Patent Issued for Rehabilitation Assistance Device And Program For Controlling Rehabilitation Assistance Device (USPTO 10,373,518)
2019 AUG 20 (NewsRx) -- By a
The assignee for this patent, patent number 10,373,518, is
Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Rehabilitation aimed at restoration of motor functions to semi-impaired upper extremities and lower extremities of patients suffering from strokes etc. and assessment of motor functions in the process of rehabilitation are generally performed labor intensively by physical therapists or occupational therapists (below, referred to together as ‘therapists’). Therefore, there are limits to increasing efficiency in rehabilitation and assessment of motor functions by therapists.
“For example, in rehabilitation of an upper extremity, mainly repeated accurate movement of the impaired upper extremity over a range of movement slightly broader than the current movable range of the joint, passively or actively, is sought as much as possible. That is, the therapist teaches the patient the accurate movement and manually applies a passive load mainly to the impaired upper extremity of the patient or guides active movement of the patient and makes the patient perform repetitive movement in a suitable range of movement to thereby try to restore the motor function.
“In such rehabilitation, due to fatigue of the therapist or the upper limit on rehabilitation time in medical insurance systems, the number of times of movements which can be repeated by a therapist for restoration of motor functions and the time which he or she can devote for assessment of motor functions are limited. Further, rehabilitation is performed one-on-one by a therapist and patient, so depending on the experience or skill of the therapist, there is a possibility of differences or variation in the medical quality of the rehabilitation, that is, the extent of restoration of motor function. Therefore, rehabilitation support apparatuses for assisting training by therapists and standardizing medical quality have been proposed (for example, PLT 1 and PLT 2).
“Each of the rehabilitation support apparatuses described in PLT 1 and PLT 2, for example, has a robot arm to which a forearm part of a semi-impaired upper extremity of a patient is fastened and a drive and control part for driving and controlling the movement of the robot arm. The rehabilitation is performed by moving the upper extremity of the patient fastened to the robot arm in accordance with instructions of the therapist. The movement of the upper extremity of the patient is detected by a sensor attached to the robot arm. The drive and control part drives the robot arm so as to guide movement of the upper extremity based on a training program set in advance by the therapist or drives the robot arm so as to apply a load to the movement of the upper extremity or switches these drive methods in accordance with the time or number of training operations. The rehabilitation support apparatus can support training for rehabilitation by therapists by such operations. Such rehabilitation support apparatuses are mainly installed in hospitals and other medical facilities and are used for hospitalized patients and outpatients under the guidance of the therapists.”
In addition to obtaining background information on this patent, NewsRx editors also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “Technical Problem
“On the other hand, in diagnosis and treatment under most insurance systems, rehabilitation is based on one-on-one treatment by a therapist and patient. Along with the increase in the population of senior citizens, the number of patients requiring rehabilitation will increase. It is expected that the number of therapists will become insufficient for this. Even if the above-mentioned such rehabilitation support apparatuses can be used as means for making rehabilitation more efficient, in the final analysis, the rehabilitation support apparatuses are used under the direction of therapists, so there is a possibility that these will not contribute to greater efficiency of therapists.
“Almost all of the above-mentioned such rehabilitation support apparatuses were developed assuming mainly use under the direction of doctors, therapists, and other medical practitioners in hospitals and other medical facilities. Therefore, how to set the training programs of the rehabilitation support apparatuses is completely left to the judgment of the medical practitioners in charge. Further, setting the training programs so as to realize the optimum rehabilitation for the many types of conditions of patients is extremely complicated. Therefore, even medical practitioners find it difficult to suitably use rehabilitation support apparatuses for restoration of motor functions of patients.
“Further, even patients who want to continue with rehabilitation for restoration of motor functions and maintenance of functions after discharge from the hospital, patients finding it difficult to commute to the hospital due to various situations, etc. should engage in rehabilitation continuously for a sufficient time. Accordingly, when a patient uses such a rehabilitation support apparatus for rehabilitation, a rehabilitation support apparatus which the patient can use autonomously or with the assistance of family etc. without guidance or supervision by medical practitioners or even in the absence of medical practitioners has been sought.
“Furthermore, in the assessment of motor functions in rehabilitation, the medical practitioners act as assessors which render subjective judgments based on criteria for judgment determined for the different assessed items, so depending on the assessors, differences and variation arise in the results of assessment as well. Further, since the assessed content is large and complicated, there is also the problem that assessment of motor functions takes time.
“The present invention provides, in one aspect, a rehabilitation support apparatus generating objective data indicators enabling medical practitioners and patients to easily understand the extent of recovery of motor functions. The present invention provides, in another aspect, a rehabilitation support apparatus utilizing objective data indicators and semiautomatically or automatically selecting suitable training programs in accordance with the conditions of patients.
“Solution to Problem
“According to the present invention, there is provided a rehabilitation support apparatus characterized by comprising an arm part having a holding part for holding part of an upper extremity or lower extremity of a user and supporting the holding part to be able to move, a storage part storing training information, which storage part storing predetermined first training information, a motion information acquiring part acquiring motion information accompanying movement of the holding part, the motion information acquiring part acquiring first motion information of the holding part moved based on the first training information, a motion assessing part generating assessment information assessing the motion information, the motion assessing part assessing the first motion information and generating first assessment information, and a display part displaying at least one of the training information, the motion information, and the assessment information.
“The first training information, first motion information, and first assessment information are information which medical practitioners set and which are generated based on results of rehabilitation of patients when patients use the rehabilitation support apparatus for training.
“Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a rehabilitation support apparatus wherein the motion assessing part generates the first assessment information based on a comparison of the first training information and the first motion information.
“Furthermore, according to the present invention, there is provided a rehabilitation support apparatus further comprising a training information setting part generating next training information based on the assessment information and storing the training information in the storage part and, characterized by the training information setting part generating second training information based on the first assessment information and storing the second training information in the storage part. The second training information means training information when updating first training information and performing rehabilitation by the rehabilitation support apparatus of the present invention.
“Furthermore, according to the present invention, there is provided a rehabilitation support apparatus wherein the motion information acquiring part acquires second motion information of the holding part moved based on the second training information, the motion assessing part assesses the second motion information to generate second assessment information, and the training information setting part generates second training information based on the first assessment information and/or the second assessment information.
“The ‘second motion information’ is motion information of the holding part moved based on the second training information, while the ‘second assessment information’ is assessment information generated by assessing the second motion information. Further, the second training information generated after motion based on the second training information is generated based on the first assessment information, all of the assessment information (first assessment information and second assessment information), several of the second assessment information (for example, several recent second assessment information), immediately preceding second assessment information, etc.
“Furthermore, according to the present invention, there is provided a rehabilitation support apparatus wherein the training information setting part generates the training information by selecting it from a predetermined plurality of the training information in the storage part.
“Furthermore, according to the present invention, there is provided a rehabilitation support apparatus further comprising an interface part for entering initial assessment information on the motor functions of the user and, wherein the training information setting part generates the first training information based on the initial assessment information and stores the first training information in the storage part.
“Furthermore, according to the present invention, there is provided a rehabilitation support apparatus wherein the display part displays the motion information in real time in accordance with movement of the holding part.
“Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a rehabilitation support apparatus wherein the arm part has a support point at one end and can move with at least one degree of freedom from the support point.
“Furthermore, according to the present invention, there is provided a rehabilitation support apparatus wherein the training information and the motion information include at least one among a position of the holding part, a movement time of the holding part, a speed of the holding part, an acceleration of the holding part, and a force applied to the holding part.
“Furthermore, according to the present invention, there is provided a rehabilitation support apparatus further comprising an assessment information predicting part predicting assessment information to be reached by the user in the future based on a plurality of the assessment information of users and generating predicted assessment information.
“Furthermore, according to the present invention, there is provided a rehabilitation support apparatus wherein the display part displays at least one of the training information, the assessment information, and the predicted assessment information.
“Furthermore, according to the present invention, there is provided a rehabilitation support apparatus further comprising an assessment information converting part converting the assessment information to corresponding other assessment information or converting the corresponding other assessment information to the assessment information.
“Furthermore, according to the present invention, there is provided a rehabilitation support apparatus wherein the other assessment information is shown by assessment items generally used in rehabilitation by Fugl-Meyer Assessment etc.
“Furthermore, according to the present invention, there is provided a control program for a rehabilitation support apparatus comprising an arm part having a holding part of an upper extremity or lower extremity of a user and supporting the holding part to be able to move, which control program making the rehabilitation support apparatus perform a step of storing training information, which step storing predetermined training information, a step of acquiring motion information accompanying movement of the holding part, which step acquiring motion information of the holding part moved based on the training information, a step of generating assessment information assessing the motion information, which step assessing the motion information and generating assessment information, and a step of displaying at least one of the training information, the motion information, and the assessment information.
“Advantageous Effects of Invention
“According to the present inventions, the shared effects are exhibited of the provision of a rehabilitation support apparatus providing objective data indicators enabling an extent of restoration of motor functions to be easily understood by medical practitioners and patients. Further, the effect is exhibited of the provision of a rehabilitation support apparatus utilizing objective data indicators and selecting a suitable training program semi-automatically or automatically according to the condition of a patient.”
The claims supplied by the inventors are:
“The invention claimed is:
“1. A rehabilitation support apparatus, comprising: an arm part having a holding part for holding part of an upper extremity or lower extremity of a user and supporting the holding part to be able to move, a storage part storing training information, which storage part storing predetermined first training information, a motion information acquiring part acquiring motion information accompanying movement of said holding part, said motion information acquiring part acquiring first motion information of said holding part moved based on said first training information, a motion assessing part generating assessment information assessing said motion information, said motion assessing part assessing said first motion information and generating first assessment information, a display part displaying at least one of said training information, said motion information, and said assessment information, and an assessment information predicting part predicting assessment information of the user based on a plurality of said assessment information of users and generating predicted assessment information, wherein said display part displays said predicted assessment information.
“2. The rehabilitation support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said motion assessing part generates said first assessment information based on a comparison of said first training information and said first motion information.
“3. The rehabilitation support apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a training information setting part generating next training information based on said assessment information and storing said training information in said storage part and, characterized by said training information setting part generating second training information based on said first assessment information and storing said second training information in said storage part.
“4. The rehabilitation support apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said motion information acquiring part acquires second motion information of said holding part moved based on said second training information, said motion assessing part assesses said second motion information to generate second assessment information, and said training information setting part generates said second training information based on said first assessment information and/or said second assessment information.
“5. The rehabilitation support apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said training information setting part generates said training information by selecting it from a predetermined plurality of said training information in said storage part.
“6. The rehabilitation support apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising an interface part for entering initial assessment information on the motor functions of the user and, wherein said training information setting part generates said first training information based on said initial assessment information and stores said first training information in said storage part.
“7. The rehabilitation support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said display part displays said motion information in real time in accordance with movement of said holding part.
“8. The rehabilitation support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said arm part has a support point at one end and can move with at least one degree of freedom from said support point.
“9. The rehabilitation support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said training information and said motion information include at least one among a position of said holding part, a movement time of said holding part, a speed of said holding part, an acceleration of said holding part, and a force applied to said holding part.
“10. The rehabilitation support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said display part displays at least one of said training information and said assessment information.
“11. The rehabilitation support apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an assessment information converting part converting said assessment information to corresponding other assessment information or converting said corresponding other assessment information to said assessment information.
“12. The rehabilitation support apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said other assessment information is shown by assessment items according to Fugl-Meyer Assessment.
“13. A control method for a rehabilitation support apparatus comprising an arm part having a holding part of an upper extremity or lower extremity of a user and supporting said holding part to be able to move, the control method comprising: a step of storing training information, which step storing predetermined training information, a step of acquiring motion information accompanying movement of said holding part, which step acquiring motion information of said holding part moved based on said training information, a step of generating assessment information assessing said motion information, which step assessing said motion information and generating assessment information, a step of displaying at least one of said training information, said motion information, and said assessment information, and a step of predicting assessment information of the user based on a plurality of said assessment information of users and generating predicted assessment information, wherein the step of displaying includes displaying said predicted assessment information.
“14. The rehabilitation support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display part displays said first training information, and said display part displays said first motion information, which was acquired based on said first training information, in real time.
“15. The rehabilitation support apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said first training information corresponds to an ideal trajectory of said holding part, and said first motion information corresponds to an actual trajectory of said holding part.
“16. The control method according to claim 13, wherein the step of displaying includes displaying said predetermined training information, and displaying said motion information in real time.
“17. The control method according to claim 16, wherein said predetermined training information corresponds to an ideal trajectory of said holding part, and said motion information corresponds to an actual trajectory of said holding part.”
For more information, see this patent: Maeda, Akihiro; Fujita, Fumi; Kanatani, Hiroshi; Ikegawa, Sunao; Kubo, Hironobu. Rehabilitation Assistance Device And Program For Controlling Rehabilitation Assistance Device.
(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)
Fact Sheet: Think You Don’t Need Flood Insurance? Think Again
EPA to launch private soil cleanup
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News