Systems, Computer Medium and Computer-Implemented Methods for Monitoring Health of Employees Using Mobile Devices

• US 20130013331A1
• Filed: 07/02/2012
• Published: 01/10/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/05/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Government of Saudi Arabia)
• Original Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Government of Saudi Arabia)
• Inventors: Horseman, Samantha J.
• Granted Patent: US 10,108,783 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/2
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0002 Remote monitoring of patients using telemetry, e.g. transmission of vital signals via a communication network A61B5/07 takes precedence; transmission systems for measured values G08C; transmission H04B; transmission of digital information H04L; wireless communication networks H04W
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0022 Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1038 Measuring plantar pressure during gait
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation

Abstract

Provided are embodiments of systems, computer medium and computer-implemented methods for monitoring the health of an employee. The method including collecting health data from a set of one or more health sensors provided, on or near the employee while the employee is engaged in their work duties. The one or more health sensors configured to output health data corresponding to characteristics sensed by the sensor, the one or more health sensors comprising at least one or more biometric and biomechanic sensors configured to sense biometric and biomechanic characteristics of the employee with at least one of the one or more health sensors integrated within a mobile communications device. The health data collected being used to determine a health profile for the employee. The method including displaying, via the mobile communications device, a health report that includes the health profile for the employee.

Claims

1. A system to monitor an employee'"'"'s health while in a work environment, the system comprising:

a communications network;

a health database connected to the communications network, the database storing health information for one or more employees;

a set of one or more health sensors configured to collect health data from the employee, the set of one or more health sensors comprising at least one of;

a set of one or more biometric sensors configured to sense biometric characteristics of the employee and output biometric data corresponding to the sensed biometric characteristics of the employee, the set of one or more biometric sensors comprising at least one of a temperature sensor configured to output temperature data indicative of a body temperature of the employee, a blood condition sensor configured to output blood condition data indicative of a blood oxygenation level of the employee, a blood pressure sensor configured to output blood pressure data indicative of a blood pressure of the employee, a body fat sensor configured to output body fat data indicative of a body fat of the employee, a respiration sensor configured to output respiration data indicative of a respiration rate of the employee, a neural sensor configured to output neural data indicative of brain activity of the employee, a force sensor configured to output force data indicative of a body weight of the employee, a position sensor configured to output position data indicative of a body position of the employee, and a camera sensor configured to output image data indicative of a biometric characteristic of the employee; and

a set of one or more biomechanic sensors configured to sense biomechanic characteristics of the employee and output biomechanic data corresponding to the sensed biomechanic characteristics of the employee, the set of one or more biomechanic sensors comprising at least one of a neural sensor configured to output neural data indicative of brain activity of the employee, a camera sensor configured to output image data indicative of a biomechanic characteristics of the employee, a force sensor configured to output force data indicative of a force exerted by the employee, and a position sensor configured to output position data indicative of a body position of the employee;

a mobile communications device connected to the communications network, the mobile communications device configured to collect the health data from the set of one or more health sensors and output health data corresponding to the health data collected from the set of one or more health sensors, the mobile communications device comprising at least one of the one or more health sensors integrated therein to sense at least one biometric or biomechanic characteristic for the employee; and

a health server connected to the communications network, the health server configured to;

receive, via the communications network, health data output by the mobile communications device;

determine, based at least in part on the received health data, a health profile for the employee, the health profile comprising at least one of health characteristics, health conditions, health risks and health plans for the employee determined based at least in part on the received health data;

update the health information stored in the health database to reflect the health profile for the employee; and

serve, to the mobile communications device for display to the user via a graphical display of the mobile communications device, health report content comprising at least one of the health characteristics, the health conditions, the health risks and the health plans of the health profile for the employee.

2. A system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one of the set of one or more health sensors integrated within the mobile communication device comprises a sensor pad comprising one or more conductive contacts configured to sense at least one biometric or biomechanic characteristic of the employee via physical contact between skin of the employee and the one or more conductive contacts.

3. A system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one of the set of one or more health sensors integrated within the mobile communication device comprises a body fat sensor comprising a sensor pad, wherein the sensor pad comprises two conductive contacts physically integrated within a body of the mobile communication device and configured to be grasped by the employee'"'"'s right and left hands during use, wherein the mobile communications device is configured to take a resistance measurement across the two conductive contacts while the two conductive contacts are grasped by the employee'"'"'s right and left hands such that the resistance measurement is indicative of a body fat of the employee across the employee'"'"'s right and left hands, and wherein the health data collected by the mobile communications device comprises body fat data indicative of the resistance measurement.

4. A system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one of the set of one or more health sensors integrated within the mobile communication device comprises a body temperature sensor comprising a sensor pad, wherein the sensor pad comprises a conductive contact configured to contact the employee'"'"'s hand during use, wherein the mobile communications device is configured to take a temperature measurement from the conductive contact while the conductive contact is grasped by the employee'"'"'s hand such that the temperature measurement is indicative of a body temperature of the employee, and wherein the health data collected by the mobile communications device comprises temperature data indicative of the temperature measurement.

5. A system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one of the set of one or more health sensors integrated within the mobile communication device comprises a sensor screen configured to sense at least one biometric or biomechanic characteristic of the employee via physical contact between skin of the employee and the sensor screen.

6. A system according to claim 5, wherein the sever is configured to verify the employee'"'"'s identity, wherein the sensor screen comprises a touch screen configured collect at least one of a finger print and a hand print of the employee while the screen is contacted by the user'"'"'s finger or hand, and wherein the employee'"'"'s identify is verified based at least in part on the at least one of a finger print and hand print collected via the touch screen of the mobile communication device.

7. A system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one of the set of one or more health sensors integrated within the mobile communication device comprises a temperature sensor comprising a thermal imaging camera configured to acquire thermal image data indicative of the body temperature of the employee, and wherein the health data collected by the mobile communications device comprises temperature data corresponding to the thermal image data indicative of the body temperature of the employee.

8. A system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one of the set of one or more health sensors integrated within the mobile communication device comprises a temperature sensor comprising an infrared (IR) sensor configured to acquire IR data indicative of the body temperature of the employee, and wherein the health data collected by the mobile communications device comprises temperature data corresponding to the IR data indicative of the body temperature of the employee.

9. A system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one of the set of one or more health sensors integrated within the mobile communication device comprises a position sensor comprising a camera configured to acquire image data indicative of the body position of the employee, and wherein the health data collected by the mobile communications device comprises position data corresponding to the image data indicative of the body position of the employee.

10. A system according to claim 1, wherein one or more of the health sensors comprises at least one or more remote sensors in communication with the mobile communication device, the at least one or more remote sensors comprising of at least one of a temperature sensor configured to output temperature data indicative of a body temperature of the employee, a blood condition sensor configured to output blood condition data indicative of a blood oxygenation level of the employee, a blood pressure sensor configured to output blood pressure data indicative of a blood pressure of the employee, a body fat sensor configured to output body fat data indicative of a body fat of the employee, a respiration sensor configured to output respiration data indicative of a respiration rate of the employee, a neural sensor configured to output neural data indicative of brain activity of the employee, a force sensor configured to output force data indicative of a body weight of the employee or force exerted by the employee, a position sensor configured to output position data indicative of a body position of the employee, and a camera sensor configured to output image data indicative of at least one of a biometric or biomechanic characteristic of the employee,

wherein the at least one or more remote sensors are configured to transmit, to the mobile communications device, the respective temperature data, blood pressure data, body fat data, respiration data, neural data, force data, position data, and image data.

11. A system according to claim 10, wherein the at least one or more remote sensors are configured to transmit, to the mobile communications device, the respective temperature data, blood pressure data, body fat data, respiration data, neural data, force data, position data, and image data output via a wireless connection between the at least one or more remote sensors and the mobile communications device.

12. A system according to claim 1, wherein the health profile comprises at least one of a body temperature, a body weight, a body fat, a heart rate, a blood pressure, a blood oxygenation level, a respiration rate, brain activity, a body position, eye movement, and physical exertion for the employee determined based at least in part on the received health data.

13. A system according to claim 1, wherein the health profile comprises at least one of a risk of obesity, a risk of injury, a risk of diabetes, a risk of infection, a risk of inflammation, a risk of circulation problems, a risk of cardio vascular disease, a risk of cardio vascular accidents, a risk of illness, a risk of asthma, a risk of allergies, a risk of bronchitis, a risk of musculoskeletal syndrome, a risk of carpal tunnel syndrome, a risk of epicondylitis, a risk of rotator cuff injury, a risk of eye disease, and a risk of physical fatigue determined based at least in part on the received health data.

14. A system according to claim 1, wherein the mobile communications device comprises at least one of a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), and tablet computer.

15. A system according to claim 1, wherein the health profile for the employee comprises one or more predicted health issues, and wherein serving the health report content comprises serving content indicative of the one more predicted health issues such that the employee is alerted to the one or more predicted health issues and is afforded an opportunity to address the one or more predicted health issues prior to the one or more predicted health issues escalating into an actual health issue.

16. A system for monitoring the health of an employee, the system comprising:

a set of one or more health sensors configured to be provided on or near the employee while the employee is engaged in their work duties, the one or more health sensors configured to output health data corresponding to characteristics sensed by the sensor, the one or more health sensors comprising at least one or more biometric sensors configured to sense biometric characteristics of the employee and biomechanic sensors configured to sense biomechanic characteristics of the employee; and

a mobile communications device comprising at least one of the one or more health sensors integrated therein to sense at least one biometric or biomechanic characteristic for the employee, the mobile communications device being configured to;

collect the health data from the set of one or more health sensors, wherein the health data collected is used to determine a health profile for the employee, the health profile comprising at least one of health characteristics, health conditions, health risks and health plans for the employee determined based at least in part on the health data collected; and

display, via a graphical user interface of the mobile communications device, a health report comprising at least one of the health characteristics, the health conditions, the health risks and the health plans of the health profile for the employee determined based at least in part on the health data collected.

17. A system according to claim 16, wherein one or more of the set of one or more health sensors is located in at least one of a safety helmet, work gloves, work footwear, or work clothing worn by the employee while the employee is engaged in their work duties.

18. A system according to claim 16, wherein one or more of the health sensors comprises one or more remote sensors in communication with the mobile communication device, the one or more remote sensors comprising of at least one of a temperature sensor configured to output temperature data indicative of a body temperature of the employee, a blood condition sensor configured to output blood condition data indicative of a blood oxygenation level of the employee, a blood pressure sensor configured to output blood pressure data indicative of a blood pressure of the employee, a body fat sensor configured to output body fat data indicative of body fat of the employee, a respiration sensor configured to output respiration data indicative of a respiration rate of the employee, a neural sensor configured to output neural data indicative of brain activity of the employee, a force sensor configured to output force data indicative of a body weight of the employee or force exerted by the employee, a position sensor configured to output position data indicative of a body position of the employee, and a camera sensor configured to output image data indicative of at least one of a biometric or biomechanic characteristic of the employee,

wherein the at least one or more remote sensors are configured to transmit, to the mobile communications device, the respective temperature data, blood pressure data, body fat data, respiration data, neural data, force data, position data, and image data output.

19. A system according to claim 16, wherein the at least one of the one or more health sensors integrated with the mobile communications device comprises at least one of a sensor pad, a sensor screen, a thermal camera and an infrared (IR) sensor.

20. A system according to claim 16, wherein the health profile for the employee comprises one or more predicted health issues, and wherein the displayed health report comprises content indicative of the one more predicted health issues such that the employee is alerted to the one or more predicted health issues and is afforded an opportunity to address the one or more predicted health issues prior to the one or more predicted health issues escalating into an actual health issue.

21. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising program instructions for monitoring an employee'"'"'s health while in a work environment, the computer program instructions being executable by a computer processor to cause the steps of:

receiving, via a communications network, health data output by a mobile communications device, the mobile communications device connected to the communications network, the mobile communications device configured to collect the health data from a set of one or more health sensors and output health data corresponding to the health data collected from the set of one or more health sensors, the mobile communications device comprising at least one of the one or more health sensors integrated therein to sense at least one biometric or biomechanic characteristic for the employee, the set of one or more health sensors comprising at least one of;

a set of one or more biometric sensors configured to sense biometric characteristics of the employee and output biometric data corresponding to the sensed biometric characteristics of the employee, the set of one or more biometric sensors comprising at least one of a temperature sensor configured to output temperature data indicative of a body temperature of the employee, a blood condition sensor configured to output blood condition data indicative of a blood oxygenation level of the employee, a blood pressure sensor configured to output blood pressure data indicative of a blood pressure of the employee, a body fat sensor configured to output body fat data indicative of a body fat of the employee, a respiration sensor configured to output respiration data indicative of a respiration rate of the employee, a neural sensor configured to output neural data indicative of brain activity of the employee, a force sensor configured to output force data indicative of a body weight of the employee, a position sensor configured to output position data indicative of a body position of the employee, and a camera sensor configured to output image data indicative of a biometric characteristic of the employee; and

a set of one or more biomechanic sensors configured to sense biomechanic characteristics of the employee and output biomechanic data corresponding to the sensed biomechanic characteristics of the employee, the set of one or more biomechanic sensors comprising at least one of a neural sensor configured to output neural data indicative of brain activity of the employee, a camera sensor configured to output image data indicative of a biomechanic characteristics of the employee, a force sensor configured to output force data indicative of a force exerted by the employee, and a position sensor configured to output position data indicative of a body position of the employee;

determining, based at least in part on the received health data, a health profile for the employee, the health profile comprising at least one of health characteristics, health conditions, health risks and health plans for the employee determined based at least in part on the received health data;

updating health information stored in a health database to reflect the health profile for the employee; and

serving, to the mobile communications device for display to the user via a graphical display of the mobile communications device, health report content comprising at least one of the health characteristics, the health conditions, the health risks and the health plans of the health profile for the employee.

22. A computer implemented method for monitoring the health of an employee, the method comprising:

collecting health data from a set of one or more health sensors provided on or near the employee while the employee is engaged in their work duties, the one or more health sensors configured to output health data corresponding to characteristics sensed by the heath sensors, the one or more health sensors comprising at least one or more biometric sensors configured to sense biometric characteristics of the employee and biomechanic sensors configured to sense biomechanic characteristics of the employee, at least one of the one or more health sensors integrated within a mobile communications device, the health data collected being used to determine a health profile for the employee, the health profile comprising at least one of health characteristics, health conditions, health risks and health plans for the employee determined based at least in part on the health data collected; and

displaying, via a graphical user interface of the mobile communications device, a health report comprising at least one of the health characteristics, the health conditions, the health risks and the health plans of the health profile for the employee determined based at least in part on the health data collected.

23. A computer implemented method for monitoring the health of an employee, the method comprising:

collecting, via one or more mobile communications devices, health data from a set of one or more health sensors provided on or near the employee while the employee is engaged in their work duties, the one or more health sensors configured to output health data corresponding to characteristics sensed by the health sensors, the one or more health sensors comprising at least one or more biometric sensors configured to sense biometric characteristics of the employee and biomechanic sensors configured to sense biomechanic characteristics of the employee;

determining a health profile for the employee using the health data collected, the health profile comprising at least one of health characteristics, health conditions, health risks and health plans for the employee determined based at least in part on the health data collected; and

providing for display via a graphical user interface of at least one of the one or more mobile communications devices, a health report comprising at least one of the health characteristics, the health conditions, the health risks and the health plans of the health profile for the employee determined based at least in part on the health data collected.