Patent Application
20140203797
The present invention relates to methods and apparatuses for measuring a state parameter of an individual using signals based on one or more sensors and the control or operation of various devices based on the measured state parameter.
The present invention also relates to a system for continuous physiological monitoring and in particular to a system for collecting, storing, processing and displaying data primarily related to an individual's physiological status, context, or activity with the use of an electric field sensor.
The present invention also relates to a measurement device that utilizes temperature and other detected data to derive and report additional body states, conditions and contexts.
The invention also related to a health assessment system utilizing a system for physiological and contextual monitoring of the individual.
Devices exist for the purpose of continuous body monitoring in the free-living environment. Sensors that detect acceleration, skin resistance, skin temperature, radiated heat flow, and heart rate have been used in various combinations to determine or derive such parameters as caloric burn rate, activity type and level, and sleep state. Such devices employ sophisticated algorithms (as is described in co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 10/682,293, owned by the Assignee of record, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference) to integrate various sensor data streams to make a best guess determination of the output parameters (e.g. calories burned). Additional sensors, and thus, additional sensed parameters, aid in disambiguating the other sensed parameters. As such, additional sensors can provide valuable input to the algorithms to improve accuracy. But some additional sensors are costly and consume large amounts of power. Thus, there is a need for a low cost sensor to be used in both the determination and derivation of physiological and contextual parameters, and activity of a user, and a low cost sensor to aid in the disambiguation of signals of prior art sensor devices. Electric-field sensors are on e low cost alternative.
Electrical charge is a fundamental part of nature. Electrons from one object are readily transferred to another object through such simple processes such as rubbing the objects together. When charge is transferred between two objects that are electrically insulated a static charge is created whereby the object with the surplus of electrons is negatively charged, and the object with a deficit of electrons is positively charged.
Electrons move about within an object in different ways depending on whether the object is a conducting or insulating object. In a conductor, the electrons are more or less uniformly distributed throughout the material and can move easily based on the influence of external electrical fields. In an insulator, the charge exists primarily at the surface. The charge can still be mobile, however, depending on the properties of the material and other environmental factors.
“Field sensing”, as it is used herein, likely emerged on this planet in the form of a biological sensing system in certain organisms. For example, it is well documented that fish use electric field sensing to aid in the perception of their environments. Two examples of families of fish having such capabilities are the Mormyriformes and Gymnotoidei. Fish having this sensory capability possess a current source in their tail. The current source induces voltages along the lateral line of the fish. Voltages across the lateral line change with respect to the fish's proximity to other objects. Through these changes, the fish is then able to perceive the size of the object or the distance of the object from the fish.
Human-made devices that use electric field or that are capable of capacitive-type sensing have been around for nearly one hundred years. The first notable example of such a device is the Theremin. Named for its inventor, Leon Theremin, a Theremin is an electronic musical instrument. A musician controls the instrument with movements of his hands proximate to the Theremin's two antennae. Variations in the movements of the musician's hands affect the capacitance of the Theremin's circuit thereby changing the resonant frequency. These changes in frequency are synthesized into audible sound.
More recently, this type of sensing can be seen in touch-activated buttons, for example, in an elevator. A weak electric field emanates from buttons of this type. The weak electric field changes when a user touches the button or comes into close contact with the button. Process control in the elevator then interprets the electric field change as a selection and moves the elevator to the selected floor. Other technologies that utilize this type of sensing include touch screens and pads for computing devices, stud finders, object imaging devices, and more pertinently, occupant position sensing systems in automobiles and devices for determining the position, orientation, and mass of an object.
Of the prior art devices and methods that determine the position, orientation, and mass of an object, U.S. Pat. No. 5,844,415 to Gershenfeld et al. is exemplary. U.S. Pat. No. 5,844,415 (“'415 patent”) is to an electric field sensing device for determining the position, mass distribution, and orientation of an object within a defined space. In an attempt to accomplish this end, Gershenfeld et al. disclose in the '415 patent an approach to optimizing the arrangements and geometry of a plurality of electrodes within the defined space. In addition to optimizing the arrangement and geometry of the electrodes, Gershenfeld et al. were concerned with the amount of electrodes in the device, because according to Gershenfeld et al., adding electrodes can always distinguish among more cases. Gershenfeld et al. also increased performance of the device by switchably designating each electrode as either a transmitting or a receiving electrode. Each of the above situations was aimed at providing a device capable of recognizing user gestures, hand position and orientation as a means of conveying information to computer. Such a device could be used as a mouse or a joystick. Gershenfeld et al., therefore, discloses the recognition of position and orientation of a user's hand in a fixed space. Gershenfeld et al. did not disclose a device capable of deriving a physiological and contextual parameters or a user's activity, such as walking, cycling, or energy expenditure, from a field or capacitance sensor. Nor did Gershenfeld et al. disclose a device capable of determining or deriving a user's physiological and contextual parameters or activity with a wearable device, or in a device that is continuously proximate to a user's body.
The relationship of electric field sensing to the detection and derivation of physiological and contextual parameters and a user's activity is illustrated as follows. Voltage and charge on an object are related by capacitance in the following formula:
Q=CV
Where Q is charge in Coulombs, C is capacitance in Farads, and V is voltage in volts.
If a person were to walk across a carpet and then touch one terminal of a capacitor, the other terminal of which is grounded, the resulting discharge would induce a voltage on the capacitor consistent with the above equation. This is a practical means for measuring total body charge, but it is impractical for continuous body monitoring. Therefore, there is a need to provide an electric field sensing device capable of continuously being with the user, or continuously monitoring the user in the free-living environment.
Many of the prior art sensor devices are sophisticated, costly devices. Such costly sensors limit the attractiveness of providing a disposable product capable of determining or deriving the context or physiological parameters of an individual. Therefore, providing a low-cost, disposable (or several-use) type sensor device used in both the determination and derivation of physiological and contextual parameters, and activity of a user of would be desirable. A low-cost sensor device having a low-cost sensor, such as an electric field sensor, would aid in achieving this goal.
In addition to the recognition of parameters from a wearable device or one that is continuously proximate to a user, there is a need for stationary devices capable of determining or deriving the context or physiological parameters of an individual. Such devices could be networked in a plurality of objects to recognize such parameters.
The systems and devices of the present invention comprise a sensor device having an electric-field sensor (as described below). The data generated by the electric-field sensor is utilized to derive various status parameters of the individual.
In a embodiment, monitoring system is provided which may comprise either a one or a multi component embodiment. The module may be provided with a display for output of temperature and other data as well as a variety of input capabilities. In certain embodiments, such as the temperature-related embodiment, the module is particularly sized and shaped to conform to and interface with the skin of the wearer, typically in one of several preselected preferred locations. The first and most preferred location for the device is in the valley formed by the juncture of the leg and the torso which is adjacent the passage of the femoral artery close to the hip and is preferably affixed by the use of an adhesive strip. The module may also be affixed to a garment or diaper, but is preferably operated in a confined space within a diaper or clothing. All applications and embodiments described herein are equally applicable to children and adults, while infants and the elderly or infirm are the most typical candidates.
A multi component system includes a module in addition to a receiver for receiving temperature and other data measurements. The presentation of raw or derived information may include current data related to physiological or contextual parameters and derived data.
Data may be collected and processed by the module and transmitted to a receiver, a central monitoring unit, or may provide all processing on board. The module may also be adapted to communicate with other devices through direct telecommunication or other wireless communication as well as over local, wide area or global computer networks.
The module may be provided with an electronic tag or other ID of some known type so that receivers may be able to detect and display discrete information for each such patient in a multi-user environment. The modules may also communicate with certain third party or other associated devices.
The devices and systems disclosed herein are primarily intended for home use, typically for monitoring of an infant. The systems and devices are equally applicable, however, to hospital, nursing home or other institutional use. For example, a simple adhesive patch embodiment may be utilized in an emergency room for each patient, especially those waiting to be seen for the first time, to make initial physiological assessments or to alert triage about a significant change in the condition of a waiting patient. The module may also be utilized during surgery as a less invasive and more convenient temperature or conditional measurement device, especially when other typical locations for such measurements are inaccessible or inconvenient. Post operative care, including the use of temperature dependent patient warming devices may also be based upon the output of the system.
The shape and housing of any of the modules of the present invention provides a significant aspect of the functionality of the device in selected embodiments. In general, the device has a curved, relatively thin housing which may have a variety of convex and concave portions for creating an appropriate space and interface with the skin. It is typically held in place by an adhesive pad, which may be shaped in accordance with the needs of the specific application. The adhesive material may further support or contain all or additional sensors or electrodes for detection of the various parameters.
The housing components of the module are preferably constructed from a flexible urethane or another hypoallergenic, non-irritating elastomeric material such as polyurethane, rubber or a rubber-silicone blend, by a molding process, although the housing components may also be constructed from a rigid plastic material. In temperature-related embodiments, an ambient temperature sensor is preferably located on the upper surface of the housing facing away from the skin and a skin temperature sensor is preferably located along a protrusion from the lower housing and is placed against the skin. The housing may be provided with an orifice therethrough to facilitate the use of heat flux sensors thereon.
A number of disposable or combination embodiments are also presented. In disposable applications, the entire module and mounting material are utilized for a relatively short period of time and are discarded. In a combination embodiment, certain key or costly components are placed in a durable housing which is integrated physically and electrically with additional components which are disposable. Disposable and combination embodiments are specifically directed at short term use and low cost. Certain embodiments may be specifically provided with a known, limited lifetime.
In all embodiments, a number of methodologies are described for initiating operation of the device. The device and attendant receiver may have traditional means for turning the units on or off, or may be auto-sensing, in that the devices wake up upon detecting certain use-related conditions. The devices may also be equipped with medication or other nutrients or the like for delivery by the device, upon programmed control or direction by a caregiver.
A receiver is intended to display a variety of information and may be incorporated in other devices such as a clock radio, which has a primary use unrelated to the temperature measurement system or other system embodiments. The receiver provides a locus of information relating to the changing condition of the wearer and may present an iconic, analog or digital indication as to the data being measured, any derived information based upon both measured and other data as well as certain contextual information. Also displayed may be trends of change and indications of changes meeting certain present thresholds. Alarms, warnings and messages, both on the receiver and sent through the various transmission networks may be initiated upon the meeting of such preselected or event driven thresholds.
In some embodiments, the module includes at least one sensor, a processor and potentially an amplifier to provide appropriate signal strength of the output of the sensor to the processor. An analog to digital converter may also be utilized. The digital signal or signals representing detected temperature data and/or other sensed data, for example electric-field data, of the individual user is then utilized by the processor to calculate or generate current temperature data and temperature data trends as well as other derived physiological and contextual data. All data or relevant information may be stored in memory, which can be flash memory. A discrete clock circuit may also be provided. Sensor input channels may also be multiplexed as necessary. The processor may be programmed and/or otherwise adapted to include the utilities and algorithms necessary to create derived temperature and other related data. The receiver may output the data directly on a display or other informative means to a caregiver or may transmit the data according to a number of techniques electronically to a network or other device.
With respect to the temperature-related embodiments, the skin temperature sensor preferably detects a skin temperature and an ambient temperature sensor preferably detects a temperature corresponding to the near ambient environment of the individual within the protective enclosure of the diaper. The module is subject to calibration to aid in the accuracy of the detection of data. The step of feature creation takes as input the temperature data or any other sensor data (such as electric-field data), which may or may not comprise calibrated signals and produces new combinations or manipulations of these signals. The system reviews and analyzes the data streams and identifies patterns and conditions, preferably through the use of multiple sensors. These detectable patterns and conditions, together with conditions and parameters which are observed immediately prior to such patterns and conditions, create repeatable and definable signals which may be utilized to warn or predict future events, behavior or conditions. This data and conclusions may be presented in graphs, reports or other output which reflect the correlations and predictions.
Another embodiment of the invention comprises health assessment system, comprising a input means to input pre-obtained health parameters of an individual, said parameters comprising blood panel information, genetic screening data, said individual's and health history, body fat percentage; a wearable physiological monitoring device to sense at least one physiological parameter of said individual; and a processing unit to use both pre-obtained health based parameters and said sensed parameters to generate output of said individual's health assessment.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method that utilizes electric field sensing to determining physiological or contextual parameters of an individual, wherein the apparatus is either worn by the user or is in continuous proximity to the user, is in an area of frequent or infrequent user-interaction.
It is a further object to provide a low cost and means to disambiguate sensed signals in prior art devices.
It is still a further object of the invention to provide a stationary device, or a network of stationary devices, capable of determining or deriving the context or physiological parameters of an individual.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a more accurate health assessment system.
Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the discussion in the Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments.
In general, according to the present invention, data relating to the physiological state, the lifestyle, environmental, and certain contextual parameters of an individual are collected and transmitted, either subsequently or in real-time to a site or memory, where it is stored for manipulation and presentation to a recipient. Contextual parameters as used herein means parameters relating to the surroundings and location of the individual, including, but not limited to, air quality, sound quality, ambient temperature, global positioning and the like. Note that location could be determined in a variety of ways in addition to satellite global positioning technology, including for example, through a cellular phone network. Referring to
Sensor device 10 detects and/or generates data indicative of various physiological parameters of an individual, such as the individual's, electric-field (as described herein) heart rate, pulse rate, beat-to-beat heart variability, EKG or ECG, respiration rate, skin temperature, core body temperature, heat flow off the body, galvanic skin response or GSR, EMG, EEG, EOG, blood pressure, body fat, hydration level, activity level, oxygen consumption, glucose or blood sugar level, body position, pressure on muscles or bones, and UV radiation exposure and absorption. In certain cases, the data indicative of the various physiological parameters is the signal or signals themselves generated by the one or more sensors and in certain other cases the data is calculated by the microprocessor based on the signal or signals generated by the one or more sensors. Methods for generating data indicative of various physiological parameters and sensors to be used therefor are well known. Table 1 provides several examples of such well known methods and shows the parameter in question, the method used, the sensor device used, and the signal that is generated. Table 1 also provides an indication as to whether further processing based on the generated signal is required to generate the data. Table is not an exclusive list of methods and parameters. Other parameters, methods of generation, and sensors will be described herein or are otherwise apparent those skilled in the art.
The types of data listed in Table 1 are intended to be examples of the types of data that can be detected and/or generated by sensor device 10. It is to be understood that other types of data relating to other parameters can be detected and/or generated by sensor device 10 without departing from the scope of the present invention.
The microprocessor 20 of sensor device 10 may be programmed to execute stored instructions to process and analyze the data. For example, the sensor device 10 may be able to derive information relating to an individual's physiological state based on the data indicative of one or more physiological or contextual parameters. The microprocessor 20 of sensor device 10 is programmed to derive such information based on the data indicative of one or more physiological or contextual parameters. Table 2 provides examples of the type of information that can be derived, and indicates some of the types of data that can be used therefor.
It should be noted that the preferred set of sensors that generate data amenable to deriving the above information includes a heat flux sensor, heart rate sensor, GSR sensor, and accelerometer.
Referring again to contextual data, sensor device 10 may generate and/or detect data indicative of various contextual parameters relating to the environment surrounding the individual. For example, sensor device 10 can generate data indicative of the air quality, sound level/quality, light quality or ambient temperature near the individual, or even the global positioning of the individual. Sensor device 10 may include one or more sensors 12 for detecting or generating signals in response to contextual characteristics relating to the environment surrounding the individual, the signals ultimately being used to generate the type of data described above. Such sensors are well known, as are methods for generating contextual parametric data such as air quality, weather-related, social-interaction related, sound level/quality, ambient temperature and global positioning.
Depending upon the nature of the signal generated by sensor 12, the signal can be sent through one or more of amplifier 14, conditioning circuit 16, and analog-to-digital converter 18, before being sent to microprocessor 20 in an embodiment of the invention. For example, where sensor 12 generates an analog signal in need of amplification and filtering, that signal can be sent to amplifier 14, and then on to conditioning circuit 16, which may, for example, be a band pass filter. The amplified and conditioned analog signal can then be transferred to analog-to-digital converter 18, where it is converted to a digital signal. The digital signal is then sent to microprocessor 20. Alternatively, if sensor 12 generates a digital signal, that signal can be sent directly to microprocessor 20.
A digital signal or signals representing certain physiological and/or contextual characteristics of the individual user may be used by microprocessor 20 to calculate or generate data indicative of physiological and/or contextual parameters of the individual user. Microprocessor 20 is programmed to derive information relating to at least one aspect of the individual's physiological state or contextual status. It should be understood that microprocessor 20 may also comprise other forms of processors or processing devices, such as a microcontroller, or any other device that can be programmed to perform the functionality described herein. Thus, the term “microprocessor” will encompass all such variations and the term “processor” may be used interchangeable therewith. Of course, processors or processing function may be integrated into an integrated circuit such as an ASIC, which would include all or a subset of the necessary componentry to process, store, transmit, receive, and/or collect, the data.
Note that the microprocessor 20 may be variously part of the sensor device 10, maintained remotely as in the form of a central monitoring unit, or in an stand-alone type device wherein the sensor device 10 sends its detected or generated data to another device, such as a computer, mobile phone, personal digital assistant, exercise equipment, etc, having the microprocessor 20 incorporated therein. The various embodiments regarding processing and the location of the microprocessor 20, be it remote, integrated, or as part of a stand-alone device/system are described in Stivoric et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,020,508, issued Mar. 28, 2006, entitled Apparatus for Detecting Human Physiological and Contextual Information; Teller et al., pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/595,660, for System for Monitoring Health, Wellness and Fitness; Teller, et al., pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/923,181, for System for Monitoring Health, Wellness and Fitness; Teller et al., pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/682,759, for Apparatus for Detecting, Receiving, Deriving and Displaying Human Physiological and Contextual Information; Andre, et al., pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/682,293, for Method and Apparatus for Auto-Journaling of Continuous or Discrete Body States Utilizing Physiological and/or Contextual Parameters; Stivoric, et al., pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/940,889, and Stivoric, et al., pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/940,214 for System for Monitoring and Managing Body Weight and Other Physiological Conditions Including Iterative and Personalized Planning, Intervention and Reporting, which are all incorporated, in their entirety, herein by reference.
An embodiment of the invention comprising an electric-field sensor will now be discussed. For purposes of this disclosure the term “electric-field sensor”, “sensor that generates electric-field data”, “electric-field sensing device”, or similar terms will encompass electric-field sensors, which employ the same operation principles of the sensors described in the '415 patent discussed in the Background of the Invention, such as the utilization of near-field, quazi-electrostatic detection. Thus such terms also contemplate the charge sensor described herein. Additionally, such terms can mean a capacitive-type sensor which detects the amount of current from an electrode, for example, the sensors used in a Theremin or an elevator button.
With respect to the sensor,
As an example, when the wearer takes a step, his foot leaves the ground, a charge is generated on CFOOT due to triboelectric effect. This charge induces a change in charge on the series capacitors CAIR, CHousing, and CIN, which results in a net change in the voltage on CIN. This voltage change is amplified and buffered by the op-amp, resulting in a net change in VOUT.
Another possible scenario is when a charged object (e.g. another person), approaches the wearer of the charge monitoring device. In this case, a charge is imposed through CAIR and CHOUSING resulting in a similar effect on VOUT. Note that in some cases, the op-amp is not even required. Some A/D circuits have a high enough input impedance that the charge imposed on them can be directly sensed and converted to a digital value.
One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that, in some instances, apparent phenomena from n electric-field sensor such as apparent harmonics may be generated from peculiarities of the sensing system rather than being a true reflection or pattern generated by the physiology being measured. For example, interactions in the circuit may produce such false signals as may inappropriate scaling of derived channels with a derivation that increases the typical size of the resulting parameter which must then be stored in a fixed-width memory location. Any system that employs the electric-field sensor will, of course, have to consider such peculiarities.
Other ways to describe the electric-field sensing device are as follows (with specific reference to electric-field sensor capable of proximity detection). An embodiment of an electric-field sensor of this type utilizes an R/C oscillator constructed around the ambient capacitance of a copper plate. As the environment surrounding the plate changes, such as mounting the device on the human body or moving other objects closer/farther from the device armband, the capacitance of the plate changed leading to a change in the frequency of the oscillator. The output of the oscillator is then input into a counter/timer of a processor. Another embodiment utilizes a short antenna tied to the input of a FET transistor with very high gate input impedance. Very slight changes in the environment surrounding the antenna caused very detectable changes in the output of the FET amplifier. When the circuit is moved through the air toward other objects and when objects are moved closer to the antenna, changes in output were detected. The charge reflecting the motion is believed to be static in nature. In addition to capacitance and other techniques described above, other sensors may be utilized to provide or enhance this type of proximity detection, including galvanic skin response, heat flux, sound and motion to help recognize these context points with greater confidence, accuracy and reliability.
In one embodiment, a sensor device or module comprising the electric-field sensor is either worn on the body or is in proximity to the body of a user, for example in a cell phone in the user's pocket. By being on body or in close proximity to the body, the device is able to detect electric-field disturbances, which in an embodiment of the invention, could happen when a user takes a step as described above. The processor 20 can be programmed according to the methods described herein to recognize such parameters and can derive physiological or contextual information from such parameters. For example, a processor in electronic communication with the electric-field sensor could be programmed according to the disclosure in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/682,293 filed Oct. 9, 2003 to derive such parameters from the incoming electric-field data. Further, with conventional machine learning techniques such, a model can be trained from the collected data that could be used to predict the parameter or activity of a user. The output of the device can also show other parameters, activities, body states, events, etc. as well, including for example, resting, walking, cycling, respiration rate, energy expenditure, etc. Tables 2A and B show examples of different contextual parameters, physiological parameters, activities, body states, etc. that could be derived or detected using the electric-field sensor.
The device could also comprise an array of electric-field sensors, for example as described in the Background of the Invention, to disambiguate the signal from a single sensor or to provide confidence regarding the reading from a single sensor or sensor set.
Indeed, through testing, Applicants have shown various parameters each have a signal signature, wherein the signal is generated from an electric-field sensor. Thus, the first embodiment of the invention comprises devices and methods for utilizing electric-field data to determine physiological parameters, contextual parameters, activities, event, or body states of a user.
The line referred to as “O” shows the channel of data comprising the raw output from the electric-field sensor. The line, referred to as W, shows the mean absolute difference of the raw output data. The line, referred to as B, shows the number of steps taken from a proprietary step counting algorithm. The step-counting algorithm did not use any of the data from the electric-field sensor and was therefore used as a gold standard against which the electric-field sensing data could be analyzed. The line, referred to as G, refers to longitudinal mean absolute difference values obtained from a longitudinal accelerometer on the device. Similar to the step counter the LMAD value does not reflect any data from the electric-field sensing device and was used for comparative purposes. Referring to both lines O and W, it can be seen that the invention indicates that each activity had a particular data signature with data generated from the electric-field sensor. Moreover, the data is correlated to the output data of the comparators G and B.
An embodiment of an inventive method is depicted in
In
Embodiments of the invention comprising an electric-field sensor are thus capable of detecting other parameters such as respiration rate. With respect to respiration rate, the electric-field sensor is able to detect the change of volume of air entering the lungs due to the change in electric field brought on by the ions entering and exiting the lungs. In addition, the device having the electric-field sensor can generate data that is used by the processing unit to derive the amount or change in body-fluid levels in the user, by for example, comparing current sensed values with previously sensed base value. For example, a device such as this could be used for determining dehydration levels for athletes, or fluid retention level for patients managing cardiac related diseases.
As is frequently mentioned throughout this disclosure, a sensor device or module according to the present invention may contain combinations of sensors. One such combination is manifested in another embodiment of the invention, shown in
In another embodiment of the invention, the electric-field sensor is utilized as both a means to determine the user's activity, physiological or contextual parameters as described herein and as a transmitting, receiving or transceiving means for wireless communicating data or inputs collected by the device. The prior art contains devices capable of wireless communications with a electric field sensor can be transmitted, received, or transceived upon the skin of an individual user, through the skin of touching individuals, or in air for near-field transmission/receiving/transceiving.
The device is also able to detect appropriate data to derive the proximity of other humans to the user. However, other methods may be employed to detect the presence of bodies near the sensor. Proximity detection currently involves either: (i) detecting the presence of a preselected device with a matched detector or (ii) using external equipment such as a video camera or motion sensor. There is currently no way to conveniently know when a person gets close to an object. What is disclosed herein is intended to detect the motion of an object that can hold a significant static charge within a few feet of the sensor. It is further known that, because this detection is based upon a magnetic field, the relationship between the signal strength or detected charge and distance is correlated to strength=1/distance2. The human body, as it is made mostly of water, has this property in a way that most solid inanimate objects, such as a chair, do not. Thus, a cat or dog moving by such a sensor could be mistaken for a person but because those animals hold much less charge than even a child, they would have to be much closer to register the same effect on the sensor.
An electric-field sensor, as described above, may have many applications for operation and/or control of various devices. These include the use of the device to interact with a computer so that the screen saver, instead of being time-based after the last time you hit a key, turns on as soon as you walk away and comes back to the normal screen as soon as you sit down, without needing to initiate contact. The backlighting for remote controls, light switches, phones, or other items used in the dark may be activated when a body is present, together with the lights or devices controlled thereby. A child-proof gate may be designed such that it is unlocked or even swung open when an adult is present but not when a child is alone nearby. A cell phone or other communication device might be aware if the user is carrying it on his or her person or has it nearby, such as on a night stand. The device might be programmed with two different modes in the two situations to save power, download emails or the like, as appropriate. Another example would be for the electric-field sensor to sense the presence of a person to illuminate an area around an automobile as the person approaches in the dark.
Safety-related implementations may include the ability to know if a person has approached or opened a liquor, gun or money cabinet, or the detection of people near a hazardous site or situation, including a pool or beach, when no supervision is present. A device embedded in a key fob or other device might provide the ability to detect whether a person is approaching in a dark parking lot or around a corner of a building. With respect to automobiles, the device may detect whether an adult or child is in the driver's seat and disable the ignition.
A number of entertainment related embodiments are also contemplated. A video game may be provided when a player is running towards the screen to zoom in but as the player runs away from the screen it zooms back to normal view or even further out. Similarly, in a non-video game, if two players are playing with a ball, and as the ball comes closer to them, it glows more brightly, but as it is thrown away from them it grows dimmer until it reaches another person. This system may also detect the approach of an adult, which triggers the ball to discontinue the effect. Expanding the concept to the colorful ball pits in shared playlands, where as the child crawls and jumps through them, the mass of balls directly by them are glowing, while the ones to the other side of the pit are glowing for another child or dark because there is no child there. Lastly, a video wall may be provided which displays a shadow of a stylized image of the user. If the user moves his or her hand closer to the wall, that area about the size of the hand becomes darker in that vicinity but may also become a virtual pointer or paint or effect applicator can to draw on this wall. This easily extends to making water fountains responsive to children playing in them by manipulating and controlling the water jets to chase a child or create a pattern around the child's proximity. Conversely, the system could stop the specific jet that the child is standing above, making the child the chaser of the water jets. Again, this could be a special child-only effect which discontinues near adults. Additional sensors for determining the presence of an individual for such applications include ultrasound, RFID, pressure, accelerometer or piezo-based motion sensors, sonar, olfactory sensors, micro-impulse radar, chromatographic sensors, and other optical sensors.
Turning to another embodiment that may employ the electric-field sensor, but may alternatively employ other sensors or generated parameters, an additional functionality of the device is the ability to utilize sensed parameters, derived parameters and contexts to control other devices. For example, if the system senses that the user is too cold, it can generate a signal to a thermostat to raise the temperature of the room in which the user is located. Moreover, the system can detect sleep states and prevent phones from ringing or turn the lights or television off during such periods. The device may, through the temperature sensing and motion detection functionalities described above, also be utilized as a pointing device for interaction with a computer or video game system. The system may also be utilized, similar to the video game, for detection of emotional or physiological states utilizing signals or methods known in the field of biofeedback, or for detection of gestures by the wearer and use biofeedback or those detected gestures to control another device. Gestures can include particularized motions of limb, limbs and/or full body. Devices controlled include stage lighting, projectors, music and dance club floors with interactive lighting. Music devices may include stage-based devices as well as group or personal MP3 players.
Networks of stationary objects outfitted with electric filed sensing devices, or any other sensor device as described herein, could be installed in a building to a detect a user's presence and physiological contextual state in a building. Processors of other devices in the building could be programmed to control said separate devices based on the user's contextual status, physiological status, or presence, in the spirit and manner as described above.
Turning to a particular embodiment of a sensor device or module, with reference to
In the single component embodiment of a module, all functions including data output are contained within the housing of temperature module 55. The discussion of this module will focus on temperature; however, one skilled in the art will recognize that other sensors generating data of other parameters may be appropriately included in this and all modules.
While almost any contact with the body is sufficient to enable the user to develop some indication of certain parameters such as temperature, in the most preferred forms, temperature module 55 is placed in one of the preselected locations. This placement is applicable to both the one and multi-part component embodiments. One skilled in the art will recognize that placement issues and methods of attachment may be different or may not matter in modules or sensor devices having different sensor combinations. For example, small removable fob that can be attached to a watch-band, to a clip that can be attached to a lapel, belt, or other edge of fabric, or stored in a pocket, purse, bag, or elsewhere on one's person such as disclosed in
Although an infant is illustrated in
In reference to temperature-related embodiments, and with respect to the femoral region location, it has been observed that infants, especially prior to full development of internal temperature regulation systems, may exhibit excellent correlation to core temperature at the skin. After development of temperature regulation in the older infant, child or adult, this location provides excellent correlation to core temperature at the skin, however, certain adaptations to measuring devices and techniques must be adopted, which will be more fully described herein, in order to ensure proper skin perfusion, insulate the skin temperature sensor from the ambient environment and potentially utilize other sensor readings to adjust the detected measurements.
It is generally considered in the art that the skin is one of the least accurate sites to measure for core temperature. It is, however, considered a useful adjunct to other standard temperature methods, especially for evaluations of how environmental, physiological and/or physical activity affects the human body. Accuracy is significantly affected by perfusion characteristics of the skin and tissue immediately adjacent the measurement location. One additional location for temperature measurement is the wrist, however, it must be understood that this area is plagued by very significant and complex noise because of peripheral shutdown of the arterial and venous systems, as well as increased activity levels at this location.
It is further contemplated that a multiplicity of modules 55 may be placed on the body simultaneously to increase accuracy of detected parameters and derived output. Additionally, each one of such multiple modules may have different sensors or capabilities, with the data from each being transmitted to another module having the appropriate processing on board, or to an off-body receiver which collects and processes the data from the various modules. Moreover, some processing can be performed on some modules and not others, as necessary to transmit the data in a useful manner.
As will be discussed further herein, the temperature module 55 is preferably operated in a confined space, such as within a diaper or clothing. This confined space serves to filter ambient noises that can affect the skin temperature readings. In certain embodiments, however, module 55 may be utilized to detect certain physiological parameters, such as activity, which may be improved by the exposure of portions of the device to ambient conditions or to other parts of the body. The confined space, in the appropriate embodiments, may also be provided as part of an adhesive patch rather than under clothing or a diaper.
A multi component system includes module 55 that may be provided with display 86A, in addition to a receiver for receiving continuous temperature measurements and/or other relevant, statistical data including processed data that is output from module 55 for visual presentation on display 86A of module 55 or on a receiver display 86B. The visual presentation of information may include current skin and/or ambient temperature, other current parametric data, derived core body temperature, other derived data, trends for all of these current values, and contextual data.
As discussed above, contextual data as used herein with respect to all embodiments means data relating to the environment, surroundings, location and condition of the individual, including, but not limited to, air quality, audio sound quality, ambient temperature, ambient light, global positioning, humidity, altitude, barometric pressure and the like. It is specifically contemplated, however, that contextual data may also include further abstractions and derivations regarding the condition and status of the body, including the position of the body and the detection of certain events and conditions within and without the body, such as urination in a diaper, dislodgement of the module, activity and rest periods, the nature and quality of sleep, removal of the insulating clothing or diaper, or any of the derived states shown in Tables 2 A and B above.
Module 55 may further be integrated into an item of clothing or a diaper, subject to the requirements (if necessary), as more fully described herein, that sufficient pressure is exerted on the module in order to achieve proper interface with the skin.
Data may be collected and processed by module 55 and transmitted by primary transmission 72 to a receiver through a short-range wireless transmission, such as infrared, RF transmission or any other known wireless transmission system as known to those skilled in the art, including for example, Bluetooth, Zigbee, WIFI, ZWAVE™, and WIMAX and as further described herein with respect to
It is further contemplated that intermediate receivers may be utilized to both expand the range of the system as well as provide another locus for processing capability. In this embodiment, a primary transmission 72 would be provided between a receiver 85 and module 55, and a secondary transmission 73 would be provided between the receiver 85 and an additional receiver, such as personal computer 75. Additionally, in a multi-sensor, multi-patient environment, module 55 may be provided with an electronic tag or ID of some known type so that receivers may be able to detect and display discrete information for each such patient. The modules may also communicate with certain third party or other associated devices which may be associated with the wearer or even implanted thereon, such as a false tooth or therein to uniquely identify that wearer by electronic or biofingerprinting means. Additional receivers and multiple levels of transmission are contemplated in such an environment with appropriate encoding or transmission identification to prevent overlap or confusion of signals. It is also possible to adapt a mass triage system such as that described in Stivoric, et al., co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/940,889 which would also allow communication to occur across modules near each other as a self-healing network which is also location-awareness capable.
Table top receiver 85 is provided with a housing that contains electrical circuitry for communicating with module 55 and receiving the relevant data, as described further herein with respect to
Clinical monitor receiver 70 and personal computer 75 receive continuous raw and derived temperature measurements and other related data, including processed data such as current temperature, temperature trends and contextual data from module 55. Clinical monitor receiver 70 and personal computer 75 may further include a processor to process continuous temperature and other related data and calculate current temperature, temperature trends and contextual data. Clinical monitor receiver 70 may contains additional features so that it can be electrically connected to third-party medical monitoring equipment which is used to monitor other patient conditions. These receivers may be used for additional purposes, which may, in fact, be the primary purpose for which the device is designed.
Any of the receivers is adapted to receive continuous temperature measurements and other related data, including processed data such as current temperature, temperature trends, patterns recognized, derived states and contextual data from module 55, as will be more fully described herein. Each receiver is adapted to display relevant data on display 86B according to the process described with references to
Module 55 may also be provided with the ability to obtain data, either through a wired or wireless connection, from other types of physiological detection equipment, such as a glucometer or ECG device, incorporate that data into its detected parameters and/or process and/or transmit the combined and collected data to the receiver. The device can also be provided with anti-tamper mechanisms or features to prevent or at least identify whether it has been opened or manipulated. This is also applicable to any covering or adhesive material utilized to mount the module to the body. The module could also be provided with medication which could be administered subcutaneously or topically or via microneedles upon the receipt of the necessary instructions as described herein more fully below
Additionally, the first long side 240 and second long side 245 are preferably chamfered or radiused, as would be selected by one skilled in the art, along the edges that form the boundaries connecting a side surface 260 of leaf spring module 230 to lower housing 100 and along the boundaries connecting side surface 260 of leaf spring module 230 to upper housing 95. The chamfered edges of first and second long side 240, 245 allow the skin to form around leaf spring module 230 as it is pressed against the body, rocking along with the body's motions, while maintaining sensor contact. This chamfered surface is further illustrated with respect to
Lower housing 100 is generally convex in both longitudinal central section 243 and transverse central section 244. However, the convexity of transverse central section 244 may alternatively be formed by three relatively flat longitudinal regions 247, 248, 249, separated by ridges. Central longitudinal region 248 may not necessarily extend entirely between short sides 250, 255 but may be confined to a central region.
As shown in
The generally curved shape of leaf spring module 230 and chamfered edges of first and second long side 240, 245 accept, allow, and guide the folds of the skin, fat, and muscle to comfortably and unobtrusively fold over onto the upper housing 95 of leaf spring module 230. In infants especially, the skin fold of the femoral region is convex when the infant's body is fully extended, however, in its natural state, or fetal position, the legs are folded toward the torso. This creates a mostly concave space for accepting the module and module 55 is adapted for insertion in this area because of the shape of the leaf spring module 230. In addition, the surface of upper housing 95 facing away from the body is preferably concave, but it can be flat or convex in cross section, to accept the folds of skin in the femoral region of the body, axillary or other local. The size and dimension of leaf spring module 230 does not affect the fit of leaf spring module 230 in the femoral region. Further, the corners of leaf spring module 230, and optionally all edges or intersections of surfaces, may also be radiused for comfort and wearability of the user so that the leaf spring module 230 does not irritate the body unnecessarily.
The material from which leaf spring module 230 is constructed can absorb the shocks of the motions of wearer while maintaining pressure of the skin temperature sensor area of lower housing 100, illustrated in
Leaf spring module 230 is attached to the body by an integrated or separate adhesive material, the shape and configuration of which will be more fully described herein. While the application of the appropriate adhesive material will be highly case dependent and within the ambit of one skilled in the art, a non-exhaustive list of such materials includes: hydrophilic material which will allow skin to breathe and transfer of water or sweat from skin surface; semi permeable films, polyurethane foams, hydrogels; Microfoam™, manufactured by 3M Corporation and Tegaderm™, also manufactured by 3M. These adhesives could also be layered with a heat-sensitive gel having a lower critical solution temperature where under the influence of the user's body or skin temperature, the intermediate layer actively produces a constant modification of contact points to either enhance or limit or selectively limit thermal conductivity and or comfort between the module or adhesive strip and the skin. The adhesive may further be provided on the module itself.
The attachment to the module may also be a non-adhesive interface such as a collar or flexible restraint around the perimeter by stretching over it or popping over a lip, as more fully described in Stivoric, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,020,508, which is incorporated in its entirety herein by reference. The adhesive may also be variable in its adhesive qualities and not monolithic across its surface, different on the module as opposed to the skin interface, and even variable at these different surfaces. A non-woven adhesive, with appropriate breathable materials that provide the stretch and spring to further enable the concept of the leaf spring module's sensor contact with the body and response to human movements and skin folds, muscle interactivity, and any combination of the above is most preferred. Adhesive material is in contact with a portion of leaf spring module 230 on first short side 250 and extends to skin of wearer.
The adhesive pad may be shaped in accordance with the needs of the specific application, however, a non-exhaustive list of examples would include the use of a simple adhesive strip which covered the module either longitudinally or transversely, wings of adhesive material which extend outwardly from the module itself which may be removable/replaceable and multiple adhesive sections which hold the ends of the module or have multiple connected sections or snaps which fasten the module to the skin according to various geometries. The adhesive material may further support or contain alternative or additional sensors, electrodes for use in an ECG detector or piezoelectric strain gauges for the additional sensing capabilities. The module being restrained by the adhesive is also exhibits to certain detectable movement, which may act as a shuttle in an accelerometer. This displacement may then provide basic information regarding activity and motion similar to an accelerometer.
Leaf spring module 230 can also be held in place on the body by pressure received from a waist band or a similar pressure causing object. For example, besides adhering to skin, the adhesive could adhere to itself, loop back and adhere to itself and/or loop back and connect to itself with a reseatable/removable fastener. Leaf spring module 230 may be snapped into or otherwise held in place in a garment, a waist-band or other like restraint. The module may also be restrained in a tightly fitting garment which is particularly designed to exert sufficient pressure on the module to create the skin interface. The garment may have specific body tension areas which are designed for such function, or elastic or other materials arranged as appropriate. The module can be integrated into the garment, and simply placed, snapped or pocketed behind these tension areas, without module required adhesive.
Referring to
The dimensions of the leaf spring module 230 are variable depending on the age of the wearer. Some tested and preferred, but not limiting, dimensions for a larger leaf spring module 230 are 1.325 inches long×2.5 inches wide×0.25 inches deep. The dimensions for a smaller size leaf spring module 230 further vary based on the age and size of the wearer, and may be 1.5×0.6125×0.25 inches, respectively. The size of leaf spring module 230 can vary considerably from these dimensions based on the specific embedded components or additional constraints such as the need to conform to safety regulations as provided in the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, Office of Compliance, Small Parts Regulations, Toys and Products Intended for Use By Children Under 3 Years Old, 16 C.F.R. Part 1501 and 1500.50-53.
Foam insulation, in order to increase the thermal footprint of the device and therefore increasing and/or maintaining skin perfusion levels, may also be incorporated as lower foam support 307. Lower foam support 307 is in contact with and extends along one end of lower housing 100 of module 55. Additional lower foam support 307 is also in contact with and extends along the opposite end of lower housing 100 of module 55. Foam insulation can be placed at any one of these locations or in a combination of these locations.
Module 55 is secured by adhesive strips that may be placed at a number of locations further illustrated in
Lower adhesive 298 extends across module 55 on one end of lower housing 100 and is in contact with and covering lower foam support 307. Lower adhesive 298 is further in contact with the skin in a manner that adheres module 55 adjacent to skin 310 for temperature measurement. Lower adhesive 298 may be double-sided adhesive strips (add this to wing concept) having one side adhered to lower foam support 307 and a second side adjacent to and in contact with the skin of wearer. Adhesive strips 298 and 300 can be shaped for a particular part of the body on which module 55 is located. The adhesive strips are also flexible so that module 55 adheres to the body of the wearer body while the body is in motion.
As illustrated in
Referring now to
Module 55 further comprises a generally oblong shaped lower housing 100 having a recess 141 on its inner surface opposite and corresponding to outer surface protrusion 110 of lower housing 100, as described with respect to
Upper housing 95 may also benefit from a form that keeps the skin folds from actually touching the ambient sensor in order to maintain the quality of its data, because touching the ambient sensor may compromise the measurements and accuracy of the output. Alignment pins 145, 146 extend in a perpendicular orientation away from lower housing 100 to extend through the alignment notches 155, 156 of printed circuit board 140. By extending through the first and second alignment notches 155, 156 of printed circuit board 140, printed circuit board 140 is secured to lower housing 100 and is prevented from moving laterally with respect to first and second alignment pins 145, 146. The housing may also be sonically welded together with the circuit board being molded, insert molded, potted or embedded within the housing or other manufacturing techniques within the ambit of those skilled in the art may be applied.
Referring to
Referring now to
Referring now to
In the spirit of low-cost sensing alternatives, an acoustic sensor, for example a piezo-element, could be utilized in a sensor device of the type described herein and mounted, preferably on a rigid surface, in such a way that it can perform multiple functions such as: detection of sound, including environmental noises, detection of the user's motion such as footsteps, the actuation or tapping of the device for use as a button or actuator in the device. Alternatively, piezo-element could be affixed on or beneath a snap dome in such a way that when the snap dome moves, the piezo-element detects said movement and recognizes it as the actuation of a button. In this way, motion, not closing of an electrical circuit provides actuation. In another embodiment, the piezo-element could be driven with electrical current to create audio feedback.
It is to be specifically noted that a number of other types and categories of sensors may be utilized alone or in conjunction with those given above, including but not limited to the electric-field sensor as described herein for the determination of various contextual and physiological parameters as described herein; relative and global positioning sensors for determination of location of the user; torque and rotational acceleration for determination of orientation in space; blood chemistry sensors; interstitial fluid chemistry sensors; bio-impedance sensors; and several contextual sensors, such as pollen, humidity, ozone, acoustic, barometric pressure, body and ambient noise, including these sensors, combinations of these sensors, and any additional sensors adapted to utilize the device in a biofingerprinting scheme, where the wearer can be identified by their physiological signatures, as well as how their body provides these sensors with certain values and/or patterns during certain body states and or activities. This is important when a multiplicity of sensors on multiple individuals is contemplated in a confined space, such as a hospital. It is important to distinguish one wearer from a different wearer, even if just for the sake of distinguishing between two people. For example, in a family, where when one person wears the unit, the unit will automatically understand who the wearer is, so that there is no need to include demographic or other information before incorporating the data from the product for applications or correlations where this proper personalization and/or accuracy is necessary. This same type of biofingerprinting could extend to different locations of the same user's body, so that even if not distinguishable across different people, the unit could be able to distinguish the location in which is it is being worn. The detection of this location will be more apparent with respect to the description of the processing of data provided herein.
Battery 135 has an upper side 321 that is adjacent to and in contact with adhesive patch cover 315. Battery 135 further has an aperture located in and extending through its central portion that is in alignment with aperture in adhesive patch cover 315 when battery 135 and adhesive patch cover 315 are in contact with each other. Battery 135 of disposable patch module 314 further comprises a lower side 322 opposite upper side 321 that is adjacent to and in contact with a printed circuit board 325 which supports ambient sensor 120 and skin temperature sensor (not shown), or alternatively any other sensor or sensors as described herein including an electric-field sensor as described herein. One skilled in the art will appreciate that in embodiments comprising alternative or additional sensors, the placement of such sensors need not be the same as the placement described herein for temperature sensors. One skilled in the art will recognize the proper placement for such alternative or additional sensors. With respect to a particular embodiment having temperature sensors, printed circuit board 325 has a first side 327 facing away from skin on which ambient temperature sensor 120 is located. This circuit board could also be flexible. Ambient temperature sensor 120 is located in a central location on first side 327 of printed circuit board 325 and extends through aperture in both paper battery 320 and adhesive patch cover 315. Skin temperature sensor is oriented toward the skin of wearer and is located on a lower side 328 of printed circuit board 325 opposite the upper side 327 of printed circuit board 325. Disposable patch module 314 preferably further comprises a compression material 330 for pressing the sensor against skin as with other embodiments presented, which may also be constructed of multiple densities of material in order to keep the skin sensor in proper contact, having a upper side 331 adjacent to and in contact with lower side 328 of printed circuit board 325, generally round in shape and having an aperture in the central portion that is in alignment with skin temperature sensor (not shown) that is located on lower side 328 of printed circuit board 325 generally correlating to orifice 123 as shown in
Additional considerations relating to the use of batteries include a variety of alternatives. The same battery may be removed from a device and reused, especially if the battery is a durable coin or button cell and the unit is disposable. The module may be specifically designed to accept the insertion of the battery, or even retain the battery through an undercut or an opening along the edge, the use of the adhesive or pressure from the skin itself.
One significant consideration with respect to disposable embodiments is time of wear and condition. A deteriorated device may provide inaccurate data without other indication of failure. Certain sensors, such as a piezoelectric strain detectors may be utilized, as well as a mere electrochemical visual indicator to alert the user that a present time or performance limit has been reached and that the unit should be replaced. Other example displays include thermal-chemical, light-chemical and bio-chemical. The displays or detectors can be integrated into a portion or the entirety of the adhesive, in which the adhesive can be printed with different imagery. As the body moves, the collective movements could result in disruption of the material or cracking of the surface of the adhesive so that what is presented is also a mechanical, non-electronic sensor that exposes the activity of the wearer in addition to the temperature readings. This is applicable for determining the end of life of the product, as a basic activity or motion detector as well as a tampering detector, as described above.
Another consideration is power utilization. Although battery based embodiments are described and generally preferred, it is specifically contemplated that the unit may be powered by an external source, such as RF transmissions which contain sufficient power to enable the device to operate for a short period of time sufficient to take readings and transmit data. These embodiments are today not yet appropriate for continuous and/or long term measurement applications.
As with any inexpensive, disposable product, reduction of components and complexity is necessary for utility. This may include the use of conductive inks on the battery or integrated into the adhesive for electrical contacts. Additionally, elimination of switches and other controls are desired. An additional reason for elimination of on/off switches in favor of automatic startup is if the parent or caregiver forgets to turn on the device. On a durable or semi-durable module, a sensor, such as the skin temperature sensor or the electric-field sensor described herein, may be utilized as a power up detector, so that when the unit is affixed to the body, it turns on, eliminating an off/on switch and also improving power savings when the unit is not in use. The module may be configured to go to sleep for periods of time or take readings more occasionally to save the battery. The length of these periods may be set by the user, the caregiver or may be dynamically set, based upon the readings observed. For example, an elevated temperature may cause the device to take readings more frequently.
Other methodologies of automatically sensing a condition to initiate operation of the device include sensing certain conditions as well as detecting certain environmental changes. For example, galvanic skin response sensors and/or heat flux sensors could be utilized to detect when the device is placed on the body. When the device is at ambient temperature and not on the body, the ambient and skin temperature sensors will report the same temperature. Once the device has been placed on the body, the temperature readings will diverge, which can be detected by the unit and utilized as a signal to begin operation. A motion detector may also signal mounting on the body. Other methodologies include the use of proximity detection or contact between the device and the receiver, for example, or the placement of the adhesive on the device. Inserting the battery may also initiate operation. Lastly, a signal could be generated from the receiver to wake up the device.
In conjunction with durable embodiments, disposable embodiments or combinations thereof, and as previously discussed, multiple units could be disposed on the body to create an array of sensors. Additionally, the array could be disposed on a single unit, using outboard sensors positioned on the adhesive or a wing. Lastly, the sensors could be completely physically separate, yet communicate with the single unit or each other.
Disposable devices and patches according to the present invention, could also be programmed to release drugs (in a way that is presently known those skilled in the art, for example electro-polarization) upon the device determining or deriving the existence of certain physiological or contextual parameters. Embodiments may also be utilized for the delivery of medication, nutriceuticals, vitamins, herbs, minerals or other similar materials. The adhesive or the module itself may be adapted to topically apply medications in a manner similar to a transdermal patch. This functionality may also be implemented through the use of coated microneedles. Alternative on-demand delivery systems such as the E-Trans® transdermal drug delivery system manufactured by Alza Corporation may also be included, with the capability of applying the medication at a specific time or when certain preset criteria are met as determined by the detection and processing of the device. For example, the a module having a temperature sensor could be coupled with an adhesive that delivers pain reliever, such as acetaminophen to help with fever reduction. The drug delivery could be controlled or dosed or timed according to the reactions/measurements and derivations from the body. The set point for this closed loop may be factory set, or set on the device by the user or caregiver. The system may not employ a closed loop but the caregiver, through the receiver, may issue commands for some skin delivery to occur. Other examples include administering limited duration medications such as a four hour cough medicine while sleeping at the appropriate time. As stated more fully herein, the device is further capable of determining certain aspects of sleep recognition. In such embodiments, sleeping aids may be administered to help people sleep or, as they get restless in the middle of the night, be provided with an appropriate dosage of a sleep aid. Moreover, the ability to detect pain prior to full waking may allow the administration of a pain reliever. In these cases, remedial measures may be taken prior to waking, upon the detection of physiological and/or contextual signals recognized by the system as precursors of a waking event. This permits the user to enjoy a more restful and undisturbed sleep period. Additionally, the person could be awoken after 8 hours of actual biological sleep rather than by arbitrary time deadlines. The device may also be utilized for the prevention and/or treatment of snoring or sleep apnea through biofeedback.
Further, a device equipped with microneedles could be utilized to sense whether the user has complied with a prescribed drug regimen. Microneedles in combination with the other capabilities of the system could be provided to sense, through the interstitial fluid or skin, chemical changes commensurate with the taking of the prescribed drug.
An alternative embodiment utilizes the capabilities of the system to recognize and categorize certain pre-urination or bowel movement conditions, parameters and/or contexts. This may be useful in addressing bed wetting and bathroom training in both children and adults. For example, if the device is worn for some period of time during which these events occur, the system builds a knowledge base regarding the measured and derived parameters immediately prior to the events. These parameters may then serve as signals for an impending event and may trigger an alarm or other warning, thus acting as a prediction of an impending event. This will allow a parent or caregiver the opportunity to reinforce proper bathroom habits or to awaken a sleeping child or unaware adult to go to the bathroom.
Further, the adhesive could be a bioactive dressing that when placed on a burn area or suture, for example, while monitoring blood flow essential for tissue regeneration, may also enabled with stimulating materials/minerals/substances to aid in the healing process. This provides a protective cover for the wound, encouraging healing, with a device capable of evaluating whether the process is actually occurring and successful. The device may also provide very modest electro-stimulation for tissue, muscle regeneration, or drug delivery as mentioned herein.
The adhesive may also be designed to react to chemicals presence in normal moisture and/or perspiration from the skin, exposing results to observers through chemical reactions that result in color or other visual feedback as to the parameters sensed. These may include: sodium, chloride, potassium and body minerals. Potential conditions could be recognized such as: cystic fibrosis or substance use. The adhesive, which may be exposed to the diaper or adhered to inside of diaper or extended to a region of the body where urine will be contacted upon an insult, may be provided with certain chemical detectors for: pH, specific gravity, protein, glucose, ketones, nitrite, leukocyte, urobilinogen, blood, bilirubin, ascorbic acid, vitamin C and other like minerals and compounds. If the adhesive is further provided with microneedles, probing into interstitial fluid through various chemical, electrical or electrochemical technologies may collect and/or present data regarding: proteins, various nutrients, glucose, histamines, body minerals, pH, sodium, pO2, pCO2, body fluid status including hydration, with additional condition feedback about glucose and substance use. These adhesives could also include electrodes, potentially integrated with specific gels to allow technologies for non-invasive detection of trends and tracking of glucose levels utilizing weak electronic current to draw tiny volumes of tissue fluid through the skin for analysis of the fluid for glucose levels. Electrodes may be provided for ECG, galvanic skin response, EMG, bio-impedance and EOG, for example.
Another embodiment of module 55 of the present invention is a disc module 534 as illustrated in
Disc module 534 may further comprise a detachable handle 570 having a handle projection 571 extended from one end of detachable handle 570. Detachable handle 570 may be connected to round base 536 of disc 535 by inserting handle projection 571 into an opening located on round base 536 to take a preliminary temperature measurement for example. In this embodiment, handle 570 is affixed to module 534 and the module is merely placed, not adhered to the designated location, such as under the arm of the patient. A static or preliminary reading is made and the handle is detached. The module 534 may then be affixed to the body or utilized in a static manner at a later time. In temperature-related embodiments, handle 570 may also comprise a skin temperature sensor 125A and/or an ambient temperature sensor 120A. The handle skin temperature sensor 125A may be utilized in conjunction with the module as a traditional oral or axillary thermometer to take static readings. Additionally, periodic confirmations of the operation of the device may be made by reattaching the module to the handle after some period of on-body use and taking an oral, rectal or other temperature to allow the device to check its calibration, as will be described more fully herein. In the instance where the module is removed for such a calibration, a new warm up period may be required. An alternative to eliminate such additional warm up periods is to provide a similar handle, reader or thermometer in electronic communication with the module that has a thermometer integrated therein for temperature measurement which will update the module without removal.
An alternative embodiment may include the integration of handle 570 and face 538 with display 86A, with a detachable sensor unit comprising disc 535 and the adhesive material. In this embodiment, the integrated handle 570 and face 538 comprise a receiver unit, as more fully described herein, with the detachable disc comprising the module to be affixed to the skin. In this embodiment, ambient temperature sensor 120A may also be utilized to detect the ambient temperature of the room, if the handle/receiver is within the same environment. These embodiments, in their most rudimentary forms, may merely measure relative temperature change rather than actual temperature. In this embodiment, a baseline temperature reading would be made with another device. In most embodiments of this type, the module would be preset to alarm or trigger a warning or other event upon meeting a preset criteria. An example of the utility of such a device is within a hazmat suit or firefighter's fire resistant clothing to detect when heat and lack of ventilation may cause body temperatures to rise to dangerous levels.
Disc module 534 further comprises a round adhesive backing 548 having a flat surface 572 that adjoins a raised area 573 having a round shape with a diameter less than total diameter of the round adhesive backing 548. Raised area 573 has an opening 560 in a central portion that is defined by the perimeter of raised area 573. Flat surface 572 further comprises a pull tab 565 extending from flat surface 572.
Disc 535 can be engaged with adhesive backing 545 by inserting disc 535 into recess 560 of adhesive backing 548 so that the raised area 573 of adhesive backing 548 is in contact with round protuberance 537 of disc 535 forming an adhesive disc assembly 550. The adhesive disc assembly 550 is placed at an appropriate location on the body of wearer. When the wearer chooses to remove the disc module 534 from the body, pull tab 565 is lifted to aid in the removal of the adhesive disc assembly 550 from the body of wearer.
With reference to
As described above, embodiments having an electric-field sensor are particularly useful in determining the proximity of the user to other people. In this way the device could not only be an indicator of social interaction and contact, but it could also determine, if programmed accordingly with the methods herein, the amount of hugs a person received on a given day. In the disposable embodiment, the display could show, for example, a happy face when the system or module has derived that user has obtained at least three hugs. A specific embodiment is described in reference to
First portion 510 of folded clip module 495 has a narrow extension piece 521 that connects face 520 of first portion 510 to second portion 515 of folded clip module 495. The second portion 515 of folded clip module 495 is constructed from a malleable material, preferably of flexible circuit board or urethane or an elastomeric material such as rubber or a rubber-silicone blend by a molding process. As illustrated in
Another embodiment of folded clip module 495 is illustrated in
First portion 510 of folded clip module 495 has a narrow extension piece 521 that connects face 520 of first portion 510 to a hinge 525. Hinge 525 is used to connect first portion 510 of folded clip module 495 to second portion 515 of folded clip module. The second portion 515 of folded clip module 495 is constructed from a malleable material, preferably of flexible urethane or an elastomeric material such as rubber or a rubber-silicone blend by a molding process. As illustrated in
In both embodiments of folded clip module 495 that are directed toward temperature sensing, ambient temperature sensor (not shown) is located along the first portion 510 of folded clip module 495 and skin temperature sensor (not shown) is located along the second portion 515 of folded clip module. The ambient and skin temperature sensors, however, may be located solely on the second portion, which may, in turn, be disposable, with or without the flexible section.
It is to be specifically noted that the folded clip module 495, as with all other modules and sensor devices disclosed herein, may alternatively contain other sensors of the type disclosed herein and may generate data indicative of other parameters of the types disclosed herein. Certain sensors, for example, accelerometers, contextual sensors, electric-field sensors, need not be worn in the location and in the manner described in the preceding paragraph. Such embodiments may be independent of specific locations, such as the diaper, due to the fact that such sensors are capable of detecting the requisite parameters at different areas of the body. Therefore, the folded clip module 495 could be attached anywhere on the body of the user, for example, over the pocket of the user in embodiments comprising accelerometers. For every module or sensor device disclosed herein, the correspondence between particular sensors and preferred locations of on the body is not exhaustively discussed herein since the skilled artisan would be able to choose from a variety of mounting locations based on the sensor(s) used or the data indicative of the particular parameter that would be generated as well as mounting methods such as insertion, friction fitting, or any of those mentioned herein.
While the stack monitor module 575 is shown above as being for temperature monitoring, it is to be specifically noted that the stack monitor module 575, as with all other modules and sensor devices disclosed herein, may alternatively contain other sensors of the type disclosed herein or may generate data indicative of other parameters of the types disclosed herein. Certain sensors, for example, accelerometers, contextual sensors, electric-field sensors, need not be worn in the location and in the manner described in the preceding paragraph. Such embodiments may be independent of specific locations, such as the diaper, due to the fact that such sensors are capable of detecting the requisite parameters at different areas of the body. Therefore, the stack monitor module 575 could be mounted anywhere on the body of the user, for example, in the sleeve of a garment of a user or other embodiments as described herein. The correspondence between particular sensors and preferred locations of on the body is not exhaustively discussed with respect to the stack monitor module, or for any module disclosed herein, since the skilled artisan would be able to choose from a variety of mounting locations or mounting methods based on the sensor(s) used or the data indicative of the parameters desired to be generated.
While the above clip module 475 is disclosed above as being for temperature monitoring and for attachment to a diaper, it is to be specifically noted that the clip module 475, as with all other modules and sensor devices disclosed herein, may alternatively contain other sensors of the type disclosed herein or may generate data indicative of other parameters of the types disclosed herein. Certain sensors, for example, accelerometers, contextual sensors, electric-field sensors, need not be worn in the location and in the manner described in the preceding paragraph. Such embodiments may be independent of specific locations, such as the diaper, due to the fact that such sensors are capable of detecting the requisite parameters at different areas of the body. Therefore, the clip module 475 could be attached anywhere on the body of the user, for example, on the lapel of a user's coat. The correspondence between particular sensors and preferred locations of on the body is not exhaustively discussed with respect to the clip module, or for any module disclosed herein, since the skilled artisan would be able to choose from a variety of mounting locations or mounting methods based on the sensor(s) used or the data indicative of parameters desired to be generated.
It is to be specifically noted that the posterior module 455, as with all other modules and sensor devices disclosed herein, may alternatively contain other sensors of the type disclosed herein. In other such embodiments, the posterior module 455 may be attached to the waistband of the undergarment, pants, shorts, dress, skirt, etc. of the user.
It is important to note that the embodiments described above are, in conjunction with the circuitry and programming described below, adapted for use with all types of patients and wearers. For example for adults who do not wear diapers, the clip modules could be clipped onto a person's underwear or waistband of other garment as described above. The devices are generally intended to be preprogrammed with appropriate information, algorithms and flexibility to adapt to any wearer and to calibrate itself to that particular use. Other embodiments, most notably the disposable embodiments described above, may also be further reduced in complexity and cost by limiting the functionality of the device. This may be done in an effort to produce the lowest cost embodiment or to increase the specificity of the application for which the device is intended. In either case, functionality may be limited by reducing the processing capabilities of the device, as will be described in more detail herein and/or by reducing the available range of functions. The functional range of each device may be limited, for example, to a certain weight range for the patients, so that infants, children and adults will each receive a different type of monitoring device. Moreover, as weight has a primary effect on the data derivation, as will be described more fully herein, finer gradations of weight applicability may be developed and preprogrammed into a series of specific weight range products. Additionally, other responsive parameters may be determined to permit differentiation between embodiments, with a training device worn for some initial period to allow the system to categorize the user according to a particular parameter or characteristic, the output of which is a determination of which of a series of alternative devices is appropriate for the user. By having several modules for different sizes of users or, alternatively, the adhesive or garment type, the Module may be provided with a built in estimate of the size of the user which it may incorporate into its calculations without having to have that size input explicitly.
A typical receiver 345 and example of a display is illustrated in
As temperature changes (or as any parameter changes), the display can also present an iconic, analog or digital indication as to the trend of change, such as moving the digits up or down similar to an odometer to indicate rising or falling temperatures (or other parameters), respectively. Graphical or iconic output may incorporate sleeping, crying and/or orientation for example. As shown in
Another embodiment of the display of receiver 345 for temperature embodiments is shown in
A digital signal or signals representing detected temperature data and/or other relevant information of the individual user is then utilized by processor 605 to calculate or generate current temperature data and temperature data trends. Processor 605 is programmed and/or otherwise adapted to include the utilities and algorithms necessary to create calculated temperature and other related data.
It should be understood that processor 605 in all sensor devices and modules may also comprise other forms of processors or processing devices, such as a microcontroller, or any other device that can be programmed to perform the functionality described herein. It is to be specifically noted that the circuitry may be implemented in a minimal cost and component embodiment which may be most applicable to a disposable application of the device. In this embodiment, the apparatus is not provided with a processor, but as series of discrete electrical components and gate circuits for highly specialized preprogrammed operation in accordance with any of the embodiments described herein. This apparatus may be powered by any known means, including motion, battery, capacitor, solar power. RFID or other methods known to those skilled in the art. Another option is to power the apparatus directly from the voltage potentials being measured. The display mechanism may be chemical, LCD or other low power consumption device. The voltage spikes charge up a capacitor with a very slow trickle release; a simple LED display shows off the charge in the capacitor. In another embodiment, a simple analog display is powered by the battery.
The detected or processed data and/or other relevant information of the individual user can be sent to memory, which can be flash memory, contained within processor 605. Memory may be part of the processor 605 as illustrated by
Battery 135 is the main power source for module 55 and is coupled to processor 605. A transceiver 625 is coupled to processor 605 and is adapted to transmit signals to a receiver in connection with module 55, as shown in
With respect to temperature-related embodiments, it is to be noted that temperature sensors are generally implemented as thermistors, although any temperature sensing devices are appropriate. These sensors generally comprise 1% surface mount thermistors applied using standard automated SMT placement and soldering equipment. A 1% R25 error and 3% Beta error for each sensor means that each sensor is +/−0.5 degrees C. around the 35 degree C. area of interest. In certain circumstances, this may result in a 1 degree C. error in temperature reading between the two sensors. To reduce error, the sensor is submerged into a thermally conductive but electrically insulative fluid, such as 3M Engineered Fluids Fluorinert and Novec, and allowed to stabilize. By reading the two thermistors under this known condition of identical temperatures at two temperature set points, the relationship between the R25 and Beta of the two thermistors may be determined.
It is also possible to incorporate more costly thermistors with 0.1 degree C. interchangeability. This reduces the inter-sensor error by a factor of 10 to 0.1 degree C. It is also possible to match sensors during the manufacturing process utilizing a batching process as would be known to those skilled in the art.
A digital signal or signals representing detected temperature data and/or other relevant information of the individual user is then utilized by processor 605 to calculate or generate current temperature data and temperature data trends. Processor 605 is programmed and/or otherwise adapted to include the utilities and algorithms necessary to create calculated temperature and other related data. Processor 605 may also comprise other forms of processors or processing devices, such as a microcontroller, or any other device that can be programmed to perform the functionality described herein
Battery 135 is the main power source or module 55 and is coupled to processor 620. Module 55 is provided with output 86A that presents multi component system includes module 55 that may be provided with display 86A for visual display of current data, data trends, and derived data. Alerts can be reported in many non-visual forms as well, such as audio, tactile, haptic and olfactory, for example. Alerts may also be made through a computer network or by wireless transmission.
Battery 690 is the main power source for receiver and is coupled to processor 675. The battery 690 may be recharged by induction or wireless communication. Another alternative is the use of RFID systems, where the internal power reserve of the unit is merely enough to store data until more fully powered by being showered by RF signals.
The device may be further enabled, in conjunction with RFID systems, to send a data bit to a reader or when a wand is waved over or brought in proximity to the wearer. With the wireless capability, there is also the capability to have other passive RFID tags, such as stickers, placed around the house at locations that are unsafe, such as a stairway. In this embodiment, a warning could be sounded or sent to a receiver if the wearer approaches the RFID tag denoting a dangerous location. This may be implemented in a fully powered embodiment or in a product that is externally powered.
An alternative power system, such as that developed by Firefly Power Technologies, Pittsburgh, Pa. is another subtle variant with regards to powering products. In that system, by either collecting the ambient magnetic field or RF bandwidth or alternatively showering an area with a known and consistent RF bandwidth powers a module having only a capacitor and no battery, which is trickle charged until a certain power capacity is collected or a certain amount of time has passed. The unit is then powered up, the necessary readings taken/recorded and then passed on wirelessly with acknowledgement that the data reached the destination or held in flash memory until the next time the power up and wireless connection is initiated and established. The unit would then power down and begin its next cycle or recharge. Aura Communications' LibertyLink® chip is another alternative that creates a weak magnetic field bubble and transmits by modulating the magnetic field at low frequencies of approximately 10 MHz.
If an initial temperature of the wearer is not received through a baseline calibration, the module will calibrate itself over a period of time after being on the body, as well as adapt and/or modify the calculations and/or algorithms over time as part of a learning process, as described more fully in Andre, et al., co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/682,293 and others identified above. During this time of initial wear, while the module is being_calibrated, any particular unexpected changes in temperature are stored for later characterization. The module creates a history of measurements that are categorized for further contextual analysis as similar unexpected values are detected.
In detail, calibration 800 can take one of two embodiments: sensor calibration and personalization of the system to the particular wearer. In sensor calibration, the individual sensors are calibrated against one another based on laboratory adjustments or first readings from the device before each is applied to the skin. The appropriate offset and, optionally, a slope or linear (or non-linear) function are chosen for each sensor. In personalization, a secondary reading of core temperature is taken and utilized for the purposes of calibrating the device to the individual. For example, a parent may take their child's temperature through another means before placing the module on the child. This value can be utilized to personalize the algorithm for that child by correlating the detected measurements of the module with the actual temperature recorded by other means.
Alternatively, detectable events may occur which permit further calibration of the system. As one example, if the module is placed in the diaper in such a way as to have a portion of the sensor, if not the module itself, placed in a way to sense the temperature of urine when freshly present in the diaper, the temperature of this urine, as detected by the ambient sensor, can be utilized to aid in calibrating the module.
However, any readings being made in the diaper, whether for infant, toddler, or adult benefits from the recognition of these events and be able to filter out this noise during, but especially after, the introduction of the urine to the diaper because of the chemical reaction of the diaper which increases temperature momentarily. Additional information can improve the accuracy of the system over time.
Finally, another form of calibration is to input into the system the wearer's age, height, weight, gender or other such personal characteristics. These demographic factors can improve accuracy and serve as an additional input into the system as will be more fully described herein with specific reference to weight.
To the extent that a particular module is utilized by more than one individual without resetting or clearing the database for that identified unit, wearer identification or demographics may also be embedded in the unit or its associated database of parameters, settings, preferences or values. These may be manually created during set up or may be detected. With continuous measurement of temperature data, including a personalization period at the beginning of each new user's use, the sensor suite may automatically recognize the wearer's biometrics and therefore proactively provide physiologically based identification information. In addition, this product could communicate with an implantable identification chip in the body before it sends a signal from its wearer, detecting and incorporating the body identifier and integrating it into the reading protocol/header.
The step of feature creation 900 takes as input the temperature data or any other sensor data, which may or may not comprise calibrated signals and produces new combinations or manipulations of these signals, such as [skin-temperature]3 or √[skin-temperature] which are created for use in the rest of the algorithm. Additional examples include STD, MEAN, MAX, MIN, VAR and first derivatives thereof. Also, features such as insults, another term for urinations, or dislodgements of the sensor can be included as features that are themselves created by utilizing simple event detectors. These detected features can then be utilized as part of regressions 1200. For example, detecting the active presence of fresh, warm urine by identifying the particular data output pattern of sharp rises followed by gradual falls in ambient-side temperature on the femoral modules, then using the maximum value of the rise as an input into the regressions. The feature is predicated on the fact that when a child urinates, the urine is at core body temperature and so can provide an opportunity for calibration of the device against a known parameter.
Referring to
If multiple contexts are simultaneously observed, then several solutions are possible. One embodiment is to consider each combination of contexts to be its own context. Another is to identify a hierarchical order of contexts for choosing which is dominant.
While
Smoothing 1000 utilizes dynamic and/or windowed models of discrete epochs of consecutive data to smooth out noisy values. For example, a Blackman smoother with a window of 30 seconds may be used to smooth out minor second to second variations in both the raw signals and the derived features. In one embodiment, each data point is smoothed according to a Blackman weighting function over the past 30 seconds. This function weights the current point 1050 the most highly and then weights each prior point 1051 to a lesser degree, according to the Blackman function as shown in
Regressions 1200 are the equations that compute the estimated core temperature for a given context. These equations can be very complex. One rather simple embodiment is the following:
EstimatedCoreTemp=A*SkinSideTemp+B*(SkinSideTemp−AmbientSideTemp)2+C
Where A, B and C are variable coefficients. Another example equation is:
A*weight+B*back25ModDiff+C*SqBack25ModDiff+D*ModMidWaist−S+E
EstimatedCoreTemp=A*SkinSideTemp+B*(SkinSideTemp−AmbientSideTemp)2+D*WithinInsult+E*warmUpEffect+C.
Context detection 1100 recognizes and incorporates events, conditions, and activities that affect the thermoregulatory properties of the wearer, which are detected and taken into account. For example, warm-up curves due to initial placement or dislodgement, urination heat-up and cool-down events, physical activity, and rest can all be detected. These contexts are detected by any of a variety of techniques, including but not limited to template matching, wavelet matching, decision trees, dynamic belief nets, neural nets, support vector machines, or rule-based detectors. One such example of a detector is a very simple rule for warm-up that equates any minute within 15 minutes of a sharp up-swing in skin-side temperature, defined as more than a one degree change within 30 seconds. Other contextual filtering may also be necessary, such as a baby moving around, the diaper being taken off, clothing being taken off, lifting up the arm, dislodgements, and the like. Dislodgement recognition may also be enhanced by the inclusion of a heat flux sensor. In the preferred embodiment, these detectors are probabilistic.
In the preferred embodiment, in weighting step 1300, two main contexts are utilized, active and not-active. In this case, the estimates of the probability of being active created by a probabilistic activity detector, such as a naïve Bayes algorithm or a dynamic belief network are first created. These are identified as P(context|Data). The predictions from each equation are then weighted by the probability of the associated context. If eq_active and eq_rest are two equations for predicting core-body temperature, then:
P(active|Data)*eq_active+P(rest|Data)*eq_rest
is the equation for the estimate of core-body temperature.
Another embodiment utilizes features that correspond to adjusted values of the original temperature signals. For example, if a dip or a rise is explained by other factors, such as an insult or an environmental disturbance, it can be smoothed out to produce a more accurate signal to use in the equations.
Another embodiment is to utilize dynamic belief nets for the entire system. Referring to
Through the use of standard techniques from the graphical models literature, an inference can be drawn computing the most likely core temperatures over a period of time. Smoothing and context detection can be directly performed by selecting an appropriate number of allowed contexts and using standard techniques for training. An alternative embodiment would utilize p(s′|k, c, s, a) instead of just p(s|k,c). This introduces a time dependence to the raw sensors which can improve smoothing.
The computational aspects of regressions 1200 are further refined as a method of creating output data which is more accurate and representative of the wearer's actual parameters than many prior art devices. In many cases, prior art devices and systems utilize a particular aspect of measured data in order to reference a database of compiled average data. In many cases, this presents the appearance of individual data and real-time accuracy, but in fact presents only a weighted average. For a simple example, a typical treadmill permits the input of the user's weight and detects the time and speed of the user's activity. A database is provided with average values of calories expended for a user at each weight gradation point per unit time. A simple relationship is made between the appropriate weight range, the time of activity and the relative amount of exertion, such as speed and distance. The present embodiments described herein are directed toward the actual detection of the relevant physiological parameters necessary to derive the actual condition of the user without reference to average or other pre-selected data libraries. In particular, mathematical functions and/or algorithms are presented in which the value of one detected parameter effects how other detected parameters are mathematically treated. One example is a system having two input variables X and Y, which represent the detected data streams from sensors and a function KNN which is an abbreviation for K (a variable) Nearest Neighbors.
In this algorithm there is presented a set of data points for which the actual relevant values are known. In the example, a plane contains a number of points. Each point has a value of O, therefore each point x1,y1 has a value of O(x1,y1). Applying this to the temperature-related embodiment of the current system, X may be the detected values of skin temperature, Y could be the detected values of ambient temperature and O could be the true value of the rectal temperature measured for that particular pair of measurements. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that any parameters could be the input variables. As such, the algorithmic methods, including but not limited to dynamic belief nets, disclosed herein apply to any sensor/parameter combinations disclosed herein. K, a constant, is selected, usually a small value. In the degenerative case it could be 1, which degenerates KNN to a lookup table, but typically K would be around 3 to 7. Next, a distance metric is selected for the system. The degenerative case is that all units are treated equally, but in the system where X is the skin temperature and Y is the ambient temperature, the distance between two points in the X direction may be more significant than in the Y direction. This may be accounted for by, for example, multiplying all X values by 2. Next, a contribution function is selected. For example, in attempting to predict the value O for a nearby point x2, y2, based upon O(x1,y1), a significant consideration is the predicted distance from x2,y2 to x1,y1. The distance between x2,y2 and x1,y1 is established as D(x2,y2,x1,y1)) and may be calculated or predicted as abs(x2−x1)+abs(y2−y1) where abs is the absolute value. This is identified as the Manhattan distance but is not the most typical way to calculate or predict the distance in association with the KNN function. More typically D(x2,y2,x1,y1) is defined as sqrt((x2−x1)*(x2−x1)+(y2−y1)*(y2−y1)) where sqrt is the square root.
In this system, an algorithm must be developed to predict the correct value for some new point x′,y′. This will include the steps of: finding the closest K points in your data space to x′,y′ which we'll call x1,y1 through xk,yk. Next, the value of O(x′,y′) is set as the weighted average of O(xn,yn) for n=1 to K where the relative weight for xn,yn is 1/D(x′,y′,xn,yn)2. This provides an example of how data KNN is using a data space of preselected data as the core of its algorithm. It should be noted that KNN is using that data not simply to return some prior output value but to return some newly constructed output value which is particularly appropriate given the sensed values of X and Y. The values of O for each data point may be retrieved from such a preselected database. In choosing not to do so and by actually making the calculations as described herein, this technique presents the opportunity to find non-linear features of the data that exist between the known points. If K=1, then the process devolves to merely retrieving the data from a preselected data set or a lookup table. When K>1, however, then the opportunity is presented for the process to find new facts in the data that don't exist in any of the data points by themselves.
A simple symbolic example in which the value of one detected parameter affects how other detected parameters are mathematically treated is: If X is an even number, Result=X+Y, if X is an odd number, Result=X−Y. In this example Y has its contribution radically changed depending on the value of X. When X=18 and Y=9 the result is 27. But if X goes up by 1, the result is 10 because of how Y was used has changed so drastically.
Another example is: if Y is even, divide by 2, else Y=3*Y+1, and repeat the process X times using the previous output. When complete, return the end value of Y. This is a case where the value of X makes a substantial difference in how Y affects the outcome because where you stop on the growing or shrinking of Y is decided very sensitively by the value of X. While more complex examples may be developed, the essence of these examples is that when utilizing conditional statements, the same results cannot be derived from a fixed formula, database of preselected values, or a lookup table. Another important aspect of the system is that the result of such a conditional test is not itself the answer or final output of the derivation but is instead an equation to be evaluated or a procedure to be executed which in turn produces the answer or output. Other examples include artificial neural networks, decision trees, dynamic belief nets, support vector machines, and hierarchical learned algorithms which create this same qualitative improvement in potential functionality over lookup tables.
Although one can view an algorithm as taking raw sensor values or signals as input, performing computation, and then producing a desired output, it is useful in one preferred embodiment to view the algorithm as a series of derivations that are applied to the raw sensor values. Each derivation produces a signal referred to as a derived channel. The raw sensor values or signals are also referred to as channels, specifically raw channels rather than derived channels. These derivations, also referred to as functions, can be simple or complex but are applied according to an algorithm on the raw values and, possibly, on already existing derived channels. The first derivation must, of course, only take as input raw sensor signals and other available baseline information such as manually entered data and demographic information about the subject, but subsequent derivations can take as input previously derived channels. Note that one can easily determine, from the order of application of derivations, the particular channels utilized to derive a given derived channel.
One aspect of the present invention relates to a sophisticated algorithm development process for creating these algorithms for generating information relating to a variety of variables from the data received from the plurality of physiological and/or contextual sensors. Such variables may include, without limitation, body temperature, energy expenditure, including resting, active and total values, daily caloric intake, sleep states, including in bed, sleep onset, sleep interruptions, wake, and out of bed, and activity states, including exercising, sitting, traveling in a motor vehicle, and lying down, and the algorithms for generating values for such variables may be based on data from various additional sensors such as an accelerometer, heat flux sensor, electric-field sensor, galvanic skin response sensor and the heart rate sensor, including an array of any of the above, in the embodiment described above.
Note that there are several types of algorithms that can be computed. For example, and without limitation, these include algorithms for predicting user characteristics, continual measurements, durative contexts, instantaneous events, and cumulative conditions. User characteristics include permanent and semi-permanent parameters of the wearer, including aspects such as weight, height, and wearer identity. An example of a continual measurement is the skin, body and near ambient temperatures and related contexts identified herein. Durative contexts are behaviors that last some period of time, such as sleeping, driving a car, or jogging. Instantaneous events are those that occur at a fixed or over a very short time period, such as an infant urinating in a diaper. Cumulative conditions are those where the person's condition can be deduced from their behavior over some previous period of time. For example, if a person hasn't slept in 36 hours and hasn't eaten in 10 hours, it is likely that they are fatigued. Table 1 below shows numerous examples of specific personal characteristics, continual measurements, durative measurements, instantaneous events, and cumulative conditions.
similarity to prototypical
It will be appreciated that the present system may be utilized in a method for doing automatic journaling of a wearer's physiological and contextual states. The system can automatically produce a journal of what activities the user was engaged in, what events occurred, how the user's physiological state changed over time, and when the user experienced or was likely to experience certain conditions. For example, the system can produce a record of when the user exercised, drove a car, slept, was in danger of heat stress, or ate, in addition to recording the user's hydration level, energy expenditure level, sleep levels, and alertness levels throughout a day. These detected conditions can be utilized to time- or event-stamp the data record, to modify certain parameters of the analysis or presentation of the data, as well as trigger certain delayed or real time feedback events.
In some embodiments, the raw signals may first be summarized into channels that are sufficient for later derivations and can be efficiently stored. These channels include derivations such as summation, summation of differences, and averages. Note that although summarizing the high-rate data into compressed channels is useful both for compression and for storing useful features, it may be useful to store some or all segments of high rate data as well, depending on the exact details of the application. In one embodiment, these summary channels are then calibrated to take minor measurable differences in manufacturing into account and to result in values in the appropriate scale and in the correct units. For example, if, during the manufacturing process, a particular temperature sensor was determined to have a slight offset, this offset can be applied, resulting in a derived channel expressing temperature in degrees Celsius.
For purposes of this description, a derivation or function is linear if it is expressed as a weighted combination of its inputs together with some offset. For example, if G and H are two raw or derived channels, then all derivations of the form A*G+B*H+C, where A, B, and C are constants, is a linear derivation. A derivation is non-linear with respect to its inputs if it can not be expressed as a weighted sum of the inputs with a constant offset. An example of a nonlinear derivation is as follows: if G>7 then return H*9, else return H*3.5+912. A channel is linearly derived if all derivations involved in computing it are linear, and a channel is nonlinearly derived if any of the derivations used in creating it are nonlinear. A channel nonlinearly mediates a derivation if changes in the value of the channel change the computation performed in the derivation, keeping all other inputs to the derivation constant. Additionally a non-linear function may incorporate a number of inputs, either weighted or un-weighted, may be added together and their sum used as the independent variable against a non-linear function such as a Gaussian curve. In this case both small and large values of the sum will result in a value near zero and some narrow range of sums around the “hump” of the Gaussian will return significantly higher values, depending on the exact shape and scale of the Gaussian.
Referring now to
In addition, algorithms may be developed for other purposes, such as filtering, signal clean-up and noise cancellation for signals measured by a sensor device as described herein. As will be appreciated, the actual algorithm or function that is developed using this method will be highly dependent on the specifics of the sensor device used, such as the specific sensors and placement thereof and the overall structure and geometry of the sensor device. Thus, an algorithm developed with one sensor device will not work as well, if at all, on sensor devices that are not substantially structurally identical to the sensor device used to create the algorithm.
Another aspect of the present invention relates to the ability of the developed algorithms to handle various kinds of uncertainty. Data uncertainty refers to sensor noise and possible sensor failures. Data uncertainty is when one cannot fully trust the data. Under such conditions, for example, if a sensor, for example an accelerometer, fails, the system might conclude that the wearer is sleeping or resting or that no motion is taking place. Under such conditions it is very hard to conclude if the data is bad or if the model that is predicting and making the conclusion is wrong. When an application involves both model and data uncertainties, it is very important to identify the relative magnitudes of the uncertainties associated with data and the model. An intelligent system would notice that the sensor seems to be producing erroneous data and would either switch to alternate algorithms or would, in some cases, be able to fill the gaps intelligently before making any predictions. When neither of these recovery techniques are possible, as was mentioned before, returning a clear statement that an accurate value cannot be returned is often much preferable to returning information from an algorithm that has been determined to be likely to be wrong. Determining when sensors have failed and when data channels are no longer reliable is a non-trivial task because a failed sensor can sometimes result in readings that may seem consistent with some of the other sensors and the data can also fall within the normal operating range of the sensor. Moreover, instead of displaying either of a result or an alarm condition, the system may provide output to the user or caregiver which also identifies a possible error condition, but still provides some substantive output.
Clinical uncertainty refers to the fact that different sensors might indicate seemingly contradictory conclusions. Clinical uncertainty is when one cannot be sure of the conclusion that is drawn from the data. For example, one of or the combined temperature sensor reading and/or accelerometers might indicate that the wearer is motionless, leading toward a conclusion of a resting user, the galvanic skin response sensor might provide a very high response, leading toward a conclusion of an active user, the heat flow sensor might indicate that the wearer is still dispersing substantial heat, leading toward a conclusion of an active user, and the heart rate sensor might indicate that the wearer has an elevated heart rate, leading toward a conclusion of an active user. An inferior system might simply try to vote among the sensors or use similarly unfounded methods to integrate the various readings. The present invention weights the important joint probabilities and determines the appropriate most likely conclusion, which might be, for this example, that the wearer is currently performing or has recently performed a low motion activity such as stationary biking.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, a sensor device may be used to automatically measure, record, store and/or report a parameter Y relating to the state of a person, preferably a state of the person that cannot be directly measured by the sensors. State parameter Y may be, for example and without limitation, body temperature, calories consumed, energy expenditure, sleep states, hydration levels, ketosis levels, shock, insulin levels, physical exhaustion and heat exhaustion, among others. The sensor device is able to observe a vector of raw signals consisting of the outputs of certain of the one or more sensors, which may include all of such sensors or a subset of such sensors. As described above, certain signals, referred to as channels, may be derived from the vector of raw sensor signals as well. A vector X of certain of these raw and/or derived channels, referred to herein as the raw and derived channels X, will change in some systematic way depending on or sensitive to the state, event and/or level of either the state parameter Y that is of interest or some indicator of Y, referred to as U, wherein there is a relationship between Y and U such that Y can be obtained from U. According to the present invention, a first algorithm or function f1 is created using the sensor device that takes as inputs the raw and derived channels X and gives an output that predicts and is conditionally dependent, expressed with the symbol , on (i) either the state parameter Y or the indicator U, and (ii) some other state parameter(s) Z of the individual. This algorithm or function f1 may be expressed as follows:
f1(X)U+Z
or
f1(X)Y+Z
According to the preferred embodiment, f1 is developed using the algorithm development process described elsewhere herein which uses data, specifically the raw and derived channels X, derived from the signals collected by the sensor device, the verifiable standard data relating to U or Y and Z contemporaneously measured using a method taken to be the correct answer, for example highly accurate medical grade lab equipment, and various machine learning techniques to generate the algorithms from the collected data. The algorithm or function f1 is created under conditions where the indicator U or state parameter Y, whichever the case may be, is present. As will be appreciated, the actual algorithm or function that is developed using this method will be highly dependent on the specifics of the sensor device used, such as the specific sensors and placement thereof and the overall structure and geometry of the sensor device. Thus, an algorithm developed with one sensor device will not work as well, if at all, on sensor devices that are not substantially structurally identical to the sensor device used to create the algorithm or at least can be translated from device to device or sensor to sensor with known conversion parameters.
Next, a second algorithm or function f2 is created using the sensor device that takes as inputs the raw and derived channels X and gives an output that predicts and is conditionally dependent on everything output by f1 except either Y or U, whichever the case may be, and is conditionally independent, indicated by the symbol , of either Y or U, whichever the case may be. The idea is that certain of the raw and derived channels X from the one or more sensors make it possible to explain away or filter out changes in the raw and derived channels X coming from non-Y or non-U related events. This algorithm or function f2 may be expressed as follows:
f2(X)Z and (f2(X)
Y or f2(X)
U
Preferably, f2, like f1, is developed using the algorithm development process referenced above. f2, however, is developed and validated under conditions where U or Y, whichever the case may, is not present. Thus, the verifiably accurate data used to create f2 is data relating to Z only measured using highly accurate medical grade lab equipment.
Thus, according to this aspect of the invention, two functions will have been created, one of which, f1, is sensitive to U or Y, the other of which, f2, is insensitive to U or Y. As will be appreciated, there is a relationship between f1 and f2 that will yield either U or Y, whichever the case may be. In other words, there is a function f3 such that f3 (f1, f2)=U or f3 (f1, f2)=Y. For example, U or Y may be obtained by subtracting the data produced by the two functions (U=f1−f2 or Y=f1−f2). In the case where U, rather than Y, is determined from the relationship between f1 and f2, the next step involves obtaining Y from U based on the relationship between Y and U. For example, Y may be some fixed percentage of U such that Y can be obtained by dividing U by some factor.
One skilled in the art will appreciate that in the present invention, more than two such functions, e.g. (f1, f2, f3, . . . f_n−1) could be combined by a last function f_n in the manner described above. In general, this aspect of the invention requires that a set of functions is combined whose outputs vary from one another in a way that is indicative of the parameter of interest. It will also be appreciated that conditional dependence or independence as used here will be defined to be approximate rather than precise.
The method just described may, for example, be used to automatically measure and/or report the body temperature of an infant, or the fact that a child is about to wet their bed or diapers while asleep at night, or caloric consumption or intake of a person using the sensor device, such as that person's daily caloric intake or any other data from Tables 1 or 2.
Another specific instantiation where the present invention can be utilized relates to detecting when a person is fatigued. Such detection can either be performed in at least two ways. A first way involves accurately measuring parameters such as their caloric intake, hydration levels, sleep, stress, and energy expenditure levels using a sensor device and using the two function (f1 and f2) approach to provide an estimate of fatigue. A second way involves directly attempting to model fatigue using the direct derivational approach described in connection with
Additional functionality relating to this capability relates to the adaptation of the system to the detected condition. New patterns and data, once categorized, serve to improve predictability of similar or related events in the future. Upon remedying the situation, the predictive clock could be easily reset or newly adjusted, taking into account the identified event, but also evaluating the data for the time period prior to the event, creating new threshold identifiers for the event type.
Turning back specifically to the temperature-related embodiment, and referring now to
While certain rough correlations may be drawn from
As previously described, the additional parameters may be added to increase the accuracy of any derived data, including derived temperatures. It is also possible, that core body temperature may be predictable with no temperature measurements if an appropriate selection of other sensors are utilized, such as heart rate, galvanic skin response and motion. Additional parameters may be used to eliminate obviously compromised data as well as to assist in the selection of appropriate algorithms for contextual application. In many cases, however, additional parameters are incorporated into the derivation of the temperatures themselves as additional factors or coefficients. More specifically, referring now to
Similarly,
While the activity monitoring functions of the device, as described more fully herein, are useful for a number of applications, they are not entirely accurate. The device can, however, accurately determine and recognize sleep and sedentary situations because the sensors are steady and are tracking close together. A monitor might therefore be provided that reports how much the user was active during a given period by subtracting inactivity from total time. An accelerometer may be added to more accurately measure physical activity. The temperature sensor, however, improves the ability to filter out contexts like motoring, which create inaccuracies in accelerometer-based detectors, including pedometers and energy expenditure monitors.
Some important applications for the various detection capabilities described above are: (i) monitoring of infants and children in day care or other extended non-parental supervision and (ii) the increasingly important monitoring of elderly patients under institutional or other nursing care. In both cases, significant opportunities arise for both abuse and neglect of the people under care. Additionally, the families and/or parents of these individuals have a constant concern regarding their ability to both monitor and evaluate the care being provided, especially when they are not physically present to observe or enforce appropriate care. The system described herein may be well utilized to place a reliable and tamper resistant watch on the patient, while the observer may track progress and care from a remote location with as simple a device as a baby-monitor style receiver, or any computing device connected to an appropriate network for receiving the output of the device according to the broader teachings of Teller, et al., co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 09/595,660 and 09/923,181. Extrapolations of the data and derived information presented herein include the ability to determine the nature and frequency of urination and bowel movement events, corresponding diaper changes, teething pain, periods of close interaction with other humans, times being held, sleep time, cumulative lack of sleep, activity time, repositioning for bedridden patients, shaking or other physical abuse, overheating and the like. The device may also be provided with the ability to recognize feeding patterns and predict/alert a caregiver that it is time for the next feeding. This can be accomplished through the use of the activity monitoring abilities of the device to make a rough calculation of energy expended or merely recognizing a timing pattern.
The device may further be provided with a unique identification tag, which may also be detectable through wireless or other proximity related transmission such that each module can detect and record which other modules have come within a certain perimeter. This may have applications in military, institutional and educational settings, where it is useful to know, not only where people are, but with whom they have come into contact. This may also be useful in a bio- or chemical terrorism attack. Moreover, in the child care setting described above, it may be useful for a parent or caregiver to assess the level and type of social contact of each child.
With respect to infants and other non-communicative children and adults, the device may be utilized to determine environmental temperature comfort level. This may be related to determining whether the wearer is too hot or too cold in a particular room or whether the clothing being worn is too heavy or too light. Similar to the bathroom training example above, a learning period may be necessary to determine the particular comfort zone of each wearer as well as any ancillary physiological or emotional responses detected during and prior as well as subsequent to the individual getting to such a state. Additionally, certain generalized comfort temperature zones may be provided with the device for use prior to or in lieu of personalization. At its most extreme, the device may also detect hypo- and hyperthermia, shivering or a rise in body or skin temperature to levels of concern as referenced with respect to the firefighter example, above.
In many situations, including new parents, new caregivers or changes in care responsibilities, infants may be placed in situations with inexperienced supervision. Crying, in infants, is a primary means of communication. Unfortunately, there are many reasons why infants are crying and inexperienced caregivers are frequently at a loss to diagnose the problems. The device may be adapted to determine, through detection, derivation of data and/or process of elimination, why an infant is crying. While this is particularly useful for infants, it is also clearly applicable to non-communicative adults and the elderly.
The system may determine that the wearer has a fever through the use of temperature sensing. It may determine that the diaper is soiled in the same manner. Temperature sensing, as described above, may also provide information as to whether the wearer is too hot or too cold. A number of determinations may also be made based on patterns of behavior. Infants especially eat on a regular schedule and the timing of feedings may be detected and/or derived and reported. Additionally, these events may be predicted based on the patterns detected, as presented with respect to ovulation, bed wetting and the like. Hunger may also be detected through the use of microphones or other audio detectors for bowel and stomach sounds. Finally, lack of sleep is another pattern-based behavior that may be predicted or detected, especially when additional parameters related to or affected by lack of sleep are detected, recognized or derived, such as changes in immune response, alertness and social skills.
The system may be provided with the ability to create reports of each wearer's daily routine, reports of a user's progress toward a goal as described in the disclosures incorporated herein by reference, or any other reporting function described herein or in the disclosures incorporated herein by reference.
Reporting may be most useful to a parent or caregiver to assess what has happened to the wearer over a past period of time, it may also be used as a predictor of scheduled or pattern behavior. This may be most useful for a new caregiver or baby sitter, for example, to be presented with a map of the supervised time period which includes most expected events or behaviors.
A specific embodiment related to health or lifestyle-related assessments will now be described in reference to
In a preferred embodiment, an individual or user is provided with a wearable sensor device of the type disclosed herein, preferably one of the disposable embodiments. The disposable sensor device is preferable since the assessment (a described below) will preferably include a one time usage of the sensor device for a short time period, for example one or two weeks. In such an assessment, the individual is instructed to wear (or some embodiments as described place in proximity to the user) the sensor device for the required time period, which in this example will be one week. The individual wearing the device is instructed to participate in all their normal activities and lifestyle routines. At the end of the time period, the sensor device will have generated a significant amount of data according to the descriptions provided herein. In this particular embodiment, the data will be stored in memory on the sensor device. The individual is instructed to provide or send the sensor device with the data thereon, or in alternative embodiments to download the data over the Internet or through some other conventional means to a service provider or caregiver. In this embodiment, service providers include, but are not limited to, fitness coaches, providers health assessment services, insurance companies, corporate wellness assessment providers, or other independent providers that provide health-related assessments, which may be in conjunction with a health-improvement program. Caregivers, in this embodiment, may include doctors, nurses, clinicians, trainers and other entities or individuals engaged in providing the individual with health care or assessment-type services. The service provider or caregiver will be outfitted with the capabilities described herein to accept the data and to generates reports of the type disclosed herein for their and/or the individual's review. Example of such reports is shown in
Referring to
In addition to assessments made from the sensor device,
In addition to nutritional information being used in the assessment, other information may also be collected and utilized for reporting or assessment of the person's health condition. Preferably, such additional information is utilized in conjunction with the information provided from the sensor device in an assessment. Such additional information could include, but is not limited to the following: results from yearly physicals (blood pressure, weight, cholesterol profiles, etc.), results from blood panels, result from a genetic marker analysis, lifestyle-related questionnaires, etc.
Note that all assessments described above could be prescription-based. For example, a health-care provider may notice an abnormality in a blood test and as such prescribe a person to complete an assessment of the type mentioned herein. Such assessments could include instructions to utilize companion products such as blood pressure cuffs, weight scales, sleep monitors, glucometers, etc., which could be configured to communicate with the sensor device or the system generating the assessments.
As mentioned above and throughout this description, such assessments and reports could be utilized with systems configured to create personalized and customized plans for the individual to improve or maintain his health. Note that such plans could also be prescription based as described above. In such a way, such personalized plans take into account an individual's particular conditions, lifestyle, predispositions to future ailments, or other exploitable characteristics. One such example of an exploitable characteristic is a genetic predisposition to a particular ailment. In that regard, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/620,579 is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. That application describes the personalized exercise regimes tailored to exploit genetic predispositions, such as individuals having a marked ability to reduce high density lipoproteins with exercise. Preferably such plans will include an apparatus for monitoring physiological and contextual parameters of the type disclosed herein. Such plans could include the prescription of drugs relevant to maintain or combat a particular health-related condition; or specific meal plans which may include instructions to consume particular food products having a desired nutritional value or composition, for example Ensure® made by Ross Labs.
In addition, in situations where compliance to plan is particularly important, user can be incentivized in the following way. Points awarded for, for example, the completion of a required course of exercise could be granted to the individual. The information regarding the user's compliance to the prescribed course of exercise will be generated, in part, by the monitoring device of the type described herein. Appropriate incentives could then be issued based on points which will incentivized compliance with the plan. Preferably, an individual will utilize such an monitoring apparatus of the type disclosed herein to manage a health-related condition, improve a health-related condition, delay the onset of a condition to which they are predisposed, or to prevent the individual from ever acquiring a condition to which the individual is predisposed.
The assessments and/or plans can be particularly useful in the following applications: performance sports, weight management, diabetes management, hypertension management, cardiac-ailment-related management, sleep management, corporate wellness, post-operative recovery (including exercise, food and medication compliance), cardiac rehabilitation (lifestyle modification), military training and field endurance (including drink food and performance drug augmentation), and first response se training and health maintenance.
In tracking consistent or pattern activities over time, changes in patterns or physiological parameters may be detected. This is especially true of small changes which occur over long periods of time. This may aid in the detection or diagnosis of certain diseases or conditions. It may also be useful in creating correlations between detected physiological parameters, contexts, derived parameters and combinations of the above. For example, it may be come apparent after some period of time that high quality sleep is correlated to significant exercise within a preceding 6 hour period of time. Additionally, it may become apparent that more significant weight loss is highly correlated to better sleep patterns.
As infants grow and mature, changes occur in the patterns and values of temperature changes within the body. Infants with poorly developed temperature regulatory systems exhibit sharp swings and spikes in their temperature profile. As the body matures, as well as grows and adds fat, these temperature swings become less severe. The system may then provide an assessment of development based upon continued recording of these temperature fluctuations over time.
In many situations, such as administration of medication, physical therapy or activity limitations in pregnant women, compliance with a proper routine over time is essential. In many cases, even the individual is unable to assess the qualitative nature of their own compliance with a prescribed routine or program. In other cases, a medical professional or caregiver must assess and monitor the level of compliance of a patient. The system provides the ability to make these assessments without significant interference and with confidence in the results. In this situation, an insurance company or employer may use the system to collect and/or produce reports to the extent to which a wearer is following a program or reaching certain goals. These reports may then be transmitted for analysis to the insurance company or employer.
Many of the features and functionality described herein are based on the detection of certain parameters; the derivation of certain contexts, parameters or outcomes and the appropriate identification of certain events and contexts. The ability of the system to accurately make these determinations is proportional to the sample size and knowledge base. This is applicable both in terms of the detection of a particular event by the nature and interaction of the detected signals, such as a urination insult, but also in the development of more accurate algorithms which make the determinations. The system is specifically adapted to communicate with a larger system, more specifically a system according to Teller, copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/595,660. This system may include the collection of aggregate data from a number of wearers, together with the correlated data and derivations, in order to more accurately recognize the signals which precede identified events. Modifications in the system processing and/or algorithms may then be retransmitted to the user's systems and modules as an update. Moreover, as mentioned earlier, the system is capable of recording an event, analyzing the patterns that preceded the event and utilizing those patterns to aid in the prediction of future event, such as a person falling.
Two other important aspects of any monitoring device must be addressed: detecting the failure of the unit and preventing external factors from upsetting the system. With respect to dislodgement of the module from its appropriate mounting position,
In other embodiments, other sensors could be employed in the same way as described above. While not an exhaustive list, those sensors could be as follows: olfactory sensors, gas chromatography, piezo element, sonar, radar, infra red, acoustic, and other motion related sensors. Data from such sensors could be utilized in the way described above to determine whether a user is performing an activity, or in determining the user's physiological or contextual parameters.
The term “user” as used herein shall mean the individual wearing the device or with whom the device is in continuous proximity with. Alternatively, a user may be a individual having access to the data generated by the device, or the derived data generated by the processing unit. In some, but not all situations, the user will satisfy both situations described above.
Although particular embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described in the foregoing detailed description, it is to be further understood that the present invention is not to be limited to just the embodiments disclosed, but that they are capable of numerous rearrangements, modifications and substitutions, as identified in the following claims.
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/088,002 entitled Non-Invasive Temperature Monitoring Device filed Mar. 22, 2005, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/227,575 entitled Apparatus for Detecting Human Physiological and Contextual Information filed Aug. 22, 2002 and now issued U.S. Pat. No. 7,020,508. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/088,002 also claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/555,280, for an Automated Energy Balance System Including Iterative and Personalized Planning, Intervention and Reporting Capability, filed on Mar. 22, 2004. This application further claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/729,683 entitled Electric Field Sensing Device to Detect and Report Physiological Parameters of a User filed Oct. 24, 2005 and of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/727,357 entitled Health Assessment Tool and Compliance Manager filed Oct. 17, 2005.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60555280 | Mar 2004 | US | |
| 60729683 | Oct 2005 | US | |
| 60727357 | Oct 2005 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 11582896 | Oct 2006 | US |
| Child | 14083382 | US | |
| Parent | 10227575 | Aug 2002 | US |
| Child | 11088002 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 11088002 | Mar 2005 | US |
| Child | 11582896 | US |
