Patent Application
20140005564
Patients suffering from chronic conditions may perform in-home monitoring of their symptoms in order to evaluate whether their condition is improving or deteriorating. Self-monitoring may enable patents' condition to be monitored at a cost significantly less than that of in-home care or inpatient treatment. However, self-monitoring also suffers from deficiencies due to subjective assessment and lack of detailed objective information provided by the patient.
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium stores a set of instructions executable by a processor. The set of instructions is operable to receive a set of data relating to a current symptom of a patient. The set of instructions is further operable to determine one of a current level of breathlessness and a current level of edema for the patient based on the received data. The set of instructions is further operable to provide an alert to one of the patient and a medical professional, if the determined one of the current level of breathlessness and the current level of edema is greater than an acceptable level.
A system includes a voice recording apparatus, a speech recognition unit, and a processor. The voice recording apparatus records an audio recording of a patient during a time interval. The speech recognition unit receives the audio recording and determines, from the audio recording, a number of pauses during the time interval and a length of each of the pauses. The processor determines, based on the number of pauses and the length of each of the pauses, a breathlessness score for the patient corresponding to the time interval.
A system includes a pressure management apparatus and a processor. The pressure management apparatus includes a plurality of pressure-sensing regions. Each of the pressure-sensing regions corresponds to a body portion of the patient. The pressure measurement apparatus is adapted such that a tactile compression response of each of the pressure-sensing regions is substantially similar to a tactile compression response of the corresponding body portion. The processor receives pressure measurements from the pressure measurement apparatus. Each of the pressure measurements corresponds to a congestion in a body region of a patient. The processor determines a level of edema based on the pressure measurements and generates an alert if the level of edema is greater than a predetermined value.
The exemplary embodiments of the present invention may be further understood with reference to the following description and the appended drawings, wherein like elements are referred to with the same reference numerals. The exemplary embodiments describe systems and methods by which patient symptoms may be monitored and evaluated objectively in order to determine whether a patient's condition has improved or deteriorated.
The periodic assessment of the symptoms affecting patients is crucial for the monitoring of patients suffering from chronic conditions. This is especially important for patients suffering from heart failure, but also true for patients suffering from other chronic conditions, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (“COPD”), kidney failure, etc. Such monitoring is required to determine whether a patient's treatment needs to be modified (e.g., whether medication is required, whether dosing of existing medication should be changed, whether hospitalization is required, whether closer monitoring by medical professionals is required, etc.).
However, existing methods for making such decisions are typically based on information provided by patients in response to self-administered questionnaires, which prompt a patient to answer a series of questions, rate his own symptoms, etc. One type of questionnaire may ask a patient to report loss of breath during various activities (e.g., sitting, standing, walking, etc.). Another type of questionnaire may ask a patient to report on swelling of various parts of the body (e.g., ankles, legs etc.) at various times of the day (e.g., morning, midday, evening, etc.).
Another type of questionnaire may ask a patient to report on general well-being (e.g., happy, neutral, unhappy). Another type of questionnaire may ask a patient to report on weight gain or weight loss. In each of these cases, patients are asked questions relating to the above conditions on a regular basis, either face-to-face or by a telemonitoring system, and the patient reports on his own conditions.
In one example, the accumulation of fluids in bodily tissues, known as edema, may be a sign of worsening heart failure, kidney damage, or COPD. Edema may be observed by observing swelling in a patient's body, typically in the ankles and legs but also in the abdomen or the hands. Thus, by observing such swelling, treatment may be administered before hospitalization is required. Patients may self-assess edema symptoms by monitoring their weight and/or swollen body parts daily.
This method of gathering information may suffer from various deficiencies. First, surveys that require patients to answer a variety of questions at periodic intervals may be difficult, cumbersome, or tedious to complete. In such cases, a patient may fail to answer questions or provide inaccurate information. Second, the information requested is subjective, and the reliability of the resulting data may therefore be suspect. For example, a patient who is self-assessing edema may not be capable of distinguishing between different levels of congestion. Third, the surveys do not necessarily result in information that is detailed enough to deduct the cause of a particular symptom, resulting in the need for medical personnel to spend time ascertaining further information (e.g., type of activity during which reported shortness of breath occurred, potential causes for reported weight gain, etc.).
The exemplary embodiments aid in the assessment of patient symptoms by providing simplified and objective assessment of symptoms that may be assessed subjectively by prior methods. An exemplary system 100, illustrated in
Patient symptoms are measured by one or more mechanisms, including a position detection element 120, a mode detection element 121, an elevation detection element 122, a video recording apparatus 123, a voice recording apparatus 124, an ankle measurement device 125, and a weight measurement device 126. The operation of each of these mechanisms will be described in further detail below.
The position detection element 120 detects a position of the patient 110 (e.g., laying, sitting, standing, etc.). The position may affect the significance of any breathlessness being experienced by the patient 110. For example, loss of breath experienced by a patient who is laying down may be a more significant indication of a worsening condition than loss of breath experienced by a patient who is standing. For a patient who is being monitored at home, the position detection element 120 may be a gyroscope (e.g., part of an activity monitoring device) configured to determine the patient's position using methods that are known in the art. For a patient who is being monitored in the hospital, the position detection element 120 may be a sensor mounted on the patient's hospital bed.
The mode detection element 121 detects an activity mode of the patient 110 (e.g., stationary, walking, running, etc.). As was the case for the patient's position, the mode may affect the significance of any breathlessness being experienced by the patient 110. For example, loss of breath experienced by a patient who is stationary may be a more significant indication of a worsening condition than loss of breath experienced by a patient who is moving. The mode detection element 121 may be an accelerometer (e.g., part of an activity monitoring device) configured to determine the patient's mode using methods that are known in the art. This may be, for example, as part of a laptop computer or mobile phone used by the patient. For a patient who is hospitalized, the mode detection element 121 may be a bed-mounted sensor that detects if the bed is occupied (e.g., the patient is stationary) or empty (e.g., the patient is moving), or, alternately, may be a piece of exercise equipment (e.g., a treadmill) used in physical therapy that detects the same information.
The elevation detection element 122 detects changes in the elevation of the patient 110 (e.g., if the patient 110 is climbing stairs, etc.). As above, this may affect the significance of any loss of breath experienced by the patient 110. For example, loss of breath while climbing stairs may be less significant than loss of breath experienced while the elevation of the patient is constant. The elevation detection element 122 may be a barometer configured to detect changes in the patient's mode using methods that are known in the art. As above, this may be an element of a laptop computer or mobile telephone used by the patient.
The video recording apparatus 123 records video data of the facial expression of the patient 110 in order to ascertain the well-being (e.g., mood) of the patient, as will be described in further detail below. In one embodiment, the video recording apparatus 123 is a video camera or a group of video cameras, which are disposed in the home of the patient 110, a hospital room housing the patient 110, etc.
The voice recording apparatus 124 records speech of the patient 110 in order to determine whether the patient 110 is out of breath, as will be described in further detail below. In one embodiment, the voice recording apparatus 124 is a microphone, which may be mounted on a hospital bed, on the patient's clothing, etc. In another embodiment, the voice recording apparatus 124 is a built-in microphone or home camera that is part of a mobile telephone used by the patient, an in-home patient monitoring system including microphones and/or video cameras, etc.
The weight measurement device 126 periodically measures the weight of the patient 110 in order to determine whether weight gain is at a level that may be indicative of a worsening condition, as will be described in further below. The weight measurement device 126 is typically a scale that the patient 100 is instructed to use to weigh himself or herself periodically (e.g., daily, every other day, etc.); in another embodiment, the weight measurement device 126 is embedded into a hospital bed of a patient who is hospitalized.
The system 1 also includes further elements for analyzing the data collected by the elements described above. This may include a mode recognition unit 130, a facial expression recognition unit 131, and a speech recognition unit 132. The mode recognition unit 130 communicates with the position detection element 120, the mode detection element 121, and the elevation detection element 122, as illustrated in
The facial expression recognition unit 131 may also be a combination of hardware and software, and receives data from the video recording apparatus 123. The facial expression recognition unit 131 monitors the facial expression of the patient 110, and outputs a classification. The classification may be, for example, happy, neutral, unhappy, etc.
The speech recognition unit 132 may also be a combination of hardware and software, and receives data from the voice recording apparatus 124. The speech recognition unit 132 performs sequencing of the recorded speech of the patient 110, and outputs data identifying pauses in speech, length of the pauses, and frequency of the pauses.
The edema evaluation unit 133 may also be a combination of hardware and software, and receives data from the ankle measurement device 125 and the weight measurement device 126. The edema evaluation unit 133 monitors changes in ankle swelling, as measured by the ankle measurement unit 125, and the weight of the patient 110, as measured by the weight measurement unit 126, to determine whether the patient 110 is experiencing edema. As described above, edema may be a sign of worsening heart failure, kidney damage, or COPD.
The system 1 also includes a processing unit 140 receiving data from the mode recognition unit 130, the facial expression recognition unit 131, and the speech recognition unit 132. The data so received is used to make determinations regarding the patient's overall status, as will be described in further detail below. In some embodiments, the processing unit 140 compares the patient's current condition to relevant data that is stored in data storage 150, and the current information about the patient 110 is further stored in the data storage 150 for subsequent use or retrieval. In situations where the patient's symptoms indicate a worsening condition, feedback is provided either to medical professionals 160 (e.g., a doctor, a nurse, etc.), directly to the patient 110, or both as appropriate.
In step 420, the patient squeezes the points on the ankle measurement device 125 corresponding to the points on the leg discussed above (e.g., first region 210 corresponding to a point at the ankle, second region 211 corresponding to a point below the knee, and third region 212 corresponding to a point above the knee, etc.). The ankle measurement device 125 detects and records the pressure exerted by the patient in this step, which corresponds directly to congestion at the point in the leg corresponding to the measurement point in the ankle measurement device 125. Those of skill in the art will understand that the above steps may vary, and that in some embodiments the patient 110 may be instructed to measure at certain points at specified times of the day, at all points each time the device is used, etc., depending on the preferences of the patient's doctor.
In some embodiments, in step 430 the patient's weight is recorded using weight measurement device 126. Thus, it will be apparent to those of skill in the art that steps 410, 420 and 430 are analogous to the data collection step 310 of method 300.
In step 440, the measured data is evaluated, such as by edema evaluation unit 133 of system 100. In one exemplary embodiment, a currently-measured congestion level (e.g., a measurement at a single point on the device, a composite of measurements at several points on the device, etc.) is compared to a baseline congestion level (e.g., the congestion level when the patient 100 was most recently discharged from inpatient care, etc.). A threshold value (e.g., as defined by a doctor) may also be used in this comparison.
In step 450, the currently-measured congestion level or levels are stored, e.g., in data storage 150 of system 100. In step 460, feedback is generated as appropriate. For example, if the current congestion level is acceptable, the indicator 240 on the ankle measurement device 126 is illuminated green to indicate to the patient 100 that the congestion level is acceptable, and no feedback is provided to medical professionals 115. An acceptable level may be defined as a value that is less than the sum of the baseline value and the threshold value. Conversely, if the current congestion level is unacceptable (e.g., indicative of worsening condition), then the indicator 240 on the ankle measurement device 126 is illuminated red to indicate to the patient 100 that the condition may be worsening, and corresponding feedback is provided to medical professionals 115.
In embodiments where weight is measured in step 430, this is also included in the evaluation as described above. In one embodiment, the patient's doctor may determine an acceptable weight range for the patient (e.g., plus or minus two kilograms), and if the patient's weight gain or loss has exceeded the thresholds set by the doctor, that information is considered along with congestion in determining whether the patient 110 is suffering from edema. For example, a weight gain of greater than two kilograms in two days itself trigger an alert as described above. Alternately, the information about the weight gain may be aggregated with the measured congestion, and the aggregated amount is compared to a single threshold value in determining whether to trigger an alert.
In step 520, an activity mode of the patient 110 is determined by the mode recognition unit 130. This may be accomplished using known methods and based on data received from the position detection element 120, the mode detection element 121, and the elevation detection element 122. As described above, the activity mode may be, for example, walking, running, laying, sitting, climbing stairs, standing, etc. Further, the activity mode may be determined continuously, periodically, at discrete intervals, etc., as described above.
In step 530, a facial expression category of the patient 110 is determined by the facial expression recognition unit 131. This may be accomplished using known methods, and may be based on data received from the video recording apparatus 123. In one embodiment, the facial expression may be categorized as “happy”, “neutral”, or “unhappy”. The facial expression is calculated at intervals corresponding to those for which the patient mode is detected in step 520.
In step 540, the speech recognition unit 132 performs speech sequencing on the data provided by the voice recording apparatus 124. This may be accomplished using known methods, and may result in identification of pauses in the speech of the patient 110, the length of the pauses, and their frequency within a given time period. The time period concerned may be a time period corresponding to a time period during which the patient's mode was calculated during step 520, and during which the patient's facial expression was classified during step 530.
In step 550, the processing unit 140 calculates a breathlessness score for the patient 100, based on the results of steps 520, 530 and 540. Each activity mode M may have a corresponding priority rate PW(M), indicating the significance of breathlessness during a particular mode. Activity modes during which the patient is less active may have higher priority rates, indicating that breathlessness during such activity modes is a more serious indication of worsening condition. For example, a mode “laying” has a priority weight 5, a mode “sitting” has a priority weight 4, a mode “walking” has a priority weight 3, a mode “running” has a priority weight 2, and a mode “climbing stairs” has a priority weight 1; those of skill in the art will understand that these priority weights are only exemplary and that the weighting may vary among differing embodiments.
Breathlessness score may be calculated periodically, e.g., once per hour, twice per day, once per day; this may vary among differing embodiments, may be user-configurable (such as by the patient's doctor), etc. During the given interval, the breathlessness score is determined as the sum, over all modes occurring during the time period, of the priority weight of the mode, multiplied by the number of pauses multiplied by the total duration of the pauses during the mode, divided by the duration of the mode. This is expressed as:
In other embodiments, the patient facial expression data may also be evaluated as part of the breathlessness score. For example, if breathlessness has been detected and the facial expression also indicates that the patient is unwell, the severity of the breahlessness indication may be increased as a result.
Those of skill in the art will understand that steps 520, 530, 540 and 550 correspond to the analysis step 320 of the method 300 of
The exemplary embodiments thus use objectively recorded data to replace subjective observations or opinions in methods for determining whether the condition of a patient suffering from a chronic illness has worsened. This may provide results that are more reliable, are obtained regularly without subjecting a patient to questionnaires that may yield untrustworthy or missing data, and more accurately predicts the worsening of a patient's condition so that treatment can be sought and administered before an emergency exists.
Those skilled in the art will understand that the above-described exemplary embodiments may be implemented in any number of manners, including, as a separate software module, as a combination of hardware and software, etc. For example, the mode recognition unit 130 may be a program containing lines of code that, when compiled, may be executed on a processor.
It is noted that the claims may include reference signs/numerals in accordance with PCT Rule 6.2(b). However, the present claims should not be considered to be limited to the exemplary embodiments corresponding to the reference signs/numerals.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made in the present invention, without departing from the spirit or the scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB2012/051121 | 3/9/2012 | WO | 00 | 9/16/2013 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61453153 | Mar 2011 | US |
