Apparatus for clinically documenting postural vices and quantifying loads on body segments in static and dynamic conditions

Claim 1

An apparatus for clinically documenting postural vices, comprising in combination: a platform; a plurality of transducers arranged in proximity of said platform and measuring three mutually perpendicular components of the force exerted thereon by a subject to be examined carried on said platform, said transducers generating each an electric signal proportional to the vertical component of said force and two electric signals proportional to the resultants of the horizontal and vertical components, respectively, of said force; clock generator means; analog-to-digital converter means circuit-wise connected to said transducers and to said clock generator means so as to receive from said transducers said electric signals periodically at sampling times; TV camera means arranged in proximity to said platform and circuit-wise connected to said clock generator means so as to pick up the image of said subject on said platform synchronously with said electric signals; a processor unit circuit-wise connected to the output of said analog-to-digital converter means, said processor unit generating vectors representative of the resultants of the forces exerted by the subject on said platform calculating the application points of said vectors and driving analog and digital circuitry for directly representing said vectors; adder means circuit-wise connected to said TV camera means and said analog and digital circuitry for adding together said vectors and said picked up image; and monitor means circuit-wise connected to said adder means and said clock generator means for selectively displaying said vectors as overlapping the picked up image and said application points.

Claim 2

An apparatus for clinically documenting postural vices, comprising in combination: a platform; a plurality of transducers arranged in proximity of said platform and measuring three mutually perpendicular components of the force exerted thereon by a subject to be examined carried on said platform, said transducers generating each an electric signal proportional to the vertical component of said force and two electric signals proportional to the resultants of the horizontal and vertical components, respectively, of said force; clock generator means; analog-to-digital converter means circuit-wise connected to said transducers and to said clock generator means so as to receive from said transducers said electric signals periodically at sampling times; TV camera means arranged in proximity to said platform and circuit-wise connected to said clock generator means so as to pick up the image of said subject on said platform synchronously with said electric signals; a processor unit circuit-wise connected to the output of said analog-to-digital converter means, said processor unit generating vectors representative of the resultants of the forces exerted by the subject on said platform calculating the application points of said vectors and driving analog and digital circuitry for directly representing said vectors; adder means circuit-wise connected to said TV camera means and said analog and digital circuitry for adding together said vectors and said picked up image; and monitor means circuit-wise connected to said adder means and said clock generator means for selectively displaying said vectors as overlapping the picked up image and said application points.