ELECTRICAL ANGULAR DISPLACEMENT SENSOR

Abstract: The sensor (1) comprises at least one strain gauge (3) secured to a strip (2) sufficiently flexible to bend without permanent plastic deformation through a small radius, e.g. less than 150 mm. The output is directly proportional to the relative angular orientation of the ends of the strip (2), regardless of the orientation intermediate the ends.

Description: - 1 - "Electrical Angular Displacement Sensor" This invention relates to an electrical sensor for measuring angular displacement. Particularly, but not exclusively, the invention relates to an electro-gonio¬ meter for use in monitoring joint mobility in patients with ailments such as arthritis which produce abnormal joint movement. One electro-goniometer for use in medical assess¬ ment of joint mobility uses mercury-filled tubes as re¬ sistive elements of a heatstone bridge circuit. Two or four such tubes are used to provide a bendable beam and a linear relationship between electrical output and an¬ gular displacement is given. Problems have been encoun¬ tered concerning the long-term stability of the electrode/ mercury interface and also the well-recognised toxicity of mercury makes its use undesirable. Another known type of electro-goniometer for ortho¬ paedic diagnosis uses an electrically conductive impreg¬ nated plastics strip. Although this arrangement allows a small flexible unit to be made great difficulties with the calibration and electrical stability have been en¬ countered. An object of this invention is to obviate or miti¬ gate the aforesaid disadvantages.. According to the present invention there is provided an electrical sensor for use in providing a signal indicative of angular displacement between two spaced locations, comprising a flexible carrier of material capable of flexing without permanent plastic deformation when its ends are fixed to said locations and said locations undergo relative rotary movement within a pre¬ determined range; and at least one electrically conduc¬ tive element having a resistance which is a function of strain affixed to the carrier and extending therealong substantially the whole distance between said locations. Preferably the carrier is a thin strip of spring steel - 2 - not exceeding 0.5 mm in thickness. Other possible materials are, for example, non-ferrous metals, acrylic polymers, thermoplastics materials and other plastics materials and fibres. The strain may be monitored by measuring the electrical resistance of the gauges in a Wheatstone bridge arrangement. The electrical output may be calibrated to read angular displacement between the ends of the carrier. The criteria employed in producing the electro- goniometer of this invention were to produce a device which: (a) required no special alignment with the rotation axis of the limbs, (b) had low stiffness to facilitate fixation to limbs, (c) was small enough to be worn beneath a patient's clothing, (d) has long term electrical stability, and (e) has infinitely variable electrical output. The electro-goniometer of the invention uses the 'bending beam' approach but replaces the mercury filled tubes of prior devices, suitably with commercially available strain gauges. These gauges have a definite strain limit and have, up till now, been used to measure strain, stress or force where no appreciable angular displacements have occurred. The use of strain gauges where significant deflections would take place is a rather controversial step but the strain magnitude has been reduced sufficiently by decreasing the thickness of the bending beam to very small values. The resulting device is therefore very flexible and tests have shown the electrical output to be linearly related to angular movement and stability to be excellent. In addition, the method of bending does not influence the output (a Z bend would zero if the top and bottom ends of the carrier were parallel) . The size of the unit can - 3 - be very small and will therefore easily satisfy the criterion of being worn beneath clothing. The device therefore oversomes several of the limitations of previous devices and is convenient for the measuring of joint motion in clinical and research centres. The mechanics involved in the design of the bending beam originate from the equation for pure bending: M where ey = stress in a particular fibre (usually surface) y = distance from neutral axis of beam to the fibre in question M = Bending moment applied to beam I = Moment of intertia of beam (geometry) E = Young's Mondulus of Elasticity for material R = Radius of curvature of deformed beam For the use of a bending beam as an electro-goniometer it is preferable to have zero bending moment (or resis¬ tance to bending movement) therefore the ' equation: r-r E is used R giving Ey R Since the strain gauges measure the strain (change in - 4 - length divided by the original length) is it necessary to relate stress ( C ) to strain ( € ) using Youngs Modulus: σ = € E The bending equation therefore reduces to Ey * € E € = In other words the surface strain of a bending beam is directly related to the thickness (2y) and inversely related to the radius of curvature of the deflected beam. For normal strain gauges the limit of strain will be in the order of a few thousand microstrain (i.e. 10-00 - 10,000 x 10 ~ ). An example of the scale of strain means that a beam 5 mm thick cannot bend tighter than a 250 mm radius arc without the danger of plastic deformation. y R = = 2.5 250 MM For normal operating conditions a working strain of 1000 x 10 is ideal which would result in a radius of curvature of 2.5 for a 5 mm thick beam. For use as a flexible electro-goniometer for joint assessment the bending beam must be able to conform to a much smaller radius of curvature. Values as low as 5 mm - 5 - are required in some operating conditions which means the thickness of the beam must be recalculated. Y € = - R ,- -3 = 5 x 10 3 mm = 0.005 mm (0.01 mm thickness) This value is extremely small and for practical limits of thickness of shim to 0.05mm results in larger strains or larger radii of curvature. Alternatively a bend of 50 mm radius would suit a 0.05mm shim. Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a device embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing a device according to the invention applied to a hinged joint; Fig. 3 shows a circuit incorporating the device; Fig. 4 is a typical calibration graph; Fig. 5 is a schematic perspective view of an alter¬ native embodiment for measuring shear strain or twisting displacement; and Fig. 6 illustrates a device combining the features of Figs. 1 and 5. Referring to Fig. 1, an electro-goniometer 1 comprises an elongate carrier strip 2 of spring steel having an elon¬ gate strain gauge 3 adhesively secured thereto and aligned with the longitudinal axis of the strip 2. The strain gauge 3 extends along substantially the whole length of the carrier strip 2. Any commercially available strain gauge of suitable dimensions may be used; examples are strain gauges sold as Kyowa KC-120-A1-11 and Showa N.ll-FA-60- 120-11. The strip 2 in this embodiment has the following features: Length 125 mm Width 4 mm Thickness 0.05 mm Material High carbon steel A second, similar strain gauge is preferably provided on the opposed face of the strip 2. Fig. 2 shows the device 1 applied to a hinged joint 4 capable of relative rotation to give a variable angle θ. The joint 4 is shown for simplicity as a pair of plates hinged together, but in practice could be for example an ankle joint. The device 1 is secured at its ends by any suitable means, such as adhesive tape 5. On any convex curve of the strip 2 the strain gauge 3 is stretched and thus- its resistance rises," while any concave curvature produces a reduction in resistance. The net change in resistance is thus a function of the angle β, regardless of the curvature or number of curves intermediate the ends of the goniometer 1. Fig. 3 illustrates one circuit suitable for use with the present invention. A goniometer 1 having series front and rear strain gauges 3, 3a is connected in a bridge circuit with resistors 6, 7. Further resistors and/or amplifiers may be included in the bridge to improve sensi¬ tivity. The resistors 6, 7 may be fixed resistors in a monitoring circuit, or alternatively may comprise further strain gauges adjacent the goniometer to provide compen¬ sation for ambient conditions such as temperature. It is also possible to provide all four arms of the bridge as strain gauges on a single carrier. As seen in Fig. 4 the voltage measured across the goniometer of the invention is linearly proportional to the angle θ between its ends. Thus a meter such as 8 (Fig. 3) can readily be calibrated to give a reading directly in angular measurement. Turning to Fig. 5, the invention also provides a sensor 10 for monitoring twisting movement. A carrier strip 11, similar to that of the previous embodiment, has secured thereto a pair of serpentine strain gauges 12, 13 comprising lengths arranged oblique to the longitudinal axis of the strip 11; preferably the mean angle is 45°. The sensor 10 acts in a manner analogous to the above embodiment to give an output indicative of the relative rotational twist between its ends about the longitudinal axis. The embodiments of Figs. 1 and 5 can be combined as shown in Fig. 6. Such a device provides means for defining the three-dimensional angular orientation of one end of the device relative to the other.

Claims: new claim 8 added; claims 1-7 remain unchanged (1 page)] 8. A method of measuring angular displacement, in which the device of any preceding claim is secured t-o spaced locations such that relative angular displacement of said locations causes flexing of the carrier but not stretching thereof.

Inventors: NICOL ALEXANDER CROY, NICOL, ALEXANDER, CROY
Applicants: UNIV STRATHCLYDE, UNIVERSITY OF STRATHCLYDE
Application year: 1985
Main classification: G01B7
IPC codes: A61B5, G01B7, G01D5