Biomechanical Weight-Bearing Crutch
OwnerAndrew Hajime Trybainventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present disclosure includes a biomechanical weight-bearing crutch that may replace conventional crutches in use today. Unlike conventional crutches, the crutch of the present disclosure enables a user to immediately walk in a hands-free fashion. The biomechanical weight-bearing crutch is a form fitting device that can be worn inside or outside of the user's clothes. The movement of the crutch is automatically and synchronously performed as part of the gait motion, instead of today's cumbersome crutch motion where the users have to physically lift and move the crutch.
Claims20
1) A medical device comprising:
- a shoulder support configured to contact an armpit region of a user;
- a rotatable hip joint;
- a foot support;
- a upper linkage configured to couple the shoulder support to the rotatable hip joint;
- a lower linkage configured to couple the rotatable hip joint to the foot support.
10) A method for fitting a medical device to a user, the method comprising:
- setting an upper linkage length based on a distance between a hip of the user and an armpit region of the user;
- setting a lower linkage length based on a distance from a ground surface to the hip of the user;
- and
- coupling the medical device to the user.
19) The method of claim 19, wherein strapping the medical device to the user comprises one or more of affixing a chest strap from the medical device to the user, affixing a waist strap from the medical device to the user, affixing a thigh strap from the medical device to the user, and affixing a calf strap from the medical device to the user.
20) An apparatus comprising:
- a shoulder support configured to contact an armpit region of a user;
- a rotatable hip joint;
- a rotatable knee joint;
- a rotatable ankle joint,
- a foot support coupled to the rotatable ankle joint;
- an upper linkage configured to couple the shoulder support to the rotatable hip joint;
- a thigh linkage configured to couple the rotatable hip joint to the rotatable knee joint;
- a tibia linkage configured to couple the rotatable knee joint to the rotatable ankle joint;
- a plurality of straps, wherein the straps are configured to couple the apparatus to the user;
- and
- wherein at least one of the rotatable hip join, the rotatable knee joint, or the rotatable ankle joint is configured to be selectively locked at a predetermined angle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.