Patent Application
20230009747
The invention relates to a system and method for monitoring a bodily substance in an orifice such as the mouth, ears, nose, vagina and anus using a wearable device so as to provide information regarding the bodily substance indicative of a bodily disorder.
An internal bodily disorder such as, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), is typically diagnosed by an upper endoscopy whereby a flexible tube with a tiny camera is inserted into the esophagus to examine it and collect a sample of tissue (biopsy) if needed, or by esophageal pH monitoring whereby a monitor is inserted into the esophagus to learn if and when stomach acid enters it. These techniques are invasive, costly and require the patient to be treated in a hospital setting or at other medical facilities.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide a home-based system and method to non-invasively monitor a bodily substance in an orifice over time with a wearable device to provide information regarding a bodily disorder.
An object of the invention is to fulfill the need referred to above. In accordance with the principles of a present embodiment, this objective is obtained by a system for monitoring a biological substance in a bodily orifice. The system includes a wearable device configured to be worn in a bodily orifice. A biosensor is carried by the wearable device and is constructed and arranged to obtain raw data regarding a biological substance in the orifice. The biosensor includes a processor circuit to provide processed data from the raw data, and a transmitter to wirelessly transmit the processed data to a second device.
In accordance with another aspect of an embodiment, a method of monitoring a bodily substance in a body orifice places a wearable device with a biosensor in an orifice of a user so that a bio-receptor of the biosensor binds with a biological substance in the orifice. Raw data is obtained with the biosensor associated with the biological substance in the orifice over time. The raw data is processed in a microprocessor circuit to obtain processed data. The processed data is wirelessly transmitted to another device. Based on the processed data, the user is alerted to take therapeutic action.
Other objects, features and characteristics of the present invention, as well as the methods of operation and the functions of the related elements of the structure, the combination of parts and economics of manufacture will become more apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description and appended claims with reference to the accompanying drawings, all of which form a part of this specification.
The invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts, in which:
With reference to
Biosensor 14 transforms physiological or biological information into electrical measurements using electronic circuits. Detected information is transmitted by transmitter 26 remotely to a data acquisition platform such a portable device 30 or a network server 32 using a wireless link for real-time monitoring and analysis. The portable device 30 (e.g., smart phone) can also communicate in a wireless manner with the network server 32. A smart watch or bracelet 34 can communicate in a wireless manner with the portable device 30. The server network 30 may include at least one of a telecommunication network such as a computer network (e.g., a LAN or a WAN), the Internet, cloud-based server, and a telephone network.
The portable device 30 can include an application (APP) 36 executed by a microprocessor circuit 38 that can analyze the processed data received from the biosensor 14. The data can be stored on the network 32, shared or retrieved via the network 32, or can be stored in a memory circuit 40 of the portable device 30. Also, the portable device 30 can receive data from the network 30 via receiver 41.
The biosensor 14 can employ electrochemical and electrical transduction mechanisms such as potentiometric, amperometric, field-effect transistor, resistive, capacitive, and inductive techniques. The electrical properties of the bio-sensors are converted into voltage, frequency, or phase using known interface or readout circuit techniques. Initially, bio-receptor 16 binds with biological substances of the user. The bio-receptor 16 send a response to the transducer 18 which generates an electrical or digital signal. The electrical signals are detected and amplified by amplifier 20 which sends the amplified signals to the microprocessor circuit 22. Processed signals are then sent by transmitter 26 to the portable device 30 or server network 32 for display or external review.
The biosensor 14 can be miniaturized down to one or more flexible integrated circuits to so that the wearable device is a point-of-care device. It is known that esophageal and extraesophageal gastric reflux (EEGR) and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) can be diagnosed by detecting the presence of pepsin or pepsinogen of subjects suspected of having a reflux disorder or disease. This is typically done by employing single use lateral flow test strips. However, these strips cannot detect the pepsin or pepsinogen over time. Thus, with reference to
With reference to
The device 12″ can also be used to detect vaginal infections such as bacterial vaginosis by configuring the biosensor 14 to detect the biological substance such as the sialidase (SLD) enzyme or other enzymes, or yeast infections by configuring the biosensor 14 to detect the biological substance such as the Candida (yeast) antibody or other antibodies. If an infection is detected by the biosensor 14 , the transmitter 26 can transmit data to the portable device 30 or server network 32 and can alert the user to seek therapeutic action such as requesting an antibiotic from a doctor. The device 12″ can also be used to detect urinary incontinence by detecting urine. The device 12″ can also be inserted into the anus to detect, for example, proteins or antibodies associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in fluids (e.g. blood) in the rectum.
With reference to
Thus, by employing the system 10 outlined above, with reference to
The operations and algorithms described herein can be implemented as executable code within the microprocessor circuits 22, 38 as described, or stored on a standalone computer or machine readable non-transitory tangible storage medium that are completed based on execution of the code by a processor circuit implemented using one or more integrated circuits. Example implementations of the disclosed circuits include hardware logic that is implemented in a logic array such as a programmable logic array (PLA), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or by mask programming of integrated circuits such as an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). Any of these circuits also can be implemented using a software-based executable resource that is executed by a corresponding internal processor circuit such as a micro-processor circuit and implemented using one or more integrated circuits, where execution of executable code stored in an internal memory circuit causes the integrated circuit(s) implementing the processor circuit to store application state variables in processor memory, creating an executable application resource (e.g., an application instance) that performs the operations of the circuit as described herein. Hence, use of the term “circuit” in this specification refers to both a hardware-based circuit implemented using one or more integrated circuits and that includes logic for performing the described operations, or a software-based circuit that includes a processor circuit (implemented using one or more integrated circuits), the processor circuit including a reserved portion of processor memory for storage of application state data and application variables that are modified by execution of the executable code by a processor circuit. The memory circuit 40 can be implemented, for example, using a non-volatile memory such as a programmable read only memory (PROM) or an EPROM, and/or a volatile memory such as a DRAM, etc.
The foregoing preferred embodiments have been shown and described for the purposes of illustrating the structural and functional principles of the present invention, as well as illustrating the methods of employing the preferred embodiments and are subject to change without departing from such principles. Therefore, this invention includes all modifications encompassed within the spirit of the following claims.
