SLEEP MANAGEMENT METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR IMPROVING SLEEP BEHAVIOUR OF A HUMAN OR ANIMAL IN THE CARE OF A CARER

• US 20110015467A1
• Filed: 07/15/2010
• Published: 01/20/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/17/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Ford, Thomas Alexander, DOTHIE, Pamela Ann
• Granted Patent: US 8,398,538 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/26
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2503/40 Animals
• 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 5/4815 Sleep quality
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6887 mounted on external non-worn devices, e.g. non-medical devices
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6892 Mats
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 7/00 Instruments for auscultation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 15/00 ICT specially adapted for medical reports, e.g. generation or transmission thereof
• 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

Abstract

A sleep management method and system for use by a carer to improve the sleep behaviour of a child in their care by monitoring one or more objective parameters relevant to sleep quality and providing one or more recommendations for behavioural programs and/or actions to the carer via a portable user interaction device such as a mobile phone. Such a system can also be adapted for use in looking after adults and animals such as domestic pets.

Claims

1. A method for use by a carer to improve the sleep behaviour of a human or animal in their care, the method comprising:

(i) monitoring, using at least one sensor, one or more objective parameters relevant to sleep-related behaviour of said human or animal, said parameters being selected from physiological parameters and environmental parameters and including at least movement of the human or animal and/or electrical signals indicative of brain activity of the human or animal after having been put to bed;

(ii) communicating data from said at least one sensor to a processing means;

(iii) at said processing means, using said data in selecting from a first memory one or more recommendations for behavioural programs to improve the sleep behaviour of the human or animal and/or actions for implementation by the carer to improve the sleep behaviour of the human or animal; and

(iv) sending said one or more recommendations from said processing means to a portable user interaction device for presenting the recommendation(s) to the carer via a display, said portable user interaction device also enabling the carer to input information which is fed back to said processing means;

wherein said processing means updates the one or more recommendations sent to said portable user interaction device on the basis of changes in detected sleep behaviour of said human or animal and/or on the basis of information input to said portable user interaction device.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one sensor does not include any sensor attached to said human or animal.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 applied to improve the sleep behaviour of a baby, infant or child.

4. A method as claimed in claim 1 applied to an adult in the care of the carer due to old age or mental or physical disability.

5. A method as claimed in claim 1 applied to a pet animal in the care of the carer.

6. A method as claimed in claim 1 and comprising monitoring, using a plurality of sensors, both physiological and environmental parameters non-obtrusively such that they do not affect the sleep of said human or animal.

7. A method as claimed in claim 6 wherein the physiological and environmental parameters monitored include movement and one or more of temperature, ambient noise, light and humidity.

8. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein a movement sensor is employed which comprises a piezoelectric sheet, cable or film disposed below said human or animal in bed and connected to the sensor unit via a cable or wireless connection.

9. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein a sensor reading or multiple of sensor readings from the or each sensor is stored with a time code in a second memory, and wherein sensor data stored in said second memory are sent periodically, or on request, to said processing means.

10. A method as claimed in claim 1 and comprising sampling data from the or each sensor at a frequency of between 0.1 Hz and 100 Hz before storage to the second memory.

11. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said portable user interaction device is a mobile phone.

12. A method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising said portable user interaction device prompting the carer to carry out actions required to implement said behavioural programs recommended by the processing means.

13. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said processing means is separate from said portable user interaction device.

14. A method as claimed in claim 13 wherein said processing means takes the form of a software service connected to a wide-area network.

15. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said processing means monitors compliance with any behavioural program or action presented to and chosen by the carer and provides (i) one or more of warnings, guidance, advice and message(s) of encouragement to the carer to aid compliance with any chosen program or action and/or (ii) one or more updated recommendations for behavioural programs and/or actions.

16. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said processing means generates an alert to the carer via said portable user interaction device after a pre-defined number of nights of lack of improvement in sleep behaviour.

17. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said processing means generates an alert to the carer via said portable user interaction device after a pre-defined number of nights of a worsening in sleep behaviour.

18. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the first memory stores instructions for both behavioural programs and actions for altering one or more environmental parameters.

19. A method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising the carer setting, via the portable user interaction device, a customized program.

20. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the carer inputs, to said portable user interaction device, information on choice and implementation of a recommended behavioural program or action, and wherein the input information is sent to said processing means for correlation with data received from one or more of the at least one sensor.

21. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein, prior to recommendation of any behavioural program or action, the processing means receives data from the at least one sensor for a period, whereby a baseline for data received from the or each sensor and/or a baseline sleep metric is established.

24. A computer-readable medium containing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method as defined in claim 1.

22. A sleep management system for use by a carer to improve the sleep behaviour of a human or animal in their care, comprising:

(i) at least one sensor for monitoring one or more objective parameters relevant to sleep-related behaviour of said human or animal;

said parameters being selected from physiological parameters and environmental parameters and including at least movement of the human or animal and/or electrical signals indicative of brain activity of the human or animal after having been put to bed;

(ii) a sensor unit which collects data from said at least one sensor and communicates data to a processing means;

(iii) said processing means which uses data from said sensor unit in selecting from a first memory one or more recommendations for behavioural programs to improve the sleep behaviour of the human or animal and/or actions for implementation by the carer to improve the sleep behaviour of the human or animal; and

(iv) a portable user interaction device which receives said one or more recommendations from said processing means and presents the one or more recommendations to the carer via a display, said portable user interaction device also enabling the carer to input information which is fed back to said processing means;

said processing means updating the recommendation(s) sent to said portable user interaction device on the basis of changes in detected sleep behaviour of said human or animal and/or on the basis of information input by said carer to said portable user interaction device.

23. A method of improving the sleep behaviour of a human or animal in the care of a carer which comprises use by the carer of a system as claimed in claim 22.