公开(公告)号：US06784826B2

公开(公告)日：2004-08-31

申请号：US09770237

申请日：2001-01-26

Applicant: Ronald J. Kane ,  David Stevenson Spain, Jr.

Inventor： Ronald J. Kane ,  David Stevenson Spain, Jr.

IPC: G01S1300

CPC classification number: G01S5/0205 ,  A61B5/1038 ,  G01S5/02 ,  G01S5/04 ,  G01S5/10

Abstract: Methods and apparatus are disclosed for measuring position and motion of a “marker” antenna (14), disposed on a subject (12) at a physical location to be tracked. Relative distance of the marker antenna (14) from receiving antennas (18) is measured by phase differences of its microwave signals (40) at the receiving antennas (18) for at least two successive marker positions. Alternatively, actual distances (104, 106) are calculated by choosing a source position (102) and iterating the distances (104, 106) until the calculated phase differences match those measured. Four to six receiving antennas (18) are positioned at edges of a volume (16) where activity is conducted. Each received signal (40) is amplified and down-converted in a mixer (44). A single reference oscillator (46) feeds all the mixers (42) to preserve phase relationships of the received signals. Received signals (40) are digitized and presented to a multi-channel digital tuner (50). Phase relationships are preserved because all of the signal processing up to this step is “coherent”. The digital data is fed (51) to a main computer and processed by algorithm to estimate the marker antenna's position relative to each receiving antenna (18). The apparatus is especially applicable to clinical gait analysis, sports medicine, industrial, military and entertainment uses.

Abstract translation: 公开了用于测量设置在被跟踪的物理位置处的被摄体（12）上的“标记”天线（14）的位置和运动的方法和装置。 标记天线（14）与接收天线（18）的相对距离通过其在接收天线（18）处的至少两个连续标记位置的其微波信号（40）的相位差来测量。 或者，通过选择源位置（102）并迭代距离（104,106）来计算实际距离（104,106），直到计算的相位差与所测量的相位差相匹配。 四到六个接收天线（18）位于进行活动的体积（16）的边缘。 每个接收信号（40）在混频器（44）中被放大和下变频。 单个参考振荡器（46）馈送所有混频器（42）以保持接收信号的相位关系。 接收信号（40）被数字化并呈现给多声道数字调谐器（50）。 保留相位关系，因为直到该步骤的所有信号处理都是“一致的”。 数字数据被馈送到主计算机并通过算法进行处理以估计标记天线相对于每个接收天线（18）的位置。 该仪器特别适用于临床步态分析，运动医学，工业，军事和娱乐用途。