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

• US 10,307,104 B2
• Filed: 11/28/2018
• Issued: 06/04/2019
• 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): Layno, Carl H
• Assistant Examiner(s): Pahakis, Manolis
• Application Number:
  US16/202,533
• Publication Number:
  US 20190090816A1
• Time in Patent Office: 188 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0008 Temperature signals
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0015 characterised by features of the telemetry system
• 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 5/0537 Measuring body composition by impedance, e.g. tissue hydration or fat content
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/11 Measuring movement of the entire body or parts thereof, e.g. head or hand tremor, mobility of a limb for measuring pulse A61B5/02 ;A61B5/1038 takes precedence; motion detection to correct for motion artifacts in physiological signals A61B5/721
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1114 Tracking parts of the body
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/369 Electroencephalography [EEG] devices for psychotechnics A61B5/16
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/375 using biofeedback
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4842 Monitoring progression or stage of a disease
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4866 Evaluating metabolism A61B5/083 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4872 Body fat
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6891 Furniture
• 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 5/743 Displaying an image simultaneously with additional graphical information, e.g. symbols, charts, function plots
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/744 Displaying an avatar, e.g. an animated cartoon character
• CPC Class Codes: F04C 2270/041 Controlled or regulated
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/011 Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality blind teaching G09B21/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/02 Alarms for ensuring the safety of persons
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/20 : for electronic clinical trials or questionnaires
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 15/00 : ICT specially adapted for medical reports, e.g. generation or transmission thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/30 : relating to physical therapies or activities, e.g. physiotherapy, acupressure or exercising
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/60 : relating to nutrition control, e.g. diets
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 : for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 : for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/20 : for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/30 : for calculating health indices; for individual health risk assessment
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/70 : for mining of medical data, e.g. analysing previous cases of other patients
• CPC Class Codes: G16Z 99/00 : Subject matter not provided for in other main groups of this subclass

Abstract

Provided are embodiments of systems, computer medium and computer-implemented methods for sensing health characteristics of a user using a chair pad including a set of health sensors integrated therewith and including temperature sensors, body position sensors, and body fat sensors. A method for sensing health characteristics of a user 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 system for monitoring employee health, comprising:

an employee workstation comprising;

a computer display;

a computer mouse sensing system;

a chair sensing system;

a floor mat sensing system; and

a neural sensing system,

the computer mouse sensing system comprising a computer mouse and a set of computer mouse sensors, the set of computer mouse sensors comprising;

a computer mouse temperature sensor disposed in a body of the computer mouse and configured to sense a body temperature of an employee seated in a chair;

a computer mouse blood condition sensor disposed in the body of the computer mouse and configured to sense blood condition of the employee seated in the chair; and

a computer mouse blood pressure sensor comprising a wireless blood pressure cuff configured to sense a blood pressure of the employee,

the chair sensing system comprising the chair and a set of chair pad sensors disposed in a seating surface of the chair, the set of chair pad sensors comprising;

a chair pad temperature sensor configured to sense the body temperature of the employee seated in the chair; and

a chair pad force sensor configured to sense force of the employee seated in the chair,

the floor mat sensing system comprising a floor mat with a set of floor mat sensors disposed in the floor mat, the set of floor mat sensors comprising;

a floor mat temperature sensor configured to sense the body temperature of the employee seated in the chair; and

a floor mat force sensor configured to sense force of the employee seated in the chair, and

the neural sensing system comprising a set of neural sensors configured to be disposed about a scalp of the employee seated in the chair and to sense brain activity of the employee,

a health monitoring server configured to;

collect health data comprising;

the body temperature of the employee sensed by the computer mouse temperature sensor;

the blood condition of the employee sensed by the computer mouse blood condition sensor;

the blood pressure of the employee sensed by the computer mouse blood pressure sensor;

the body temperature of the employee sensed by the chair pad temperature sensor;

the force of the employee sensed by the chair pad force sensor;

the body temperature of the employee sensed by the floor mat temperature sensor;

the force of the employee sensed by the floor mat force sensor; and

the brain activity of the employee sensed by the neural sensors;

determine a body temperature of the employee based on the body temperature of the employee sensed by the computer mouse temperature sensor, the body temperature of the employee sensed by the chair pad temperature sensor and the body temperature of the employee sensed by the floor mat temperature sensor;

determine a blood condition of the employee based on the blood condition of the employee sensed by the computer mouse blood condition sensor;

determine a blood pressure of the employee based on the blood pressure of the employee sensed by the computer mouse blood pressure sensor;

determine a weight of the employee based on the force of the employee sensed by the chair pad force sensor and the force of the employee sensed by the floor mat force sensor;

determine a brain activity of the employee based on the brain activity of the employee sensed by the neural sensors;

determine, based on the brain activity of the employee, a sequence of motor functions and a risk of physical fatigue corresponding to the sequence of motor functions; and

provide, to the employee workstation for display by way of the computer display, a health profile for the employee comprising the body temperature of the employee determined, the blood condition of the employee determined, the blood pressure of the employee determined, the weight of the employee determined, the brain activity of the employee determined, and the risk of physical fatigue determined,

the computer display configured to display the health profile for the employee.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the neural sensing system comprises a neural headset comprising the set of neural sensors configured to be disposed about a scalp of the employee.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the neural sensing system comprises the set of neural sensors disposed in a headrest of the chair and configured to be disposed about the scalp of the employee seated in the chair.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the set of neural sensors comprise dry electrodes.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the health monitoring server is further configured to:

compare a neural signal pattern of the brain activity of the employee sensed to a plurality of predetermined neural signal patterns to determine a matching neural signal pattern comprising neural signal pattern of the plurality of predetermined neural signal patterns that matches the neural signal pattern of the brain activity of the employee sensed; and

determine a characteristic of the employee corresponding to the matching neural signal pattern, wherein the health profile for the employee comprises the characteristic of the employee corresponding to the matching neural signal pattern.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the characteristic of the employee corresponding to the matched the neural signal pattern comprises risk of fatigue of the employee.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the health monitoring server is further configured to:

determine a level of motor function corresponding to the matching neural signal pattern;

determine that the level of motor function is below a threshold value; and

determining, in response to determining that that the level of motor function is below the threshold value, the risk of fatigue for the employee.

8. A method for monitoring employee health, comprising:

collecting, by a health monitoring server, health data for an employee located in an employee workstation,

the employee workstation comprising;

a computer display;

a computer mouse sensing system;

a chair sensing system;

a floor mat sensing system; and

a neural sensing system,

the computer mouse sensing system comprising a computer mouse and a set of computer mouse sensors, the set of computer mouse sensors comprising;

a computer mouse temperature sensor disposed in a body of the computer mouse and configured to sense a body temperature of an employee seated in a chair;

a computer mouse blood condition sensor disposed in the body of the computer mouse and configured to sense blood condition of the employee seated in the chair; and

a computer mouse blood pressure sensor comprising a wireless blood pressure cuff configured to sense a blood pressure of the employee,

the chair sensing system comprising the chair and a set of chair pad sensors disposed in a seating surface of the chair, the set of chair pad sensors comprising;

a chair pad temperature sensor configured to sense the body temperature of the employee seated in the chair; and

a chair pad force sensor configured to sense force of the employee seated in the chair,

the floor mat sensing system comprising a floor mat with a set of floor mat sensors disposed in the floor mat, the set of floor mat sensors comprising;

a floor mat temperature sensor configured to sense the body temperature of the employee seated in the chair; and

a floor mat force sensor configured to sense force of the employee seated in the chair, and

the neural sensing system comprising a set of neural sensors configured to be disposed about a scalp of the employee seated in the chair and to sense brain activity of the employee,

the health data collected comprising;

the body temperature of the employee sensed by the computer mouse temperature sensor;

the blood condition of the employee sensed by the computer mouse blood condition sensor;

the blood pressure of the employee sensed by the computer mouse blood pressure sensor;

the body temperature of the employee sensed by the chair pad temperature sensor;

the force of the employee sensed by the chair pad force sensor;

the body temperature of the employee sensed by the floor mat temperature sensor;

the force of the employee sensed by the floor mat force sensor; and

the brain activity of the employee sensed by the neural sensors;

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

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

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

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

determining, by the health monitoring server, a brain activity of the employee based on the brain activity of the employee sensed by the neural sensors;

determining, by the health monitoring server based on the brain activity of the employee, a sequence of motor functions and a risk of physical fatigue corresponding to the sequence of motor functions; and

displaying, by the computer display, a health profile for the employee comprising the body temperature of the employee determined, the blood condition of the employee determined, the blood pressure of the employee determined, the weight employee determined, the brain activity of the employee determined, and the risk of physical fatigue determined.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the neural sensing system comprises a neural headset comprising the set of neural sensors configured to be disposed about a scalp of the employee.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the neural sensing system comprises the set of neural sensors disposed in a headrest of the chair and configured to be disposed about the scalp of the employee seated in the chair.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the health monitoring server is further configured to:

compare a neural signal pattern of the brain activity of the employee sensed to a plurality of predetermined neural signal patterns to determine a matching neural signal pattern comprising neural signal pattern of the plurality of predetermined neural signal patterns that matches the neural signal pattern of the brain activity of the employee sensed; and

determine a characteristic of the employee corresponding to the matching neural signal pattern, wherein the health profile for the employee comprises the characteristic of the employee corresponding to the matching neural signal pattern.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the characteristic of the employee corresponding to the matched the neural signal pattern comprises risk of fatigue of the employee.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the health monitoring system is further configured to:

determine a level of motor function corresponding to the matching neural signal pattern;

determine that the level of motor function is below a threshold value; and

determining, in response to determining that that the level of motor function is below the threshold value, the risk of fatigue for the employee.

14. Non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising program instructions for monitoring employee health stored thereon that are executable by a processor to cause the following operations:

collecting, by a health monitoring server, health data for an employee located in an employee workstation,

the employee workstation comprising;

a computer display;

a computer mouse sensing system;

a chair sensing system;

a floor mat sensing system; and

a neural sensing system,

the computer mouse sensing system comprising a computer mouse and a set of computer mouse sensors, the set of computer mouse sensors comprising;

a computer mouse temperature sensor disposed in a body of the computer mouse and configured to sense a body temperature of an employee seated in a chair;

a computer mouse blood condition sensor disposed in the body of the computer mouse and configured to sense blood condition of the employee seated in the chair; and

a computer mouse blood pressure sensor comprising a wireless blood pressure cuff configured to sense a blood pressure of the employee,

the chair sensing system comprising the chair and a set of chair pad sensors disposed in a seating surface of the chair, the set of chair pad sensors comprising;

a chair pad temperature sensor configured to sense the body temperature of the employee seated in the chair; and

a chair pad force sensor configured to sense force of the employee seated in the chair,

the floor mat sensing system comprising a floor mat with a set of floor mat sensors disposed in the floor mat, the set of floor mat sensors comprising;

a floor mat temperature sensor configured to sense the body temperature of the employee seated in the chair; and

a floor mat force sensor configured to sense force of the employee seated in the chair, and

the neural sensing system comprising a set of neural sensors configured to be disposed about a scalp of the employee seated in the chair and to sense brain activity of the employee,

the health data collected comprising;

the body temperature of the employee sensed by the computer mouse temperature sensor;

the blood condition of the employee sensed by the computer mouse blood condition sensor;

the blood pressure of the employee sensed by the computer mouse blood pressure sensor;

the body temperature of the employee sensed by the chair pad temperature sensor;

the force of the employee sensed by the chair pad force sensor;

the body temperature of the employee sensed by the floor mat temperature sensor;

the force of the employee sensed by the floor mat force sensor; and

the brain activity of the employee sensed by the neural sensors;

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

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

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

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

determining, by the health monitoring server, a brain activity of the employee based on the brain activity of the employee sensed by the neural sensors;

determining, by the health monitoring server based on the brain activity of the employee, a sequence of motor functions and a risk of physical fatigue corresponding to the sequence of motor functions; and

displaying, by the computer display, a health profile for the employee comprising the body temperature of the employee determined, the blood condition of the employee determined, the blood pressure of the employee determined, the weight of the employee determined, the brain activity of the employee determined, and the risk of physical fatigue determined.

15. The medium of claim 14, wherein the neural sensing system comprises a neural headset comprising the set of neural sensors configured to be disposed about a scalp of the employee.

16. The medium of claim 14, wherein the neural sensing system comprises the set of neural sensors disposed in a headrest of the chair and configured to be disposed about the scalp of the employee seated in the chair.

17. The medium of claim 14, wherein the health monitoring server is further configured to:

compare a neural signal pattern of the brain activity of the employee sensed to a plurality of predetermined neural signal patterns to determine a matching neural signal pattern comprising neural signal pattern of the plurality of predetermined neural signal patterns that matches the neural signal pattern of the brain activity of the employee sensed; and

determine a characteristic of the employee corresponding to the matching neural signal pattern, wherein the health profile for the employee comprises the characteristic of the employee corresponding to the matching neural signal pattern.

18. The medium of claim 17, wherein the characteristic of the employee corresponding to the matched the neural signal pattern comprises risk of fatigue of the employee.

19. The medium of claim 18, wherein the health monitoring system is further configured to:

determine a level of motor function corresponding to the matching neural signal pattern;

determine that the level of motor function is below a threshold value; and

determining, in response to determining that that the level of motor function is below the threshold value, the risk of fatigue for the employee.