# US 12,190,748 B2 · Device for assisting the ambulation with measuring of the position and remote assistance > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,190,748 B2 - Document ID: US12190748B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/627,668 - Filed: 2020-08-11 - Published: 2022-08-04 - Granted: 2025-01-07 - Earliest claimed: 2019-08-12 - Applicants: QuicklyPRO Srl; Università degli Studi di Bergamo - Inventors: Davide Russo; Alessio Valgimigli; Niccolò Sala - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12190748B2 ## CPC - A61B 5/112: {Gait analysis} - G09B 19/003: {Repetitive work cycles; Sequence of movements} - A61B 5/0022: {Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet} - A61B 5/11: Measuring movement of the entire body or parts thereof, e.g. head or hand tremor or mobility of a limb {(A61B5/1038 takes precedence; motion detection to correct for motion artifacts in physiological signals A61B5/721)} - G08B 5/36: using visible light sources - G08B 7/066: {guiding along a path, e.g. evacuation path lighting strip} - H05B 47/115: by determining the presence or movement of objects or living beings - A61B 2562/0219: Inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt switches - A61H 2003/007: {secured to the patient, e.g. with belts} - A61H 2201/0188: Illumination related features - A61H 2201/165: Wearable interfaces - A61H 2201/5007: computer controlled - A61H 2201/5069: Angle sensors - A61H 2201/5079: Velocity sensors - A61H 2201/5084: Acceleration sensors - A61H 2201/5092: Optical sensor - A61H 2201/5097: wireless - A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D) - G09B: EDUCATIONAL OR DEMONSTRATION APPLIANCES; APPLIANCES FOR TEACHING, OR COMMUNICATING WITH, THE BLIND, DEAF OR MUTE; MODELS; PLANETARIA; GLOBES; MAPS; DIAGRAMS (devices for psychotechnics or for testing reaction times A61B5/16; games, sports, amusements A63; projectors, projector screens G03B) - G08B: SIGNALLING SYSTEMS, e.g. PERSONAL CALLING SYSTEMS; ORDER TELEGRAPHS; ALARM SYSTEMS - H05B: ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL - A61H: PHYSICAL THERAPY APPARATUS, e.g. DEVICES FOR LOCATING OR STIMULATING REFLEX POINTS IN THE BODY; ARTIFICIAL RESPIRATION; MASSAGE; BATHING DEVICES FOR SPECIAL THERAPEUTIC OR HYGIENIC PURPOSES OR SPECIFIC PARTS OF THE BODY (electrotherapy, magnetotherapy, radiation therapy or ultrasound therapy A61N) ## Abstract A wearable device for assistance to ambulation includes a support, a power supply, a light source, sensors, a processing unit configured to control the activation and deactivation of the light source during ambulation, a measuring member, detecting and/or transmitting the linear and/or angular variation of the position of at least part of the body of a person to whom the wearable device is coupled, and a local station and/or a station connected remotely through a telecommunication network for processing data coming from the measuring member. A method for assisting the ambulation of a person with such wearable device is also disclosed. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An ambulation assistance wearable device, comprising: at least one support, adapted to be removably attached to a body of a person in an attachment position; at least one power supply, anchored to said at least one support; at least one light source, mounted on said at least one support and electrically connected to said at least one power supply, said at least one light source being configured, in use, to emit at least one beam of visible light towards a ground, at least at one front stepping point to which the person has to move a foot, in order to move forward along an ambulation direction; at least one sensor means configured to detect at least one control parameter identifying an ambulation condition; at least one processing unit operatively connected to said at least one power supply, said at least one light source and said at least one sensor and configured to control an activation-deactivation of said at least one light source, as a function of said at least one control parameter, corresponding to an angle or to a displacement measurement related to an instant position of at least one part of the body wearing the ambulation assistance wearable device during ambulation; at least one measuring member configured to measure, save, and/or transmit a linear or an angular variation of the position of at least one part of the body of the person, to which assistance to ambulation makes is provided, wherein said at least one control parameter is determined at least at one time instant and at least as a function of said at least one measuring member of the linear and/or the angular variation of the position of at least one part of the body of the person, to whom the said assistance to the ambulation is provided, wherein said at least one measuring member comprises at least one signal source and at least one signal receiver, said at least one measuring member being configured to quantify a reciprocal and/or absolute positioning of said at least one signal source and of said at least one signal receiver, and wherein said at least one measuring member comprises at least one accessory adaptable to a body shape of the person to whom said at least one measuring member is applied in an arbitrary position, said at least one accessory having reflecting properties combined with transceiving technologies and said accessory being configured to contribute to a reflection of the signals used by the ambulation assistance wearable device. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The ambulation assistance wearable device according to claim 1, wherein said at least one measuring member determines a variation of the position by analyzing a propagation in space of signals having predetermined waveforms. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The ambulation assistance wearable device according to claim 2, wherein said signals consist of electromagnetic radiation and/or electro-acoustic oscillation phenomena usable to measure displacement. ### Claim 4 (depends on 2) The ambulation assistance wearable device according to claim 2, wherein said at least one measuring member uses one or a combination of said signals propagating in space. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The ambulation assistance wearable device according to claim 1, wherein said at least one signal source and wherein said at least one signal receiver use different concurrent and/or delayed transceiving technologies to manage signals having distinct and distinguishable waveforms, said waveforms being able to be emitted contemporaneously or at different times. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The ambulation assistance wearable device according to claim 1, wherein said at least one measuring member comprises at least two or more signal sources and/or at least two or more signal receivers operating contemporaneously. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The ambulation assistance wearable device according to claim 1, wherein said at least one measuring member further comprises a system that acquires static and/or dynamic images connected to said processing unit in order to process said images during the ambulation and/or in a following time step. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The ambulation assistance wearable device according to claim 1, wherein said at least one measuring member uses autonomous systems to determine linear acceleration and/or angular acceleration and/or polar orientation, said autonomous systems comprising accelerometers, gyroscopes and magnetic detectors as inertial measurement units. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The ambulation assistance wearable device according to claim 1, wherein said attachment position is at a lower limb and corresponds to one or more different regions of the lower limb bearing said ambulation assistance wearable device. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The ambulation assistance wearable device according to claim 1, further comprising a unit managing remote data, implemented as an algorithm, operative steps and instructions of said algorithm being encoded as part of a processing program that can be called up and executed by generic or specific computer platforms, said unit performing actions targeted to an exploitation of the remote data by an operator. ### Claim 11 An ambulation assistance wearable device, comprising: at least one support, adapted to be removably attached to a body of a person in an attachment position; at least one power supply, anchored to said at least one support; at least one light source, mounted on said at least one support and electrically connected to said at least one power supply, said at least one light source being configured, in use, to emit at least one beam of visible light towards a ground, at least at one front stepping point to which the person has to move a foot, in order to move forward along an ambulation direction; at least one sensor means configured to detect at least one control parameter identifying an ambulation condition; at least one processing unit operatively connected to said at least one power supply, said at least one light source and said at least one sensor and configured to control an activation-deactivation of said at least one light source, as a function of said at least one control parameter, corresponding to an angle or to a displacement measurement related to an instant position of at least one part of the body wearing the ambulation assistance wearable device during ambulation; at least one measuring member configured to measure, save, and/or transmit a linear or an angular variation of the position of at least one part of the body of the person, to which assistance to ambulation makes is provided, wherein said at least one control parameter is determined at least at one time instant and at least as a function of said at least one measuring member of the linear and/or the angular variation of the position of at least one part of the body of the person, to whom the said assistance to the ambulation is provided, wherein said at least one measuring member determines a variation of position by detecting a distance with respect to at least one part of the body of the person wearing the ambulation assistance wearable device, wherein said at least one measuring member determines the variation of the position by acting with respect to a reference outside of the person wearing the ambulation assistance wearable device, and wherein said at least one measuring member is secured to said at least one support in a substantially outer side position or a substantially inner side position with respect to a plane of sagittal symmetry of the person or substantially at said plane of sagittal symmetry. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The ambulation assistance wearable device according to claim 11, wherein said at least one measuring member uses reflection phenomena to determine translation and/or rotation in space. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The ambulation assistance wearable device according to claim 11, wherein said at least one measuring member determines the variation of the position by acting with respect to a floor and/or with respect to at least one flat surface positioned parallel to a plane in front of the person, said at least one flat surface being at a predetermined distance with respect to said plane upon starting the ambulation. ### Claim 14 (depends on 11) The ambulation assistance wearable device according to claim 11, wherein said at least one measuring member is integrally positioned with said at least one light source and/or anchored on said at least one support. ### Claim 15 An ambulation assistance wearable device, comprising: at least one support, adapted to be removably attached to a body of a person in an attachment position; at least one power supply, anchored to said at least one support; at least one light source, mounted on said at least one support and electrically connected to said at least one power supply, said at least one light source being configured, in use, to emit at least one beam of visible light towards a ground, at least at one front stepping point to which the person has to move a foot, in order to move forward along an ambulation direction; at least one sensor means configured to detect at least one control parameter identifying an ambulation condition; at least one processing unit operatively connected to said at least one power supply, said at least one light source and said at least one sensor and configured to control an activation-deactivation of said at least one light source, as a function of said at least one control parameter, corresponding to an angle or to a displacement measurement related to an instant position of at least one part of the body wearing the ambulation assistance wearable device during ambulation; at least one measuring member configured to measure, save, and/or transmit a linear or an angular variation of the position of at least one part of the body of the person, to which assistance to ambulation makes is provided, wherein said at least one control parameter is determined at least at one time instant and at least as a function of said at least one measuring member of the linear and/or the angular variation of the position of at least one part of the body of the person, to whom the said assistance to the ambulation is provided; further comprising at least one additional local support system including: at least one second power supply, at least one energy transfer unit, at least one second processing unit comprising at least one electronic processor, at least one non-volatile storing unit, at least one volatile storing unit, at least one module for receiving information coming from the ambulation assistance wearable device, said at least one module being configured to operate with electromagnetic signals propagated in different ways, even concurrently, at least one graphic processing unit with at least one display unit, at least one algorithm that processes data coming from the at least one sensor, operative steps and instructions of said at least one algorithm being encoded as part of a processing program that can be called up and executed by said at least one additional local support system, said at least one additional local support system being configured so that, following execution of the operative steps of said at least one algorithm, predictive and/or corrective actions supplementing said at least one control parameter are defined, said actions contributing to an operation of the ambulation assistance wearable device depending on a behavior of the ambulation assistance wearable device and/or of the body to which the ambulation assistance wearable device is applied. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The ambulation assistance wearable device according to claim 15, wherein the information detected and/or processed by a recharging station are transferred to a remote storing and processing unit, said remote storing and processing unit being accessible by external users. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The ambulation assistance wearable device according to claim 16, wherein the information is transferred with commercial telecommunications systems. ### Claim 18 (depends on 1) A method of assisting ambulation of a person with an ambulation assistance wearable device according to claim 1, comprising the steps of: generating at least one electric signal of at least one waveform having known characteristics; transducing said at least one signal into a form adapted to be transported into empty space as a waveform propagated on a transmission medium contained in said empty space; emitting said waveform in at least one direction and towards known and predetermined directions with reference to a transverse anatomical plane passing through a region of a body where the ambulation assistance wearable device is worn; receiving at least one reflected waveform coming from a reflection of said waveform transmitted by remote surfaces; transducing said reflected waveform into an electric reflection signal adapted to be processed by the ambulation assistance wearable device; processing the electric reflection signal, the step of processing comprising filtering and recognizing steps of the characteristics of said transmitted waveform, in order to determine characteristics of a path covered by said emitted waveform and said reflected waveform; storing said characteristics of the path covered by said emitted and reflected waveforms in one or more forms and/or in one or more supports adapted to store, temporarily or permanently, descriptive parameters of said characteristics of the path; repeating the preceding steps at one or more predefined time periods, said one or more predefined time periods being comprised between 1 millisecond and 10 seconds; comparing said characteristics of the path covered by said emitted and reflected waveforms detected at said predefined time intervals so that to outline a distance and/or angle variations over time; storing and/or transferring, towards the unit managing remote data, information relative to said distance and/or angle variations over time; and varying descriptive parameters of the at least one light source in order to validate or modify a pointing to the ground of said at least one light source. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The method according to claim 18, wherein emitting said waveform comprises emitting said waveform by two or more sources positioned adjacently to a knee and arranged within a plane substantially parallel to a transversal plane of the body of the person, to cover within said plane an angular interval in a range from 0° to 360, a corresponding arc being centered on a side to side axis of the person and oriented towards an opposite knee. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The method according to claim 19, wherein said sources emit said waveforms towards said remote surfaces, said remote surfaces being substantially flat and substantially parallel to a sagittal plane of the body of the person.