Mouthguard for analysis of biomarkers for traumatic brain injury

• US 10,244,971 B2
• Filed: 05/12/2015
• Issued: 04/02/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/12/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kozloski, James R., Lamorey, Mark C. H., Pickover, Clifford A., Rice, John J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Winakur, Eric F
• Application Number:
  US14/709,570
• Publication Number:
  US 20160331355A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,421 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A42B 3/046 Means for detecting hazards or accidents
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 10/0051 for taking saliva or sputum samples devices for receiving spittle A61J9/00
• 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 5/14546 for measuring analytes not otherwise provided for, e.g. ions, cytochromes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4064 Evaluating the brain A61B5/031, A61B5/369, A61B5/14553 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6803 Head-worn items, e.g. helmets, masks, headphones or goggles
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/682 Mouth, e.g., oral cavity; tongue; Lips; Teeth
• 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 5/746 Alarms related to a physiological condition, e.g. details of setting alarm thresholds or avoiding false alarms alarms per se G08B
• 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

Embodiments include methods, systems and computer program products for monitoring a user of a helmet for traumatic brain injury. Aspects include obtaining a saliva specimen from a mouthguard and providing the saliva specimen to a lab on chip. Aspects further include determining whether the saliva specimen contains a biomarker that indicates the user suffered a traumatic brain injury and creating an alert that the user of the helmet has suffered a traumatic brain injury.

Claims

1. A computer program product for monitoring a user for traumatic brain injuries, the computer program product comprising:

a non-transitory storage medium readable by a processing circuit and storing instructions for execution by the processing circuit for performing a method comprising;

determining that the user has suffered a severe impact;

instructing a sensor to obtain a saliva specimen from a mouthguard and to provide the saliva specimen to a lab on chip, wherein obtaining the saliva specimen from the mouthguard is performed after a delay period from the severe impact, wherein the delay is determined based on a severity of the severe impact experienced by the user;

analyzing the saliva specimen for one or more biomarkers; and

creating an alert that the user of the mouthguard may have suffered a traumatic brain injury, wherein the alert includes an indication of the one or more biomarkers, a concentration of the one or more biomarkers and an identification of the user.

2. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the lab on chip is disposed within the mouthguard.

3. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the lab on chip is disposed within a helmet that is in fluid communication with the mouthguard.

4. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the determination that the user has suffered a severe impact is based on a determination that a helmet worn by the user has experienced an acceleration above a threshold amount.

5. The computer program product of claim 4, wherein the threshold amount is based upon a medical history of the user.

6. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the delay is further determined based on a medical history of the user.

7. A system for monitoring a user for traumatic brain injuries comprising:

a lab on chip configured to receive a saliva specimen from a mouthguard and to analyze the saliva specimen to identify one or more biomarkers;

a processor configured to communicate with the lab on chip, wherein the processor creates an alert that the user of the mouthguard may have suffered a traumatic brain injury,

wherein the processor instructs the lab on chip to obtain the saliva specimen from the mouthguard in response to a determination that the user has experienced an acceleration above a threshold amount, wherein the saliva specimen is obtained after a delay period from the acceleration above the threshold amount, wherein the delay is determined based on a severity of the acceleration above the threshold amount experienced by the user, and

wherein the alert includes an indication of the one or more biomarkers, a concentration of the one or more biomarkers and an identification of the user.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the lab on chip is disposed within the mouthguard.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the lab on chip is disposed within a helmet that is in fluid communication with the mouthguard.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the processor is disposed within the helmet and wherein the helmet includes an accelerometer.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the threshold amount is based upon a medical history of the user.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein the delay is further determined based on a medical history of the user.