An apparatus for measuring muscle condition comprising an upper housing having a top; a lower housing having a base at one end and a top member at another end and a guide member adjacent to the top member; a probe member connected to the upper housing and having an end cap which, when the apparatus is at rest, is adjacent to the base to thereby define a plane, and a bias member attached to the end cap at one end and attached to the top member of the lower housing at another end, the probe member being slidably attached to the lower housing; a force measuring sensor for measuring the amount of force being exerted when the top of the apparatus is pressed; a shift measuring sensor for measuring the distance the probe member moves beyond the base; and a controller to direct the number of single measurements of force and of shift to be taken during a single measurement cycle, to control the amount of force to be exerted at each single measurement, to record measurement data collected, to derive a measurement average for a session constituting more than one measurement cycle, and to display and compare measurement averages between sessions.
The device is a portable non-invasive device which uses purely mechanical components to measure the hardness of muscle or muscle compartment. It is comprised of two long members coupled rotationally in a scissor-like manner with the handles on one side of the hinge and the graspers on the other side. Built onto the device is a mechanism to modulate the extent of compression of the muscle via a calibrated block situated across the members so that a predetermined amount of compression of the muscle will occur as the distance between the handles is decreased manually by the operator. The force necessary to compress the muscle by the set predetermined amount is measured by the distention of the spring mechanism attached to the handle.
A system and method are disclosed for noninvasively diagnosing limb compartment syndrome by measuring a quantitative modulus of hardness. In the preferred embodiment, a nonmovable pressure probe mounted in the center of a movable spring loaded platform is applied against a limb compartment. Force is gradually applied to the probe and the platform, compressing a limb compartment. Pressure on the probe is measured as the probe pushes into the limb. The spring loaded platform displaces, and the distance of the probe tip to the platform is measured. This distance is the depth of compression into the limb by the probe. The relationship of incremental pressures in the probe and the corresponding distance of the probe tip to the platform for each pressure is plotted. A linear regression analysis is preformed whose slope forms a quantitative modulus of hardness.
A system and method are disclosed for noninvasively diagnosing limb compartment syndrome by measuring a quantitative modulus of hardness. In the preferred embodiment, a nonmovable pressure probe mounted in the center of a movable spring loaded platform is applied against a limb compartment. Force is gradually applied to the probe and the platform, compressing a limb compartment. Pressure on the probe is measured as the probe pushes into the limb. The spring loaded platform displaces, and the distance of the probe tip to the platform is measured. This distance is the depth of compression into the limb by the probe. The relationship of incremental pressures in the probe and the corresponding distance of the probe tip to the platform for each pressure is plotted. A linear regression analysis is performed whose slope forms a quantitative modulus of hardness.
A system and method are disclosed for noninvasively diagnosing limb compartment syndrome by measuring a quantitative modulus of hardness. In the preferred embodiment, a nonmovable pressure probe mounted in the center of a movable spring loaded platform is applied against a limb compartment. Force is gradually applied to the probe and the platform, compressing a limb compartment. Pressure on the probe is measured as the probe pushes into the limb. The spring loaded platform displaces, and the distance of the probe tip to the platform is measured. This distance is the depth of compression into the limb by the probe. The relationship of incremental pressures in the probe and the corresponding distance of the probe tip to the platform for each pressure is plotted. A linear regression analysis is preformed whose slope forms a quantitative modulus of hardness.
