Patent Application
20160174901
When a person visits a doctor or hospital, the unfamiliar environment and unfamiliar equipment can lead to emotional stress and an unwillingness to cooperate with a healthcare professional. It can be difficult and time consuming to get a person (e.g., a child, elderly person, or other person) to sit still or relax to measure vital signs. In addition, stress may cause the person's vital signs to change, which can lead to skewed medical data and a potentially unreliable picture of the person's current health condition.
It would therefore be desirable to have available a measurement device that is familiar and non-threatening, to minimize the stress in a healthcare environment. Such a device would further be beneficial for monitoring within a home environment.
An interactive physiological monitoring device includes at least one physiological sensor including an oximetry sensor, at least one motion sensor; and control electronics. The control electronics receive data from the physiological sensor and the motion sensor. The control electronics enter a lower power mode in the absence of a detection of motion from data from the motion sensor over a time interval. The interactive physiological monitoring device further includes a display device, wherein the control electronics cause a representation of data from the physiological sensor to be output to the display device.
An interactive physiological monitoring system includes at least one physiological monitoring device, and instructions stored in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for execution by a processor, including instructions for receiving information from the physiological monitoring device, analyzing the received information, and providing display data representing one of the analyzed information and the received information from the physiological monitoring device. The physiological monitoring device includes at least one physiological sensor, including an oximetry sensor. The physiological monitoring device further includes at least one motion sensor, and control electronics configured to receive data from the physiological sensor and the motion sensor, wherein the control electronics are further configured to enter a lower power mode in the absence of a detection of motion for a time interval.
A method includes receiving a pulse measurement from a heart rate sensor in a toy, providing to a display in the toy a representation of the heart rate measurement, and storing information related to the pulse measurement in a memory in the toy.
A monitoring system is incorporated into an object that is non-threatening. For example, the monitoring system may be incorporated into a toy. One embodiment discussed in the present disclosure by way of example is a stuffed animal in which a monitoring system is incorporated. Stuffed animals (or other toys, or other objects) may serve to reduce stress in a child, and may also serve to reduce stress in an adult. Thus, although portions of the present disclosure may be discussed in relation to a child, it should be understood that the monitoring system of the present disclosure is equally applicable for the monitoring of adults.
The monitoring system includes one or more sensors to measure physiological signals, and may include one or more sensors to monitor motion. Sensor information may be evaluated as a single measurement (e.g., temperature) or as a time series of measurements. By tracking sensor data over time, trends in health and activity may be identified, or health conditions may be recognized. Thus, data from sensors can be used to determine physiological state (e.g., illness, high or increasing blood pressure, low or decreasing blood oxygen level, or irregular heart beat pattern or rate) and activity state (e.g., restlessness, lethargy, walking, jumping, or rocking side to side).
Data from the sensors may be used to present a visual display on the object incorporating the monitoring system. Information (e.g., sensor data, physiological state, or activity state) may be provided via a communication interface from the monitoring system to an external device for storage, analysis, or display. The external device may be remote, such as for monitoring a person from a monitoring center or health care provider facility. Alternatively, an intermediate device receives information from the object and provides information to a remote device. Remote monitoring allows for fewer visits of a person to the healthcare facility, which also reduces exposure of the person to other illnesses.
The monitoring system provides for interactive and non-threatening monitoring of a person. Interactivity includes providing information regarding the monitored person at one or both of a display interface of an object incorporating the monitoring system, or at a display on an external device. For example, a person can see a visualization of their heart beat and calm themselves to slow the heartbeat, or see a visualization of blood oxygen level and perform an activity to increase blood oxygen level. For another example, a caregiver can see a visualization of irregular heart beat or heart rate and notify a healthcare provider, or see a visualization in trends in activity level and encourage the monitored person to be more active.
Processor 110 represents a programmable processor, which may be, for example, a general-purpose processor, digital signal processor, microprocessor, microcontroller, application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), field programmable gate array (FPGA), other circuitry effecting processor functionality, or multiple ones or combinations of the foregoing, along with associated logic and interface circuitry. Processor 110 may be incorporated in a system on a chip.
Memory 120 represents one or both of volatile and non-volatile memory for storing information (e.g., instructions and data). Examples of memory include semiconductor memory devices such as EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, RAM, or ROM devices.
Portions of monitoring system 100 may be implemented as computer-readable instructions in memory 120, executed by processor 110.
An embodiment of the disclosure relates to a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (e.g., memory 120) having computer code thereon for performing various computer-implemented operations. The term “computer-readable storage medium” is used herein to include any medium that is capable of storing or encoding a sequence of instructions or computer codes for performing the operations, methodologies, and techniques described herein. The media and computer code may be those specially designed and constructed for the purposes of the embodiments of the disclosure, or they may be of the kind well known and available to those having skill in the computer software arts.
Examples of computer code include machine code, such as produced by a compiler, and files containing higher-level code that are executed by a computer using an interpreter or a compiler. For example, an embodiment of the disclosure may be implemented using Java, C++, or other object-oriented programming language and development tools. Additional examples of computer code include encrypted code and compressed code. Moreover, an embodiment of the disclosure may be downloaded as a computer program product, which may be transferred from a remote computer (e.g., a server computer) to a requesting computer (e.g., a client computer or a different server computer) via a transmission channel. Another embodiment of the disclosure may be implemented in hardwired circuitry in place of, or in combination with, machine-executable software instructions.
Power supply circuitry 130 distributes electrical power to components of monitoring system 100. Power supply circuitry 130 may include, for example, a power supply semiconductor device (e.g., a voltage regulator) with related configuration components and external filters. Power supply circuitry 130 may distribute power over multiple paths, where the power distributed in each path may have similar or different power ratings (e.g., voltage level or current level).
I/O circuitry 140 represents electrical components and optional code that together provide monitoring system 100 access to an environment external to monitoring system 100. For example, I/O circuitry 140 may provide access to components of object 1, to a person handling object 1, or to a device communicating with object 1. I/O circuitry 140 includes one or more interfaces 142, one or more sensors 144, output circuitry 146, and communication circuitry 148.
Interfaces 142 represent electrical components and optional code, such as programmable integrated circuits, non-programmable integrated circuits, filtering components, level shifters, analog-to-digital or digital-to-analog converters, and other components, with associated electrical connections (e.g., wiring or traces, or connectors). Interfaces 142 provide electrical pathways and/or communication pathways between components of monitoring system 100. For example, one or more interfaces 142 may be provided between sensor 144 and communication circuitry 148, between communication circuitry 148 and output circuitry 146, or between sensor 144 and output circuitry 146. For another example, one or more interfaces 142 may be provided between processor 110 and sensor 144, output circuitry 146, or communication circuitry 148. For a further example, one or more interfaces 142 may be provided between memory 120 and sensor 144, output circuitry 146, or communication circuitry 148, for direct transfer of data to or from memory 120.
Sensor 144 detects a physiological signal or a motion signal. Multiple sensors 144 may be included in monitoring system 100.
Sensors 144 may measure a wide range of vital signs, such as temperature, heart rate, heart rate variability, respiratory rate, blood oxygen level, humidity, blood pressure, chemicals present, or the like. Further, sensors 144 may be placed to monitor an environment, such as noise sensors, temperature sensors, humidity sensors, light sensors and air quality sensors. Environment data may be used to adjust or analyze data from physiological sensors 144. For example, if there is a high ambient temperature, a person's slightly higher-than-normal temperature may be disregarded in some instances. Sensors 144 may also be used to monitor the electronics of monitoring system 100, such as a temperature sensor within a sensor housing or control electronics housing to identify and respond to overheating of the electronics, where a response may include reduced functionality, error messages transmitted, audiovisual warnings, or shutdown of the electronics.
Sensor 144 may monitor an aspect of position or motion. Examples include an accelerometer or other motion detector, a relative position sensor, a global positioning sensor, or a proximity sensor. Information from a motion detector may be used, for example, to gauge a child's activity level, to modify or disregard measurements from other sensors (for example, if movement would render the measurements questionable or invalid), and to identify if the electronics can be transitioned to a lower power level (such as by switching off circuits and/or functionality) in the absence of a detection of motion over a time interval.
Data from sensor 144 may be stored in memory 120 for later analysis. Additionally or alternatively, raw or filtered data may be provided externally via communication circuitry 148, and/or data may be analyzed by processor 110 and the analyzed data stored in memory 120 or provided externally.
Communication circuitry 148 represents electrical components and optional code that together provide an interface from internal components of monitoring system 100 to an external network. For example, communication circuitry 148 may be a Bluetooth protocol physical layer circuit with associated software protocol layers, a Wi-Fi protocol physical layer circuit with associated software protocol layers, an Internet protocol physical layer circuit with associated software protocol layers, or other standard or proprietary circuit and software. Communication circuitry 148 may communicate bi-directionally, such that, for example, data may be sent from monitoring system 100, and instructions and updates may be received by monitoring system 100. Communication externally may be, for example, with a computing device, such as a desktop, laptop, set-top box, or mobile computer (i.e., smart phone or tablet or the like), or such as a hub device which gathers information from several devices, or such as a remote server.
Portions of monitoring system 100 may be integrated together. For example, memory 120 may be integrated with processor 110, portions of I/O circuitry 140 may be integrated with processor 110, communication circuitry 148 may be integrated with an interface 142 and processor 110, or other integrations. Thus, the blocks of
Object 1 includes a battery 160 to provide power to monitoring system 100. Object 1 further includes an optional display 170 coupled to output circuitry 146. In one or more embodiments, a representation of data received from sensor 144 is provided to display 170 (e.g., on a graphical user interface of display 170). In one or more embodiments, a representation of health state, physiological state, or activity state is provided to display 170.
Object 1 may optionally include a port 180 coupled to communication circuitry 148 for physical connection to an external device, such as through a wired link to an external computer.
Having described generally an embodiment of monitoring system 100 incorporated into an object 1, next is described an example in which object 1 is implemented as a Teddy the Guardian (“Teddy”) toy bear. It is to be understood that other stuffed animals, other toys and other objects are encompassed by this disclosure.
Teddy is a plush teddy bear designed to be safe, easy to use, and easy to maintain. Information obtained by Teddy may be presented in an easy to understand visual display. Teddy includes an ability to create multiple profiles, log health metrics from other devices, log drugs administered, and so forth, to keep a detailed diary for a person or multiple persons.
The Teddy product has a removable soft flexible outer shell that is washable. The electronics are secured within a hidden inner shell. The electronics are designed to have low power consumption. A battery (e.g., battery 160) is positioned within the inner shell.
Teddy includes built-in medical sensors (e.g., sensor 144) for monitoring vital signs and motion sensors (e.g., sensor 144) for monitoring position or movement. Information may be provided externally by way of a wired or wireless communication interface (e.g., via communication interface 148, or via communication interface 148 and port 180). Additionally or alternatively, Teddy may store data in an internal memory (e.g., memory 120).
In the embodiment of
In or more embodiments of the present disclosure, a housing or housings may be removed from Teddy or other object 1, for cleaning object 1 and the housing separately.
Visual indicator 710 may provide visual or audio indications of a person's physiological or activity state. For example, visual indicator 710 may provide pulsed light or sound corresponding to a heartbeat, or colored light indicating temperature. Visual indicator 710 may include a capability to display images or text. In some embodiments, sequences to be provided at visual indicator 710 may be received from an external computing device. For example, the external computing device may transmit information or images to processor 110 for creating a display (or audio sequence) at visual indicator 710.
The external computing device may also provide visual feedback. For example, for a given parameter such as temperature, heart rate, or oxygen level, parameter information may be displayed as a present value, a history of values, or a change from an average value. Parameter information may be displayed in relation to an expected range, or in comparison to a threshold value, such as to indicate that the monitored person should be taken for examination by a healthcare professional. Other display options will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art.
In the example of
In the example of
Other sensed parameters may also be presented by way of a mapping. Color or grayscale mappings may be presented in many forms, such as the linear left-to-right mapping in
A mapping may be saved in a memory, such as in an equation or as a table of values. For example, Table 1 may be used to map a temperature range of 35.0° C. to 41.3° C. to a small number of colors for display.
The same color mapping, or a different color mapping, may be used to indicate temperature in the visual indicator built into the object 1.
As noted above, the monitoring system 100 may be incorporated into a variety of objects 1. Further, multiple objects 1 may be used, for example, to establish a larger monitored space, to incorporate different types of sensors 144 into different objects 1 within a monitored space, to monitor behavior of a person as they move between objects 1 in a monitored space, to monitor interaction of a person with one or more objects 1 in a monitored space, or to monitor multiple persons concurrently.
For example, multiple objects 1 within a room may be activated based on one or more of proximity, motion or temperature, and then may record sensed data, analyze sensed data, provide raw, filtered, or analyzed data externally, and display visual indications related to the sensed data, as described above. An example of a discreet object 1 is a patch including one or more sensors and a communication interface, positioned on furniture, on a wall, on a baby bed, and so forth. Object 1 may in the form of a wearable item. The various objects 1 may communicate with each other, and may communicate with a hub (or an object 1 designated as a hub). Hub devices may collect data from multiple objects 1 to track a person's physiological state and activity state even as the child moves between toys and areas in the environment. Visual indicators may, in some embodiments, be placed around the environment, such as in wall hangings, ornaments, lamps, or display devices.
By analyzing data from multiple sensors, an emotional state of a person may also be determined.
While the disclosure has been described with reference to the specific embodiments thereof, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted without departing from the true spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation, material, composition of matter, method, operation or operations, to the objective, spirit and scope of the disclosure. All such modifications are intended to be within the scope of the claims appended hereto. In particular, while certain methods may have been described with reference to particular operations performed in a particular order, it will be understood that these operations may be combined, sub-divided, or re-ordered to form an equivalent method without departing from the teachings of the disclosure. Accordingly, unless specifically indicated herein, the order and grouping of the operations is not a limitation of the disclosure.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application 62/093,989 filed Dec. 18, 2014 to Majic et al., titled “Child Health Monitoring Toy,” the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62093989 | Dec 2014 | US |
