occur to the skilled reader.

[0052] One advantage of the present system and method is that the unworn state is detected without human intervention, and therefore the present system and method does not rely on a person having to remember to take any action to unworn the sensor.

[0053] After a sensor unworn state is detected, alternative calculations may be made as part of a different procedure. For example, the ADL 556 can record the duration that the sensor system 400 is in the unworn state. This can be determined from the absence of received data, or if data continues to be received until the wear classification unit 552 indicates that the sensor(s) are no longer in the unworn state. In some implementations, the unworn state can be induced by placing the sensor 10 on the charger 426 to charge; thus, a similar principle can be used to measure the duration that the sensor is charged. When the calculated penalty is again below the threshold, the sensor system 400 can return to normal operation. In some implementations, the sensor system 400 is configured to wait for user input before resuming normal operation, e.g., the on / off switch of the sensor 10 or master sensor 10b interacting with an application on the mobile phone 430. In this way, the system 400 only resumes normal operation when the sensor 10 is positioned across a joint. In other embodiments, an automatic return to normal operation can be performed when the calculated penalty is again below the threshold, but it should be understood that the two sensors 10a, 10b can be positioned relative to each other such that they are fitted across the joint, or even when not actually fitted to the joint, so that some further information needs to be gathered in order to prevent resumption of normal operation in this situation, such as detection of skin contact.

[0054] 8 shows a flowchart of a method according to an embodiment of the present invention. At 810, measurements are taken from a pair of sensors attached across a joint. For example, these may be sensors 10 attached on the thigh and calf across the patient's knee joint.

[0055] At 812, the acquired measurements are used to calculate the relative angle between the sensors. In the example described above, this is performed by the mounted classification function unit 552. This can be the absolute difference in angle about either the roll, pitch, or yaw axis. In the example described above, this angle is roll. This calculation is simplified by both sensors 10 being placed on the same side of the leg 11 so that both sensors are substantially in the plane of the knee angle.

[0056] At 814, the acquired measurements are used to calculate joint angles. In the example described above, this is performed by knee angle estimator functional unit 550. In the example described above, the measurements may be used to calculate roll and pitch angles, which can be used to calculate the knee angle. Thus, the acquired measurements are indirectly used to calculate the knee angle.

[0057] At 816, the calculated relative angle and knee angle are used to determine if any sensors are not attached. In the example described above, this determination can be made in attachment classification functional unit 552, which determined the roll angle at 812 and can receive the knee angle from knee angle estimator functional unit 550. This determination can alternatively be made within ADL unit 556 or by a separate functional unit.

[0058] As noted above, if an unattached condition is detected, various actions can be taken by the system to alter the procedures subsequently adopted with respect to the data provided about the knee. Also as noted above, a subsequent return to normal operation can be implemented.

[0059] It should be understood that many variations on the above-described examples may be made without departing from the principles described above and within the scope of the appended claims. For example, functional units may be arranged differently, and calculations may be performed in a different order or with variations on the exemplary methods described above. The sensor components described above with reference to FIG. 4 may be of different types or used in different combinations, and some of the described components may be provided as a single component. While many of the above examples use the relative roll angle between the two sensors 10, this is not required; relative pitch or relative yaw may be used instead. Similarly, as noted above, in some embodiments, mounting a sensor on the wrong limb may trigger an unmounted state of the system because doing so leads to a knee angle that indicates the knee is bent in the wrong direction. However, instead of triggering an unmounted state in this scenario, a different state may be triggered, and the actual mounting position may be determined and otherwise taken into account during processing of the data in normal operation. In some embodiments, the no-wear detection system may be disabled prior to normal operation of the sensor, and a different procedure may be used to determine that the sensor is on the wrong limb, thus causing a different condition. The no-wear detection system may thus be enabled so that subsequent removal of the sensor, etc., may be detected.

[0060] In other variations, more than two sensors can be used. For example, if the joint under monitoring is a ball-and-socket joint with three degrees of freedom of movement, it may be desirable to use three sensors. In some cases, it may be desirable to use additional sensors at a joint, such as the knee, to help determine the orientation of the thigh and calf. For example, two sensors can be placed on one of the user's limbs. Measurements from such a third sensor can be processed in a manner similar to the processing described above for two sensors. One possibility is to process data from two sensors placed on one limb to obtain a set of data for that limb, which is then processed in conjunction with data from the other limb as described above.

[0061] The functionality of microcontroller 424 described herein may be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, integrated circuits, specially designed application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) computer hardware, firmware, software, and / or combinations thereof. These various aspects or features may include implementation in one or more computer programs executable and / or implementable on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor, such as microcontroller 424, which may be special-purpose or general-purpose, coupled to receive data and instructions from and transmit data and instructions to a storage device, such as a stick. Such computer programs, which may be software, software applications, applications, components, or code, include machine instructions for a programmable processor, such as microcontroller 424, and may be implemented in a high-level procedural and / or object-oriented programming language and / or in assembly / machine language. As used herein, the term "machine-readable medium" refers to any computer program product, apparatus, and / or device, such as, for example, magnetic disks, optical disks, memory, and programmable logic devices (PLDs), that can be used to provide machine instructions and / or data to a programmable processor and that can receive instructions as machine-readable signals. Such machine-readable media can store instructions either temporarily or non-temporarily.

[0062] Applicant hereby discloses each individual feature described herein in isolation, and any combination of two or more such features, to the extent that such feature or combination can be implemented based on the specification as a whole in view of the common general knowledge of one of ordinary skill in the art, regardless of whether such feature or combination solves any problems disclosed herein, and without limiting the scope of the claims. Applicant indicates that aspects of the invention may consist of any such individual feature or combination of features. In view of the foregoing description, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that various modifications may be made within the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. 1. A method of determining an unaware state of a sensor system including a pair of sensors, a first sensor and a second sensor attached to a first body part and a second body part on opposite sides of a joint, each sensor having one or more motion sensing devices capable of determining (i) the pitch and / or roll of each of the sensors, or (ii) the relative pitch and / or roll between the sensors; obtaining one or more measurements from each sensor; calculating a relative angle between two of the sensors using one or more of the one or more measurements taken; calculating a joint angle between the first body part and the second body part, the joint angle being defined in a plane of normal bending of the joint, using one or more of the one or more obtained measurements; determining whether one or both of the sensors are not attached based on the calculated relative angle and the joint angle, and if not, determining that the system is in an unattached state; A method comprising:

2. obtaining one or more measurements from each of the sensors multiple times within a period of time; the steps of calculating the relative angle and calculating the joint angle are performed using measurements taken at least some of the plurality of times; 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the method includes the further step of employing a different procedure for calculating the joint angles in subsequent times following the step of determining that the sensor system is in an unworn state.

3. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein adopting a different procedure includes one or more of: not calculating the joint angles in a subsequent round; treating the joint angles calculated in a subsequent round differently than joint angles calculated in a previous round of the determination; and not saving the joint angles calculated in a subsequent round.

4. 4. The method of claim 2 or 3, further comprising relating the joint angles and the relative angles calculated at multiple times to provide information about the joint over the period of time, and employing a different procedure includes omitting from the information any data calculated using measurements obtained at later times.

5. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the information includes one or more of: a change in joint angle during the period; a duration that the joint is in motion; a duration that the joint bears a load; a length of the period; and, if the joint is a knee, a step count over the period.

6. 6. The method of claim 4 or 5, wherein employing a different procedure comprises performing a calculation to provide information different from the information about the joint, the different information comprising one or more of: non-wearing time; and charging time if the first sensor is determined to be charging.

7. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the non-worn state includes one or more of the following: the first sensor being at least partially removed from its attached position; the first sensor being at least partially dislodged from its attached position; the first sensor being on but not attached to the first body part; and the second sensor being on but not attached to the second body part.

8. 8. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the first sensor is attached to the first body part comprises calculating a value of a function relating to a range of feasibility for each of the calculated relative angles and joint angles.

9. 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising processing a plurality of calculated values of the function over a period of time to determine a moving average value for the function, said determining further comprising comparing the determined moving average value to a threshold value.

10. 10. The method of claim 8 or claim 9, wherein the function comprises a joint angle penalty function and a relative angle penalty function, the joint angle penalty function and the relative angle penalty function relating to a feasible range for each of the calculated joint angles and relative angles, respectively, and wherein the joint angle penalty is zero when the feasible range for the joint angle is between 10 degrees and 150 degrees, and the relative angle penalty is zero when the feasible range for the relative angle is 40 degrees or less.

11. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the joint angle penalty is zero if the joint angle is within a feasible range for the joint, and wherein, if the joint angle is not within a feasible range for the joint, the joint angle penalty has a value that depends on how far outside the feasible range the joint angle is.

12. 12. The method of claim 10 or 11, wherein if the relative angle is less than or equal to a threshold relative value, the relative angle penalty is zero, and if the relative angle penalty is greater than the threshold relative value, the relative angle penalty depends on how much greater the relative angle is than the threshold relative value.

13. 13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein in the step of calculating a relative angle between two of the sensors using one or more of the acquired measurements, the relative angle is the difference in tilt angles of two of the body parts, the tilt occurring around an axis perpendicular or approximately perpendicular to the plane in which the joint angles are defined.

14. 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the joint angle is defined in an x-z plane and the tilt angle is defined in an x-y plane and is non-zero when the first body part and the second body part undergo a relative roll about the x-axis.

15. prior to said acquiring, determining whether the first sensor and the second sensor are on the appropriate respective first and second body parts and / or in a substantially predetermined orientation relative to the appropriate respective first and second body parts; if one or both sensors are determined to be mounted on an inappropriate body part or in an orientation different from the predetermined orientation, adjusting the calculating step to take into account the actual determined mounting location and / or orientation; The method of any one of claims 1 to 14, further comprising:

16. 16. The method of any one of claims 1 to 15, further comprising the step of calibrating the first sensor and the second sensor with respect to a predetermined orientation relative to the first body part and the second body part, respectively, prior to said acquiring.

17. The method of any one of claims 1 to 16, wherein the joint is a knee or an elbow.

18. 1. A system for providing information about a joint, comprising: a first sensor unit attached to a first body part on a first side of the joint; a second master sensor unit attached to a second body part on a second side of the joint; Equipped with The first sensor unit includes: one or more first sensors that obtain one or more measurements about the first body part and one or more measurements about the first sensors themselves; a transmitter for transmitting the acquired measurements; Equipped with The second master sensor unit one or more second sensors that obtain one or more measurements about the second body part and one or more measurements about the second sensors themselves; a receiver for receiving measurements sent from the transmitter of the first sensor unit; a calculation unit that uses one or more of the measurements obtained by the one or more first sensors and / or the one or more second sensors to calculate a relative angle between the two sensors and a joint angle between the first body part and the second body part, the joint angle being defined in a plane of normal bending of the joint, and that determines whether one or both of the sensor units are not attached based on the calculated relative angle and the joint angle, and if not, determines that the system is in an unattached state; Equipped with each of the one or more first sensors has one or more motion sensing devices capable of determining (i) the pitch and / or roll of each first sensor, or (ii) the relative pitch and / or roll between the first sensor and a second sensor; each of the one or more second sensors has one or more motion sensing devices capable of (i) determining the pitch and / or roll of each second sensor, or (ii) determining the relative pitch and / or roll between the second sensor and the first sensor; system.

19. the first sensor unit and the second sensor unit take measurements multiple times over a period of time; the calculation unit calculates relative angles and joint angles using measurements taken at each of at least some of the plurality of times; 20. The system of claim 18, wherein the calculation unit is further configured to employ a different procedure for calculating the joint angles at later times after determining that the system is in an unworn state.

20. 20. The system of claim 19, wherein the calculation unit is further configured to relate the joint angles and the relative angles calculated at multiple times to provide information about the joint over the period of time, and employing a different procedure includes omitting from the information any data relating to measurements taken at later times.

21. 21. The system of claim 20, wherein the second master sensor unit provides the information to a mobile device for confirmation by a user.

22. 22. The system of claim 20 or 21, wherein the information is for use in analyzing the health and / or rehabilitation of the joint.

23. 23. The system of any one of claims 18 to 22, wherein the first and second sensor units are generally flat with a front and a rear surface, and the rear surfaces of the first and second sensor units are configured to be mounted on the first and second body parts on sides of the joint generally parallel to a plane of normal bending of the joint.

Images