Surgery – Diagnostic testing – Measuring anatomical characteristic or force applied to or...
Patent
1995-07-17
1998-05-26
Hindenburg, Max
Surgery
Diagnostic testing
Measuring anatomical characteristic or force applied to or...
A61B 500
Patent
active
057556750
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a method for measuring the function of joints and associated muscles.
The causes of various joint disorders are mainly unknown, and it is often impossible to detect them objectively. It seems, for example, that back pain of even short duration leads to a decline in the muscular activity, functional disorders of the back, and restrictions of motion. The aim of treatment is usually to restore declined muscle function and improve the functional protection and mobility of the back, and thereby to reduce mechanical load and pain-giving stimuli.
When evaluating the change in the functional state and the degree of disability in connection with examination and treatment of patients suffering from joint disorders, a doctor must largely draw on the visual impression that he gets. Doctors have always tried to analyze functional disability subjectively by evaluating, for instance, the effortlessness of movements of the back, and muscular reactions. They have tried to get an impression of the functional state by evaluating the mobility and the maximum muscle forces. There have also been attempts to correlate back pain with changes in the spinal structure and the ranges of motion determined in extreme positions. Recently the maximum forces of body torsions have been measured to provide support for treatment.
For the reasons stated above, it is not quite simple to take reliable measurements of a person in pain. In addition, these measurements do not provide information on the ease of normal functions or on the mobility of the back as a continuous series of functions; it is possible to measure only the extreme positions.
Previously it has thus been impossible to measure the interactions between motion and muscular activity and the changes in them, for example, in connection with back disorders such as sciatica. So far it has been almost impossible to measure the third decisive functional factor in addition to total mobility and muscular strength, i.e. the motor skill or coordinative ability.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY
An object of the present invention is to provide a method for measuring the movements of joints and muscles, by means of which method the above-mentioned disadvantages can be largely eliminated, and to provide a system in which the functions performed during movements can be converted into unambiguous curves and numbers. The method of the invention is characterized by measuring, on the one hand, the mobility of a person in a desired area and, on the other hand, simultaneously by means of electromyography (EMG) the electrical activity of muscles in the same area, and evaluating the abnormality in the mobility and in the function of the muscles in said area, caused especially by pain, by comparing the measured values with reference values compiled in advance.
By the method of the invention, the functions performed during a movement of the back can be converted into data which can be unambiguously processed, in contrast with an impression obtained merely by observing and/or verbal description. By the method according to the invention it is possible to simultaneously monitor the variation in muscle contraction, and the different factors of the motion of the back, their number, velocity and degree of muscular activity, and their timing with respect to motion. It has turned out that there are significant differences in these factors between healthy people and those suffering from back disorders, and the degree of these differences can be determined by measuring. A functional disorder depends on the intensity of pain signals and alarm mechanisms of tissues and on the changes in mobility. The measuring data obtained by means of the invention can be used for describing the condition of a patient and as a supplement to examination data obtained by other methods when decisions concerning treatment and/or, for example, insurance are made. In addition, the method of the invention can be used to monitor and measure the effect of treatment. The method according to the inven
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