TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method which are adapted to detect and/or measure the anatomical conformation of the leg.

There are multiple applications of the measuring apparatus according to the present invention, which range from post-traumatic rehabilitation to applications in the field of sports.

BACKGROUND ART

It is known that the anatomical conformation of the leg varies significantly from one person to the next, in particular with significant differences in the front and lateral tibial angles, i.e. detected on the front plane and on the sagittal plane.

These subjective differences in the anatomical conformation of the leg become highly important in several cases; however, it may be considered that the need and/or opportunity of exactly knowing the conformation of the leg occur more frequently in the field of sports, in particular in alpine skiing, where the sportsman/sportswoman wears rigid or semi-rigid footwear.

It is indeed necessary here to be able to determine the proper alignment between footwear and leg conformation.

Technical footwear which provides various possibilities of adjusting the inclination - on the front plane but also on the sagittal plane - of the cuff, that is the part of the shoe or boot surrounding the tibia, is indeed known on the market.

In particular, several variants of boots are known in the field of ski footwear, which allow to adjust the inclination of the cuff by means of devices selected for this purpose. Such devices may be provided both inside and outside the footwear, and actuate the "canting", as known in the field, i.e. the adjustment of the cuff inclination with respect to the vertical direction, mainly on a front plane but even on the sagittal plane in some cases.

It is therefore apparent that the optimal adjusting of the canting angles of the sports footwear is directly correlated to the anatomical conformation of the leg because the possibilities of adjusting the canting of the cuff are specifically studied to make the footwear more comfortable and to improve the sports performance of the user since it is adaptable to the individual anatomical conformation of the user.

Not only, by adjusting the canting of the boot, the distribution is varied of the weight on the skis and the angle itself of the ski to the ground.

As shown in figures 1 to 3, the most common natural anatomical conformations of the leg involve the knee substantially in axis on the same line as the leg and ankles (as in figure 1 ), or a situation of valgus knee (as in figure 2) in which the knees are inwards with respect to the vertical line passing through the ankle, or again a condition of varus knee (as shown in figure 3) in which the knees tend outwards with respect to the vertical line passing through the ankle.

It is thus understood how the assessment of the natural anatomical conformation of the leg is highly important in view of the modifications of the alignment of the canting of sports footwear, e.g. the ski boot. It should also indeed be considered that as the alignment of the leg varies and the distribution of weights varies according to said alignment, the angle of inclination of the boot varies with respect to the ground, and therefore the whole alignment of the skier varies.

It is therefore extremely important to know exactly which is the neutral position, i.e. for adjusting the canting of the boot which promotes the anatomical conformation of the leg of the user and which allows the sole of the boot to be perfectly parallel to the ground, so that the user may then adjust the canting should he/she want to obtain a different angle of inclination of the boot with respect to the ground.

It is indeed easy to comprehend how the adjustments of the canting made directly to the boot might not effectively generate the effects desired or might even generate the opposite effect to the one desired in the absence of an accurate datum concerning the actual anatomical conformation of the leg.

Therefore, in order to detect the actual anatomical conformation of the leg of the user, measuring tools are currently in use which substantially are based on the manual use of a mechanical goniometer.

The measurement currently is taken manually by a technician who positions a mechanical goniometer to which a rod is simply connected, and spots from the minimum distance possible allowed by the conformation of the leg, again manually taking the measurement. The technician holds the goniometer resting at the ankle and measures the angle of inclination of the leg on a front plane while keeping the rod connected to the goniometer adhering to the tibia as much as possible.

This manner of manually and mechanically taking the measurement of the anatomical conformation of the leg has several drawbacks.

The main drawback among them consists of the lack of accuracy of the measurement taken because it is detected in a highly approximate manner, so much so as not to be certainly repeatable, and therefore it is not reliable.

The cause of the lack of accuracy in the measurement is not so much due to the reading of the angle indicated by the goniometer by the technician taking the measurement as to the approximate and unstable positioning of the measuring tool along the patient's leg and to the difficulty in accurately identifying the points at which to take the measurement.

In order to overcome such drawbacks, the same Applicant has developed a device for measuring the anatomical conformation of the leg described in granted European Patent EP 2460429 B1 .

Such a device allows to take an accurate and repeatable measurement of the inclination of the leg, thus overcoming the limitations of the other systems known from the background art, however it results in the drawback of a significant manual intervention by the operator in the step of positioning the laser pointers for detecting the points of interest, which is a rather delicate step because the pointers are to be properly positioned.

Moreover, an apparatus for detecting the conformation of the leg is known from document WO 2014/191849, which apparatus is based on the re-elaboration on computer of images of the leg detected by means of video camera and/or photo camera.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

It is the task of the present invention to provide an apparatus for measuring the anatomical conformation of the leg which allows to eliminate the drawbacks affecting the devices known from the background art, also with reference to the solution above developed by the same Applicant.

Within the scope of this task, it is the object of the present invention to provide a device for measuring the anatomical conformation of the leg, which allows the tibial conformation both on the front plane and on the sagittal plane to be correctly measured in an accurate, reliable and repeatable manner, while minimizing the manual intervention by the operator.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a measuring device which automatically measures the angles involved, thereby significantly limiting the manual intervention by the operator.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a solution (apparatus and/or method) which allows to acquire images of the leg, and manage, especially reprocess, the images acquired by means of a personal computer, tablet or smartphone or any suitable device, to which the image acquisition device is directly connected.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a device which, once the input data (especially images) related to the anatomical conformation of the leg have been acquired by using a dedicated software, provides the preferable output angle to be set on the cuff of the boots, again on the front plane, according to the technical level of the athlete.

Considering both the problems and/or drawbacks detected in apparatuses according to the known art and the objects summarized above, according to a first embodiment, the present invention relates to an apparatus for measuring the anatomical conformation of the leg which preferably comprises a support frame, image acquiring and processing means movably associated with said support frame and a data processing control unit in data communication with said image acquiring and processing means.

Advantageously, according to one variant, said image acquiring and processing means comprise a video camera or alternatively a photo camera or similar devices. According to one embodiment, said data processing control unit comprises a computer and/or a tablet and/or a smartphone.

According to one embodiment, said apparatus further comprises driving means for moving on a plane said image acquiring and processing means.

According to one embodiment, said driving means comprise at least two mutually orthogonal linear guides lying on a front plane.

According to one embodiment, said two linear guides comprise a first horizontal guide associated with the base of said frame for moving along the transverse direction of said image acquiring and processing means, and a second vertical guide slidably associated with said first horizontal guide.

According to one embodiment, said image acquiring and processing means are slidably associated with said second vertical guide, thus being movable along the vertical direction defined by said second vertical guide, which in turn is movable along said first horizontal guide associated with said base of said frame.

According to one embodiment, said apparatus comprises an area on said base of said frame in which the subject whose anatomical measurement is to be acquired may be positioned frontally or laterally with respect to said image acquiring and processing means.

According to one embodiment, said image acquiring and processing means comprise an integrated lighting system, said apparatus further comprising a reflective panel positioned behind said area.

According to one embodiment, said apparatus comprises motorized actuating means for moving the movable parts, said motorized actuating means being controlled by an electronic control unit which may be programmed with dedicated software.

According to one embodiment, said apparatus further comprises a memory unit in which values related to the angle of inclination of the boot cuff are pre-stored according to the data related to the anatomical conformation of the leg and of other input data.

The present invention further relates to a method for measuring the anatomical conformation of the leg, comprising the following steps:

- preparing an apparatus for measuring the anatomical conformation of the leg according to one of the embodiments summarized above, and therefore comprising a support frame, image acquiring and processing means movably associated with said support frame, and a data processing control unit in data communication with said image acquiring and processing means;

- positioning said image acquiring and processing means at a first leg of a subject;

- keeping said image acquiring and processing means in the position chosen by the operator; - acquiring the image of said first leg through said image acquiring and processing means;

- through the data processing control unit in data communication with said image acquiring and processing means, processing the image of said first leg so as to determine a first point and a second point on said first leg;

- through said data processing control unit, drawing the straight line passing through said first and second points and measuring the angle between said straight line and a vertical axis passing through said first point.

According to one embodiment, said first point is at the middle point of the profile of the leg ankle, while said second point is at the middle point of the profile of the leg calf.

According to one embodiment, said method further comprises the following steps: comparing the data detected by the apparatus and/or entered in the control unit by the operator with the values of inclination of the boot cuff pre-stored in a memory unit of said control unit.

The present invention also relates to the use of the apparatus for measuring the anatomical conformation of the leg according to any one of the embodiments summarized above, to adjust the inclination of the boot cuff.

Possible further embodiments of the present invention are defined in the claims. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

With reference to the drawings, a description is given below of the embodiments of the present invention depicted therein, however the present invention is not limited to the embodiments depicted in the drawings and described in detail below.

In the drawings:

Figures 1 to 3 show various possible natural anatomical configurations of the leg of a person, with neutral, varus and valgus configuration, respectively;

Figure 4 shows a perspective front assembly view of a first preferred embodiment of the measuring apparatus according to the present invention;

Figure 5 shows a perspective back assembly view of the apparatus in figure 4. Figures 6 to 8 show the main steps of the method according to one embodiment of the present invention.

According to the embodiment of the present invention depicted in figures 4 and 5 by way of a non-limiting example, apparatus 1 for measuring the anatomical conformation of the leg comprises a support frame 10, in turn comprising at least one horizontal base 11 intended to rest on the ground, and possibly anchored thereto, and image acquiring and processing means associated with said frame 10. For example, said image acquiring and processing means may comprise at least one camera 21 or a photo camera, which is movable along suitable driving means along two mutually orthogonal directions, a horizontal one and a vertical one, where "horizontal" means the direction defined by the ground on which base 11 rests. In particular, according to the embodiment depicted in figures 4 and 5, said driving means comprise at least two mutually orthogonal linear guides 22, 23, arranged according to the horizontal and vertical directions, as mentioned.

Due to the driving means, the measuring camera 21 may be properly positioned by the technical operator at the portion of leg at which the measurement is to be taken so as to properly frame said portion of the leg in the video camera or photo camera. Moreover, the image acquiring and processing means 21 are in data communication with a data processing control unit (not shown in the figures) consisting of e.g. a computer or a tablet or a smartphone, to which the video camera or photo camera 21 is connected in data communication to transfer the images.

Said video camera or photo camera 21 therefore is slidably associated with said mutually orthogonal linear guides 22, 23. In particular, the movement of the video camera 21 along the guides may occur manually by the technician or alternatively in an automated manner by means of the use of electrical motors or similar remote- controlled actuators, possibly by means of said data processing unit.

Suitable blocking means for keeping the video camera or photo camera 21 in the position decided on by the operator are provided on the guides, in particular in case of manual movement. Said blocking means may e.g. consist of a stop which may be selectively engaged and disengaged by the technician so as to prevent or allow the sliding of the video camera 21 along the vertical guide 23 and the vertical guide 23 along the horizontal guide 22, respectively.

The video camera or photo camera 21 is therefore conveniently supported in a movable manner by the driving means comprising the linear guides 22, 23.

In particular, the first horizontal guide 22 arranged at the bottom, and arranged on base 11 and possibly anchored thereto, allows the sliding in transverse direction, alternatively in the two opposite translation directions (from left to right and from right to left with respect to the figures), on a front plane, of the second guide 23 which is substantially orthogonal to the first guide 22, when the mutual restraint between the video camera or photo camera 21 and the second guide 23 is such as to allow the translation of the video camera or photo camera 21 along the second guide 23 and therefore alternatively upward and downward along the vertical direction, therefore transverse to the first guide 22, again on the front plane.

Due to the movement possibility in these two directions, the operator may position the video camera 21 on the front plane manually or by actuating actuator means, as mentioned.

An important feature of the present invention may be noted from the preceding description: the fact that the second vertical guide 23 may be translated along a direction which is substantially perpendicular to the "pointing" direction of the video camera or photo camera 21 , when pointing direction means the direction toward the space arranged in front of the lens of the video camera or photo camera 21 , coinciding with or at least parallel to the longitudinal axis of said lens. Thereby, any portion of the leg of a user may be framed by means of the video camera or photo camera 21 , whatever the position of the user on the platform or base 1 1 .

However, to facilitate the framing of the desired portion of the leg of a user on the platform or base 1 1 , an area 1 1 a in which the athlete may stand is identified on platform 1 1 , as depicted. Advantageously, such an area 1 1 a is delimited on the base itself by a line or other reference marks.

Therefore, the athlete stands in area 11a defined on the base and the operator moves the second guide 23 along the first guide 22 and/or the video camera or photo camera 21 along the second guide 23 so as to position the video camera 21 properly at one of the two legs of the athlete.

When the positioning has been properly performed, the video camera is firmly blocked in the position set using the blocking means (possibly) provided and the operator enables the data processing control unit, for example as mentioned consisting of a personal computer, so that a dedicated software automatically acquires the image of the leg detected by the video camera 21 in that moment. The software detects the middle point of the ankle and calf directly on the image from the image acquired, while assessing the smallest and largest profile of the leg, respectively.

Therefore, the control unit processes the information by calculating the inclination of the straight line passing through the two middle points acquired with respect to the vertical, and provides the measurement requested.

The same sequence may be repeated for the other leg by taking advantage of the guides 22, 23 to position the video camera at the point which allows the proper acquisition of the front image of the second leg.

The apparatus according to the present invention advantageously further provides an integrated lighting system in the camera 10 and a reflective panel 11 positioned behind area 11a and positioned on a front plane, so as to improve the quality of the measurement taken by the video camera.

The present invention also relates to a method for measuring the anatomical conformation of the leg, comprising the following steps:

Preparing an apparatus 1 for measuring the anatomical conformation of the leg of a subject, as described herein;

- Positioning the image acquiring and processing means 21 of said apparatus at the first leg of the subject;

- Acquiring the image of said first leg through said image acquiring and processing means 21 ;

- Through said data processing control unit, processing the image of said first leg so as to determine a first point (M1 ) of said leg and a second point (M2) of said leg, on said first leg;

- Through said data processing control unit, drawing the straight line passing through said first (M1 ) and second (M2) points of the leg and measuring the angle between said straight line and a vertical axis passing through said first point at the ankle;

- Enabling the data processing control unit and saving the data of interest, in particular the angle of inclination of said straight line, in a memory unit of said control unit;

- Moving said image acquiring and processing means 21 at the second leg and repeating the sequence of measuring operations.

Advantageously, said first and second points of said leg consist of the middle point (M1 ) of the ankle and the middle point (M2) of the calf determined as the middle point of the profile of the ankle and middle point of the profile of the calf, respectively. In particular, the operation of the measuring apparatus 1 according to the present invention may be summarized as follows.

The user stands facing forward on base 11 , standing inside area 11a (when identified), and therefore positioning the front part of his/her leg toward the measuring instrument 21.

The technician positions the camera or photo camera 21 in front of the leg to be measured. The software processes and shows the results of the measurement being taken in real time and once the operator has consented, saves the data of interest related to the leg (left and/or right) measured. The vision system automatically measures the inclination of the leg according to the following algorithm:

- First middle point M1 preferably at the height of the ankle: the software detects the height in the lower part of the leg, at which the leg has the smallest profile. The first middle point M1 is automatically saved at such a height;

- Second middle point M2 preferably at the height of the calf: the software detects the height in the middle-to-high part of the leg, at which the leg has the largest profile. The second point middle point M2 is automatically saved at such a height.

- The inclination of the straight line passing through the two points M1 , M2 identified with respect to the vertical automatically calculated by the software, is the measurement of the angle of the leg.

According to the image and data displayed on the computer, the operator may possibly act on the measurement automatically taken by correcting it or improving it by means of a dedicated software, when and if required. For example, the operator may set or correct the measuring heights for the middle points M1 and M2 related to the ankle and calf.

Once the measuring of the first leg is complete, the operator positions the video camera in front of the other leg by means of the specific horizontal guide. Once the video camera has been positioned, the angle of the second leg may be measured and the data related to the athlete saved.

The device also allows to measure the inclination of the boot.

In such a case, the process is similar to that described, with the difference that the points B1 and B2 are detected by means of specific adhesive markers properly positioned by the operator on the back of the boot.

Even more specifically, the measurement of the inclination on a front plane of the boot cuff is taken by positioning the boots in area 11a (when identified) of said base 11 so that the rear part of the boots is facing the image processing and acquiring means.

The operator will have applied two adhesive markers at two points of the cuff beforehand so that the system may acquire position B1 and B2 of the two markers and draw the straight line passing through them.

Thereby, after detecting the anatomical measurement of the athlete's leg, the inclination of the cuff of the boots may be set according to the angle desired.

Advantageously, as mentioned, the data processing control unit comprises said memory unit in which not only may the data acquired during the measuring step be saved, but advantageously in which the data may be stored related to the angle of inclination suggested for the boot cuff according to the data related to the anatomical conformation of the leg, to the level of experience and/or performance of the athlete, and to other data which may for example consist of the type of specialty in which the athlete intends competing, e.g. slalom, giant slalom, downhill, and so forth. The correlation between the input data - some such as the anatomical measurement of the leg detected by the apparatus, others such as the level of performance and/or experience of the athlete and the type of competition entered by the operator - are automatically processed by the software which compares them with the data stored in the memory unit, thus providing the output inclination value suggested for the boot cuff.

The correlation between input data and output data was processed by the same Applicant.

Once the output data represented by the inclination of the boot are obtained, the operator associates the markers required to identify the points B1 and B2 on the cuff with the rear part of the boots, positions the boots in area 11a of the apparatus and measures the inclination on the front plane of the straight line passing through points B1 and B2, thus acquiring the measurement of the inclination of the leg with respect to a vertical axis.

The operator may make successive modifications to the inclination of the cuff up until the measurement taken by the apparatus coinciding with the optimal measurement returned as output data by the software.

The measuring apparatus according to the present invention also allows to measure the anatomical parameters of the leg on a sagittal plane with the same method described for the anatomical measurement of the leg on a front plane. In order to detect the conformation of the leg on the sagittal plane, the user may stand on base 11 , in area 11a, while positioning the side of his/her leg toward the measuring tool. With reference to figures 6 to 8, a detailed description of the image acquiring and reprocessing procedure is given below.

Leg inclination measurement

Camera 21 acquires, e.g. continuously acquires, the image of the leg g of the subject from the front. For this purpose, the reflective panel arranged on the bottom (not depicted in drawings 6 to 8) helps to create an adequate contrast. Camera 21 especially acquires and processes the profile of leg g by identifying a series of points N at different heights but with maximum distance preferably under 5 mm. The different heights being indicated with i, camera 21 detects, for each of said levels (of said heights) i, the points of the edges of leg x1 i and x2i (as per the image in figure 6) by detecting the leading and trailing color intensity of the pixels detected on the image.

The camera saves the coordinates (x1 i, yi), (x2i, yi) related to the edge of the leg for each height y=1 ÷N. The group of such points allows the profile of the leg to be determined (in particular, extrapolated).

The profile is then automatically managed (figure 7) and the maximum distance Dmax and minimum distance Dmin identifying the profile of the leg are detected. Dmax and Dmin are automatically calculated as follows:

Dmin=min(x2i-x1 i), where=1 ÷N

Dmax=max(x2i-x1 i), where i=1 ÷N

Moreover, the heights at such two reference distances are saved: imax and imin. Such heights are especially made to correspond to the position of ankle and calf.

Finally, the middle point is calculated both for the ankle and for the calf, which are indicated by M 1 for the ankle and M2 for the calf, respectively.

M 1 =(x2imin-Xl imin)/2

M2=(x2imax-Xl imax)/2

Angle a of the leg is then calculated with respect to the vertical axis:

W 2 Vm '

with the convention of assigning a negative angle to legs with valgus-type dysmetria and a positive angle for legs with varus-type dysmetria.

The software is also configured to manage a table which automatically determines the angle suggested for the boot according to the level of the athlete and the type of competition.

The angle of the boot is verified as follows.

Boot inclination measurement (figure 8)

Camera 21 acquires, preferably from the back and continuously, the image of boot S on which two reflective markers B1 and B2 are carefully positioned on the reference axis.

Therefore, the system reprocesses the image of the boot by automatically identifying the coordinates of the centers of the two markers (XBI , YB-I) and (XB2, YB2).

Angle β of the leg is then calculated with respect to the vertical axis:

also in this case with the convention of assigning a negative angle to valgus-type boots and a positive angle for varus-type boots.

It has thus been shown how the measuring apparatus and method for measuring the anatomical conformation of the leg according to the present invention allow to achieve the preset objects and objectives.

For example, by means of the apparatus and method for measuring the anatomical conformation of the leg according to the present invention, there is the advantage of directly acquiring the measurement on the computer, tablet, smartphone, visually verifying the proper execution, and storing a multiplicity of data and readings so as to also collect a statistical indication of the measurements detected and to create a reference databank which is useful for tracing the features of each individual athlete. Moreover, it is also a further significant advantage to be able to save the data in a memory unit and to print them even later, not only by being able to always extract the numerical data acquired and determined, but also the images related to the measurement, with the points of interest being noted.

A further advantage with respect to the background art also consists in that by minimizing the intervention of the operator, the user is able to hold a natural and comfortable position and moreover for a reduced time: therefore, the posture is less affected by the step of taking the measurements.

The operator may also advantageously focus on the quality of the measurement, since his/her intervention for positioning the measuring tool is minimized.

Although the present description was clarified by the detailed description given above of the embodiments depicted in the drawings, the scope of protection of the claims is not limited to the embodiments described above and depicted in the drawings; contrarily, the scope of the present invention is defined by the claims. In this sense, for example, the movement by means of motorization, for example electric motorization, of the movable parts of the apparatus may be obtained by means of electric, electronic, automated motorizations, and/or servo motorizations assisted by specific software program by means of a PC, according to modifications made by those skilled in the art.