BACKGROUND

Field of Invention

The present invention relates to an elbow joint rehabilitation system and an elbow joint rehabilitation method. More particularly, the present invention relates to an elbow joint rehabilitation system and an elbow joint rehabilitation method for spasm relieving.

Description of Related Art

With the development of medical technologies and the improvement of environmental health, the average life expectancy in the world has been prolonged in recent decades. However, the number of patients suffering brain and nervous diseases also increases with changes of eating habits and increase of living stress. If the central nervous system is damaged, a sequela such as limb hemiplegia would be induced, and thus the body cannot freely move. Consequently, health cares to the limb hemiplegia caused by brain or nerve damage and medical issues need to be concerned. On the other hand, more and more traffic and sports injuries happen as traffic and sports activities become more frequent. If a nerve or a muscle is damaged, the damaged part of the patient would not move normally. For a patient who has a body movement problem, the quality of rehabilitation treatment would affect the recovery effect and speed. In general, if a patient's health status can be accurately evaluated and a suitable treatment can be provided, the patient recovery status can be improved, and the rehabilitation duration of the patient can be effectively reduced.

SUMMARY

An aspect of the present invention provides an elbow joint rehabilitation system and an elbow joint rehabilitation method adapted for elbow joint rehabilitation of a patient. When spasms occur during the elbow joint rehabilitation performed, a relieving operation is performed on the arm having the spasms to protect the arm of the patient from being damaged.

The above elbow joint rehabilitation system includes a support member, a motor, a torque sensing unit, a first electromyography sensor, a second electromyography sensor and a motor control device. The support member is configured to support an arm of a patient. The motor is configured to drive the support member to perform elbow joint rehabilitation, and to provide a current position of the support member. The torque sensing unit is configured to sense the torque applied on the support member to output a sensed arm torque signal. The first electromyography sensor is configured to sense a muscle activity of biceps of the patient to output a first electromyography signal. The second electromyography sensor is configured to sense a muscle activity of triceps of the patient to output a second electromyography signal. The motor control device is electrically connected to the torque sensing unit, the first electromyography sensor, the second electromyography sensor and the motor to control the motor in accordance with the current position of the support member, the sensed arm torque signal, the first electromyography signal and the second electromyography signal.

In some embodiments, the motor control device includes an impedance control module and an impedance module. The impedance control module is configured to output an impedance adjustment signal in accordance with the current position of the support member, the first electromyography signal and the second electromyography signal. The impedance module is configured to receive the impedance adjustment signal and to provide a first torque signal in accordance with the impedance adjustment signal to adjust the torque provided by the motor.

In some embodiments, the impedance control module is further configured to determine if the motor control device performs a spasm relieving mode in accordance with the first electromyography signal and the second electromyography signal.

In some embodiments, the motor control device further includes a proportional-integral controller configured to output a second torque signal in accordance with the first torque signal to adjust the torque provided by the motor.

In some embodiments, the first electromyography sensor and the second electromyography sensor are electrodes.

In the above elbow joint rehabilitation method, at first, a support member is provided to support an arm of a patient. Then, a current position of the support member is provided by using a motor. Thereafter, the torque applied on the support member is sensed by using a torque sensing unit to obtain a sensed arm torque signal. Thereafter, a muscle activity of biceps of the patient is sensed by using a first electromyography sensor to obtain a first electromyography signal. Then, a muscle activity of triceps of the patient is sensed by using a second electromyography sensor to obtain a second electromyography signal. Thereafter, the motor is controlled in accordance with the current position of the support member, the sensed arm torque signal, the first electromyography signal and the second electromyography signal to drive the support member to perform elbow joint rehabilitation.

In some embodiments, the step for controlling the motor in accordance with the current position of the support member, the sensed arm torque signal, the first electromyography signal and the second electromyography signal includes determining if the first electromyography signal is greater than a first electromyography signal threshold to provide a first determination result; determining if the second electromyography signal is greater than a second electromyography signal threshold to provide a second determination result; and when one of the first determination result and the second determination result is no, a normal rehabilitation mode is performed.

In some embodiments, when both the first determination result and the second determination result are yes, a spasm relieving mode is performed.

In some embodiments, the normal rehabilitation mode includes: controlling the motor to drive the support member to exercise the arm of the patient within a range of bending angle, in which the range of bending angle is from 5 degrees to 90 degrees.

In some embodiments, the spasm relieving mode includes: controlling the motor to drive the support member to exercise the arm of the patient within a range of bending angle, in which the range of bending angle is from 90 degrees to 75 degrees.

