Apparatus and method for knee flexor assessment
OwnerAnthony James SHIELD, David Andrew OPARinventors
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Abstract
An apparatus for use in assessing strength of at least one knee flexor muscle of a subject, the apparatus including a support, two securing members, each securing member securing a respective lower leg of the subject in a position that in use is substantially fixed relative to the support and at least one sensor, which in use senses a force indicative of the strength of the at least one knee flexor muscle in at least one leg of the subject while the subject performs an eccentric contraction of the at least one knee flexor muscle.
Claims20
1-34. (canceled)
An apparatus comprising:
- a support having an engagement area configured to receive a knee of a leg of a subject while the subject is engaged in a kneeling position;
- a leg restraint mounted to the support via a pivotal mount, and wherein the leg restraint is configured to secure an ankle of the subject relative to the support while the subject is engaged in the kneeling position and thereby secure the knee of the subject to a first portion of the support while the subject performs an eccentric contraction of at least a hamstring muscle of the leg;
- a force sensor coupled to the leg restraint by the pivotal mount and configured to sense a force applied to the leg restraint and generate an output signal;
- and
- an electronic processing device configured to:
- monitoring the output signal;
- generating, based on the output signal, an indicator of a strength of a knee flexor muscle of the subject while the subject performs the eccentric contraction of the at least the hamstring muscle of the leg.
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the pivotal mount comprises a ball and socket joint.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.