5036 results about "Lower limb" patented technology

An inertial sensor based surgical navigation system for knee replacement surgery is disclosed. Inertial sensors composed of six-degree-of-freedom inertial chips, whose measurements are processed through a series of integration, quaternion, and kalman filter algorithms, are used to track the position and orientation of bones and surgical instruments. The system registers anatomically significant geometry, calculates joint centers and the mechanical axis of the knee, develops a visualization of the lower extremity that moves in real time, assists in the intra-operative planning of surgical cuts, determines the optimal cutting planes for cut guides and the optimal prosthesis position and orientation, and finally navigates the cut guides and the prosthesis to their optimal positions and orientations using a graphical user interface.

A stimulator for stimulating the leg or other parts of the body e.g. the leg in a patient with drop foot is provided, the stimulator being controlled by e.g a foot switch but being reliable in use and therefore commanding acceptance by users. The foot switch has to work in adverse environmental conditions and is subject to repeated use so that its characteristics vary with time. The invention provides a functional electrical stimulator for attachment to the leg that has adaptive characteristics and comprises first and second electrodes for attachment to the leg to apply an electrical stimulus, a foot switch for sensing foot rise or foot strike, a circuit responsive to said foot switch for generating stimulation pulses; and means forming part of said circuit for responding to changes in the resistance characteristics of said switch means by adjusting a corresponding response threshold of said circuit.The invention also provides a two-channel stimulator that offers various possibilities for controlling the signals to be supplied to different muscle groups. For example, means may be provided defining a signal pathway between the first and second channels so that the supply of stimulation pulses in one of said first and second channels can be controlled by the state of switch means associated with the other of said first and second channels. In a further embodiment means defining a signal pathway between the first and second channels is arranged so that the supply of stimulation pulses in one of said first and second channels can be controlled by the state of activity of the other of said first and second channels. In a yet further embodiment the first channel has means arranged to cause the stimulation pulses to time-out after a predetermined period and the second channel having no or disabled timing means so that supply of stimulation pulses is continuous in a predetermined state of limb position responsive switch means associated with that channel. The two-channel stimulator can be used e.g., to treat bilateral dropped foot.

A jacket of biological compatible material has an internal volume dimensioned for an apex of the heart to be inserted into the volume and for the jacket to be slipped over the heart. The jacket has a longitudinal dimension between upper and lower ends sufficient for the jacket to surround a lower portion of the heart with the jacket surrounding a valvular annulus of the heart and further surrounding the lower portion to cover at least the ventricular lower extremities of the heart. The jacket is adapted to be secured to the heart with the jacket surrounding at least the valvular annulus and the ventricular lower extremities. The jacket is adjustable on the heart to snugly conform to an external geometry of the heart and assume a maximum adjusted volume for the jacket to constrain circumferential expansion of the heart beyond the maximum adjusted volume during diastole and to permit unimpeded contraction of the heart during systole.

A modular exoskeletal device adapted to fit the lower extremities of a patient during rehabilitation. The device has only two actuators during the standing stage of rehabilitation. Two additional actuators can be added, as modules, during the walking stage of rehabilitation. The actuators are affixed to the patient and provide controlled motion to at least one of the joints of the patient. A stationary control unit is separated from the patient. The control unit communicates with and directs the actuators, and has a hybrid control algorithm, such that the actuator forces are adjusted as the patient regains control of some joint motions, which is based upon the sliding-mode control theory. A back brace is affixed to the patient and helps to keep the torso of the patient in a stable, substantially vertical position.

An ECG electrode chest pad particularly adapted for use in emergency room situations having upper fit portions with upper limb electrodes, and elongated central or medial base fit portion with a plurality of precordal unipolar electrodes and lower fit portions with lower limb electrodes, said electrodes being attached to leads which are internal to the base chest pad and terminate into at least one lead branch adapted to plug into an ECG monitor and having a perforation in the base pad material such that one group of electrodes may be separated from a second group of electrodes to facilitate ease of patient monitoring and complimentary medical procedures.

An apparatus for assisting limb includes a body attachment, a link for upper leg, and a knee joint unit, a link for lower leg, a lower limb attachment, a drive unit and a knee joint actuator. The body attachment is attached to a trunk of a user. The link for upper leg is placed alongside with an upper leg of the user and coupled with the body attachment. The link for lower leg is placed alongside with a lower leg of the user and coupled with the link for the upper leg via the knee joint unit. The lower limb attachment is attached to one of the lower leg and a foot of the user, and coupled with the link for lower leg. The knee joint actuator is placed in the body attachment so as to apply rotational torque to the knee joint unit via the drive unit.

The invention relates to a motion control method of a lower limb rehabilitative robot. In the method, aiming at different rehabilitation stages of a patient, two working modes of passive training and active training are carried out: under the mode of passive training, the patient is driven by controlling the robot to finish specific motions or motion according to a right physiological gait track; abnormal motions of the patient are completely restrained; and the patient passively follows the robot to do walking rehabilitation training; under the mode of active training, limited abnormal motions of the patient are restrained by the robot; through a real-time detection on joint driving forces generated when the patient acts on the robot in the motion process, human-computer interaction moment is extracted by utilizing an inverse dynamic model to judge the active motion intention of lower limbs of the patient; and the interaction moment is converted into correction value of gait track by utilizing an impedance controller to directly correct or generate the gait training track the patient expects through an adaptive controller, therefore, the purpose that the robot can provide auxiliary force and resistant force for the rehabilitation training can be indirectly realized. By means of the motion control method of the lower limb rehabilitative robot, rehabilitation training motions suitable for different rehabilitation stages can be provided for a dysbasia patient, thereby enhancing active participation degree of the rehabilitation training of the patient, building confidence of the rehabilitation and positivity of the motion, and then enhancing effect of the rehabilitation training.

A portable, self-learning adaptive weight bearing monitoring system for personal use during rehabilitation of orthopedic patients with fractures of the lower extremities. The system includes a flexible insole which is worn inside the shoe. The insole includes pressure and/or force sensor that measure the GRF force applied at key bearing points under the foot or other portions of the patient's lower extremity. The sensors are, in turn, connected through an A/D converter to a CPU that is connected so as to drive a stimulator that delivers closed-loop sensory stimulation (electrical, mechanical, and/or audio) as feedback to encourage the patient to load the optimal target weight for the limb for which the weight bearing force is being measured. Accurate real-time monitoring of the weight bearing during physical rehabilitation is also provided, and, through the use of closed-loop sensory stimulation, the patient is given continuous feedback for improving rehabilitation.

The invention discloses a wearable lower limb exoskeleton device, which comprises a waist supporting frame, a waist object carrier, an adjustable hip mechanism, a connecting rod adjustable knee joint mechanism, a connecting rod adjustable ankle joint mechanism, pressure detection shoes, a leg connecting rod, a constraint part and various connecting pieces. Both lower limbs have twelve rotational freedoms, the single lower limb has six degrees of freedom respectively, a hip has two degrees of freedom which finish bending and stretching as well as adduction and abduction movements of a hip joint, two joint axes always intersects at the center of the hip joint of a human body through the adjustment of the hip mechanism, and a knee joint has one degree of freedom which is coaxial with the knee joint of the human body and corresponds to the bending and stretching movement of the knee joint of the human body; and an ankle joint has three degrees of freedom. The device has good consistency of the movement of the hip joint and the movement of the human body during the walking of people; human-machine knee joints have small coaxality and position deviation; and the ankle joint has a compact structure. The device can be used for strengthening the abilities of walking with load and walking for a long time of wearers and detecting walking information of the wearers, and can also be used for helping people with slight obstacle of lower limb movement to normally walk and gradually rehabilitate.

Intramedullary osteosynthesis implant, permitting in particular arthrodesis (1) of a joint, for example an interphalangeal joint, or diaphyseal osteosynthesis of the upper limb or of the lower limb, comprising two sets of at least two rods (2, 3, 4, 5) each extending on either side of a central zone (6), said rods (2, 3; 4, 5) being substantially parallel at ambient temperature within the same set, each set of rods being intended to be impacted in the medullary canal of a diaphysis, said implant being made from a shape-memory material so that, at body temperature, the rods (2, 3; 4, 5) of the same set spread apart so as to be able to immobilize themselves in said medullary canal.

Instrumented orthoses with more sophisticated structures provide for coordinated support and rehabilitation of complex joints and multiple injured joints. Improved instrumented orthoses can include hinges that can rotate in multiple different planes. Particularly preferred embodiments include a shoulder brace with a hand hold and a lower extremities brace. Preferably, a control unit monitors the output of transducers used to instrument the brace. A patient can be prompted by the control unit for the performance of a variety of different monitored exercises.

A lower extremity exoskeleton, configurable to be coupled to a person, includes: leg supports configurable to be coupled to the person's lower limbs and designed to rest on the ground during stance phases, with each leg support having a thigh link and a shank link; two knee joints, each configured to allow flexion and extension between respective shank and thigh links; an exoskeleton trunk configurable to be coupled to the person's upper body, rotatably connectable to the thigh links of the leg supports, allowing for the flexion and extension between the leg supports and the exoskeleton trunk; two hip actuators configured to create torques between the exoskeleton trunk and the leg supports; and at least one power unit capable of providing power to the hip actuators. In use, power is supplied to the hip actuators in an amount to reduce the energy consumed by a user during a walking cycle.

The invention discloses a wearable lower limb exoskeleton walking-assisted robot, which comprises an ankle joint motion module, a knee joint motion module, a hip joint motion module, a drive module and a waist and supporting frame module, wherein the knee joint motion module is connected with the ankle joint motion module and the hip joint motion module respectively; the drive module is connected with the knee joint motion module and the ankle joint motion module respectively; and the hip joint motion module is connected with the waist and supporting frame module. During the walking period of the robot, the consistency of hip joint motion and human body motion is good, the coaxiality and the position deviation of the knee joints of a human body and the robot are small, and the ankle joint is compact in structure.

The invention discloses a lower limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robot in the technical field of medical equipment. The lower limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robot comprises an ankle joint motion module, a knee joint motion module, a hip joint motion module, a hip and support module and a crutch module, wherein one end of the knee joint motion module is connected with the ankle joint motion module, and the other end of the knee joint motion module is connected with the hip joint motion module; the hip and support module is connected with the hip joint motion module; and the crutch module is independent of an exoskeleton body. The lower limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robot can help patients who suffer from paraplegia stand up and walk, and the bend and stretch motion of a knee joint and a hip joint is controlled by collecting contact information of a crutch and the ground so as to help the patients to stride; and an oppositely-pulled spring of the knee joint can help to reduce impact from the ground, so that patients can walk comfortably, and the efficiency of rehabilitation training is improved.

Systems and methods for enhancing circulation are described. In one particular embodiment, the invention provides a method for enhancing circulation. The method comprises attaching at least one compression device to at least a portion of a person's lower extremity. The person's chest is repetitively compressed so that the chest experiences a compression phase and a recoil phase or decompression. Also, the person's lower extremity is compressed using the compression device during at least some of the recoil phases.