Patent ID: 7850624

Claim:
A muscle thickness sensor for detecting muscle thickness over a bone structure, said muscle thickness sensor comprising: a rigid frame dimensioned for contact placement on a skin surface over a muscle of interest, said muscle of interest having a unique size and shape, wherein said rigid frame comprises a rigid top member having a top surface, a bottom surface, a size and a shape configurable to coincide with said unique size and shape of the muscle of interest and a plurality of supporting members for supporting said rigid top member off of said skin surface; an elastic compressive deformation sensor disposed within said rigid frame and comprising an elastically compressible central structure comprising a top surface in contact with said rigid top member bottom surface and a bottom surface having contact with the skin surface, wherein a contraction of a muscle of interest is sensed by an elastic compressive deformation of said central structure within the rigid frame when said muscle of interest undergoes said contraction; an electrical circuit disposed on said rigid top member top surface for converting said sensed elastic compressive deformation into a detectable electrical signal having a magnitude relative to the thickness of the muscle of interest; and, a computer for receiving said detectable electrical signal and processing the detectable electrical signal into a measurement of muscle thickness.