Patent Abstract:
a method for calibrating the position and orientation of a 6 - dof sensor system mounted on a multi - segmented structure , such as the human body , is provided . the method includes a stage for mounting the sensors on the body , a stage for acquiring the 6 - dof kinematics from those sensors , a calibration stage whereby the prior stages are used to determining the sensor - to - segment transformations that are most physiologically optimal during relative skeletal motions , and a stage that to periodically monitor and correct for sensor slippage .

Detailed Description:
generally speaking , the systems described herein are directed to methods for calibrating sensor positions in a human or animal movement measurement and analysis system . as required , embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein . however , the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary , and it should be understood that the invention may be embodied in many various and alternative forms . the figures are not to scale and some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular elements while related elements may have been eliminated to prevent obscuring novel aspects . therefore , specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention . for purposes of teaching and not limitation , the illustrated embodiments are directed to methods for calibrating sensor positions in a human movement measurement and analysis system . as used herein , the term “ about ”, when used in conjunction with ranges of dimensions , angles or other physical properties or characteristics , is meant to cover slight variations that may exist in the upper and lower limits of the ranges as to not exclude embodiments with concentrations slightly above or below those recited herein . it is not the intention to exclude embodiments such as these from the present invention . the illustrative embodiment of the present invention provides method for the calibration of body mounted sensors &# 39 ; positions and orientations relative to the skeletal frame , for analysis of kinematics and kinetics of human movement . the method is independent of the means by which 6 - dof kinematic measurements of body mounted sensors are acquired . data captured by the system being employed are used as inputs to the method of the present teachings . the method of the present teachings utilizes a protocol for positioning the person for static calibration of the sensor - to - segment transformations , following by a protocol involving dynamic limb movements for fine - tuning the skeletal model . once the sensor - to - segment transformation are established , sensor data are collected and processed , as taught by others , to arrive at skeletal motions . the method presented herein also teaches how to monitor the sensor data to detect and compensate ( correct ) for sensor slippage . the method may be used for both humans and animals but in the following description the method is exemplified with reference to the human body . fig1 is a schematic block diagram of the method according to the teachings of the present invention . the present invention relies on the mounting of the sensor devices (“ system ”) in step 2 upon a person in a precise and specific manner consistent with the operation of the system &# 39 ; s devices . this is followed by the calibration step 4 , where the kinematic model of the human body for the person is created . once satisfactory model error tolerances have been reached , the system is used in live capture mode and skeletal kinematic data are computed and stored in step 6 . finally , the data acquired during the session are used to monitor and correct for sensor slippage in step 8 . fig2 is a schematic block diagram of step 2 , for mounting the devices of the system on the person . first , a combination of sensors are selected that meets the needs of the task being monitored in step 16 of fig1 . the next step 12 of fig2 is to acquire a set of anatomical measurements that will be used to develop the skeletal model . these may consist of various anatomical measurements , selected according to the teachings of others , such as riley et al . ( 1990 ). the garment ( s ) and / or cuff ( s ) with the motion sensors are donned by the user and the system is powered up in step 14 of fig2 , as taught by others in the field . recall that step 4 of fig1 showed the step consisting of the calibration methods . this step is shown in more detail in the schematic block diagram of fig3 . calibration commences with positioning the body in a known and controlled posture in step 16 of fig3 . this step requires the person wearing the sensors to either stand erect with feet spaced at a specific distance apart and arms hanging vertically or ( for those with disabilities ) to sit briefly in a special straight backed , level seated chair . in static calibration mode ( standing or sitting ), data are acquired from the sensors for a specified time in step 18 of fig3 , and used with the anatomical data to compute and estimate the positions of the skeleton relative to the segmented mounted sensors in step 20 of fig3 , see data processing step shown in fig7 for more details . once static calibration is complete , the person then proceeds ( depending on which body segments have sensors mounted on them ) to a brief dynamic calibration session . in this step , the user first initializes the dynamic calibration protocol in step 22 of fig3 , and then performs a series of range - of - motion trials to acquire information about the relative movements of the body segments in step 24 of fig3 . these could consist of any or all of the following : for the arm : shoulder abduction / adduction and flexion / extension , elbow flexion / extension , arm pronation / supination ( rotation of the forearm ), and wrist flexion / extension ; for the leg : hip abduction / adduction and flexion / extension , knee flexion / extension , and ankle dorsiflexion / plantarflexion . for the whole - body : in addition to above , trunk flexion / extension and neck flexion / extension , etc . the method taught with the present invention shows how these data are used to fine - tune the skeletal model by computing and minimizing the gap at skeletal joints in step 26 of fig3 . this is accomplished by re - computing the sensor - to - segment transformations iteratively until the joint gaps are below a specified threshold and measured segments lengths are maintained within a specific threshold . this is based on the fact that computed joint centers should be such that skeletal segments do not distract or impinge beyond known physiologic limits . fig4 to 6 show specific analytical steps used using the elbow as an example ( it will be appreciated that the method disclosed herein may be used with any body segments connected by an anatomical joint ). as shown in fig4 , the long axis of the upper arm passes through center of circles j 1 and j 2 ( biceps cross - section ) u 1 at distance r 1 from the sensor s 1 along the − z s1 axis . the elbow j 2 is located a distance d y below u 1 along − y b1 axis the shoulder j 1 is located a distance l 1 above j 2 along the + y b1 axis the orientation of the upper arm coordinate frame is assumed [ 0 , 0 , 0 ] degrees , thus its rotation matrix is an identity matrix . the relative rotation matrix : θ s1 b1 =[ φ s1 ] t [ φ b1 ] shoulder position in sensor coordinates : p s1 j1 =( j 1 − s 1 ) φ s1 t elbow position in sensor coordinates : p s1 j2 =( j 2 − s 1 ) φ s1 t fig5 ( top ) shows how shoulder and elbow are located relative to the upper arm sensor s 1 . next the wrist center is located from the forearm sensor located on the dorsal wrist surface , as shown in fig5 ( bottom ). ϕ b ⁢ ⁢ 2 = [ c xx c xy c xz c yx c yy c yz c zx c zy c zz ] the x - axis of the forearm system b 2 is assumed to be co - linear with the x - axis of the sensor system s 2 . therefore c x ={ c xx , c xy , c xz } is taken from the sensor rotation matrix φ s2 . the y - axis direction vector is found from c y = { x j 2 - x j 3 j 2 - j 3 _ , y j 2 - y j 3 j 2 - j 3 _ , z j 2 - z j 3 j 2 - j 3 _ } and the z - axis direction vector can be located by the cross - product c z = c x × c y . the relative rotation matrix : ƒ s2 b2 =[ φ s2 ] t [ φ b2 ] elbow position in sensor coordinates : p s2 j2 =( j 2 − s 2 )[ φ s2 ] t wrist position in sensor coordinates : p s2 j3 =( j 3 − s 2 )[ φ s2 ] t once the above - sensor - to - segment transformations have been stored ( in a separate file or database , and / or written to a header of a data file ), for any arbitrary trial ( arm activity ) the 6 - dof position and orientation of the skeletal body segment can be found , by inverse transformation using the sensor - to - segment transformation matrices . shoulder position in global coordinates : j 1 = s 1 + p s1 j1 φ s1 elbow position in global coordinates : j 2 ( 1 ) = s 1 + p s1 j2 φ s1 rotation matrix of upper arm : φ b1 = φ s1 θ s1 b1 elbow position in global coordinates : j 2 ( 2 ) = s 2 + p s2 j2 φ s2 wrist position in global coordinates : j 3 = s 2 + p s2 j3 φ s2 once the orientation of the upper arm and forearm is found in 3d space , we can then compute elbow angular displacements using the relative rotation matrix . θ j2 =[ φ b1 ][ φ b2 ] t , and which is easily solved for flexion / extension α , abduction / adduction β , and internal / external rotation γ , angles . this can be done using a cardan 3 - 1 - 2 decomposition of the rotation matrix , as embodied herein , or other matrix decomposition method known to those skilled in the art . as an illustrative example of one possible embodiment , consider the human elbow joint . the elbow has essentially two rotational degrees of freedom : flexion - extension and internal - external rotation . unfortunately ( for the modeler ), this motion is facilitated by the two forearm bones , which can move relative to one another . the elbow joint model is considerably simplified if we assume it behaves as a 2 - dof joint with axes of rotation passing through a fixed position on both segments . this requires that both fixed points on each segment are always coincident ( the center of rotation ) in space . the 6 - dof tracking of upper arm and forearm gives us a convenient opportunity to fine tune the anatomical model of the elbow . our initial measurements for locating the elbow was only to put the model through its first iteration . surely when we perform a range of motion task , the elbow on the upper arm j 2 ( 1 ) will not perfectly coincide with the elbow on the forearm j 2 ( 2 ) . the degree of mismatch tells us the degree we erred in finding the joint center of rotation from our simple anatomical model . we can improve this model , however , if we simply apply an iteration approach to finding the anatomical model which closes the apparent “ joint gap ”. the procedure is as follows : after calibration , the segment coordinate axes b and joint centers ( j i and j i + 1 ) can be expressed in sensor s coordinates . for multiple connected segments , each with a calibrated sensor , the endpoints of each segment can be found in global space . the time history of movement of the segments in global space is illustrated in fig6 . it is the joint gap that must be minimized . one way this might be done is to adjust the segment coordinate system b relative to s to minimize the joint gap . since the proximal and distal joint centers define the b long ( y ) axis , we are essentially just manipulating the segment long axes ( we can redo the cross - products to get the modified x and z axes later ) to find the best joint center location . assume we look at the relative movement of segment b 2 with respect to b 1 . the path of j 2 on segment b 2 ( j 2 ( 2 ) ) would trace a path relative to b 1 . it would coincide with the fixed center j 2 on b 1 ( j 2 ( 1 ) ) only once — at neutral position . now we simply average the path of j 2 ( 1 ) = j 2 ( 1 )′ and this becomes the new origin of b 1 ′ ( and passing through j 1 ). we then re - compute the segment b 1 axes , and compute their position and orientation relative to s 1 . now we do the same exercise , except for the distal segment &# 39 ; s j 2 location . get average j 2 ( 2 ) = j 2 ( 2 )′ to define new b 2 relative to s 2 . if we now re - run the analysis with the modified calibration , our joint gap should be smaller . the above can be run multiple times until the gap is minimized ( for example , when changes less than a specified threshold ( eg . 1 mm ) occur with each additional iteration ). 1 . collect range of motion data ( after static trial is done and applied ) a . compute trajectory of elbow center on upper arm j 2 ( 1 ) in global coordinates b . compute trajectory of elbow center on forearm j 2 ( 2 ) in global coordinates 3 . compute the rms distance e i between j 2 ( 1 ) and j 2 ( 2 ) 4 . transform j 2 ( 2 ) into b 1 coordinates = j 2 ( 2 ) b1 5 . find the mean of the excursion of j 2 ( 2 ) b1 : this becomes the new location of j 2 ( 1 )′ on b 1 . 7 . find the mean of the excursion of j 2 ( 1 ) b2 : this becomes the new location of j 2 ( 2 )′ on b 2 . 8 . from j 1 - j 2 ( 1 )′ and j 2 ( 2 )′ - j 3 re - compute the sensor - to - segment transformations . 10 . compare e i to previous e i − 1 . if less than a set threshold ( eg . 1 mm ), no further improvement expected . if greater than a set threshold , steps 4 - 10 are repeated . now recall that step 6 of fig1 shows the step consisting of active data collection mode . this step 6 is shown in more detail in the schematic block diagram of fig7 . once the device ( s ) are calibrated , the system is switched to active mode in step 28 . sampling rates and data storage protocol are determined by the data collection system being used , as taught by those in the field . during data collection mode the sensors capture data during tasks or activities of daily living as desired by the user in step 30 , and the sensor data transformed into skeletal movement kinematics using the stored sensor - to - segment calibration matrices in step 32 . finally , the skeletal kinematics are stored by the system in step 34 . finally recall that step 8 in fig1 showed the step consisting of monitoring and correcting for sensor slippage . this step is shown in more detail in the schematic block diagram of fig8 . the first step 36 is to monitor the joint gap magnitudes of all joints being measured during the data collection trial . if at any point in time the joint gap magnitude exceeds a given tolerance for a given period of time , the method we taught above describing the dynamic calibration in step 24 of fig3 and fig4 to 6 is automatically initiated and corrections made to the segment - to - sensor transformations “ on the fly ” in step 38 of fig8 . if the joint gap magnitude does not improve to tolerances with the above step , the data collection trial is halted in step 40 of fig8 . at this point the calibration step 4 of fig1 comprises of steps 16 through 26 in fig3 is re - initiated as required . it is believed that this document complies with the requirements of 35 u . s . c . 112 , as it provides sufficient information to enable those skilled in the art to build and use this invention . numerous modifications and alternative embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the forgoing description . accordingly , this description is illustrative only and is for the purpose of teaching those skilled in the art the best mode for carrying out the invention . details of the structure may vary substantially without departing from the spirit of the invention , and exclusive use of all modifications that come within the scope of the appended claims is reserved . it is intended that the invention be limited only to the extent required by the appended claims and the applicable rules of law . as used herein , the terms “ comprises ”, “ comprising ”, “ including ” and “ includes ” are to be construed as being inclusive and open ended , and not exclusive . specifically , when used in this specification including claims , the terms “ comprises ”, “ comprising ”, “ including ” and “ includes ” and variations thereof mean the specified features , steps or components are included . these terms are not to be interpreted to exclude the presence of other features , steps or components . lucchetti l , cappozzo a , cappello a , della croce u . skin movement artifact assessment and compensation in the estimation of knee - 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