Wearable gait monitoring apparatus, systems, and related methods

Abstract

Eyewear or any other suitable wearable device may include one or more sensors for monitoring the gait of an individual. Information from the one or more sensors is analyzed to identify one or more medical conditions associated with the individual or to assess an individual's recovery from a particular injury or medical procedure.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for:
 receiving, at a gait server, information obtained from at least one sensor worn adjacent the individual's head;   using, by the gait server, the information to assess the gait of the individual;   analyzing, by the gait server, the assessed gait using regression analysis techniques to determine whether the assessed gait includes one or more particular gait patterns that are associated with a particular medical condition; and   in response to determining that the assessed gait includes the one or more gait patterns, generating an alert that the individual may have the particular medical condition.   
     
     
         2 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one sensor is embedded into a pair of glasses worn by the individual. 
     
     
         3 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 2 , wherein the at least one sensor is a gyroscope. 
     
     
         4 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the step of using the information to assess the gait of the individual comprises:
 using the information to assess one or more movements of the individual's head as the individual ambulates; and   using the one or more movements of the individual's head to assess the gait of the individual.   
     
     
         5 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the step of analyzing the assessed gait to determine whether the assessed gait includes one or more particular gait patterns that are associated with a particular medical condition comprises:
 using the information to assess one or more movements of the individual's head as the individual ambulates; and   comparing the one or more movements of the individual's head with one or more head movements that are associated with the particular medical condition; and   at least partially in response to determining that the one or more movements of the individual's head are at least similar to one or more head movements that are associated with the particular medical condition, determining that the assessed gait includes one or more particular gait patterns that are associated with the particular medical condition.   
     
     
         6 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more gait patterns is foot drop. 
     
     
         7 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 6 , wherein the particular medical condition is a medical condition selected from a group consisting of: stroke, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, Charcot Marie Tooth disease, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, hereditary spastic paraplegia, and Friedrich's ataxia. 
     
     
         8 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more gait patterns is propulsive gait. 
     
     
         9 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the particular medical condition is a medical condition selected from a group consisting of: carbon monoxide poisoning, manganese poisoning, and Parkinson's disease. 
     
     
         10 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more gait patterns is waddling gait. 
     
     
         11 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 10 , wherein the particular medical condition is a medical condition selected from a group consisting of:
 congenital hip dysplasia, muscular dystrophy, and spinal muscle atrophy.   
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the step of analyzing the assessed gait to determine whether the assessed gait includes one or more particular gait patterns that are associated with a particular medical condition comprises:
 comparing one or more particular gait patterns from the assessed gait of the individual with the one or more gait patterns that are associated with the particular medical condition; and   in response to determining that the one or more particular gait patterns are at least substantially similar to the one or more gait patterns that are associated with the particular medical condition, determining that the assessed gait includes one or more particular gait patterns that are associated with a particular medical condition.   
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 12 , wherein the step of comparing one or more particular gait patterns from the assessed gait of the individual with the one or more gait patterns that are associated with the particular medical condition comprises comparing one or more relative peaks in linear acceleration associated with the assessed gait of the individual with one or more relative peaks in linear acceleration of the one or more gait patterns that are associated with the particular medical condition. 
     
     
         14 . A system for monitoring a gait of an individual, the system comprising:
 a pair of glasses comprising means for determining gait information to assess the gait of the individual, the gait information comprising at least first gait information associated with a first period of time and second gait information associated with a second period of time;   one or more processors operatively coupled to the means for determining gait information;   memory operatively coupled to the one or more processors, wherein the system comprises:   means for analyzing the gait information to determine whether the assessed gait includes one or more particular gait patterns that are associated with a particular medical condition; and   means for, at least partially in response to determining that the assessed gait includes the one or more gait patterns, generating an alert that the individual may have the particular medical condition.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the means for determining gait information comprises at least one sensor embedded into the glasses worn by the individual. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the first gait information and the second gait information comprises information corresponding to one or more movements of the individual's head as the individual ambulates, and
 wherein the means for analyzing the gait information to determine whether the assessed gait includes one or more particular gait patterns that are associated with the particular medical condition comprises utilizing regression analysis techniques to
 identify a first slope of a first line corresponding to one or more relative peaks in linear acceleration of the head of the individual over the first period of time to identify a first gait pattern of the individual; 
 identify a second slope of a second line corresponding to one or more relative peaks in linear acceleration of the head of the individual over the second period of time to identify a second gait pattern of the individual; 
 compare the first gait pattern to the second gait pattern by comparing the first slope of the first line to the second slope of the second line; 
 in response to comparing the first gait pattern to the second gait pattern, identifying the second gait pattern as an irregular gait pattern; and 
 analyzing, by the gait server, the irregular gait pattern to determine whether the irregular gait pattern includes one or more particular gait patterns that are associated the particular medical condition. 
   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the one or more gait patterns is selected from a group consisting of: foot drop, propulsive gait, and waddling gait. 
     
     
         18 . A system for monitoring a gait of an individual, the system comprising:
 a pair of glasses comprising one or more sensors for assessing the gait of the individual;   a computer system comprising a processor, the computer system being configured for:
 analyzing the assessed gait using regression analysis techniques to determine whether the assessed gait includes one or more gait patterns that are consistent with a particular medical state of an individual; and 
 in response to determining that the assessed gait includes the one or more gait patterns, generating an alert that communicates the particular medical state. 
   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the particular medical state includes an indication of the level of an individual's recovery from a medical procedure or from a particular injury. 
     
     
         20 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 18 , wherein the step of analyzing the assessed gait to determine whether the assessed gait includes one or more particular gait patterns that are consistent with a particular medical state of an individual comprises:
 using the information to assess one or more movements of the individual's head as the individual ambulates; and   comparing the one or more movements of the individual's head with one or more head movements that are consistent with a particular medical state of an individual; and   at least partially in response to determining that the one or more movements of the individual's head are consistent with the particular medical state, determining that the assessed gait includes one or more particular gait patterns that are consistent with the particular medical state.