Patent Application
20180116879
The present disclosure relates to incontinence detection systems and particularly, to incontinence detection systems that detect changes in electrical properties of a pad due to moisture. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to incontinence detection systems in which the sensitivity of the system is adjustable.
In general, prolonged exposure of a person's skin to biofluids such as urine may cause breakdown of the skin and potentially lead to ulcers. Accordingly, it is advantageous to detect and remedy such exposure as soon as possible. Some systems exist for detecting the presence of biofluids in a substrate, such as a layer on a hospital bed or a diaper. However, due to variations in the amount that different people perspire, some of these systems may generate false positives by detecting sweat instead of urine. As a result, caregivers may unnecessarily spend time inspecting and/or changing hospital bed sheets or diapers that may not actually contain harmful levels of biofluids.
The present application discloses one or more of the features recited in the appended claims and/or the following features which, alone or in any combination, may comprise patentable subject matter:
According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a disposable incontinence detection system for monitoring an area for incontinence events is provided. The incontinence detection system includes a substrate having a length and a width that define a monitoring area. A moisture sensor is positioned within the monitoring area and includes a circuit that includes a plurality of traces that are spaced apart from each other such that the presence of moisture bridging a space between at least two of the traces will close the circuit. Additionally, the moisture sensor includes a removable conductor coupled to one of the plurality of traces such that removal of the conductor irreversibly prevents the trace from closing the circuit. The moisture sensor is configured to determine whether the circuit has been closed (e.g., as a result of an incontinence event).
In some embodiments, the distances between each trace of the plurality of electrically conductive traces may correlate to predetermined volumes of moisture. Alternatively or additionally, the distances between each trace of the plurality of electrically conductive traces may be predetermined based on the area of the substrate and the absorption properties of the substrate. The plurality of electrically conductive traces includes may include at least three electrically conductive traces, for example. In some embodiments, the at least three electrically conductive traces may be positioned in predetermined parallel distances from each other in order to detect 50 mL and 100 mL moisture volumes, and/or other moisture volumes.
Further, according to the present disclosure, a method for modifying the sensitivity of a disposable incontinence detection system is provided. The disposable incontinence detection includes a substrate having a length and a width defining a monitoring area, and a moisture sensor that is positioned within the monitoring area and includes a circuit having a plurality of traces spaced apart from each other such that the presence of moisture bridging a space between at least two of the traces will close the circuit, and a removable conductor coupled to one of the plurality of traces such that removal of the conductor irreversibly prevents the trace from closing the circuit. The moisture sensor is configured to determine whether the circuit has been closed. The method includes irreversibly removing the conductor from the trace.
Additional features, which alone or in combination with any other feature(s), such as those listed above and/or those listed in the claims, may comprise patentable subject matter and will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of various embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the embodiments as presently perceived.
The foregoing and other features of the various embodiments of the methods and apparatuses described herein will become more apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings in which:
The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for detecting incontinence-caused events associated with a person being monitored. Thus, it should be appreciated that the systems described herein are able to detect biofluids such as blood, urine, fecal matter, interstitial fluid, saline, or any other fluid having a large concentration of ions that easily conduct electricity. Urine, for example is relatively conductive (in the range of 0.06 to 0.1 siemens per meter (S/m)). Blood is much more conductive (in the range of 1.18 to 3.35 S/m). Fecal conductivity is typically much lower, but more variable depending upon ion content. Values of 0.06 S/m are typical. The term “incontinence” as used herein is intended to cover all of these biofluids. The present disclosure further describes systems and methods for adjusting the sensitivity of such incontinence detection systems to avoid false positives (i.e., a determination that an incontinence event such as a bowel movement or urination occurred when it did not) caused by perspiration. By reducing the number of false positives, caregivers such as nurses may reduce the amount of time spent investigating whether detections of incontinence events are erroneous and focus more of their time on removing soiled sheets, garments, and other materials from patients who have actually experienced an incontinence event.
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The processor 302 may be embodied as any type of processor capable of performing the functions described herein. For example, the processor may be embodied as a microcontroller, single or multi-core processor(s) having one or more processor cores, or other processor or processing/controlling circuit. Similarly, the main memory 304 may be embodied as any type of volatile or non-volatile memory or data storage capable of performing the functions described herein. In operation, the main memory 304 may store various data and software used during operation of the moisture sensor 120 such as threshold voltage levels indicative of a closed circuit between one or more of the traces 130, and in some embodiments, the type of biofluid closing the circuit, given that different biofluids have different degrees of electrical conductivity, as well as network communication settings, libraries, drivers, programs, applications, and operating systems. The main memory 304 is communicatively coupled to the processor 302 via the I/O subsystem 306. Of course, in other embodiments (e.g., those in which the processor 302 includes a memory controller), the main memory 304 may be directly communicatively coupled to the processor 302.
The I/O subsystem 306 may be embodied as circuitry and/or components to facilitate input/output operations with the processor 302, the main memory 304, and other components of the moisture sensor 120. For example, the I/O subsystem 306 may be embodied as, or otherwise include, memory controller hubs, input/output control hubs, firmware devices, communication links (i.e., point-to-point links, bus links, wires, cables, light guides, printed circuit board traces, etc.) and/or other components and subsystems to facilitate the input/output operations. In some embodiments, the I/O subsystem 306 may form a portion of a system-on-a-chip (SoC) and be incorporated, along with the processor 302, the memory 304, and other components of the moisture sensor 120, on a single integrated circuit chip.
As described above, the illustrative moisture sensor 120 includes the notification device 122, which may include one or more of a visual output device 308, an audio output device 310, or a data communication subsystem 312. Of course, in other embodiments, the notification device 122 may include additional or other output devices. The visual output device 308 may be embodied as any type of device capable of providing visual signal to an observer of the notification device 122. The visual signals may be lights or graphical indications of the occurrence of an incontinence event. Accordingly, the visual output device 308 may be embodied as, or otherwise use, any suitable display technology including, for example, a light emitting device, such as a light emitting diode (LED), or a graphical display such a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emitting diode (LED) display, and/or other display usable in a compute device.
The audio output device 310 may be embodied as any type of device capable of providing an audible signal indicative of an occurrence of an incontinence event, such as a speaker. The audible signal may be a constant tone, a repeating audible pattern, speech, or other sound. The data communication subsystem 312 may be embodied as one or more devices and/or circuitry capable of enabling communications with one or more other electronic devices over a network. The communication subsystem 312 may be configured to use any suitable communication protocol to communicate with other devices including, for example, wireless data communication protocols, cellular communication protocols, and/or wired communication protocols.
The moisture sensor 120 may additionally include a data storage device 314, which may be embodied as any type of device or devices configured for short-term or long-term storage of data such as, for example, memory devices and circuits, memory cards, hard disk drives, solid-state drives, or other data storage devices. The data storage device 314 may store data and software used during operation of the moisture sensor 120 such as threshold voltage levels indicative of a closed circuit between one or more of the traces 130, and in some embodiments, the type of biofluid closing the circuit, given that different biofluids have different degrees of electrical conductivity, as well as network communication settings, libraries, drivers, programs, applications, and operating systems.
In some embodiments, the moisture sensor 120 does not include one or more of the processor 302, main memory 304, I/O subsystem 306 or data storage device 314, and the notification device 122 is activated directly by the electrical current passing through the circuit closed by the biofluid 170.
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The traces 714 of the moisture sensor include conductive ink traces. Suitable conductive inks include, for example, carbon, silver, copper, zinc and graphene. The barrier layer 716 is typically polyethylene (PE) which provides a barrier to prevent moisture penetration to a support surface or frame beneath the pad 700A. Polypropylene (PP) sheets and/or polyurethane (PU) sheets are also acceptable to be used as the barrier layer 716. The barrier layer 716 may or may not be breathable. In some embodiments, the barrier layer 716 is substantially waterproof. In an example embodiment, silver ink is printed on a sheet of PE material that is inserted into a pad that, itself, has a bottom substantially waterproof layer. The layer of PE material with silver ink is situated between the bottom layer and an overlying layer of absorbent material.
In another exemplary embodiment pad 700B, as shown in
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In the illustrative examples of pads 700A-700D, each of layers 710, 712716, 718, 720, 722, 724, to the extent present, are generally rectangular in shape. However, layers 712, 718 are slightly smaller in length and width dimensions than layers 710, 716, 720, 722, 724. The larger-sized layers 710, 716, 720, 722, 724 are attached at their peripheries (again, to the extent present in any particular embodiment 700A-D) such as by sewing, sonic or RF welding, adhesive or other laminating technique. Thus, the periphery of the absorbent material layers 712, 718 is inset by a small amount from the overall periphery of pads 700A-D. The traces 714 are within the periphery of the absorbent layers 712, 718 and so are also inset from the overall periphery of the pads 700A-D. In other embodiments, the layers 710, 712, 716, 718, 720, 722, 724 are attached to each other across their entire widths and not just at the peripheries.
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In block 808, the caregiver selects one or more removable conductors to remove from the disposable incontinence detection system to obtain the desired level of sensitivity. In doing so, as indicated in block 810, the caregiver may identify bioliquid volumes associated with distances between the traces 130. For example, if the caregiver is using the disposable incontinence detection system 100, the caregiver may determine whether to keep the removable conductor 150 in place, to detect the presence of a first volume (e.g., 50 milliliters) of biofluid or to remove the removable conductor 150 to be sensitive to no less than a second volume (e.g., 100 milliliters) of biofluid, which is greater than the first volume. If the caregiver is instead using another embodiment that includes multiple removable conductors, such as the removable conductors 450, 452, 454 of the disposable incontinence detection system 400, the caregiver may select one or more of the removable conductors 450, 452, 454. In some embodiments, the disposable incontinence detection system may include labels or other indicia of volumes of biofluid that may be detected with one or more of the removable conductors in place or removed, and/or other indications of levels of sensitivity (high, medium, low, etc.) associated with different configurations of the one or more removable conductors.
In block 812, the caregiver removes the one or more selected conductors from the disposable incontinence detection system. For example, if the caregiver is using the disposable incontinence detection system 100, the caregiver may remove the removable conductor 150. If the caregiver is instead using another embodiment that includes multiple removable conductors, such as the removable conductors 450, 452, 454 of the disposable incontinence detection system 400, the caregiver may remove one or more of the removable conductors 450, 452, 454. As indicated in block 814, in removing the selected one or more removable conductors, the caregiver may pull them away from the moisture sensor, thereby preventing the associated traces 130 from being able to conduct an electrical current to the notification device 122.
In block 816, the caregiver positions the moisture sensor 120 of the disposable incontinence detection system 100 to detect an incontinence event. In doing so, as indicated in block 818, the caregiver may place the moisture sensor on a patient support apparatus. In other embodiments, as indicated in block 820, the caregiver may dress the patient with the moisture sensor, such as when the disposable incontinence detection system is incorporated into a diaper (e.g., the disposable incontinence detection system 600) or other garment. In the illustrative embodiment, the caregiver positions the moisture sensor (e.g., the moisture sensor 120), and in particular, the traces (e.g., the traces 130), in a position to receive the majority of any biofluid released by the patient in an incontinence event, such as within a predefined distance of the genitals and/or buttocks of the patient.
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In some embodiments, the closure of the circuit provides the electrical power used by the notification device 122 to generate a notification. For example, the notification device 122, and in particular, the visual output device 308, may produce a visual signal (e.g., a light) using the electrical current passing through the trace 132 and the receiving trace(s) (e.g., one or more of the traces 134, 136). Accordingly, the conductivity of the biofluid, which may be a function of the type and/or volume of the biofluid, may affect the brightness or other characteristics of the visual signal produced by the visual output device 308. Accordingly, a caregiver may be able to determine the type and/or amount of biofluid based on the characteristics of the visual signal. In other embodiments, the moisture sensor 120 detects the closure of the circuit using the processor 302 such as by iteratively determining the voltage at each trace 130 and selectively activates one or more of the visual output device 308, the audio output device 310, or the data communication system 312 in accordance with a configuration stored in the main memory 304 and/or the data storage device 314. While the method 900 is described above with reference to the disposable incontinence detection system 100, it should be understood that other embodiments of the disposable incontinence detection system (e.g., the disposable incontinence detection systems 400, 600) consistent with the present disclosure may also perform the method 900.
Some of the above embodiments may be described in terms of functional block components and various processing steps. Such functional blocks may be realized by any number of hardware and/or software components configured to perform the specified functions. For example, embodiments may employ various integrated circuit components, e.g., memory elements, processing elements, logic elements, look-up tables, and the like, which may carry out a variety of functions under the control of one or more processors, microprocessors or other control devices. Similarly, where the elements of the above embodiments are implemented using software programming or software elements the embodiments may be implemented with any programming or scripting language such as C, C++, Java, assembler, or the like, with the various algorithms being implemented with any combination of data structures, objects, processes, routines or other programming elements. Furthermore, the embodiments could employ any number of conventional techniques for electronics configuration, signal processing and/or control, data processing and the like. The word “mechanism” may be used broadly and is not limited to mechanical or physical embodiments, but can include software routines in conjunction with processors, etc.
The particular implementations shown and described herein are illustrative examples and are not intended to otherwise limit the scope of the claims in any way. For the sake of brevity, conventional electronics, control systems, software development and other functional aspects of the systems (and components of the individual operating components of the systems) may not be described in detail. Furthermore, the connecting lines, or connectors shown in the various figures presented are intended to represent exemplary functional relationships and/or physical or logical couplings between the various elements. It should be noted that many alternative or additional functional relationships, physical connections or logical connections may be present in a practical device. Moreover, no item or component disclosed herein is intended to be an essential element. Numerous modifications and adaptations will be readily apparent to those skilled in this art without departing from the spirit and scope of the embodiments.
The order of execution or performance of the operations in embodiments illustrated and described herein is not essential. That is, the operations may be performed in any order, unless otherwise specified, and embodiments as described may include additional or fewer operations than those disclosed herein. For example, it is contemplated that executing or performing a particular operation before, contemporaneously with, or after another operation is within the scope of aspects of the present disclosure.
Embodiments may be implemented with computer-executable instructions. The computer-executable instructions may be organized into one or more computer-executable components or modules. Aspects of the disclosure may be implemented with any number and organization of such components or modules. For example, aspects of the disclosure are not limited to the specific computer-executable instructions or the specific components or modules illustrated in the figures and/or described herein. Other embodiments may include different computer-executable instructions or components having more or less functionality than illustrated and described herein.
Although certain illustrative embodiments have been described in detail above, variations and modifications exist within the scope and spirit of this disclosure as described and as defined in the following claims.
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/413,630, filed Oct. 27, 2016, which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62413630 | Oct 2016 | US |
