Quadruped lameness detection

Abstract

Systems and methods for detecting lameness in a limb of an animal are described herein. In an embodiment, a lameness detection system comprises a plurality of wearable footwear elements. Each of the footwear elements comprises a housing that is configured to fit snugly on a paw of the animal during ordinary gait. Each of the footwear elements comprise a sensor or matrix of sensors that is configured to detect and generate data representative of pressure or force exerted by the paw on a ground surface. Each footwear element additionally comprises a wireless transceiver that is configured for short-distance communication of the data captured by the sensors. The system further comprises a computing device with a wireless transceiver configured to communicate with the transceivers of the footwear elements and instructions which, when executed by the computing device, cause the computing device to analyze lameness in a limb of the animal based on data received from the sensors.

1 . A lameness measurement system for a small quadruped animal, comprising:
 a plurality of wearable footwear elements, each of the footwear elements comprising a sensor that is configured to detect and generate kinematic or kinetic data of a paw of the animal during a movement event, and a first wireless transceiver that is configured for wireless communication of the first data captured by the sensor; and   a computing device comprising a second wireless transceiver that is configured to communicate wirelessly with the first wireless transceiver, and comprising a non-transitory computer-readable data storage medium storing sequences of instructions which, when executed by the computing device cause: obtaining the first data from each sensor of the footwear elements; transforming the first data to produce a data set indicating usage of a paw of the animal relative to one or more other paws of the animal; determining, from the data set indicating the usage of the paw of the animal relative to the one or more other paws of the animal, that the animal is being affected by lameness; and causing display of an analysis of lameness of the animal on a client computing device.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a wireless data relay device that is configured to receive the first data from each sensor of the footwear elements via a first wireless networking protocol, to format the first data into messages of a second wireless networking protocol, and to transmit the messages using the second wireless networking protocol to the computing device. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the wireless data relay device is miniature and affixed to an item worn by the animal. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 2 , further comprising one or more proximity sensors that are programmed or configured to detect proximity of one or more of a food bowl, water bowl, litter box, or scale to the wireless data relay. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein the food bowl or water bowl comprise one or more force sensors configured to weigh food or water in the food bowl or water bowl prior to detection of proximity of the food bowl or water bowl to the wireless data relay and after detection of proximity of the food bowl or water bowl to the wireless data relay ceases. 
     
     
         6 . A data processing method comprising:
 receiving, at a wireless data relay device, from a first wireless transceiver communicatively coupled to first one or more sensors attached to a footwear element worn on a first paw of an animal, first kinematic or kinetic data of a first paw of the animal during a movement event measured by the first one or more sensors;   receiving, at the wireless data relay device, from a second wireless transceiver communicatively coupled to second one or more sensors attached to a footwear element worn on a second paw of an animal, second kinematic or kinetic data of a second paw of the animal during the movement event measured by the second one or more sensors;   using digitally programmed logic to determine whether a limb of the animal is affected by lameness based, at least in part, on a comparison of the first data to the second data;   displaying, on a client computing device, an indication as to whether the limb of the animal is affected by lameness;   wherein the method is performed by one or more computing devices.   
     
     
         7 . The data processing method of  claim 6 , wherein determining whether a limb of the animal is affected by lameness comprises:
 computing an average value of the first kinematic or kinetic data of the first paw and an average value of the second kinematic or kinetic data of the second paw;   computing a difference between the average value of the first kinematic or kinetic data of the first paw and the average value of the second kinematic or kinetic data of the second paw;   determining that the computed difference is greater than a stored threshold value and, in response, determining that the limb is affected by lameness.   
     
     
         8 . The data processing method of  claim 6 , wherein determining whether a limb of the animal is affected by lameness comprises:
 computing an average value of the first kinematic or kinetic data of the first paw and an average value of the second kinematic or kinetic data of the second paw;   computing a difference between the average value of the first kinematic or kinetic data of the first paw and the average value of the second kinematic or kinetic data of the second paw;   determining whether the limb is affected by lameness by comparing the difference to historical difference values for the animal.   
     
     
         9 . The data processing method of  claim 6 , wherein determining whether a limb of the animal is affected by lameness comprises:
 computing an average value of the first kinematic or kinetic data of the first paw and an average value of the second kinematic or kinetic data of the second paw;   computing a difference between the average value of the first kinematic or kinetic data of the first paw and the average value of the second kinematic or kinetic data of the second paw;   determining whether the limb is affected by lameness by comparing the difference to a stored average difference value for animals identified as similar animals.   
     
     
         10 . (canceled) 
     
     
         11 . The data processing method of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 using the first data and the second data, identifying a particular gait of the animal;   storing gait data identifying the particular gait of the animal during the movement event.   
     
     
         12 . (canceled) 
     
     
         13 . One or more non-transitory storage media storing instructions which, when executed by one or more computing devices, cause performing:
 receiving, at a wireless data relay device, from a first wireless transceiver communicatively coupled to first one or more sensors attached to a footwear element worn on a first paw of an animal, first kinematic or kinetic data of a first paw of the animal during a movement event measured by the first one or more sensors;   receiving, at the wireless data relay device, from a second wireless transceiver communicatively coupled to second one or more sensors attached to a footwear element worn on a second paw of an animal, second kinematic or kinetic data of a second paw of the animal during the movement event measured by the second one or more sensors;   using digitally programmed logic to determine whether a limb of the animal is affected by lameness based, at least in part, on a comparison of the first data to the second data;   displaying, on a client computing device, an indication as to whether the limb of the animal is affected by lameness.   
     
     
         14 . The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 13 , wherein determining whether a limb of the animal is affected by lameness comprises:
 computing an average value of the first kinematic or kinetic data of the first paw and an average value of the second kinematic or kinetic data of the second paw;   computing a difference between the average value of the first kinematic or kinetic data of the first paw and the average value of the second kinematic or kinetic data of the second paw;   determining that the computed difference is greater than a stored threshold value and, in response, determining that the limb is affected by lameness.   
     
     
         15 . The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 13 , wherein determining whether a limb of the animal is affected by lameness comprises:
 computing an average value of the first kinematic or kinetic data of the first paw and an average value of the second kinematic or kinetic data of the second paw;   computing a difference between the average value of the first kinematic or kinetic data of the first paw and the average value of the second kinematic or kinetic data of the second paw;   determining whether the limb is affected by lameness by comparing the difference to historical difference values for the animal.   
     
     
         16 . The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 13 , wherein determining whether a limb of the animal is affected by lameness comprises:
 computing an average value of the first kinematic or kinetic data of the first paw and an average value of the second kinematic or kinetic data of the second paw;   computing a difference between the average value of the first kinematic or kinetic data of the first paw and the average value of the second kinematic or kinetic data of the second paw;   determining whether the limb is affected by lameness by comparing the difference to a stored average difference value for animals identified as similar animals.   
     
     
         17 . (canceled) 
     
     
         18 . The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 13  wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more computing devices, further cause performing:
 using the first data and the second data, identifying a particular gait of the animal; 
 storing gait data identifying the particular gait of the animal during the movement event. 
 
     
     
         19 . (canceled) 
     
     
         20 . The data processing method of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 determining a start time and a stop time of the movement event associated with the first data and the second data;   storing movement event data comprising, at least the first data and the second data;   displaying the movement event data on the client computing device.   
     
     
         21 . The data processing method of  claim 20 , wherein determining the start time and stop time of the movement event comprises:
 using the first data and the second data, identifying a first time where the animal begins moving with a particular gait and storing the first time as the start time;   using the first data and the second data, identifying a second time where the animal stops moving with the particular gait and storing the second time as the stop time.   
     
     
         22 . The data processing method of  claim 20 , wherein displaying the movement event data comprises:
 displaying, on a graphical user interface, an image representing the animal;   displaying, overlaid on a portion of the image corresponding to the first paw, a first value derived from the first data;   displaying, overlaid on a portion of the image corresponding to the second paw, a second value derived from the second data.   
     
     
         23 . The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 13  wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more computing devices, further cause performing:
 determining a start time and a stop time of the movement event associated with the first data and the second data; 
 storing movement event data comprising, at least the first data and the second data; 
 displaying the movement event data on the client computing device. 
 
     
     
         24 . The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 23 , wherein determining the start time and stop time of the movement event comprises:
 using the first data and the second data, identifying a first time where the animal begins moving with a particular gait and storing the first time as the start time;   using the first data and the second data, identifying a second time where the animal stops moving with the particular gait and storing the second time as the stop time.   
     
     
         25 . The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 23 , wherein displaying the movement event data comprises:
 displaying, on a graphical user interface, an image representing the animal;   displaying, overlaid on a portion of the image corresponding to the first paw, a first value derived from the first data;   displaying, overlaid on a portion of the image corresponding to the second paw, a second value derived from the second data.