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US 10,864,100 B2Granted
Orthopedic device including protruding members
AssigneePresident and Fellows of Harvard College
InventorsConor James Walsh, Alan T. Asbeck, Matthew W. Yarri, Jillian Christine Cochran, Stefano Marco Maria De Rossi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Orthopedic devices may include rigid members for coupling to portions of a limb that includes a joint, and a cable that couples to the rigid members and extends up to a powered element. The orthopedic devices are configured to produce beneficial forces using the rigid member and the cable, which beneficial forces are translated to the wearer. The orthopedic devices include control systems that generate control signals for controlling the powered element.
Claims46
A wearable device comprising:
- a pair of base mechanisms for positioning along opposite sides of a limb, each base mechanism comprising:
- a base portion having a rigid first end, a rigid second end, and a central region;
- the central region of the base portion for positioning proximate to an axis of rotation of a joint of the limb, wherein the central region is configured to permit rotation of the rigid first end with respect to the rigid second end;
- and
- a first anterior protrusion extending from the rigid first end of the base portion, proximate to the central region, toward an anterior side of the axis of rotation of the joint to a first pivot point;
- a second anterior protrusion extending from the rigid second end of the base portion, proximate to the central region, toward an anterior side of the axis of rotation of the joint to a second pivot point;
- and
- a cable coupled to the first pivot point and the second pivot point;
- a control system that receives input from at least one sensor indicating an occurrence of at least one event in a movement of a wearer of the wearable device and generates a responsive control signal;
- and
- at least one powered element that receives the responsive control signal from the control system and, in response, controls a tensile force through the cable between the first pivot point and the second pivot point of each base mechanism to produce beneficial forces in the pair of base mechanisms that are translated to the wearer.
8 more elements
A wearable device comprising:
- a pair of base mechanisms for positioning along opposite sides of a limb including a joint, each base mechanism comprising:
- a base portion for positioning along a side of the opposite sides of the limb, the base portion having a rigid first end, a rigid second end, and a central region;
- the central region of the base portion for positioning proximate to an axis of rotation of the joint of the limb, wherein the central region is configured to permit rotation of the rigid first end with respect to the rigid second end;
- and
- a first anterior protrusion, configured to extend toward an anterior side of the axis of rotation of the joint, from the rigid first end of the base portion proximate to the central region to a first pivot point;
- a second anterior protrusion, configured to extend toward an anterior side of the axis of rotation of the joint, from the rigid second end of the base portion proximate to the central region to a second pivot point;
- a cable coupled to the first pivot point and the second pivot point and capable of exerting a tensile force between the first anterior protrusion and the second anterior protrusion;
- and
- at least one resilient component selected from the group consisting of a first resilient component coupled to the first anterior protrusion and configured to apply a first force to the first anterior protrusion and a second resilient component coupled to the second anterior protrusion and configured to apply a second force to the second anterior protrusion, wherein, when the base portion is coupled to the limb, a force from the at least one resilient component is capable of applying a torque to the limb.
6 more elements
A wearable device comprising:
- two rigid components, comprising:
- a medial rigid component for positioning along a medial side of a limb including a joint;
- a lateral rigid component for positioning along a lateral side of the limb;
- wherein each of the two rigid components comprises:
- a base portion for positioning along the limb, the base portion having a rigid first end, a rigid second end, and a central region, wherein the central region is configured to permit rotation of the rigid first end with respect to the rigid second end;
- and
- two protrusions, comprising:
- a first protrusion extending from the rigid first end along the plane of flexion of the limb to a first pivot point, and configured to rotate with respect to the rigid first end;
- a second protrusion extending from the rigid second end along the plane of flexion of the limb to a second pivot point, and configured to rotate with respect to the rigid second end;
- at least two cables, each cable being coupled to the respective first protrusion and second protrusion of each of the two rigid components, for regulating a separation between the respective first protrusion and second protrusion;
- and
- at least two resilient elements comprising:
- a first resilient component that couples to the first pivot point of the medial rigid component and is configured to apply a first force to the first pivot point;
- and
- a second resilient component that couples to the first pivot point of the lateral rigid component and is configured to apply a second force to the second pivot point,
- wherein the first force and the second force are capable of applying a torque to the limb.
13 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.