Measuring and testing – Analyzing bodily movement
Patent
1990-03-30
1993-02-16
Noland, Tom
Measuring and testing
Analyzing bodily movement
128779, 128782, 12837908, 73862041, A61B 511, G01L 516, G01L 500
Patent
active
051860627
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method of investigating the gait of a living being, more particularly a horse, by measuring the force exerted by its feet on the ground and of the location, duration and course in time of the application of force in the zone of a substantially horizontal measuring surface taking the form of part of the ground, the measuring surface being subdivided substantially at right angles to the direction of movement of the living being into elongate measuring sections parallel to each other and adjacent in succession in lamellar fashion. The invention also relates to a corresponding apparatus, wherein a force sensing device having a substantially rectangular force sensing surface and a plurality of measured value delivering sensors connected to an electronic evaluating unit are associated with each measuring section.
The process and apparatus produces results which are mainly usable outside medicine as intermediate results for assessing the gait of the particular living being, even if they may be used when making a diagnosis, too.
More particularly in the case of highly valuable horses such as racehorses, it is found to be necessary to obtain the fact that such measured values give notice of abnormalities and can often throw light on their causes, such measured values provide information concerning the present condition (fitness) of the horse and its racing chances at the moment.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Since every horse has its own individual gait, the gait can be measured and stored with the animal perfectly healthy and giving its best performance. The gait is then available as a basic pattern for a subsequent comparison with fresh measurements. Regular gait analyses enable deviations from the basic pattern of the gait to be detected earlier on, more particularly before the horse shows lameness. As a result, for example, a horse in poor condition can be gently treated, or if necessary measures can be taken in good time to prevent the progress of a disease.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,233,845 states that the potential performance of a horse depends on the time during which two or more hoofs are simultaneously in contact with the ground during one step. The performance potential also depends on the time during which all four legs are simultaneously not in contact with the ground during one step. For these reasons U.S. Pat. No. 4,233,845 proposes that the horse should be put into a high speed gait and the time of contact determined during which contact with the ground is made and then discontinued during successive steps at this gait. The overlapping time during this step is also measured, and also the speed of the gait. Conclusions concerning performance potential are drawn from these results. To determine the contact with the ground and the corresponding contact times, use is made of a high speed camera or the sound of the steps is recorded on a tape recorder placed on the horse or on the ground, while the speed is measured based on running distance and clock measurements. These recording procedures are much too expensive, and moreover the results attainable are much too imprecise to enable the gait at the moment to be compared with a stored previous gait--i.e. to detect deviations from the basic pattern in good time.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,195,643 discloses a method of determining the relation between a limit of pain and the physiological compressive force to be ascribed to the pain. The physiological compressive forces are recorded by a pressure plate system to produce an analog output signal with a direct voltage and an alternating voltage component. In a suitable analyzer, the direct voltage component and the alternating voltage component are then separated, whereafter an output signal derived from the alternating voltage component is generated which quantifies the pain limit. However, the coming lameness of a horse cannot be diagnosed before a pain limit is reached, and this method is unsuitable for the early detection of deviations from the
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Noland Tom
Standard St Sensortechnik Ag.
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