US 5,078,152 · Granted 1992-01-07
The Patent That Taught Muscles to Learn From Mistakes
Imagine an exercise machine that deliberately throws you off balance while you're working out — but in a controlled, trackable way. This patent covers a system that measures how well your body's balance and coordination feedback systems work, then trains them to improve by creating unpredictable challenges and tracking your real-time performance against a goal.
The plain-English version
What it protects
The claim covers a method for testing and improving how well your muscles and joints sense their own position and movement (proprioception). What's protected here is the specific combination of: attaching a patient to an exercise device, setting a performance target, introducing controlled unpredictable disruptions to the movement, displaying that target on screen, measuring the gap between what you actually did and what the target was, and using that error measurement to diagnose or train the feedback system. Someone copying this approach would need to license the patent.
Why it matters
This patent represents an early computerized approach to rehabilitation and athletic training. Rather than passively guiding a patient through motions, it actively challenges their neuromuscular feedback systems and quantifies improvement — a concept that became foundational to modern physical therapy devices and sports performance training systems. The ability to diagnose proprioceptive deficits in real time opened doors for treating balance disorders, post-injury recovery, and athletic enhancement.
Real-world use
A patient recovering from an ACL tear uses a specialized leg press machine that randomly adds resistance or movement uncertainty; the screen shows their target path and actual path, helping their brain relearn how to stabilize the joint.
Original USPTO abstract
A method for diagnosis and/or training of proprioceptor feedback capabilities of a muscle and joint system of a human patient using an exercise system having a patient attachment device and an arrangement for controlling parameters of an exercise movement in response to a control signal derived from one or more measured exercise parameters. A patient performance goal is defined as a real time function of preselected exercise parameters. A perturbation signal function is defined for the control signal; and the control signal is modified by the perturbation function value during a patient exercise motion. The defined performance goal is displayed during the patient exercise motion and the actual patient performance relative to the performance goal is also tracked and displayed. An error value is measured as the difference between actual patient performance and the patient performance goal.
Patent details
- Publication number
- US 5,078,152
- Filing date
- 1988-12-25
- Grant date
- 1992-01-07
- Assignee
- Loredan Biomedical, Inc.
- Inventor(s)
- BOND; MALCOLM L., DEMPSTER; PHILIP T.
- CPC class
- A63B24/0062
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