Newly-Patented Design in Treadmills - The Force Sensing
Treadmill
The
Force Sensing Treadmill is a new design invented by research physiologists at the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental
Medicine (USARIEM). It's a totally new design in treadmills where
each foot gets individual attention - the so-called Force Sensing Treadmill.
This best treadmill design
features one rolling belt in front of another, each with its own independent
force platform attached to a common chassis. The Force Sensing Treadmill was
built by Advanced Mechanical Technology Inc. of Watertown, Mass.
The force sensing treadmill gathers more and higher quality data during gait
studies in much shorter time than traditional methods, said Peter Frykman, who
along with Everett Harman and Michael LaFiandra invented the treadmill as an
upgrade to the existing force platform used in the Center for Military
Biomechanics Research, a facility shared by USARIEM and the Natick Soldier
Center at the U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center here.
“The new force sensing treadmill is a unique tool that addresses the gait
biomechanics of marching Soldiers,” Frykman said. “During previous gait studies,
the test subjects had to step on the force plate just right. That made it very
hard to walk naturally. In addition, you had to assume that what was happening
on the right foot was happening to the left foot as well.”
The idea of joining two separate rolling belts on a treadmill has been
attempted, but they were positioned laterally to each other rather than
fore-aft, said Harman. Because the left and right foot tends to cross over or
overlap the body’s midline as each lands, he said that design makes it
impossible to walk naturally while keeping each foot on a separate belt. By
positioning the two rolling belts front and back moving at the same speed,
separate information on the 3-D forces and torques on each foot can be collected
during walking or running on the force sensing treadmill the entire time either
foot is in contact with the belt.
“If you stand on a scale to measure your weight, you can’t determine what
pressure each foot is exerting,” Frykman said, illustrating how a single-belt
force-platform treadmill can’t do the job. “With the force sensing treadmill,
you’re never situated where both feet are on the same belt at the same time. To
get a good analysis, you need to know the force on each foot separately.”
Frykman said data collection from each foot is especially important while
walking because during part of the stride, both feet are touching the ground at
the same time. That is when a single force platform under a treadmill belt
cannot tell how much of the total force is on each foot.
Computer post-processing produces independent time records of the forces on each
foot with the new force sensing treadmill. The computerized system records
thousands of data points per second captured by the force-platform treadmill and
video cameras for later analysis, assisted by reflective markers worn by test
subjects.
The bed of the treadmill looks and feels like a conventional
treadmill except for a sliver of space between the front and rear belts, which
doesn’t disrupt normal walking. Maximum speed is 11 mph, and hydraulic lifts
adjust the platform up to a 25 percent uphill or downhill grade without stopping
the belt or test subject. Bed capacity is 400 pounds to accommodate larger test
subjects and their cargo load, and a removable handrail clears the view of the
lab’s cameras.
Several heavy cables connect the force sensing treadmill to the control panel,
which is necessary to operate its high-precision motors, according to Frykman.
The whole gait analysis system can be moved to another location if necessary.
“We couldn’t get the same data or the tremendous time savings without the new
force-platform treadmill. Those are the factors that make it the great
scientific tool it is,” Harman said.
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