Flexible temperature sensor including conformable electronics

• US 10,482,743 B2
• Filed: 04/26/2016
• Issued: 11/19/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 08/05/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Medidata Solutions Incorporated (Dassault Systemes SA)
• Original Assignee: MC10, Inc.
• Inventors: Li, Xia, Gupta, Sanjay, Dowling, Kevin J., Kacyvenski, Isaiah, Ceruolo, Melissa, Ives, Barry G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Barakat, Mohamed
• Application Number:
  US15/139,256
• Publication Number:
  US 20160240061A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,302 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0242 adapted to measure environmental factors, e.g. temperature, pollution
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0412 Low-profile patch shaped housings
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/02 Details of sensors specially adapted for in-vivo measurements
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0219 Inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt switches
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0271 Thermal or temperature sensors
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/046 in a matrix array
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/12 Manufacturing methods specially adapted for producing sensors for in-vivo measurements
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/164 the sensor is mounted in or on a conformable substrate or carrier
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/166 the sensor is mounted on a specially adapted printed circuit board
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0004 characterised by the type of physiological signal transmitted
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0008 Temperature signals
• 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 5/015 By temperature mapping of body part
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02055 Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular condition and temperature
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/053 Measuring electrical impedance or conductance of a portion of the body
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0531 Measuring skin impedance
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0537 Measuring body composition by impedance, e.g. tissue hydration or fat content
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1118 Determining activity level
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6833 Adhesive patches
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7246 using correlation, e.g. template matching or determination of similarity
• 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 5/74 : Details of notification to user or communication with user or patient indicating measured values G01D7/00; user input means input or output arrangements for computers G06F3/00
• 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: G01K 1/14 : Supports; Fastening devices; Arrangements for mounting thermometers in particular locations
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 1/143 : for measuring surface temperatures
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 13/20 : Clinical contact thermometers for use with humans or animals
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 2213/00 : Temperature mapping
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 17/06 : Electric actuation of the alarm, e.g. using a thermally-operated switch
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/02 : Alarms for ensuring the safety of persons
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 3/10 : using electric transmission; using electromagnetic transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2818 : from a device located outside both the home and the home network access arrangements H04L12/2856; for remote control or remote monitoring of applications H04L67/025; arrangements for transmitting signals characterised by the use of a wireless eletrical link G08C17/00; telephonic communication systems adapted for combination with remote control systems H04M11/007
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2827 : Reporting to a device within the home network; wherein the reception of the information reported automatically triggers the execution of a home appliance functionality

Abstract

Systems, methods, apparatus and devices are described for monitoring a property of an object or an individual, using a conformal sensor device that substantially conforms to contours of a portion of a surface of the object or the individual. The measurement includes data indicative of a property of a temperature of the portion of the surface and the degree of the conformal contact. An analysis engine is used to analyze the data and to generate at least one parameter indicative of the property of the temperature. Based on a comparison of the at least one parameter to a preset threshold, at least one alert can be issued and/or a command can be transmitted to regulate an environmental condition. The at least one alert can be indicative of a potential risk of harm to the object or individual.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a conformal sensor device mounted to a surface such that the conformal sensor device substantially conforms to contours of the surface, the conformal sensor device including a sensor component configured to generate data indicative of one or more measurements of a property of a temperature of a portion of the surface, and a stretchable electrical interconnect that electrically couples the sensor component to another component of the conformal sensor device;

an analysis engine configured to analyze the data indicative of the one or more measurements of the property of the temperature of the portion of the surface to determine the property of the temperature of the portion of the surface;

a notification component configured to (i) issue an alert in response to the property of the temperature exceeding a preset threshold for a dwell time and (ii) transmit a command in response to the property of the temperature exceeding the preset threshold; and

a controller of an environmental regulation system configured to (i) receive the command from the notification component and (ii) execute a pre-determined action based on the received command.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the dwell time is about three minutes, about five minutes, about eight minutes, or about ten minutes.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the property of the temperature includes a magnitude, a spatial gradient, or a rate of change with time.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising a display configured to display information related to the measurement of the property of the temperature.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the conformal sensor device further includes a flexible substrate, the sensor component being disposed on the flexible substrate.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the conformal sensor device further includes a stretchable substrate, the sensor component being disposed on the stretchable substrate.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the conformal sensor device further includes a second sensor component configured to generate data indicative of one or more measurements of a property of a temperature of an environment adjacent to the portion of the surface.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the first sensor component faces towards the surface and the second sensor component faces away from the surface.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the notification component is configured to transmit the data indicative of the one or more measurements of the property of the temperature, receive the data indicative of the one or more measurements of the property of the temperature, or both transmit and receive the data indicative of the one or more measurements of the property of the temperature.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the analysis engine is configured to compare the property of the temperature with a pre-defined standard.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the analysis engine is disposed on a device external to the conformal sensor device.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the analysis engine determines a measure of core body temperature as a function of the comparison of the property of the temperature and the pre-defined standard.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensor component is part of a spatially-distributed array of sensor components configured to perform the one or more measurements of the property of the temperature of the portion of the surface.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the measured property of the temperature is a spatial temperature gradient between two or more of the sensor components in the spatially-distributed array of sensor components.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the spatial temperature gradient indicates information about a degree of conformal contact between the conformal sensor device and the contours of the surface.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the information includes a spatial mapping of the degree of conformal contact as a function of the spatial temperature gradient.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the surface is tissue, and wherein the conformal sensor device includes a second sensor component configured to generate data indicative of one or more measurements of electrical properties of the tissue.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the one or more measurements of the electrical properties of the tissue includes a capacitive-based measurement.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the system determines a hydration level of the tissue as a function of the measured electrical properties of the tissue.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the notification component is further configured to issue an alert based on the hydration level of the tissue.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the alert is issued if the hydration level of the tissue falls below a predetermined threshold.

22. The system of claim 14, wherein the spatial temperature gradient indicates blood flow.

23. The system of claim 14, wherein the spatial temperature gradient indicates a location of an injury.

24. The system of claim 1, wherein the property of the temperature is a spatial gradient that is indicative of blood flow.

25. The system of claim 1, wherein the command to the controller comprises instructions to initiate the environmental regulation system.

26. The system of claim 1, wherein the command to the controller comprises instructions to modify an operating set point of the environmental regulation system.

27. The system of claim 1, wherein the conformal sensor device includes an identification component configured to provide identification information associated with an individual.

28. The system of claim 27, further comprising a location component capable of communicating with the identification component, wherein the analysis engine determines a location of the conformal sensor device relative to the location component based on communication between the location component and the identification component.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the analysis engine computes location information associated with the individual based on the location of the conformal sensor device relative to the location component, a known location of the location component, and a known communication distance of the location component.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the computed location information associated with the individual and the identification information associated with the individual are transmitted to the controller of the environmental regulation system.

31. A system comprising a plurality of conformal sensor devices mounted to a surface such that each of the plurality of conformal sensor devices substantially conforms to contours of the surface, each of the plurality of conformal sensor devices including a sensor component, the sensor components of the plurality of conformal sensor device being configured to determine a spatial temperature gradient of a portion of the surface.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein the spatial temperature gradient indicates blood flow.

33. The system of claim 31, wherein the spatial temperature gradient indicates a location of an injury adjacent to the surface.

34. The system of claim 33, further comprising a notification component configured to issue an alert to identify the location of the injury.

35. The system of claim 34, wherein each of the plurality of conformal sensor devices is a separate and distinct patch and the surface is human skin.