Wearable pain monitor using accelerometry

• US 10,213,153 B2
• Filed: 11/25/2015
• Issued: 02/26/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/27/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Inventors: Atallah, Louis Nicolas, Dellimore, Kiran Hamilton J., Dirkes, Marcel Cornelis, Muhlsteff, Jens
• Primary Examiner(s): Johnson, Nicole F
• Application Number:
  US14/951,551
• Publication Number:
  US 20160151013A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,189 Days
• Field of Search: 600300-301
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0219 Inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt switches
• 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 5/0205 Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular conditions and different types of body conditions, e.g. heart and respiratory condition
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02405 Determining heart rate variability
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02438 with portable devices, e.g. worn by the patient
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0816 Measuring devices for examining respiratory frequency measuring frequency of electric signals G01R23/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1112 Global tracking of patients, e.g. by using GPS
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1118 Determining activity level
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/113 occurring during breathing
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4824 Touch or pain perception evaluation A61B5/4821 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6823 Trunk, e.g., chest, back, abdomen, hip
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7239 using differentiation including higher order derivatives
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7278 Artificial waveform generation or derivation, e.g. synthesising signals from measured signals A61B5/327 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/20 for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems

Abstract

A device and method for monitoring pain of a user (50) are presented. The device (10) comprises a receiving unit (12) for receiving an accelerometer signal (38) from an accelerometer sensor (30) worn by the user (50), wherein the accelerometer signal (38) comprises components of a pulse signal (20) and a respiration signal (22); and a processing unit (14) configured to: derive the pulse signal (20) and the respiration signal (22) from the accelerometer signal (38); adapt the pulse signal (20) based on the respiration signal (22) in order to obtain a corrected pulse signal (40); and derive a pain descriptor based on the corrected pulse signal (40).

Claims

1. A device for monitoring pain of a user, comprising:

a receiving unit configured to receive an accelerometer signal from an accelerometer sensor configured to be worn in use by the user, wherein the accelerometer signal from the accelerometer sensor comprises components of a pulse signal and components of a respiration signal; and

a processing unit which is configured to;

derive the instantaneous pulse signal and the respiration signal from the accelerometer signal;

adapt the pulse signal based on the respiration signal in order to obtain a corrected pulse signal; and

derive a pain descriptor based on the corrected pulse signal.

2. The device according to claim 1, further comprising the accelerometer sensor for measuring the accelerometer signal.

3. The device according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit is further configured to transform the accelerometer signal to the frequency-domain or time-frequency-domain in order to derive the pulse signal and the respiration signal from the accelerometer signal.

4. The device according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit is configured to detect one or more peaks within the accelerometer signal in order to derive the pulse signal and the respiration signal from the accelerometer signal.

5. The device according to claim 4, wherein the processing unit is configured to subtract the respiration signal from the pulse signal in order to obtain the corrected pulse signal.

6. The device according to claim 5, wherein the processing unit is further configured to:

determine a pulse variability and/or a pulse strength based on the corrected pulse signal; and

derive the pain descriptor from the pulse variability and/or the pulse strength.

7. The device according to claim 6, further comprising a GPS tracking device for providing a tracking signal of the user, wherein the processing unit is further configured to:

determine an activity level of the user based on the tracking signal and the accelerometer signal; and

derive the pain descriptor additionally based on the activity level of the user.

8. The device according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit is further configured to:

determine a breathing rate and/or a breathing pattern based on the respiration signal; and

derive the pain descriptor additionally based on the breathing rate and/or the breathing pattern.

9. The device according to claim 8, further comprising a calibration unit for calibrating the pain descriptor.

10. The device according to claim 1, further comprising an output unit for displaying the pain descriptor.

11. A method for monitoring pain of a user, comprising:

receiving an accelerometer signal from an accelerometer sensor configured to be worn by the user, wherein the accelerometer signal from the accelerometer sensor comprises components of a pulse signal and components of a respiration signal;

deriving the instantaneous pulse signal and the respiration signal from the accelerometer signal;

adapting the pulse signal based on the respiration signal in order to obtain a corrected pulse signal; and

deriving a pain descriptor based on the corrected pulse signal.

12. The method according to claim 11, further comprising the step of transforming the accelerometer signal to the frequency-domain or time-frequency-domain in order to derive the pulse signal and the respiration signal from the accelerometer signal.

13. The method according to claim 11, further comprising the step of detecting one or more peaks within the accelerometer signal in order to derive the pulse signal and the respiration signal from the accelerometer signal.

14. The method according to claim 11, further comprising the step of subtracting the respiration signal from the pulse signal in order to obtain the corrected pulse signal.

15. A non-transitory computer program for causing a computer to carry out the steps of the method as claimed in claim 11, when said computer program is carried out on the computer.