Floor mat system and associated, computer medium and computer-implemented methods for monitoring and improving health and productivity of employees

• US 10,052,023 B2
• Filed: 02/14/2014
• Issued: 08/21/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/05/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Government of Saudi Arabia)
• Original Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Government of Saudi Arabia)
• Inventors: Horseman, Samantha J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Jackson, Gary
• Assistant Examiner(s): PAHAKIS, MANOLIS Y
• Application Number:
  US14/180,471
• Publication Number:
  US 20140163330A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,649 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/00 Measuring for diagnostic purposes radiation diagnosis A61B6/00; diagnosis by ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves A61B8/00; Identification of persons
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0002 Remote monitoring of patients using telemetry, e.g. transmission of vital signals via a communication network A61B5/07 takes precedence; transmission systems for measured values G08C; transmission H04B; transmission of digital information H04L; wireless communication networks H04W
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0008 Temperature signals
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/002 Monitoring the patient using a local or closed circuit, e.g. in a room or building A61B5/0017 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/01 Measuring temperature of body parts ; Diagnostic temperature sensing, e.g. for malignant or inflamed tissue clinical contact thermometers G01K13/20
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02055 Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular condition and temperature
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/021 Measuring pressure in heart or blood vessels A61B5/0205 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0537 Measuring body composition by impedance, e.g. tissue hydration or fat content
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/08 Detecting, measuring or recording devices for evaluating the respiratory organs A61B5/0205 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1113 Local tracking of patients, e.g. in a hospital or private home
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1114 Tracking parts of the body
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/145 Measuring characteristics of blood in vivo, e.g. gas concentration, pH value; Measuring characteristics of body fluids or tissues, e.g. interstitial fluid, cerebral tissuemeasuring of blood pressure or blood flow A61B5/02; non-radiation detecting or locating of foreign bodies in blood A61B5/06
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/40 Detecting, measuring or recording for evaluating the nervous system A61B5/4806, A61B5/4821, A61B5/4824 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4872 Body fat
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6803 Head-worn items, e.g. helmets, masks, headphones or goggles
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6887 mounted on external non-worn devices, e.g. non-medical devices
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6891 Furniture
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6892 Mats
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6897 Computer input devices, e.g. mice or keyboards
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6898 Portable consumer electronic devices, e.g. music players, telephones, tablet computers
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/72 : Signal processing specially adapted for physiological signals or for diagnostic purposes character recognition, recognising digital ink, document-oriented image-based pattern recognition G06V30/00; recognition or understanding of postal images G06V30/424
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7275 : Determining trends in physiological measurement data; Predicting development of a medical condition based on physiological measurements, e.g. determining a risk factor
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7282 : Event detection, e.g. detecting unique waveforms indicative of a medical condition A61B5/4094, A61B5/4818, A61B5/349, A61B5/0823 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/742 : using visual displays A61B5/339 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 15/00 : ICT specially adapted for medical reports, e.g. generation or transmission thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 : for remote operation

Abstract

Provided are embodiments of systems, computer medium and computer-implemented methods for sensing health characteristics of a user using a floor mat including a set of health sensors integrated therewith. The set of health sensors including temperature sensors, body position sensors, and body fat sensors. A method including receiving, from the temperature sensors, temperature data corresponding to a sensed body temperature of the user, receiving, from the body position sensors, body position data corresponding to a sensed body position of the user, receiving, from the body fat sensors, body fat data corresponding to a sensed body fat of the user, and transmitting, to a computer workstation, health data corresponding to the temperature data, the body position data, and the body fat data for use in determining the body temperature, the body position, and the body fat of the user.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring employee health, the method comprising:

providing an employee workstation associated with an employee of an employer, the employee workstation comprising;

the employee computer;

a computer mouse configured to be used by the employee to interact with the employee computer, the computer mouse comprising a blood pressure cuff configured to sense a blood pressure of the employee;

a chair comprising a chair pad, wherein the chair pad comprises a chair pad force sensor configured to sense a force applied to the chair by the employee seated in the chair; and

a floor mat disposed on a floor of the employee workstation, wherein feet of the employee seated in the chair contact the floor mat, the floor mat comprising;

a floor mat controller; and

a set of floor mat health sensors comprising;

one or more floor mat temperature sensors configured to sense a body temperature of the employee;

one or more floor mat body position sensors configured to sense a body position of the employee, the one or more floor mat body position sensors comprising a floor mat force sensor configured to sense a force applied to the floor mat by the employee seated in the chair; and

one or more floor mat body fat sensors configured to sense a body fat of the employee;

sending, by the employee computer to the floor mat controller of the floor mat, a request for floor mat health data;

receiving, by the floor mat controller of the floor mat and from the employee computer, the request for floor mat health data;

in response to the floor mat controller receiving the request for floor mat health data from the employee computer;

collecting, by the floor mat controller from the one or more floor mat temperature sensors, floor mat temperature data corresponding to the body temperature of the employee sensed by the one or more floor mat temperature sensors;

collecting, by the floor mat controller from the one or more floor mat body position sensors, floor mat body position data corresponding to the body position of the employee sensed by the one or more floor mat body position sensors;

collecting, by the floor mat controller from the one or more body fat sensors, floor mat body fat data corresponding to the body fat of the employee sensed by the one or more floor mat body fat sensors; and

transmitting, by the floor mat controller to the computer workstation, floor mat health data corresponding to the floor mat temperature data, the floor mat body position data, and the floor mat body fat data for use in determining the body temperature, the body position, and the body fat of the employee;

outputting, by the computer mouse, computer mouse health data comprising the blood pressure of the employee sensed by the blood pressure cuff;

outputting, by the chair pad, chair pad health data comprising the force sensed by the chair pad force sensor;

collecting, by a health monitoring server from the employee computer, health data comprising the computer mouse health data, the chair pad health data, and the floor mat health data;

determining, by the health monitoring server, a blood pressure of the employee based on the blood pressure sensed by the computer mouse blood pressure cuff;

determining, by the health monitoring server, a body weight of the employee seated in the chair based on an addition of the force sensed by the chair pad force sensor and the force sensed by floor mat force sensor;

determining, by the health monitoring server, a body fat of the employee based on the body fat sensed by the floor mat body fat sensor;

determining, by the health monitoring server based on the health data collected, a health profile for the employee, the health profile for the employee comprising the blood pressure of the employee determined, the body weight of the employee determined and the body fat of the employee determined;

predicting, by the health monitoring server based on the health profile for the employee, a health risk for the employee;

determining, by the health monitoring server based on the health risk predicted, an exercise and a nutrition goal to alleviate the predicted health risk; and

serving, by the health monitoring server to the employee computer, health content comprising the health profile for the employee, the nutrition goal, and a health status avatar comprising an animated demonstration of the exercise; and

displaying, by the employee computer, the health profile for the employee.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more floor mat temperature sensors comprise one or more floor mat temperature transducers located in at least one of a right portion of an upper surface of the floor mat and a left portion of the upper surface of the floor mat.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the floor mat force sensor is located in at least one of a right portion of an upper surface of the floor mat and a left portion of the upper surface of the floor mat.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more floor mat body fat sensors comprise one or more floor mat conductive contacts located in a right portion of an upper surface of the floor mat and a left portion of the upper surface of the floor mat.

5. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

receiving, by a chair pad controller of the chair pad and from the employee computer, a request for chair pad health data; and

in response to receiving the request for chair pad health data from the employee computer;

collecting, by the chair pad controller and from the chair pad force sensor, chair pad force data corresponding to the force sensed by the chair pad force sensor; and

transmitting, by the chair pad controller and to the employee computer, data comprising the force sensed by the chair pad force sensor.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the computer mouse comprises a computer mouse location sensor configured to sense a location of the computer mouse,

the method further comprising:

determining, by the health monitoring server, a body position of the employee determined based on the location sensed by the computer mouse location sensor, the force sensed by the floor mat force sensor and the force sensed by the chair pad force sensor; and

determining, by the health monitoring server, a muscle tension of the employee based on the body position of the employee determined, and

wherein the health profile for the employee comprises the muscle tension of the employee.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the computer mouse comprises:

one or more computer mouse temperature sensors configured to sense the body temperature of the employee while the employee is in contact with the computer mouse; and

one or more computer mouse blood condition sensors configured to sense a blood oxygen saturation of blood of the employee while the employee is in contact with the computer mouse,

wherein the computer mouse health data comprises the body temperature of the employee sensed by the one or more one or more computer mouse temperature sensors, and the blood oxygen saturation of blood of the employee sensed by the one or more computer mouse blood condition sensors.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the employee workstation further comprises:

a camera configured to capture images of the employee seated in the chair and to transmit, to the employee computer, camera data corresponding to the images of the employee, wherein the health data collected comprises data corresponding to the camera data.

9. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

determining, by the health monitoring server, based on the health data collected, a group health report for a group of employees of an employer of the employee that are common to a facility, region or team; and

serving, by the health monitoring server and to an employer workstation associated with the employer and comprising a display, the group health report, wherein the employer workstation is configured to display the group health report via the display of the employer workstation.