Patent Application
20160135745
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a monitoring glove, and more particularly to a monitoring glove monitoring physiological symptoms.
2. Description of the Related Art
Physiological monitors are common medical apparatuses to measure physiological parameters. Doctors and nurses diagnose and treat sick people according to measured physiological indexes. However, different physiological indexes (e.g. electrocardiogram (ECG), blood pressure, temperature and respiration) are captured by different physiological monitors. The complexity of measurement is increased.
In accordance with an embodiment, a measuring glove comprises a first sensing unit and a second sensing unit. The first sensing unit measures a first physiological signal. The second sensing unit measures a second physiological signal. When the first sensing unit operates, the second sensing unit stops operating. When the second sensing unit operates, the first sensing unit stops operating.
In accordance with another embodiment, a measuring system comprises a glove and an external device. The glove comprises a first sensing unit, a second sensing unit and a transmittal unit. The first sensing unit measures a first physiological signal. The second sensing unit measures a second physiological signal. When the first sensing unit operates, the second sensing unit stops operating. When the second sensing unit operates, the first sensing unit stops operating. The transmittal unit transmits the first and second physiological signals. The external device receives the first and second physiological signals.
A detailed description is given in the following embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The invention can be more fully understood by referring to the following detailed description and examples with references made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
The making and using of the embodiments of the disclosure are discussed in detail below. It should be appreciated, however, that the embodiments provide many applicable inventive concepts that can be embodied in a wide variety of specific contexts. The specific embodiments discussed are merely illustrative, and do not limit the scope of the disclosure.
In this embodiment, the sensing units do not operate simultaneously. Assuming that the measuring glove 110 comprises a first sensing unit and a second sensing unit, while the first sensing unit operates, the second sensing unit does not operate. Similarly, during the operation of the second sensing unit, the first sensing unit does not operate. The invention does not limit the kind of first and second sensing units. In one embodiment, the first and second sensing units are the same. For example, each of the first and second sensing units is a photo sensor, a voltage sensor, a vibration sensor, a pressure sensor, or an audio sensor.
In other embodiments, the first sensing unit is different from the second sensing unit. For example, the first sensing unit is a photo sensor, a voltage sensor, a vibration sensor, a pressure sensor, or an audio sensor, and the second sensing unit is another from the above list.
In this embodiment, the physiological signal generated from the first sensing unit is different from the physiological signal generated from the second sensing unit. For example, the physiological signal generated from the first sensing unit is one of a heart rate signal, a ECG signal, a SpO2 signal, a temperature signal and a pulse signal, and the physiological signal generated from the second sensing unit is another of the heart rate signal, the ECG signal, the SpO2 signal, the temperature signal and the pulse signal.
In one embodiment, a medical technician wears the measuring glove 110 and contacts with a patient to measure physiological condition. The measuring glove 110 is covered with a specific consumable film for hygiene. After measuring, medical technician may replace the film on the surface of the measuring glove 110.
After obtaining physiological signals, the transmittal unit 120 transmits the physiological signals to the external device 130. The invention does not limit how the transmittal unit 120 transmits the physiological signals. The transmittal unit 120 may be utilize a wired transmission technology or a wireless transmission technology to transmit the physiological signals. Assume that the transmittal unit 120 transmits the physiological signals to various external devices. In some embodiments, the transmittal unit 120 transmits a portion of the physiological signals to an external device according to a wireless transmission technology and transmits another portion of the physiological signals to another external device according to a wired transmission technology. In other embodiment, the transmittal unit 120 transmits the physiological signals to remote devices via the Internet. Therefore, the convenience of the measuring system is increased.
The external device 130 receives and analyzes the physiological signals. The medical technician obtains the physiological condition of the patient according to the analysis result generated by the external device 130. In one embodiment, the external device 130 comprises a display unit 131, an analysis unit 132 and a storage unit 133, but the disclosure is not limited thereto. In this embodiment, the analysis unit 132 analyzes the physiological signals provided by the transmittal unit 120 to generate an analysis result. The display unit 131 displays text or image to present the analysis result. The storage unit 133 stores the analysis result.
In other embodiments, the external device 130 may only comprise a display unit 131 and an analysis unit 132. In another embodiment, the external device 130 only comprises an analysis unit 132 and a storage unit 133. The invention does not limit the kind of external device 130. In one embodiment, the external device 130 is a smartphone, a computer or a cloud server.
The invention does not limit the positions of the sensing units. The sensing unit can be disposed in any position of the glove.
Refer to
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The medical technician wears the measuring glove 100 and grips the ear or the finger of the patient by the first finger and the thumb portions of the measuring glove 100. When the light emitter 232 emits a light, the light receiver 231 generates a SpO2 signal according to the light emitting through the ear or the finger. In one embodiment, the light is a red light or an infrared light.
Refer to
Refer to
In
In one embodiment, the sensors 251-253 are pressure sensors. In other embodiments, the sensing unit 250 only comprises a pressure sensor disposed in the first, middle or ring finger portion of the measuring glove 100. In this case, the medical technician utilizes one finger portion of the measuring glove 100 to obtain the pulse of the patient.
In this embodiment, the measuring glove 100 comprises at least two of the sensing units 210, 220, 230, 240 and 250 to measure two physiological condition, such as temperature and pulse. In other embodiment, the measuring glove 100 comprises sensing units 210, 220, 230, 240 and 250. When one of the sensing units 210, 220, 230, 240 and 250 operates, other sensing units do not operate. In some embodiments, the measuring glove 100 measures SpO2 of the patient according to light transmission technology.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of the preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements (as would be apparent to those skilled in the art). Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.
