Electronic angular position and range of motion measuring device and method

Claim 1

A method for measuring relative angular positional displacement between two locations on a single body segment or articulating joint of a human skeleton comprising the steps of: placing a front end of an interface unit of an electronic device against a first location on the body segment or articulating joint wherein the body segment or articulating joint is at a first anatomical postion and wherein the interface unit includes a shaft mounted within a housing of the interface unit, an optical encoder mounted on a first end of the shaft and a pendulum mounted on a second end of the shaft; generating in the interface unit a first reference electrical signal representative of a first angular position of the body segment or articulating joint at the first location; placing the front end of the interface unit against a second location on the body segment or articulating joint wherein the body segment or articulating joint remains at the first anatomical position; generating in the interface unit a second reference electrical signal representative of a second angular position of the body segment or articulating joint at the second location; moving the body segment or articulating joint to a second anatomical position resulting in a third angular position at the second location of the body segment or articulating joint, wherein the front end of the interface unit remains against the second location; generating in the interface unit a third electrical signal representative of the angular displacement between the first angular position and the third angular position; placing the front end of the interface unit against the first location on the body segment or articulating joint resulting in a fourth angular position at the first location, wherein the body segment or articulating joint remains at the second anatomical position; generating in the interface unit a fourth electrical signal representative of the angular displacement between the first angular position and the fourth angular position; and calculating a difference between the third electrical signal and the fourth electrical signal thereby determining relative angular positional displacement between the first location and the second location on the body segment or articulating joint.

Claim 2

A method for measuring relative angular positional displacement between two locations on a single body segment or articulating joint of a human skeleton comprising the steps of: placing a front end of an interface unit of an electronic device against a first location on the body segment or articulating joint wherein the body segment or articulating joint is at a first anatomical postion and wherein the interface unit includes a shaft mounted within a housing of the interface unit, an optical encoder mounted on a first end of the shaft and a pendulum mounted on a second end of the shaft; generating in the interface unit a first reference electrical signal representative of a first angular position of the body segment or articulating joint at the first location; placing the front end of the interface unit against a second location on the body segment or articulating joint wherein the body segment or articulating joint remains at the first anatomical position; generating in the interface unit a second reference electrical signal representative of a second angular position of the body segment or articulating joint at the second location; moving the body segment or articulating joint to a second anatomical position resulting in a third angular position at the second location of the body segment or articulating joint, wherein the front end of the interface unit remains against the second location; generating in the interface unit a third electrical signal representative of the angular displacement between the first angular position and the third angular position; placing the front end of the interface unit against the first location on the body segment or articulating joint resulting in a fourth angular position at the first location, wherein the body segment or articulating joint remains at the second anatomical position; generating in the interface unit a fourth electrical signal representative of the angular displacement between the first angular position and the fourth angular position; and calculating a difference between the third electrical signal and the fourth electrical signal thereby determining relative angular positional displacement between the first location and the second location on the body segment or articulating joint.