HEALTH CARE DEVICE

• US 20110054273A1
• Filed: 08/31/2009
• Published: 03/03/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Empire Technology Development LLC (Allied Inventors Management, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Kri Incorporation
• Inventors: OMODA, Ryo
• Granted Patent: US 9,050,061 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/309
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 10/0064 for taking sweat or sebum samples measuring sweat production A61B5/4266
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/117 Identification of persons methods or arrangements for recognising patterns, e.g. fingerprints, G06F18/00, G06V40/00; identification of persons by analysing their voice or speech G10L17/00
• 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 5/4266 sweat secretion
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4272 sebum secretion
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4277 saliva secretion
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6891 Furniture
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/497 of gaseous biological material, e.g. breath

Abstract

Embodiments described herein relate to health monitoring apparatuses, systems and methods that allow a user to passively monitor her/his health. Embodiments include acquiring chemical substances from a subject'"'"'s skin (e.g., in sweat and/or sweat vapor or oil excretions) using a sample capture system located on a mounting portion in a fixed location. Embodiments also include analyzing chemical substance(s) acquiring from the subject'"'"'s skin to generate raw data. Embodiments further include analyzing the raw data to generate health status data for a particular subject.

Claims

1. An apparatus for monitoring health comprising:

a sample capture system configured to collect at least some chemicals excreted from a skin surface of a subject, wherein the sample capture system is configured for installation on a fixed location;

a sensor in operative communication with the sample capture system, the sensor configured to detect one or more chemical substances excreted from the skin surface of the subject; and

a processor in operative communication with the sensor, the processor configured to provide an output in response to the detection of the one or more chemical substances.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sample capture system comprises one or more pores formed on a surface of the sample capture system and one or more channels underneath the surface to carry the acquired one or more chemical substances to the sensor.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the one or more pores have a diameter of about 100 micron to about 10 mm.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the one or more pores are formed on the surface having a density of about 1 to about 10,000 per cm².

5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the sample capture system comprises one or more channels communicating with the one or more pores to carry the acquired one or more chemical substances to the sensor.

6. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the sample capture system comprises a suction part to draw the one or more chemical substances through the one or more pores and the one or more channels to the sensor.

7. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the sample capture system comprises a porous film formed on the surface configured to capture the one or more chemical substances in sweat and/or sweat vapor from the subject'"'"'s body.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the porous film is formed form one or more of fluoroplastic, polycarbonate, cellulose acetate, metal oxide, metal nitride, metal oxynitride, fluorinated resin coating or photocatalytic materials, or a combination thereof.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a subject verification part configured to obtain identification information for each subject.

10. A method for monitoring health of a subject comprising:

detecting a sampling event when a particular subject comes in contact with a sample capture system located on a mounting portion installed on a door;

acquiring one or more chemical substances in sweat and/or sweat vapor through the sample capture system; and

evaluating the one or more chemical substances in the sweat and/or sweat vapor to generate raw data for one or more of the chemical substances.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising sending the raw data to a remote computer to evaluate a health status of the particular subject.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising identifying the identity of the particular subject that came in contact with the sample capture system.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein acquiring one or more chemical substances comprises suctioning the one or more chemical substances through pores and/or channels in the sample capture system toward a sensor.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising ending the sampling event by drawing air from outside of the sample capture system to clear out pores and/or channels in the sample capture system.

15. A method for periodically monitoring a person'"'"'s health comprising:

receiving raw data for a discrete sampling event for one or more chemical substances acquired in sweat and/or sweat vapor of a particular subject, the raw data being generated by a sensor located on a mounting portion installed on a door;

associating the raw data with identification data for the particular subject; and

evaluating the raw data against standards data for the one or more chemical substances to generate health status data for the particular subject.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the health status data is expressed as one of:

a differential between the raw data and the standards data;

a differential between the raw data and the biological data;

a grade;

or

degree.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising

identifying biological data associated with the particular subject;

and

evaluating the raw data against the biological data for the particular subject to generate the health status data for the particular subject.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising storing one or more of:

raw data generated by the sensor;

standards data for each chemical substance;

identification data for each subject;

biological data for each subject;

health status data generated by evaluating the raw data against the standards data and/or biological data;

or

contact information.

19. The method of claim 15, further comprising displaying one or more of:

identification data for each subject;

biological data for each subject;

raw data generated by the sensor;

or

health status data generated by evaluating the raw data against the standards data and/or the biological data for a particular subject.

20. The method of claim 15, further comprising sending an alert to the particular subject containing the health status data.