WIRELESS INFANT HEALTH MONITOR

• US 20150157263A1
• Filed: 08/23/2013
• Published: 06/11/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/25/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Owlet Baby Care, Inc. (Owlet, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Owlet Protection Enterprises, LLC (Owlet, Inc.)
• Inventors: Workman, Kurt Gibbons, Hodges, Tanor G., Colvin, Jacob B., Felt, Wyatt M., Monroe, Jordan J., Bomsta, Zachary David
• Granted Patent: US 9,693,730 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2503/04 Babies, e.g. for SIDS detection
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0219 Inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt switches
• 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 5/0013 Medical image data A61B1/00011, A61B6/56, A61B8/56 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0205 Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular conditions and different types of body conditions, e.g. heart and respiratory condition
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02438 with portable devices, e.g. worn by the patient
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0245 by using sensing means generating electric signals, i.e. ECG signals
• 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 5/14551 for measuring blood gases
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14552 Details of sensors specially adapted therefor
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6807 Footwear
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6829 Foot or ankle
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6898 Portable consumer electronic devices, e.g. music players, telephones, tablet computers
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7221 Determining signal validity, reliability or quality A61B5/7207 and A61B5/7217 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7275 Determining trends in physiological measurement data; Predicting development of a medical condition based on physiological measurements, e.g. determining a risk factor
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/742 using visual displays A61B5/339 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/746 Alarms related to a physiological condition, e.g. details of setting alarm thresholds or avoiding false alarms alarms per se G08B
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/747 in case of emergency, i.e. alerting emergency services
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0208 Combination with audio or video communication, e.g. combination with "baby phone" function
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0211 Combination with medical sensor, e.g. for measuring heart rate, temperature
• 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 system for wirelessly monitoring the health of an infant comprising a sensing module removably disposed within a wearable article. At least a portion of the sensing module can be in contact with an infant'"'"'s foot. The sensing module can include a processing unit configured to receive and process health readings received by the sensing module. A wireless transmitter can also be in communication with the processing unit. The wireless transmitter can be configured to transmit the processed health readings to a receiving station. The receiving station can indicate an alarm if the processed health readings indicate a health trend that falls outside of a particular threshold.

Claims

1. A system for wirelessly monitoring the health of an infant, the system comprising:

a sensing module removably disposed within a wearable article, at least a portion of the sensing module in contact with an infant'"'"'s foot;

the sensing module comprising a processing unit configured to receive and process health readings received by the sensing module;

a wireless transmitter in communication with the processing unit, the wireless transmitter configured to transmit the processed health readings to a receiving station; and

the receiving station comprising a display that is configured to depict the processed health readings.

2. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the sensing module comprises a pulse oximeter.

3. The system as recited in claim 2, further comprising:

the pulse oximeter comprising a plurality of photoreceptors, wherein the processing unit is configured to selectively sample one or more of the plurality of photoreceptors to determine a particular photoreceptor or combination of photoreceptors that are receiving a readable signal at an efficient power usage.

4. The system as recited in claim 2, further comprising:

the pulse oximeter comprising a plurality of LEDs, wherein the processing unit is configured to selectively activate one or more of the plurality of LEDs to determine a particular LED or combination of LEDs that generate a readable signal at an efficient power usage.

5. The system as recited in claim 2, wherein the processing unit is configured to analyze raw pulse oximetry data and compress the data before the data is transmitted to the receiving station.

6. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the receiving station is configured to indicate an alarm if the processed health readings indicate a health trend that falls outside of a particular threshold.

7. The system as recited in claim 6, wherein when the receiving station indicates an alarm, a notification is sent to a mobile phone.

8. The system as recited in claim 6, further comprising:

a camera that is in communication with the receiving station, wherein the camera is configured to transmit an image if the processed health readings indicate a health trend that falls outside a particular threshold.

9. The system as recited in claim 8, wherein the camera transmits an image to a mobile phone.

10. The system as recited in claim 6, wherein the receiving station comprises software that processes received health readings from the wireless transmitter.

12. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the receiving station comprises a mobile phone.

13. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the wearable article comprises a sock.

14. The system as recited in claim 13, wherein the sensing module can be removed from a pouch within the wearable article, such that the wearable article can be washed.

11. The system as recited in claim in 10, wherein the software is configured to identify trends in the received health readings that enable the software to identify false alarms.

15. A method for monitoring the health of an infant, the method comprising:

receiving raw data from a sensing module that is in contact with an infant'"'"'s foot;

processing, using a computer processor, the received raw data, wherein processing the received raw data includes compressing the received raw data for transmission;

transmitting the compressed data to a receiving station; and

determining whether a detected health data trend contained within the transmitted data is outside of a threshold.

16. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein determining whether the detected health data trend is outside of the threshold comprises determining that the detected health data trend remains outside of the threshold for a specific amount of time.

17. The method as recited in claim 16, wherein determining that the detected health data trend is out side of the threshold comprises:

receiving information from a motion detection module that is in contact with the infant; and

determining that the infant'"'"'s movement is above another threshold.

18. The method as recited in claim 17, wherein upon determining that the reported health data is outside the threshold and that the motion detection module reported that the infant'"'"'s movements are above the other threshold, determining that the reported health data comprises a false alarm.

19. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein upon determining that the detected health data trend contained within the transmitted data is outside of a threshold, transmitting an alarm indication to a mobile phone.

20. A system for monitoring the health of an infant, the system comprising:

a sensing module in contact with an infant'"'"'s foot, wherein the sensing module transmits raw health data detected from the infant;

a receiving station in wireless communication with the sensing module;

wherein the receiving station;

receives the raw health data from the sensing module,

processes the raw health data into processed data,

identifies health trends, and

transmits the processed data;

an internet gateway in communication with the receiving station, wherein the internet gateway receives the processed data from the receiving station and transmits the processed data over the internet; and

a mobile computing device in communication with the internet, wherein the mobile computing device receives the processed data over the internet and displays information based upon the identified health trends.