Wireless communication and global location enabled intelligent health monitoring system

• US 20040130446A1
• Filed: 01/06/2003
• Published: 07/08/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 01/06/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Connie J. Chen, Thomas C.H. Chen
• Original Assignee: Connie J. Chen, Thomas C.H. Chen
• Inventors: Chen, Connie J., Chen, Thomas C. H.
• Granted Patent: US 7,154,398 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/539.12
• 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 5/0022 Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/016 Personal emergency signalling and security systems emergency non-personal manually actuated alarm activators G08B25/12
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16Z 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other main groups of this subclass

Abstract

A Wireless Communication and Global Location Enabled Intelligent Health Monitoring System comprising of a plurality of Wireless Medical Sensor Apparatus 300 for measuring a patient'"'"'s vital signs on different parts of a patient'"'"'s body, and a Main Processing Unit Apparatus 100 containing System Software 500 that uses an active, real-time monitoring method to process a patient'"'"'s vital signs and location information for providing an alert on location and transmitting an emergency request to a remote patient monitoring station for immediate assistance. The key component of Main Processing Unit Apparatus 100 is Main Microcontroller 110 which is connected to Global Position System Module 120, Long-Range Two Way Wireless Communication Module 130, Short-Range RF Receiver 140, System Main Memory 150, Flash Memory 160, Panic Button 180, On/Off Button 190, Alert Beeper 195 and Removable/Rechargeable Battery 170. Main Microcontroller 110 comprises System Processor 111, Digital Signal Processing (DSP) Processor 112 and System Interface Processor 113. Both Global Position System Module 120 and Long-Range Two-Way Wireless Communication Module 130 are connected to Multi-Band Antenna 200, and System Interface Processor 113, and means for conducting two-way wireless communication and GPS data acquisition simultaneously. Short-Range RF Receiver 140 is connected to DSP Processor 112, and means for receiving wireless signal from a plurality of Wireless Medical Sensor 300. Wireless Medical Sensor 300 comprises the circuitry for both vital sign measurements and short-range RF transmission, and means for measuring and interpreting a patient'"'"'s vital signs, modulating and transmitting wireless signal back to Short-Range RF Receiver 140 through a short-range RF network.

System Software 500 of the Wireless Communication and Global Location Enabled Intelligent Health Monitoring System resides in System Processor 111 and includes Intelligent Controller 510, which comprises Task Control Administrator 511, and a plurality of Task Shared Memory 512. Task Control Administrator 511 manages and controls the execution of Two-Way Wireless Communication Task 521, Global Position Data Acquisition Task 520, Panic Button Task 522, HTTP Request Processing Task 523, Patient Vital Sign Processing Task 529, Adaptive Location Assessment Task 525, On/Off Button Task 526, Alert Beeper Activation Task 527, Battery Management Task 528, and Wireless Medical Sensor Decoding Task 529. All application tasks of System Software are running under separate parallel execution threads. Under an urgent situation, the two-way wireless communication, global position data and adaptive location assessment capabilities allow an Emergency Service Vehicle to be dispatched to the patient that carries the system. The system also includes a HTTP Web server that can respond to a remote request sent wirelessly either from a patient monitoring station or a patient'"'"'s family member through a standard Internet browser, anywhere and anytime. The system uses a rechargeable/removable battery in conjunction with a software control to recharge the system and conserve system'"'"'s power consumption.

Claims

1. A wireless communication and global location enabled intelligent health monitoring system comprising of a plurality of wireless medical sensor apparatus for measuring patient vital signs on different parts of patient body, and a main processing unit apparatus containing a system software that uses active, real-time monitoring method to measure and process vital signs and location information for providing alert on location and transmitting emergency request to remote patient monitoring station for immediate assistance.

2. The wireless medical sensor apparatus as recited in claim 1, comprising:

(a) an active sensor, and means for detecting physical variables of patient relevant vital signs,

(b) a transducer, and means for converting physical measurement into alternative digital form,

(c) a digital-to-analog converter, and means for converting digital data from said transducer to analog signal,

(d) a frequency synthesis, and means for synthesizing signal frequency at short-range wireless communication bandwidth,

(e) a plurality of bandpass filter, and means for band pass filtering signals to desired level,

(f) a plurality of linear power amplifier, and means for amplifying signals to desired level,

(g) a signal mixer, and means for mixing signals to desired level,

(h) a packaged antenna, and means for transmitting short-range radio frequency signals,

(i) a thin-film battery, and means for providing power source of said wireless medical sensor apparatus.

3. The main processing unit apparatus as recited in claim 1, comprising:

(a) a main microcontroller, and means for processing digital signals, interfacing with input/output devices, and conducting system related computations,

(b) a global position system module, and means for acquiring and processing data from multiple global position system satellites,

(c) a long-range two-way wireless communication module, and means for receiving and transmitting long-range wireless signals and protocols, and acquiring signal strength and time-of-arrival data from nearby base station cellular towers,

(d) a short-range radio frequency receiver, and means for receiving short-range wireless signals and protocols from said wireless medical sensor apparatus, and for inputting said short-range wireless signal and protocols to said main microcontroller,

(e) a system main memory, and means for using as system memory of said main microcontroller,

(f) a flash memory, and means for storing data from two-way wireless communication processing, global position processing and related application tasks,

(g) a panic button, and means for sending emergency message for immediate assistance at patient request,

(h) an on/off button, and means for turning on and off system at patient request,

(i) an alert beeper, and means for alerting patient when vital signs exceeding pre-defined threshold,

(j) a removable/rechargeable battery, and means for conserving and recharging system battery power.

4. The main microcontroller as recited in (a) of claim 3, comprising:

(a) a system processor, and means for conducting concurrent processing of two-way wireless communication signal, global position system (gps) data acquisition, and related application tasks,

(b) a digital signal processing (dsp) processor, and means for processing digital signals from said wireless medical sensor apparatus,

(c) a system interface processor, and means for receiving/transmitting signals from said panic button, said on/off button, said alert beeper, and reading/writing data from/to said system main memory and said flush memory.

5. The short-range radio frequency receiver as recited in (d) of claim 3, comprising:

(a) a packaged antenna, and means for receiving short-range radio frequency signals from said wireless medical sensor apparatus,

(b) a frequency synthesis, and means for synthesizing signal frequency at short-range wireless communication bandwidth,

(c) a plurality of bandpass filter, and means for band pass filtering signals to desired level,

(d) a plurality of linear power amplifier, and means for amplifying signals to desired level,

(e) a signal mixer, and means for mixing signals at desired level,

(f) an analog-to-digital converter, and means for converting analog signals from said wireless medical sensor apparatus to digital data.

6. The long-range wireless signals and protocols as recited in (c) of claim 3, is selected to use global services for mobile (gsm) protocol.

7. The long-range wireless signals and protocols as recited in (c) of claim 3, is selected to use code division multiple access (cdma) protocol.

8. The long-range wireless signals and protocols as recited in (c) of claim 3, is selected to use general packet radio service (gprs) protocol.

9. The long-range wireless signals and protocols as recited in (c) of claim 3, is selected to use cellular digital packet data (cdpd) protocol.

10. The long-range wireless signals and protocols as recited in (c) of claim 3, is selected to use global satellite communication protocol.

11. The short-range wireless signals and protocols as recited in (d) of claim 3, is selected to use bluetooth protocol.

12. The short-range wireless signals and protocols as recited in (d) of claim 3, is selected to use wireless ethernet 802.11 protocol.

13. The system software as recited in claim 1, comprising:

(a) a real-time operating system, and means for executing system start-up, memory configurations, input and output configurations, data file configurations, and system shutdown of said system processor,

(b) an intelligent controller, and means for administrating and managing said related application tasks of said system processor.

14. The intelligent controller as recited in (b) of claim 13, comprising:

(a) a task control administrator for administrating and managing said related application tasks,

(b) a plurality of task shared memory for storing and manipulating data entries of said related application tasks during system execution.

15. The task control administrator as recited in (a) of claim 14, comprising:

(a) a plurality of control rules, and means for describing control instructions of said related application tasks,

(b) a rule engine, and means for executing said control rules.

16. The intelligent controller as recited in (b) of claim 13 administrate and manage of said related application tasks of:

(a) a global position data acquisition task,

(b) a two-way wireless communication task,

(c) a panic button task,

(d) a hypertext transmission protocol (http) request processing task,

(e) a patient vital sign processing task,

(f) an on/off button task,

(g) an alert beep activation task,

(h) a battery management task,

(i) an adaptive location assessment task,

(j) a wireless medical sensor decoding task.

17. The intelligent controller as recited in (b) of claim 13, wherein said administrating and managing of said related application tasks, comprising the steps of:

(a) reading intelligent controller configuration and control rule data from said flush memory,

(b) starting rule engine,

(c) creating said task shared memory,

(d) checking running status of all tasks,

(e) reading task configuration data of a task if said task needs to be started,

(f) creating a task thread for said task,

(g) publishing data sharing option to said task shared memory of said task,

(h) setting said task running,

(i) updating data entry at said task shared memory of said task,

(j) writing event notification to said task shared memory of said task,

(k) repeating steps (d) through (j) while there are more tasks to be started,

(l) stopping said task at the request of said task control administrator,

(m) terminating all related application tasks, and clearing said task shared memory at the shutdown request of said task control administrator.

18. The global position data acquisition task as recited in (a) of claim 16, comprising the steps of:

(a) checking system status of said global processing task,

(b) initializing system clock time if global position system is up,

(c) initializing new request for position and clock time,

(d) getting global position system channel,

(e) getting satellite code signal and clock time,

(f) calculating satellite distance,

(g) posting satellite distance and time data to said task shared memory,

(h) calculating the position of said global position system with satellite distance and time data if the data from all channels have been acquired,

(i) calculating receiver'"'"'s velocity and heading,

(j) writing said global position system and receiver data to said task shared memory,

(k) downloading ephemeredes data from satellite if updating satellite message data is needed,

(l) repeating steps (c) through (k) while said global position processing task is running,

(m) stopping said global position processing task at the request of intelligent controller.

19. The two-way wireless communication task as recited in (b) of claim 16, comprising the steps of:

(a) checking system status of said two-way wireless communication task,

(b) receiving incoming signal from multiple access channel,

(c) demodulating said income message using configurable demodulation routine,

(d) processing line decoding,

(e) processing channel decoding,

(f) processing packet un-framing,

(g) writing byte data to said task shared memory,

(h) repeating steps (b) through (g) while there is an incoming wireless signals,

(i) reading byte data from said task shared memory,

(j) processing packet framing of said byte data,

(k) processing channel coding,

(l) processing line coding,

(m) modulating outgoing signals using configurable modulation routine,

(n) transmitting said outgoing signals to said multiple access channel,

(o) repeating steps (i) through (n) while there is an outgoing wireless signals,

(p) stopping said two-way wireless communication task at the request of said intelligent controller.

20. The panic button task as recited in (c) of claim 16, comprising the steps of:

(a) checking running status of said panic button task,

(b) checking panic button message at said task shared memory,

(c) reading said global position system data from said task shared memory,

(d) preparing panic message with said global position system data and said patient vital sign data,

(e) writing said panic message to said task shared memory,

(f) repeating steps (b) through (e) while there are said panic button messages at said task shared memory, and said panic button task is running,

(g) stopping said panic button task at the request of said task control administrator.

21. The http request processing task as recited in (d) of claim 16, comprising the steps of:

(a) checking running status of said http request processing task,

(b) starting http web server,

(c) checking http request message at said task shared memory,

(d) reading data containing in http request from said task shared memory,

(e) reading data from said task shared memory if additional data is needed,

(f) processing said http request data,

(g) writing returned http request data to said task shared memory if returning http request is needed,

(h) repeating steps (c) through (g) while there are said http request messages at said task shared memory, and said http request task is running,

(i) stopping said http web Server and said http the request task at request of said task control administrator.

22. The patient vital sign processing task as recited in (e) of claim 16, comprising the steps of:

(a) checking running status of said patient vital sign processing task,

(b) reading measurement parameters,

(c) resetting patient vital sign data entry,

(d) checking measuring signal from said task shared memory,

(e) filtering said measurement signal,

(f) detecting said measurement signal,

(g) matching the detected signal with pre-defined pattern,

(h) writing matched pattern to said task shared memory,

(i) examining said matched pattern against an alert threshold,

(j) writing alert message to said task shared memory,

(k) re-reading said measurement parameters and re-setting said patient vital sign data entry if reconfiguration of said measurement parameters are needed,

(l) repeating steps (b) through (k) while there are said measuring message, and said patient vital sign processing task is running,

(m) stopping said patient vital sign processing task at request of said task control administrator.

23. The on/off button task as recited in (f) of claim 16, comprising the steps of:

(a) checking running status of said on/off button task,

(b) checking on/off button message at said task shared memory,

(c) reading on/off status at said task shared memory,

(d) checking status value of said on/off button task,

(e) writing sleeping mode message to said task shared memory if status value is on,

(f) writing walking up message to said task shared memory if status value is off,

(g) repeating steps (b) through (f) while there are said on/off button messages at said task shared memory, and said on/off button task is running,

(h) stopping said on/off button task at the request of said task control administrator.

24. The alert beeper activation task as recited in (g) of claim 16, comprising the steps of:

(a) checking running status of said alert beeper activation task,

(b) calculating said patient vital sign data,

(c) checking said patient vital sign data against alert threshold,

(d) sending activation signal to alert beeper if an alert is triggered,

(e) reading said global position system data and said patient vital sign data from said task shared memory,

(f) preparing alert message with said global position system data and said patient vital sign data,

(g) writing said alert message to said task shared memory,

(h) delaying one time cycle,

(i) repeating steps (b) through (h) while said alert beeper activation task is running,

(j) stopping said alert beeper activation task at the request of said task control administrator.

25. The battery management task as recited in (h) of claim 16, comprising the steps of:

(a) checking running status of said battery management task,

(b) checking system battery power level,

(c) reading battery conservation parameters from said task shared memory if battery power level is below minimum level,

(d) writing sleeping mode message to said task shared memory,

(e) writing low battery message to said task shared memory,

(f) checking any tasks in sleeping mode if battery power level is above minimum level,

(g) writing walking up message to said task shared memory,

(h) delaying one time cycle,

(i) repeating steps (b) through (h) while said battery management task is running,

(j) stopping said battery management task at the request of said task control administrator.

26. The adaptive location assessment task as recited in (i) of claim 16, comprising the steps of:

(a) checking running status of said adaptive location assessment task,

(b) reading gps data from said task shared memory,

(c) reading base station signal strength data from said task shared memory,

(d) reading base station time-of-arrival data from task shared memory,

(e) filtering and assessing system current location,

(f) writing said system current location data to said task shared memory,

(g) delaying one time cycle,

(h) repeating steps (b) through (g) while said adaptive location assessment task is running,

(i) stopping said adaptive location assessment task at the request of said task control administrator.

27. The wireless medical sensor decoding task as recited in (j) of claim 16, comprising the steps of:

(a) checking running status of said wireless medical sensor decoding task,

(b) reading decoding scheme data from medical sensor configuration file,

(c) reading input data of said dsp processor from said task sharing memory,

(d) converting physical measurements of said input data to vital sign parameters,

(e) writing said vital sign parameters onto said task shared memory,

(f) repeating steps (c) through (e) while said wireless medical sensor decoding task is running,

(g) stopping said wireless medical sensor decoding task at the request of said task control administrator.