System, device and method for electronically mediated upper extremity therapy
Inventors
Adams, Richard J. • Gressick, William T. • Olowin, Aaron B. • Lichter, Matthew
Assignees
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Publication Number
US-11911651-B1
Publication Date
2024-02-27
Expiration Date
Abstract
Embodiments of the presently described device, system and method support upper extremity therapy through a control device. In various embodiments, the control device is provided as a central hub with atomic elements extending outwardly thereof, and the control device can incorporate a movement interpretation circuit, a touch detection circuit and/or one or more sensory transducers. In various embodiments, the control device is interoperable with a valence, an external computing device and a display device. Embodiments of the external computing device are operable to render a graphical depiction of simulated objects in a virtual world upon receiving a transmission of sensed human grasping of one or more atomic elements.
Core Innovation
An electronically mediated upper-extremity therapy system is implemented with an untethered handheld control device that includes a central hub with a plurality of axes and interchangeable, axially extending atomic elements. Each atomic element includes an atom at an axially outer end, where the first atom has a first shape adapted for a first manual grasp modality and the second atom has a second shape different from the first shape adapted for a second manual grasp modality. The control device supports sensory output and communicates with a computing device to enable therapy interactions in a virtual world.
A touch detection circuit with a sensing transducer secured within the control device senses human grasping of the first and second atoms and transmits sensed human grasping to the computing device. Upon receiving transmissions of sensed human grasping, the computing device renders graphical depictions of control device simulated objects in a virtual world, including rendering different graphical depictions based on whether the first atom or the second atom is grasped. In a library-based mode, the computing device determines a first control device simulated object or a first non-control device simulated object from a library based on the transmission and then renders the determined object in the virtual world.
The system further supports rendering of simulated movement and simulated events tied to grasp and additional inputs. A movement interpretation circuit with a sensing transducer sends movement of the control device to the computing device, and the computing device renders a graphical depiction of simulated movement of a first control device object in the virtual world based on receiving transmissions of sensed human grasping together with movement data. The system also supports event-based interactions, including graphical depictions of an event emanating from a control-device simulated object and rendering determined events from the library when different atoms are grasped.
Claims Coverage
The independent claims cover systems in which a handheld control device with differently shaped atomic elements is touch-sensed and mapped by a computing device to graphical depictions of simulated control and/or non-control objects in a virtual world, with optional movement interpretation and library-based selection, for a total of three independent claim documents presented here.
Shaped atomic elements for grasp modality mapping with touch sensing
A control device comprising a central hub having a plurality of axes; a first atomic element extending axially outwardly on a first of the plurality of axes with a first atom at an axially outer end, the first atom having a first shape adapted to be held by a human hand in a first manual grasp modality; and a second atomic element extending axially outwardly on the first or a second of the plurality of axes with a second atom at an axially outer end, the second atom having a second shape different from the first shape and adapted to be held by a human hand in a second manual grasp modality; a computing device communicatively coupled to the control device; and a touch detection circuit with a sensing transducer secured within the control device adapted to sense human grasping of the first and second atoms and transmit sensed human grasping to the computing device.
Different simulated control device objects based on sensed grasped atom
A computing device operable to render a graphical depiction of a first control device simulated object in a virtual world upon receiving a transmission of sensed human grasping of the first atom from the touch detection circuit; and operable to render a graphical depiction of a second control device simulated object in the virtual world upon receiving a transmission of sensed human grasping of the second atom from the touch detection circuit, wherein the second control device simulated object is different from the first control device simulated object.
Library-based determination of control and non-control simulated objects from touch
A computing device communicatively coupled to the control device; a memory storing a library comprising a plurality of control device simulated objects and a plurality of non-control device simulated objects; a touch detection circuit with a sensing transducer secured within the control device adapted to sense human grasping of the first atom and transmit a sensed human grasping to the computing device; wherein the computing device is operable, upon receiving a transmission of the sensed human grasping of the first atom from the touch detection circuit, to determine a first control device simulated object or a first non-control device simulated object from the library based on the transmission and render a graphical depiction of the determined object in a virtual world.
Across the independent claims, the core coverage is: a control device with differently shaped atomic elements for different manual grasp modalities; a touch detection circuit transmitting sensed grasping to a coupled computing device; and computing-device rendering in a virtual world of corresponding simulated control device objects, with an additional variant that selects either control or non-control simulated objects from a stored library based on the touch-sensing transmission.
Stated Advantages
Documented Applications
Upper-extremity therapy for partial paralysis, including hemiplegia, as mediated through grasp-detection and virtual-world rendering.
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