Wearable device for determining motion and/or a physiological state of a wearer
Inventors
Assignees
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Publication Number
US-12751646-B2
Publication Date
2026-10-06
Expiration Date
Abstract
The invention relates to a wearable device for determining a nature of motion and/or a physiological state of a wearer. The wearable device comprises a body portion configured to be worn by the wearer and at least one sensor mounted to the body portion configured to, while the wearable device is being worn, detect a motion parameter of the wearer and/or a physiological parameter of the wearer and generate input data indicative of the motion parameter and/or the physiological parameter. The wearable device further comprises a processor configured to receive the input data from the at least one sensor and process the input data by executing an algorithm to determine the nature of motion and/or the physiological state of the wearer while the wearable device is being worn. The invention further relates to a system for determining a nature of motion and/or a physiological state of a wearer.
Core Innovation
The invention describes a knee brace with an inertial measurement unit comprising at least one accelerometer. The sensor detects a motion parameter of the wearer and generates input data, including accelerometer data. A processor uses the data to determine that the wearer is walking and determines gait spatiotemporal parameters based at least in part on that determination.
For walking detection, the described algorithm detects an event indicative of a heel strike, a second event, and a repeat of the first event, then determines that the wearer is walking based on the detected sequence. The provided partial content does not include the background section, so the problem being solved is not explicitly described in patent.
Claims Coverage
The two independent claims cover two inventive features: a knee brace for determining wearer motion and gait parameters, and a system for determining that a knee-brace wearer is walking and determining gait parameters.
Knee brace for determining motion and gait parameters
A knee brace has first and second brace portions mounted superior and inferior to the wearer’s knee joint, respectively, and a sensor comprising an inertial measurement unit with at least one accelerometer. A processor receives accelerometer data, detects a sequence comprising a heel-strike event, a second event, and a repeat of the first event to determine that the wearer is walking, and determines gait spatiotemporal parameters.
System for determining walking and gait parameters
A system includes a knee brace with an accelerometer-containing inertial measurement unit that detects a motion parameter and generates input data comprising accelerometer data. A processor detects a sequence comprising an event indicative of a heel strike, a second event, and a repeat of the first event, determines that the wearer is walking based on the sequence, and determines gait spatiotemporal parameters.
The independent claims cover a sensor-equipped knee brace and a system using accelerometer-event sequences to identify walking and determine gait spatiotemporal parameters.
Stated Advantages
Not explicitly described in patent.
Documented Applications
A knee brace is used to determine the wearer’s motion and, in particular, whether the wearer is walking and the wearer’s gait spatiotemporal parameters. The described claims also cover measuring functional range-of-motion, including maximum and minimum knee angles.
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