Self-Similar Medical Communications System
First Claim
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1. A medical communications system, comprising:
- a self-similar nodal network having a plurality of time-sequenced databases arranged in a hierarchical structure and communicatively interconnected with one another, said time-sequenced databases having information that is indexed by unique identifier and time, wherein said self-similar nodal network includes;
a plurality of patient sensors, wherein each of said plurality of patient sensors is configured for detecting an action by a corresponding object associated with that one of said patient sensors and for generating, in response to the detecting, a corresponding signal, wherein the corresponding signal contains a record that includes
1) a time of an occurrence of the action and
2) a unique identifier for the corresponding one of said plurality of patient sensors; and
a plurality of wearable personal data recorders, wherein each of said plurality of wearable personal data recorders includes a corresponding time-sequenced database of said plurality of time-sequenced databases and is configured to store the record in time sequence within said first time-sequenced database.
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Abstract
A health care monitoring system and network for monitoring a patient'"'"'s use of medications, physiological conditions, and/or the environment around the patient. The system takes advantage of a hierarchical nodal network to allow for the transfer of information from sensors to authorized users of the network while providing personal control of sensitive information and providing a distributed database structure for increased data security. In one embodiment, sensors transmit information to wearable personal data recorders that use a combination of random access and overwriting to store information in a time-sequenced organization.
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Citations
40 Claims
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1. A medical communications system, comprising:
a self-similar nodal network having a plurality of time-sequenced databases arranged in a hierarchical structure and communicatively interconnected with one another, said time-sequenced databases having information that is indexed by unique identifier and time, wherein said self-similar nodal network includes; a plurality of patient sensors, wherein each of said plurality of patient sensors is configured for detecting an action by a corresponding object associated with that one of said patient sensors and for generating, in response to the detecting, a corresponding signal, wherein the corresponding signal contains a record that includes
1) a time of an occurrence of the action and
2) a unique identifier for the corresponding one of said plurality of patient sensors; anda plurality of wearable personal data recorders, wherein each of said plurality of wearable personal data recorders includes a corresponding time-sequenced database of said plurality of time-sequenced databases and is configured to store the record in time sequence within said first time-sequenced database. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of monitoring an action of a user, the method comprising:
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receiving a first signal that contains a first record including a time of a first occurrence initiated by a user and a unique identifier; storing the first record in time sequence in a time-sequenced database of a wearable personal data recorder worn by the user, wherein the time of the occurrence and the unique identifier are indexed by the time of the occurrence and the unique identifier; receiving a second signal that contains a second record including a time of a second occurrence initiated by a user and a unique identifier; and organizing the first record and the second record according to a common time series. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of retrieving a patient record collected from a wearable personal data recorder via a patient sensor, comprising:
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communicatively connecting to a self-similar nodal network that includes a plurality of time-sequence database nodes, wherein the patient record is stored in the self-similar nodal network; issuing a retrieve command for the patient record to the self-similar nodal data network so as to cause the self-similar nodal network to retrieve the patient record from among the plurality of time-sequence database nodes; and retrieving the patient record via a nodal chain that includes at least three of the plurality of time-sequence database nodes. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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20. A machine-readable storage medium containing machine-executable software instructions for performing a method of retrieving a patient record collected from a wearable personal record recorder via a patient sensor, said machine-executable software instructions comprising:
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a first set of machine-executable instructions for connecting to a self-similar data nodal network that includes a plurality of time-sequence database nodes, wherein the patient record is stored in said self-similar nodal network; a second set of machine-executable instructions for issuing a retrieve command for the patient record to the self-similar nodal network so as to cause the self-similar nodal network to retrieve the patient record from among the plurality of time-sequence database nodes; and a third set of machine-executable instructions for retrieving the patient record via a nodal chain that includes at least three of the plurality of time-sequence database nodes. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23)
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24. A wearable personal data recorder for relaying patient sensor information, said wearable personal data recorder comprising:
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a processor; a memory in communication with said processor, said memory containing a time-sequence database and storing a set of instructions executable by said processor for making the wearable personal data recorder a node in a hierarchical self-similar nodal network; and a transceiver in communication with said processor, said transceiver responsive to said set of instructions and said processor; wherein said set of machine-readable instructions configures the wearable personal data recorder to; receive a signal from the adherence sensor, wherein the signal includes a record; synchronize the record with said time-sequence database; and store the record in said memory. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26)
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27. A method of distributing wearable personal data recorders for a hierarchical self-similar nodal network comprising:
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distributing to a wireless device a set of instructions, wherein the set of instructions configure the wireless device to; receive a record into a time-sequence database; synchronize the record with the time-sequence database according to common time sequence; receive a request for the record from a record requestor; authorize the release of the record to the record requestor; transmit the record from the wireless device to the record requestor; and linking the wireless device to a patient sensor that is operatively coupled to a medical device and generates a signal in response to a user performing actions on the medical device, wherein the signal contains the record. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A method, comprising:
implementing a medical regime adherence monitoring system for monitoring adherence of one or more people to corresponding respective medical regimes requiring that actions be taken by the one or more people, said implementing the medical regime adherence monitoring system including; establishing a hierarchical self-similar nodal network of time-sequence databases; and providing each person of the one or more people with a wearable personal data recorder configured; as a self-similar node on the hierarchical self-similar nodal network so as to contain a corresponding time-sequence database of the time-sequence databases; to receive user-action signals from a patient sensor that is operatively coupled to a medical device and generates the user-action signals in response to the that person performing actions on the medical device; to store in the corresponding time-sequence database, in response to the receipt of the user-action signals, occurrence data corresponding to the actions; to authorize requests for the occurrence data made over the hierarchical self-similar nodal network; and to transmit, in response to an authorized request, the occurrence data to another node of the hierarchical self-similar nodal network. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
Specification