Method of providing a home health care service and system for providing a home health care service

• US 20010031913A1
• Filed: 04/17/2001
• Published: 10/18/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 04/17/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: Ito, Narushi, Ohashi, Akio
• Granted Patent: US 6,572,564 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/300
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 10/007 for taking urine samples measuring urological functions A61B5/20; genital receptacles A61F5/451; urinals for bed-ridden persons A61G9/006
• 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 5/14507 specially adapted for measuring characteristics of body fluids other than blood devices for taking samples of body liquids A61B10/0045
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/20 for measuring urological functions restricted to the evaluation of the urinary system A61B5/4375 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/201 Assessing renal or kidney functions
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 128/92 Computer assisted medical diagnostics

Abstract

A system for providing a home health care service includes a health care center, a service recipient device, and the Internet that connects these components. The health care center: is constructed on the Internet; includes a database for registering personal data that are necessary for the health care of registered at-home patients as basic health care data and storing measurement data that are provided from at-home patients over the course of time; and has the functions of inferring the health conditions of at-home patients based on the measurement data as well as the basic health care data and offering services necessary for health care or services appropriate for inferred health conditions, to at-home patients. The service recipient device includes a biosensor and a signal processor. The biosensor detects chemical components contained in a substance that is discharged from the human body and converts detected values to electrical signals at the point of discharge. The signal processor performs processing of the output of the biosensor to automatically generate measurement data and transmits the measurement data to the health care center by way of the Internet.

Claims

1. A urine testing device comprising:

a urine collector for collecting urine inside a toilet;

a biosensor exchangeably attached inside said urine collector for detecting predetermined chemical components contained in urine to generate electrical signals;

a support member for supporting said urine collector and also supporting a transmission path of said electrical signals, said support member being constructed so that urine collector may be automatically or manually moved from a housing location to a prescribed use position in the toilet bowl and vice versa; and

a signal processor disposed outside said toilet for processing electrical signals supplied from said biosensor through said transmission path.

2. A urine-testing device according to

claim 1

, wherein said signal processor comprises:

an arithmetic unit that operates said electrical signals; and

at least one of;

a storage unit that stores at least one of said electrical signals and the operation results of said arithmetic unit, and a display unit that displays at least one of said electrical signals and said operation results.

3. A urine-testing device according to

claim 2

wherein said signal processor is provided with a sensor calibration device.

4. A urine-testing device according to

claim 2

wherein said signal processor is provided with terminals for transmitting said electrical signals and operation results of said arithmetic unit.

5. A method of providing a home heath care service, comprising steps of:

constructing a health care center on the Internet, said health care center having personal data necessary for the health care of registered at-home patients as basic health care data and also having the capability of inferring the health conditions of the at-home patients from measurement data provided by the at-home patients and said basic health care data and offering services necessary for health care or services appropriate to the inferred health conditions to said at-home patients;

distributing biosensor devices to at-home patients who wish to receive a home health care service, said biosensor device having a capability of detecting predetermined chemical components contained in a substance discharged from a human body and automatically generating electrical measurement data at the position of discharge as occasion arises;

collecting the measurement data of each registered at-home patient to said health care center from at-home patients by way of said Internet; and

managing time-varying health conditions of at-home patients over a period of time based on the collected measurement data as well as said basic health care data and offering necessary services for maintaining the health of at-home patients.

6. A method of providing home health care service according to

claim 5

wherein the substance discharged from the body of said at-home patients is urine excreted from the at-home patients and said method includes steps of:

constructing said biosensor device using;

a biosensor to be arranged inside a toilet at the time of measurement for detecting predetermined chemical components among the chemical components of urine and converting the detected values to electrical signals; and

a signal processor to be arranged on the outside of said toilet for processing electrical signals generated by said biosensor; and

measuring those components among the chemical components of urine that are associated with a morbidity and that change according to the daily health condition, over a period of time.

7. A method of providing a home health care service according to

claim 6

wherein said health care center offers, as a basic service to all registered at-home patients, information that has been processed and arranged to enable an extraction of knowledge relating to a specific said morbidity;

and offers, as selective services that can be selected by at-home patients, services that are appropriate to the inferred health conditions of said specific morbidity.

8. A method of providing a home health care service according to

claim 6

, wherein said method employs a biosensor for measuring glucose, ketone bodies, hydroxybutyric acid, C peptides, or other chemical components that relate to diabetes in cases in which the morbidity to be health-cared is diabetes.

9. A method of providing a home health care service according to

claim 6

, wherein said method employs a biosensor for measuring bile acid, pyruvic acid, urobilinogen, bilirubin, or other chemical components that relate to liver disease in cases in which the morbidity to be health-cared is a liver disease.

10. A method of providing a home health care service according to

claim 6

, wherein said method employs a biosensor for measuring protein, albumin, creatinine, oxalic acid, or other chemical components that relate to renal disease in cases in which the morbidity to be health-cared is a renal disease.

11. A method of providing a home health care service according to

claim 6

, wherein said method employs a biosensor for measuring lactic acid, the pH of urine, or other chemical components that serve as indicators of the degree of stress or fatigue in cases in which the morbidity to be health-cared is stress or fatigue.

12. A system for providing a home health care service, comprising:

a health care center constructed on the Internet and provided with a database for registering, as basic health care data, personal data necessary for the health care of registered at-home patients and for storing measurement data provided by at-home patients as occasion arises over a period of time, said health care center having a function of inferring the health conditions of the at-home patients based on said measurement data as well as said basic health care data and offering services necessary for health care or services appropriate to the inferred health conditions, to the at-home patients; and

a service recipient device belonging to an at-home patient comprising;

a biosensor for detecting predetermined chemical components that are contained in a substance discharged from said at-home patient and converting the detected values of said chemical components to electrical signals at the point of discharge when the discharge is conducted;

a signal processor for processing an output of said biosensor and automatically generating measurement data as well as performing control of the communication between said service recipient device and said health care center; and

a information terminal for interfacing said signal processor and said Internet;

wherein;

said service recipient device delivers, under output control of said signal processor, measurement data that have been generated over a period of time together with time data that indicate the times when said biosensor detected said chemical component to said Internet, designating said health care center as the transmission destination; and

said service recipient device receives, under input control of said signal processor, information transmitted from said health care center by way of said Internet; and

wherein said health care center, when judging the transmission source of received measurement data being a service recipient device belonging to a registered at-home patient, stores the measurement data to said data base, and as demand arises, said health care center infers the health condition of the at-home patient based on stored measurement data and with reference to the registered basic health care data and offers information necessary for health care or services appropriate for the inferred health condition, to the at-home patient.

13. A system for providing a home health care service according to

claim 12

wherein:

said substance discharged from said at-home patient is urine excreted from the at-home patient;

said biosensor, arranged inside a toilet at the time of operation, detects those measurement components among the chemical components of urine that relate to a morbidity and that change according to a daily health condition, and converts the detected values to electrical signals; and

said signal processor is arranged outside of said toilet, processes electrical signals generated by said biosensor, and generates measurement data.

14. A system for providing a home health care service according to

claim 12

wherein said health care center includes an expert system for inferring the health condition of an at-home patient based on measurement data provided by the at-home patient and said basic health care data registered in a database, and, when the possibility of a disease of the at-home patient is inferred, said health care center searches for optimum advice for the disease through said expert system.

15. A system for providing a home health care service according to

claim 13

wherein said health care center has full-time specialists as staffs, or affiliated specialists who are linked to the health care center over the Internet, who are able to diagnose the health condition of the at-home patient based on measurement data provided by at-home patient and also said basic health care data to provide support to the at-home patient for health care.

16. A system for providing a home health care service according to

claim 15

wherein said health care center has full-time specialists as staffs, or affiliated specialists who are linked with the health care center on the Internet, who are able to provide support to the at-home patient regarding dietary treatment, exercise therapy, or medication , as a service appropriate to an inferred health condition.

17. A system for providing a home health care service according to

claim 16

wherein said health care center affiliates with a food supplier, who is linked to the health care center on the Internet and offers food planned by said health care center to at-home patients for implementing dietary treatment appropriate for an inferred health condition.

18. A system for providing home health care service according to

claim 16

wherein said health care center offers, as a basic service to all registered at-home patients, measurement data that have been organized and processed so as to allow easy comprehension of information relating to a specific morbidity associated with chemical components that have been measured by said biosensor;

and offers, as a selective service that can be selected by at-home patients, support provided by said specialists for said specific morbidity.

19. A system for providing a home health care service according to

claim 18

wherein, as said selective service, a precise examination for a morbidity that has been inferred from measurement data is performed at home using instructional information and materials that have been sent beforehand.

20. A system for providing a home health care service according to

claim 19

wherein said health care center has a business-affiliation with a testing company having a function of testing a morbidity of at-home patients, and, as a selective service, provides the testing company with basic health care data and measurement data of an at-home patient and has the testing company perform prescribed tests of the morbidity.

21. A system for providing a home health care service according to

claim 13

wherein said morbidity is diabetes, and said biosensor is a sensor capable of measuring glucose, ketone bodies, hydroxybutyric acid, C peptides, or other chemical components that relate to diabetes.

22. A system for providing a home health care service according to

claim 13

wherein said morbidity is a liver disease, and said biosensor is a sensor capable of measuring bile acid, pyruvic acid, urobilinogen, bilirubin, or other chemical components that relate to liver diseases.

23. A system for providing a home health care service according to

claim 13

wherein said morbidity is a renal disease, and said biosensor is a sensor capable of measuring protein, albumin, creatinine, oxalic acid, or other chemical components that relate to renal diseases.

24. A system for providing a home health care service according to

claim 13

wherein said biosensor is a sensor capable of measuring lactic acid, the pH of urine, or other chemical components that serve as indicators of the degree of stress or fatigue.

25. A system for providing a home health care service according to

claim 12

wherein:

said service recipient device has the functions of measuring the number of times a biosensor has been used, the cumulative amount of time the biosensor has been used and a calibration value of a biosensor and sending these measurement values to said health care center as biosensor maintenance data; and

said health care center, as a biosensor maintenance service, stores said maintenance data in a database, notifies the at-home patient of the current biosensor state, and gives advance notice of the life of the biosensor to the at-home patient, based on the maintenance data stored in said database.

26. A method of providing a home health care service in a system for providing a home health care service, said system including:

a health care center constructed on the Internet and provided with a database for registering, as basic health care data, personal data necessary for the health care of registered at-home patients and for storing measurement data provided by at-home patients as occasion arises over a period of time, said health care center having a function of inferring the health conditions of the at-home patients based on said measurement data as well as said basic health care data and offering services necessary for health care or services appropriate to the inferred health conditions, to the at-home patients; and

a service recipient device belonging to an at-home patient comprising;

a biosensor for detecting predetermined chemical components that are contained in a substance discharged from said at-home patient and converting the detected values of said chemical components to electrical signals at the point of discharge when the discharge is conducted;

a signal processor for processing an output of said biosensor and automatically generating measurement data as well as performing control of the communication between said service recipient device and said health care center; and

a information terminal for interfacing said signal processor and said Internet;

wherein;

said service recipient device delivers, under output control of said signal processor, measurement data that have been generated over a period of time together with time data that indicate the times when said biosensor detected said chemical component to said Internet, designating said health care center as the transmission destination; and

said service recipient device receives, under input control of said signal processor, information transmitted from said health care center by way of said Internet; and

wherein said health care center, when judging the transmission source of received measurement data being a service recipient device belonging to a registered at-home patient, stores the measurement data to said data base, and as demand arises, said health care center infers the health condition of the at-home patient based on stored measurement data and the registered basic health care data and offers information necessary for health care or services appropriate for the inferred health condition, to the at-home patient,

said service recipient device further has the functions of measuring the number of times a biosensor has been used, the cumulative amount of time the biosensor has been used and a calibration value of a biosensor and sending these measurement values to said health care center as biosensor maintenance data; and

said health care center, as a biosensor maintenance service, stores said maintenance data in a database, notifies the at-home patient of the current biosensor state, and gives advance notice of the life of the biosensor to the at-home patient, based on the maintenance data stored in said database,

said method including steps of;

analyzing trends in frequency of use based on said maintenance data stored in said database,

deducing the time for biosensor exchange and the time that consumable supplies become necessary,

delivering necessary materials before there is a lack of necessary materials, and

determining monthly service charges according to the frequency of the exchange of the biosensors and the supply of the consumables, and billing said charges.

27. A method of providing a home health care service by means of a health care center constructed on the Internet, said health care center having the functions of:

registering, as basic health care data, personal data necessary for the health care of registered at-home patients;

inferring the health conditions of at-home patients based on measurement data relating to a specific morbidity and said basic health care data, wherein said measurement data are provided by at-home patients; and

offering services necessary for health care or services appropriate for inferred health conditions to at-home patients;

including steps of;

classifying said personal data and the morbidities of registered at-home patients into a plurality of categories based on measurement data, and creating lists of at-home patients belonging to each of these categories;

recruiting at-home patients who wish to communicate with each other by way of said Internet; and

releasing the list of at-home patients of the same category as a recruited at-home patient to the recruited at-home patient.

28. A method of providing a home heath care service, comprising steps of:

constructing a health care center on the Internet, said health care center having personal data necessary for the health care of registered at-home patients as basic health care data and also having the capability of inferring the health conditions of the at-home patients from measurement data provided by the at-home patients and basic health care data and offering services necessary for health care or services appropriate to the inferred health conditions to said at-home patients;

distributing biosensor devices to at-home patients who wish to receive a home health care service, said biosensor device having a capability of detecting predetermined chemical components contained in a substance discharged from a human body and automatically generating electrical measurement data at the position of discharge as occasion arises;

collecting the measurement data of each registered at-home patient to said health care center from at-home patients by way of said Internet; and

issuing a certificate for requesting a discount of a life insurance premium when said measurement data are within a prescribed range for at least both a predetermined period and a predetermined number of times.