Real-time monitoring systems and methods in a healthcare environment

• US 10,517,480 B2
• Filed: 05/13/2019
• Issued: 12/31/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 08/26/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: VCCB Holdings, Inc. (Masimo Corporation)
• Original Assignee: NantHealth, LLC (NantWorks, LLC)
• Inventors: Dyell, David, Rogowski, Christopher, Kahler, Scott, Milan, Jennifer
• Primary Examiner(s): Syed, Nabil H
• Assistant Examiner(s): Eustaquio, Cal J
• Application Number:
  US16/410,939
• Publication Number:
  US 20190261856A1
• Time in Patent Office: 232 Days
• 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 5/0024 for multiple sensor units attached to the patient, e.g. using a body or personal area network
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02055 Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular condition and temperature
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1112 Global tracking of patients, e.g. by using GPS
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/486 Bio-feedback A61B5/375 takes precedence
• 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: A61B 5/7475 User input or interface means, e.g. keyboard, pointing device, joystick
• 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: G16Z 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other main groups of this subclass

Abstract

An apparatus for real time monitoring of a patient is provided and includes a memory element for storing data, a processor that executes instructions associated with the data, an interface that receives sensor data from a sensor that takes measurements from the patient and sends the sensor data according to the sensor'"'"'s measurement latency, a latency calculator that frequently calculates a latency threshold that varies according to at least a health status of the patient, a timer that continuously monitors the sensor'"'"'s measurement latency, a comparator that frequently compares the sensor'"'"'s measurement latency with the calculated latency threshold, and a feedback module that automatically changes the sensor'"'"'s measurement latency to match with the calculated latency threshold.

Claims

1. An apparatus for real-time monitoring of a user, comprising:

a memory element that stores instructions; and

a processor that executes the instructions to perform operations comprising;

determining at least one delay criterion that varies according to at least one of a status of the user and one or more latency factors;

monitoring a time delay between measurements of at least one sensor;

comparing the time delay with the at least one determined delay criterion; and

performing a software operation if the time delay fails to satisfy the at least one determined delay criterion.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the status of the user is determined from at least sensor data of the at least one sensor.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the time delay is based on two consecutive receipts of sensor data of the at least one sensor.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus comprises an adapter removably attached to the at least one sensor.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus comprises an adapter integrated with the at least one sensor.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus comprises an adapter that communicates wirelessly with the at least one sensor.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a network interface that receives delay criterion settings and status factors from a remote database in a network.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the apparatus communicates with the database through an operating system executing remotely in the network.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein an administration user interface facilitates configuring the apparatus with algorithms to determine the at least one delay criterion.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the status of the user comprises a data construct of an aggregate of health conditions and population characteristics indicative of a context of measurements by the at least one sensor.

11. A real-time monitoring system, comprising:

a computer system having a processor that executes software stored on a non-transitory computer-readable memory to perform operations comprising;

retrieving sensor data from a plurality of system sensors,

storing a status and a location of a user,

determining at least one delay criterion for at least one of the system sensors as a function of at least one of the status and the location of the user, a type of sensor information from the at least one of the system sensors, and sensor data from at least one other system sensor, and

performing a software operation when a sensor'"'"'s time delay between measurements fails to satisfy the at least one determined delay criterion.

12. The real-time monitoring system of claim 11, wherein the at least one delay criterion is determined as a function of the location of the user relative to a second location.

13. The real-time monitoring system of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprising storing a buffer delay for the user, and the at least one delay criterion is further determined as a function of the buffer delay.

14. The real-time monitoring system of claim 11, further comprising a user interface that allows a user to select the function used to determine the at least one delay criterion from a set of pre-defined functions.

15. The real-time monitoring system of claim 14 wherein said user interface provides a selectable menu for a user to select a function from a set of pre-defined functions for each sensor type and modify the selected function based upon patient information.

16. The real-time monitoring system of claim 11, further comprising at least a third sensor that monitors the user, and wherein the at least one delay criterion is determined as a function of sensor data received from the third sensor.

17. The real-time monitoring system of claim 11, wherein the at least one delay criterion is determined as a function of a time delay between measurements of the at least one other system sensor.

18. A method for real-time monitoring of a user, the method comprising:

determining at least one delay criterion that varies according to at least one of a status of the user and one or more latency factors;

monitoring a time delay between measurements of at least one sensor;

comparing the time delay with the at least one determined delay criterion; and

performing a software operation if the time delay fails to satisfy the at least one determined delay criterion.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

monitoring a time delay between measurements of another sensor;

wherein the at least one delay criterion varies according to the time delay between measurements of the another sensor.

20. The method of claim 18 wherein the status of the user is determined from at least sensor data of the at least one sensor.

21. A non-transitory computer-readable medium on which are stored instructions executable by a processor or programmable circuit to perform operations for real time monitoring of a user, the operations comprising:

determining at least one delay criterion that varies according to at least one of a status of the user and one or more latency factors;

monitoring a time delay between measurements of at least one sensor;

comparing the time delay with the at least one determined delay criterion; and

performing a software operation if the time delay fails to satisfy the at least one determined delay criterion.