Systems and methods for providing interoperability among healthcare devices

• US 20080004904A1
• Filed: 08/30/2006
• Published: 01/03/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: BT Wearables LLC (Empire IP LLC)
• Original Assignee: Bao Q. Tran
• Inventors: Tran, Bao Q.
• Granted Patent: US 9,820,658 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/2
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2503/08 Elderly
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0214 of power generation or supply
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0219 Inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt switches
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0006 ECG or EEG signals
• 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: A61B 5/02055 Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular condition and temperature
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/021 Measuring pressure in heart or blood vessels A61B5/0205 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02416 using photoplethysmograph signals, e.g. generated by infrared radiation A61B5/14552 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02438 with portable devices, e.g. worn by the patient
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0537 Measuring body composition by impedance, e.g. tissue hydration or fat content
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0816 Measuring devices for examining respiratory frequency measuring frequency of electric signals G01R23/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/11 Measuring movement of the entire body or parts thereof, e.g. head or hand tremor, mobility of a limb for measuring pulse A61B5/02 ;A61B5/1038 takes precedence; motion detection to correct for motion artifacts in physiological signals A61B5/721
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1112 Global tracking of patients, e.g. by using GPS
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1117 Fall detection
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1135 by monitoring thoracic expansion
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/145 Measuring characteristics of blood in vivo, e.g. gas concentration, pH value; Measuring characteristics of body fluids or tissues, e.g. interstitial fluid, cerebral tissuemeasuring of blood pressure or blood flow A61B5/02; non-radiation detecting or locating of foreign bodies in blood A61B5/06
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14532 for measuring glucose, e.g. by tissue impedance measurement
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14551 for measuring blood gases
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/165 Evaluating the state of mind, e.g. depression, anxiety
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/25 : Bioelectric electrodes therefor
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/296 : for electromyography [EMG]
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/332 : Portable devices specially adapted therefor
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/369 : Electroencephalography [EEG] devices for psychotechnics A61B5/16
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/398 : Electrooculography [EOG], e.g. detecting nystagmus; Electroretinography [ERG]
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4023 : Evaluating sense of balance
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/411 : Detecting or monitoring allergy or intolerance reactions to an allergenic agent or substance
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4818 : Sleep apnoea
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4833 : Assessment of subject's compliance to treatment
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4839 : combined with drug delivery
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4866 : Evaluating metabolism A61B5/083 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4875 : Hydration status, fluid retention of the body
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6803 : Head-worn items, e.g. helmets, masks, headphones or goggles
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6804 : Garments; Clothes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/681 : Wristwatch-type devices
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/721 : using a separate sensor to detect motion or using motion information derived from signals other than the physiological signal to be measured
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7214 : using signal cancellation, e.g. based on input of two identical physiological sensors spaced apart, or based on two signals derived from the same sensor, for different optical wavelengths
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7225 : Details of analog processing, e.g. isolation amplifier, gain or sensitivity adjustment, filtering, baseline or drift compensation A61B5/30, A61B5/316 take precedence; transformers for specific applications H01F38/00; amplifiers H03F
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7232 : involving compression of the physiological signal, e.g. to extend the signal recording period
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7257 : using Fourier transforms
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/726 : using Wavelet transforms
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7267 : involving training the classification device
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7275 : Determining trends in physiological measurement data; Predicting development of a medical condition based on physiological measurements, e.g. determining a risk factor
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 7/00 : Instruments for auscultation
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 7/003 : Detecting lung or respiration noise
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/06 : Measuring blood flow measuring volume flow in general G01F, e.g. G01F1/66, G01F1/72; measuring speed of fluids in general G01P5/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/0808 : for diagnosis of the brain
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/4472 : Wireless probes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/56 : Details of data transmission or power supply
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/565 : involving data transmission via a network
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/22 : Social work or social welfare, e.g. community support activities or counselling services
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 : for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 : for remote operation

Abstract

A medical system includes a network; one or more medical data collection appliances coupled to the network, each appliance transmitting data conforming to an interoperable format; and a server coupled to the network to store data for each individual in accordance with the interoperable format.

Claims

1. An interoperable health-care system, comprising:

a network;

a first medical appliance to capture a first vital information and coupled to the network, the first medical appliance transmitting the first vital information conforming to an interoperable format; and

a second medical appliance to capture a second vital information and coupled to the network, the second medical appliance converting the first vital information in accordance with the interoperable format and processing the first and second vital information, the second medical appliance providing an output conforming to the interoperable format.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the appliances communicate data conforming to the interoperable format over one of:

cellular protocol, ZigBee protocol, Bluetooth protocol, WiFi protocol, WiMAX protocol, USB protocol, ultrawideband protocol.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the appliances communicate over two or more protocols.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the first medical appliance transmits the first vital information over a first protocol to a computer, wherein the computer transmits the first vital information to the second medical appliance over a second protocol.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the appliance comprises one of:

a differential amplifier, an accelerometer, an EMG detector, EEG detector, an EKG detector, an ECG detector, an electromagnetic detector, an ultrasonic detector, an optical detector, a Hidden Markov Model (HMM) recognizer, a dynamic time warp (DTW) recognizer, a neural network, a fuzzy logic engine, a Bayesian network.

6. The system of claim 1, comprising an in-door positioning system coupled to one or more mesh network appliances to provide location information.

7. The system of claim 1, comprising a call center coupled to the appliance to provide a human response.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the server is coupled to a a wireless mesh network where data hops through neighboring nodes of the mesh network to reach a final destination.

9. The system of claim 1, comprising a wireless router coupled to a mesh network and wherein the wireless router comprises one of:

802.11 router, 802.16 router, WiFi router, WiMAX router, Bluetooth router, X10 router.

10. The system of claim 1, comprising a mesh network appliance coupled to a power line to communicate X10 data over a mesh network.

11. The system of claim 1, comprising a bioimpedance analyzer to determine one of:

total body water, compartmentalization of body fluids, cardiac monitoring, blood flow, skinfold thickness, dehydration, blood loss, wound monitoring, ulcer detection, deep vein thrombosis, hypovolemia, hemorrhage, blood loss, heart attack, stroke attack.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the appliance transmits and receives voice from the person over the mesh network to one of:

a doctor, a nurse, a medical assistant, a caregiver, an emergency response unit, a family member.

13. The system of claim 1, comprising code to store and analyze patient information including medicine taking habits, eating and drinking habits, sleeping habits, or excise habits.

14. The system of claim 1, comprising a housing having one or more bioelectric contacts coupleable to the patient, the housing selected from one of:

a patch, a wristwatch, a band, a wristband, a chest band, a leg band, a sock, a glove, a foot pad, a head-band, an ear-clip, an ear phone, a shower-cap, an armband, an ear-ring, eye-glasses, sun-glasses, a belt, a sock, a shirt, a garment, a jewelry, a bed spread, a pillow cover, a pillow, a mattress, a blanket, each having one or more sensors in communication with the wireless mesh network.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the interoperable format comprises one of:

XML (extensible Markup Language), SGML (Structured Generalized Markup Language).

16. A method to provide interoperability among health-care systems, comprising:

collecting medical data using a first medical data collection appliance coupled to a network, the first appliance transmitting data conforming to an interoperable format, wherein the medical data is transmitted using a first wireless protocol;

translating the medical data to a format compatible with a second appliance and sending the translated medical data to the second appliance using one of the first protocol and a second wireless protocol; and

storing data for each individual in accordance with the interoperable format.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the appliances communicate data conforming to the interoperable format over one of:

cellular protocol, ZigBee protocol, Bluetooth protocol, WiFi protocol, WiMAX protocol, USB protocol, ultrawideband protocol.

18. The method of claim 16, comprising capturing voice and communicating the captured voice over one of:

a POTS network, a PSTN network, VOIP over the Internet.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the appliance comprises one of:

a differential amplifier, an accelerometer, a scale, a heart beat sensor, an EMG detector, EEG detector, an EKG detector, an ECG detector, an electromagnetic detector, an ultrasonic detector, an optical detector, a Hidden Markov Model (HMM) recognizer, a dynamic time warp (DTW) recognizer, a neural network, a fuzzy logic engine, a Bayesian network.

20. The method of claim 16, comprising monitoring daily activity of a patient.