Real-time symptom analysis system and method

• US 10,431,329 B2
• Filed: 02/27/2015
• Issued: 10/01/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/27/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Steven L. Kagen
• Original Assignee: Steven L. Kagen
• Inventors: Kagen, Steven L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Reyes, Reginald R
• Application Number:
  US14/633,631
• Publication Number:
  US 20150242586A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,677 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/20 for electronic clinical trials or questionnaires
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/30 for calculating health indices; for individual health risk assessment
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 70/60 relating to pathologies

Abstract

A system and method for presenting real-time health information administers virtual questionnaires, automatically determines a user health status, and presents a visualization to a user indicating a likelihood of a symptom occurrence. The system and method presents results of the analysis to a user to predict health risks, analyze user symptoms, connect users with medical professionals, and provide marketing offers. The results may be presented as text, graphs, stationary maps, and/or animated maps.

Claims

1. A method of presenting real-time health information, the method comprising steps of:

(a) administering by a user interface associated with a mobile device, a virtual questionnaire to obtain information regarding the user'"'"'s symptoms,

(b) determining the location of the user using a location determination circuit associated with the mobile device;

(c) obtaining environmental data from an internet-accessible database corresponding with the user'"'"'s local environmental conditions at the time the questionnaire is administered;

(d) automatically by a processor associated with the mobile device determining the health status of the user based on the user'"'"'s response to the virtual questionnaire;

(e) storing the health status of the user and corresponding environmental data in a data store associated with the mobile device;

(f) developing a data structure from which the health status of the user is correlated with the user'"'"'s local environmental conditions to identify causes of symptoms for the user;

(g) repeating steps (a) through (e) a plurality of different times, and recorrelating health status with the user'"'"'s local environmental conditions to refine and enhance the data structure;

(h) determining at predetermined times the location of the user using the location determination circuit of the mobile device;

(i) obtaining current or predicted environmental data from the internet-accessible database at the location determined in step (h) contemporaneously with step (h);

(j) predicting future symptoms based upon the data structure and current or predicted local environmental conditions determined in step (i);

(k) determining whether to deliver a warning of environmental risks that are predicted to induce symptoms in the user; and

(l) presenting by a display associated with the mobile device a visualization indicative of the future symptoms if it is determined that a warning is to be delivered wherein presenting the visualization includes;

generating a map image;

overlaying a plurality of animated particles over the map image; and

displaying the map image and the plurality of animated particles on the display.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein a respective attribute of a corresponding animated particle is based on at least one of a relative risk of experiencing a symptom, a level of an external factor, and a past user health status.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the external factor is at least one of a mold spore count, a weather status, a pollen level, and an environmental data.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein the attribute is at least one of a particle width, a particle length, a particle density, a particle speed, a particle color, and a particle shape.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein presenting the visualization includes:

generating a graph, the graph indicating at least one of a series of past user-specific health statuses and a series of past external factors; and

displaying the graph on the display.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein presenting the visualization includes:

generating a promotion for a product or service related to the instantaneous user health status; and

displaying a selectable icon corresponding to the promotion on the display.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

receiving by the user interface a request for contact with a professional; and

in response, establishing a connection between the mobile device and an external device associated with the professional.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the connection is one of a telephone connection, an instant messaging connection, and a video chat connection.

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

periodically by the processor determining a predicted likelihood of a symptom occurrence; and

if the predicted likelihood of the symptom occurrence exceeds a predetermined threshold, generating a notification message and displaying the notification message on the display.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the virtual questionnaire is a virtual hypersensitivity test.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying the user'"'"'s forecasted symptoms over a period of 4 to 7 days based on the data structure and predicted environmental conditions over the period.

12. An electronic system for presenting real-time health information, the system comprising:

a data store; and

a mobile device coupled to the data store and programmed to;

(a) administer by a user interface associated with a mobile device a virtual questionnaire to obtain information regarding the user'"'"'s symptoms,

(b) determining the location of the user using a location determination circuit associated with the mobile device;

(c) obtaining contemporaneous environmental data corresponding with the user'"'"'s local environmental conditions;

(d) automatically by a processor associated with the mobile device determining the health status of the user based on the user'"'"'s response to the virtual questionnaire;

(e) storing the symptom score and corresponding environmental data in a data store associated with the mobile device;

(f) developing a data structure from which the health status of the user is correlated with the user'"'"'s local environmental conditions to identify causes of symptoms for the user;

(g) repeating steps (a) through (e) a plurality of different times, and recorrelating health status with the user'"'"'s local environmental conditions to refine and enhance the data structure;

(h) determining at predetermined times the location of the user using the location determination circuit of the mobile device;

(i) obtaining current or predicted environmental data from the internet-accessible database at the location determined in step (h) contemporaneously with step (h);

(j) predicting future symptoms based upon the data structure and current or predicted environmental conditions; and

(k) presenting by a display associated with the mobile device a visualization indicative of the future symptoms, wherein presenting the visualization includes;

generating a map image;

overlaying a plurality of animated particles over the map image; and

displaying the map image and the plurality of animated particles on the display.

13. A method of presenting real-time health information for a user, the method comprising:

(a) administering by a user interface associated with a mobile device a virtual questionnaire to obtain information regarding the user'"'"'s symptoms;

(b) acquiring time and using a location determination circuit to acquire location data for the user at a time contemporaneous with the administering of the virtual questionnaire;

(c) obtaining environmental data corresponding with the user'"'"'s local environmental conditions from an internet-accessible database at a time contemporaneous with the administering of the virtual questionnaire;

(d) automatically by a processor associated with the mobile device determining the health status of the user based on the user'"'"'s response to the virtual questionnaire;

(e) storing the health status of the user and corresponding environmental data in a data store associated with the mobile device;

(f) developing a data structure from which the health status of the user is correlated with the user'"'"'s local environmental conditions to identify causes of symptoms for the user;

(g) repeating steps (a) through (e) a plurality of different times, and recorrelating health status with the user'"'"'s local environmental conditions to refine and enhance the data structure;

(h) determining at predetermined times the location of the user using the location determination circuit of the mobile device;

(i) obtaining current or predicted environmental data from the internet-accessible database at the location determined in step (h) contemporaneously with step (h);

(j) predicting future symptoms based upon the data structure and current or predicted local environmental conditions; and

(k) presenting by a display associated with the mobile device a visualization indicative of the future symptoms;

wherein presenting the visualization includes;

generating a map image;

overlaying a plurality of animated particles over the map image; and

displaying the map image and the plurality of animated particles on the display.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the location data is acquired by the device from Global Positioning System.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the location data is acquired by the device via cellular tower triangulation.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the location data is acquired via data corresponding to local Wi-Fi hotspots.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the environmental data is obtained by the device from a database.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the data in the database is accessed via a wired or wireless network.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the database is a weather database or public record database.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the environmental data comprises at least one of temperature, humidity, wind speed, wind direction, pollen level, mold spore level, virus prevalence, precipitation, ozone level, particulate matter level, and barometric pressure.