fig1 shows a pair of transducer pads 10 , 11 and an emg electrode assembly 12 . pads 10 , 11 and emg assembly are connected to a data logger ( not shown ) via detachable plug in cables 13 , 14 . transducer pads are positioned on the back of a person being monitored as described with reference to fig2 a and 2b . the transducer pads 10 , 11 are attached to the skin in any suitable manner such as via adhesive tape . each transducer pad 10 , 11 incorporates one or more accelerometers . preferably angular changes of lumbar spine orientation are measured by use of four accelerometers , two of which are placed at the upper lumbar spine and other two , at the lower lumbar spine . if one accelerometer is used in each transducer pad it should be mounted such that it is located centrally over the spine . each transducer pad 10 , 11 may be at least 10 cm wide and may include a gyroscope to provide rotational data . emg electrode assembly 12 includes a plurality of emg electrodes 15 - 19 . electrodes 16 , 17 are adapted to measure muscle activity on the left side of the person &# 39 ; s back and electrodes 18 , 19 are adapted to measure muscle activity on the right side of the person &# 39 ; s back . electrode 15 is a reference electrode for each circuit associated with emg electrodes 16 - 18 . referring to fig2 a use of the monitoring apparatus requires locating of landmarks on the lower back to ensure reliable readings . the landmarks may be located using the following procedure : 1 . the subject should be instructed to stand upright but relaxed ; 2 . if hair on the lumbar region of the subject has not been clipped , hair clippers may be used to remove excessive hair from the region ; 3 . an alcohol wipe may be used to clean the skin in the region thoroughly ( to remove any oil on the skin ); 4 . the psis ( posterior superior iliac spine ) should be located and marked on the left and right sides such that each is the size of an olive ; 5 . a small horizontal line should be drawn across the middle of each psis ‘ olive ’; 6 . the two horizontal marks should be joined with one extended horizontal line ( line “ a ”) stretching across the spine ; 7 . after confirming that the subject is in their starting position , a distance of 150 mm up from line “ a ” should be measured with a soft measuring tape pressed against the subjects skin , gently following skin contours , and marked with a small horizontal line ( line “ b ”); 8 . two less prominent lines ‘ c ’ and ‘ d ’ should be marked . line “ d ” should be 10 mm down from line “ a ” and line “ c ” should be 10 mm up from line “ b ”. 9 . the subject should be instructed to stand with feet shoulder width apart and the distance between the lines “ a ” and “ b ” verified ; 10 . the subject should be instructed to bend forward to their marker , keeping their knees straight . 11 . the subject should be instructed to return to their starting position . 12 . adhesive sheets should be placed as follows : ( a ) an adhesive sheet should be prepared by removing the backing ; ( b ) the subject should be instructed to bend forward to their marker . when the patient is in this position , the adhesive sheet should be placed such that it &# 39 ; s top edge aligns with line “ a ” ( see fig2 a ). the subject should be instructed to return to their starting position ; ( c ) when the subject is upright , the second adhesive sheet should be prepared and placed such that its bottom edge aligns with line “ b ”. the apparatus of the present invention should be accurately fixed to the back of the person being monitored to minimize reading errors . referring to fig2 b care should be taken in fixing the transducer pads and emg electrode assembly . fixation preferably should adhere to the following precautions : 1 . care should be taken not to rotate the accelerometers in relation to each other . if the coil in between them is twisted , it &# 39 ; s readings may become unstable . 2 . accelerometer two should be placed lightly on the centre of the spine , with its bottom edge aligned with line “ b ”. it should be pressed just hard enough to ensure it stays in position . 3 . accelerometer one should be placed lightly on the centre of the spine , with its top edge aligned with line “ a ”. it should be pressed just hard enough to ensure it stays in position . 4 . the subject should be instructed to bend forward to their marker and hold . whilst the patient is in this position , placement of both accelerometers may be verified . if okay , each accelerometer board should be pressed down firmly to ensure good adhesion . the subject should be instructed to return to their starting position . 5 . the subject should be instructed to bend forward to their marker slowly , and return to their starting position . when this is occurring , placement and adhesion of the accelerometer pads should be verified . the diagram shown in fig3 a includes accelerometer 30 , low pass ( averaging ) filter 31 and analog to digital ( a to d ) converter 32 . accelerometer 30 preferably includes a 3d or 3 axes accelerometer such as a kionix kxm52 . alternatively , accelerometer 30 may comprise a pair of 2d accelerometers such as a device type adxlz10e . each transducer pad 10 , 11 may include an accelerometer such as accelerometer 30 . each accelerometer 30 provides outputs that are proportional to acceleration being applied to its respective axes . as gravity provides a constant acceleration of 9 . 8 m / s2 directly downward , a stable point of reference can be used to determine inclination . by using a minimum of 3 axes , a 3 dimensional vector pointing in the direction of acceleration may be generated . by using two accelerometers , one in each transducer pad , the angle between the accelerometers may be calculated using appropriate software . low pass filter 31 provides an averaging function for the accelerometer signal by removing sudden changes in acceleration which may cause aliasing errors . a to d converter 32 provides a digital representation of the accelerometer signal suitable for processing via a digital processor . the diagram shown in fig3 b includes gyroscope 33 , low pass ( averaging ) filter 34 and a to d converter 32 . gyroscope 33 preferably includes a device type adxrs300 . the emg diagram shown in fig4 includes input amplifier 40 , filter 41 , precision rectifier 42 , low pass ( averaging ) filter 43 and a to d converter 44 . amplifier 40 includes a plurality of inputs for receiving signals from emg electrodes 15 - 19 . amplifier 40 includes highly sensitive inputs for amplifying the very small signals produced from electrodes 15 - 19 . low pass filter 43 removes unwanted portions of the frequency spectrum . filter 41 may include a band pass filter . a to d converter 44 provides a digital representation of the emg signal suitable for processing via a digital processor . the flexion diagram shown in fig5 includes oscillator 50 , resistor 51 , amplifier 52 , precision rectifier 53 , low pass ( averaging ) filter 54 and a to d converter 55 . oscillator 50 provides an ac excitation voltage for a flexion sensor 56 such as a helical coil of wire . the coil of wire forms an inductor . many variables affect the value of the inductance such as coil length . by stretching and contracting the coil the inductance is varied . the impedance of the coil is proportional to inductance according to the formula : oscillator 50 should be stable in amplitude and frequency . resistor 51 may be arranged to form with the flexion sensor 56 , a voltage divider . as the value of resistor 51 is constant , the input voltage to amplifier 52 is controlled entirely by the changing impedance of the flexion sensor 56 . low pass filter 54 is an averaging filter and is used to remove sudden changes in the impedance of the flexion sensor 56 . a to d converter 55 provides a digital representation of the flexion impedance signal suitable for processing via a digital processor . the diagram shown in fig6 a to 6 d includes accelerometer package 30 a . accelerometer package 30 a may be a device type kxm52 - l20 or equivalent . the output of each channel ( x , y , z axes ) of accelerometer 30 a is connected to a respective low pass filter 31 a , 31 b , 31 c . the output of each filter 31 a , 31 b , 31 c is connected to a respective input of a to d converter 32 a . a to d converter 32 a may be a device type ds2450s . the diagram also includes a gyroscope circuit 33 a including an angular rate sensor such as a device type adxrs300 . the gyroscope circuit 33 a provides orientation reference data for calculating changes in body position . the output of gyroscope circuit 33 a is connected via low pass filter 34 a to an input of a to d converter 32 a . the output of a to d converter 32 a is in a digital format and is connected to a digital processing circuit ( not shown ) such as a microprocessor . the digital output may be connected to a pc via a suitable interface . the emg circuit shown in fig7 a to 7 d includes input amplifiers 40 a and 40 b . each input amplifier 40 a , 40 b receives an input from a respective pair of electrodes 15 - 16 and 15 - 17 associated with emg electrode assembly 12 . the output of input amplifier 40 a passes via low pass and high pass filters 43 a , 41 a to rectifier and integrator 42 a . the output of rectifier and integrator 42 a is applied to one input of a to d converter 44 a . the output of input amplifier 40 b passes via a similar low pass and high pass filter and rectifier and integrator and is applied to a respective input of a to d converter 44 a . the output of a to d converter 44 a is in a digital format and is connected to a digital processing circuit as described above . a second emg circuit similar to that shown in fig7 a - 7 d is used to interface pairs of electrodes 15 - 18 and 15 - 19 associated with emg electrode assembly 12 to the digital processing circuit . the flexion circuit shown in fig8 a to 8 d includes crystal controlled oscillator 50 a . the output of oscillator 50 a is applied to respective inputs ( in 1 - in 3 ) of flexion channels 81 , 82 , 83 . flexion channel 81 includes a resistive divider comprising resistors r 6 , r 49 . one arm of the divider is connected to a channel of a flexion coil ( not shown ). an output of the divider is connected to amplifier 52 a . the output of amplifier 52 a is connected via rectifier circuit 53 a to low pass filter 54 a . the output of filter 54 a is connected to one input of a to d converter 55 a . flexion channels 82 , 83 are configured similarly to flexion channel 81 and will not be described in detail . the outputs of flexion channels 82 , 83 are connected to respective inputs of a to d converter 55 a . the output of a to d converter 55 a is in a digital format and is connected to a digital processing circuit as described above . digital data from the accelerometer , emg and flexion circuits is processed in the digital domain via a digital processing engine such as a suitably programmed microprocessor or the like . the microprocessor may be included with the data logger or it may be located remotely from the data logger . data may be processed in real time to provide real time feedback to the person being monitored . the feedback may include a measure or evaluation of risk of back strain and / or injury based on the data collected during a predetermined time frame ( s ). alternatively , the data may be processed offline to provide an assessment of activities logged during a preceding time frame ( s ) such as a day &# 39 ; s activities with respect of risk of back strain and / or injury . the digital processing engine may be programmed with suitable software for evaluating risk of back strain and / or injury . the software may determine risk components associated with data provided by the accelerometer , emg , flexion and other circuits as appropriate . the risk components may be combined in accordance with risk assessment principles to provide a cumulative measure of risk of back strain and / or injury . the risk components may be combined in a specific algorithm to give a risk score that is accumulated per unit of time , such as per second , for an entire time that a monitoring device is worn by a person . the accumulated or aggregate score may be matched to the wearer &# 39 ; s personalized preset thresholds . when the aggregate or accumulated score reaches personalized risk thresholds , biofeedback ( vibrational , visual and / or auditory ) may be triggered . there may be more than one theme of biofeedback . for example , feedback may be based on an hourly aggregate score and on a further aggregate score calculated over a shorter time frame such as a sliding five minute window . the different themes have regard to the fact that risk of injury may arise from a variety of contributing events including events associated with a short burst or bursts of relatively intensive activity as well as events associated with longer periods of less intensive activity that present significant risk when accumulated over a period such as an hour or more . flow charts illustrating examples of software for processing data from the accelerometer , emg and flexion circuits are shown in fig9 to 17 . the software may be adapted for calculating a cumulative score indicative of risk of back strain and / or injury . cum 1 t = period of time in seconds of the 1 st cumulative feedback window . cum 1 #= number of data samples in the 1 st cumulative feedback cum 1 s = result of data scores for the period cum 1 t cum 2 t = period of time in seconds of the 2 nd cumulative feedback window . number of data samples in the 1 st cumulative feedback window . eg . for 60 minutes window at sample rate of 20 hz . cum 2 s = result of data scores for the period cum 2 t max - if = maximum range of movement to date in the lateral flexion plane max - rot = maximum range of movement to date in the flexion / extension plane note : this diagram is repeated for each muscle group being measured . vib lft = level of vibration for the lateral flexion plane at time t . vib ft = level of vibration for the flexion / extension plane at time t . vib udt = level of vibration for the vertical plane at time t . cum 1 t = period of time in seconds of the 1st cumulative feedback window . cum 1 #= number of data samples in the 1st cumulative feedback window . eg . for 5 minutes window at sample rate of 20 hz . cum 1 s = result of data scores for the period cum 1 t cum 2 t = period of time in seconds of the 2 nd cumulative feedback window . cum 2 #= number of data samples in the 1 st cumulative feedback window . eg . for 60 minutes window at sample rate of 20 hz . cum 2 s = result of data scores for the period cum 2 t the software processes raw data received from the accelerometer , emg and flexion circuits shown in fig6 to 8 . the software also processes data from a gyroscope circuit as well as profile data associated with the person being monitored . the profile data may allow calculation of parameters and risk thresholds to be tailored to personal habits and factors that may have a bearing on risk of back strain and / or injury such as age , sex , weight , height , family history , fitness level , occupation etc . profile data may be obtained by means of a questionnaire or the like . a sample questionnaire for this purpose is set out in fig1 . finally , it is to be understood that various alterations , modifications and / or additions may be introduced into the constructions and arrangements of parts previously described without departing from the spirit or ambit of the invention .
apparatus is disclosed for monitoring strain and / or load applied to the body of a vertebral mammal . the apparatus includes means for measuring position of the body relative to an inertial frame of reference and for providing first data indicative of the position , wherein the means for measuring position includes at least one inertial sensor such as an accelerometer . the apparatus includes means for measuring muscle activity and for providing second data indicative of the muscle activity . the apparatus also includes means for storing the data and means for processing the data to provide a measure of strain and / or load to the body . the strain and / or load is typically applied to the back of the mammal . a method of monitoring strain and / or load applied to the body of the vertebral mammal is also disclosed .