Dietary Assessment System and Method

• US 20130113933A1
• Filed: 12/27/2012
• Published: 05/09/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/05/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Purdue Research Foundation (The Trustees of Purdue University (d/b/a Purdue University))
• Original Assignee: Purdue Research Foundation (The Trustees of Purdue University (d/b/a Purdue University))
• Inventors: Boushey, Carol, Delp, Edward John, Ebert, David Scott, Lutes, Kyle DelMar, Kerr, Deborah
• Granted Patent: US 8,605,952 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/143
• CPC Class Codes: A23L 33/30 Dietetic or nutritional methods, e.g. for losing weight A23L33/10 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 18/00 Pattern recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/68 Food, e.g. fruit or vegetables

Abstract

The present system and method provides a more precise way to record food and beverage intake than traditional methods. The present disclosure provides custom software for use in mobile computing devices that include a digital camera. Photos captured by mobile digital devices are analyzed with image processing and comparisons to certain databases to allow a user to discretely record foods eaten. Specifically, the user captures images of the meal or snack before and after eating. The foods pictured are identified. Image processing software may identify the food or provide choices for the user. Once a food is identified and volume of the food is estimated, nutrient databases are used for calculating final portion sizes and nutrient totals.

Claims

1. A system for measuring food intake of a user, the system comprising:

a mobile device having a built-in camera, the mobile device configured to capturing a first image of food items to be eaten by the user; and

a remote server in communication with the mobile device, the remote server configured to;

receiving the first image;

calibrating a size of the food items in the first image,

segmenting the first image into one or more segmented regions where different food items are located,

identifying the food of the segmented regions, and

estimating the volume of food in the segmented regions of the first image.

2. The system of claim 1, the remote server further configured to calculating the nutritional information of the food items of the first image and communicating this information to the user before the user starts eating.

3. The system of claim 1, the remote server further configured to determining an amount of each food item consumed by the user by capturing a second image of any remaining food items after the user has eaten and repeating the calibrating, segmenting, identifying, and estimating for the food items in the second image, and then subtracting the remaining volume of each food item in the second image from the original volume of each food item in the first image to determine the amount of each food item eaten.

4. The system of claim 1, the mobile device further configured to providing selection by the user of an option given by the mobile device for indicating that all food was consumed.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the user labels the identity of the food items on at least the first image.

6. The system of claim 1, identifying the food comprises comparing the image of the food taken by the user to images of known food items in a food database.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the image includes a fiducial marker of a known size as a reference for size or volume calculations.

8. The system of claim 1, the remote server further configured to calculating nutritional information based on the amount and identity of each food item eaten,

9. The system of claim 1, the remote server configured to measuring beverage intake rather than food intake,

10. The system of claim 1, the mobile device is further configured to allowing a user to enter food identity and volume estimation manually into the mobile device when an image cannot be captured or is insufficient.

11. The system of claim 10, the remote server further configured to determining the nutritional content of the food items entered by the user by calculating using known measurements for the food items in a food database.