MULTISENSOR WIRELESS ABDOMINAL MONITORING APPARATUS, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS

• US 20150250445A1
• Filed: 03/04/2015
• Published: 09/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/07/2012
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Regents of the University of California (University of California)
• Original Assignee: The United States of America As Represented By The Secretary of Agriculture, Regents of the University of California (University of California)
• Inventors: Kaiser, William, Spiegel, Brennan
• Application Number:
  US14/639,023
• Publication Number:
  US 20150250445A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 5/0015 characterised by features of the telemetry system
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0533 Measuring galvanic skin response
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0816 Measuring devices for examining respiratory frequency measuring frequency of electric signals G01R23/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/107 Measuring physical dimensions, e.g. size of the entire body or parts thereof
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1072 measuring distances on the body, e.g. measuring length, height or thickness A61B5/1076 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/113 occurring during breathing
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1135 by monitoring thoracic expansion
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/389 Electromyography [EMG]
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/392 Detecting gastrointestinal contractions
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/42 Detecting, measuring or recording for evaluating the gastrointestinal, the endocrine or the exocrine systems A61B1/00, A61B5/4857, A61B5/486, A61B5/4866, A61B5/4869 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6823 Trunk, e.g., chest, back, abdomen, hip
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6831 Straps, bands or harnesses
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7264 Classification of physiological signals or data, e.g. using neural networks, statistical classifiers, expert systems or fuzzy systems neural networks per se G06N3/00; expert systems per se G06N5/00
• 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 5/74 Details of notification to user or communication with user or patient indicating measured values G01D7/00; user input means input or output arrangements for computers G06F3/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 7/008 Detecting noise of gastric tract, e.g. caused by voiding
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 7/04 Electric stethoscopes microphones, acoustic transducers therefor H04R

Abstract

A multi-sensor wireless abdominal monitoring system comprising a low-profile belt that fits around the abdomen and is embedded with specialized wireless sensors. The system is configured to continuously monitor a range of gastrointestinal and abdominal wall functions. The system wirelessly transmits data to an external device, such as a smartphone or computer for storage and download to a central server. The acquired data may be monitored remotely through specialized software that generates clinically interpretable information presented through a graphical user interface. The device provides data that are immediately actionable for a wide range of inpatients and outpatients with high prevalence disorders in varied clinical settings.

Claims

1. An abdominal monitoring system, comprising:

a belt configured to be positioned around the waist of a user;

one or more sensors coupled to the belt;

wherein the belt is configured to support the one or more sensors such that the one or more sensors are positioned adjacent the abdominal wall of the user; and

wherein the sensors are configured to receive signals from the abdominal wall; and

a controller coupled to the one or more sensors;

said controller configured for acquiring data relating to the signals.

2. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors comprise acoustic sensors configured to receive acoustic signals from the abdominal wall.

3. A system as recited in claim 2, wherein the acoustic sensors comprise digital stethoscopes transducers.

4. A system as recited in claim 2, wherein the acoustic sensors are configured to receive real-time acoustic signals relating to one or more of:

gastrointestinal and abdominal wall functions, motility emanating from the gastrointestinal tract and heart rate via abdominal arterial pulse.

5. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors comprise electromyography sensors to measure contractions of the anterior abdominal musculature.

6. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors comprise motion sensors to infer breathing rate and other forms of abdominal movement.

7. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors comprise galvanic skin conductance sensors for evaluation of emotional or physical stress.

8. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors comprise global positioning sensors to track movement and location within the abdomen.

9. A system as recited in claim 1:

wherein said belt comprises an inner inelastic belt having a first end and a second end configured to overlap with the first end when positioned around the abdomen of the user;

wherein the first end and second end comprises an array of capacitance measuring electrodes; and

wherein the electrodes are configured to measure displacement of the first end with respect to the second end to measure changes in abdominal circumference over time.

10. A system as recited in claim 2, further comprising:

programming executable on said processor for;

acquiring data relating to the signals;

generating an acoustic feature set for each of the one or more sensors;

inputting the acoustic feature set to a classifier to produce an output computation corresponding to an inference for a subject condition of the abdomen.

11. A system as recited in claim 10, wherein the acoustic feature set comprises one or more of:

amplitude, primary frequency components, time of occurrence of signals and coincidence of signals.

12. A system as recited in claim 10, wherein the classifier comprises a Bayesian classifier.

13. A system as recited in claim 10, wherein the classifier is modified according to training data comprising a library of signals obtained from trials on subjects of a known state.

14. An abdominal monitoring system, comprising:

one or more acoustic sensors configured to be positioned adjacent a user'"'"'s abdominal wall to receive signals from the abdominal wall; and

a processor coupled to the one or more acoustic sensors;

programming executable on the processor for;

acquiring data relating to the signals;

generating an acoustic feature set for each of the one or more sensors; and

inputting the acoustic feature set to a classifier to produce an output computation corresponding to an inference for a subject condition of the abdomen.

15. A system as recited in claim 14, wherein the acoustic sensors comprise digital stethoscopes transducers.

16. A system as recited in claim 14, wherein the acoustic sensors are configured to receive real-time acoustic signals relating to one or more of:

gastrointestinal and abdominal wall functions, motility emanating from the gastrointestinal tract and heart rate via abdominal arterial pulse.

17. A system as recited in claim 14, wherein the acoustic feature set comprises one or more of:

amplitude, primary frequency components, time of occurrence of signals and coincidence of signals.

18. A system as recited in claim 14, wherein the classifier comprises a Bayesian classifier.

19. A system as recited in claim 14, wherein the classifier is modified according to training data comprising a library of signals obtained from trials on subjects of a known state.

20. A system as recited in claim 14, further comprising:

a belt configured to be positioned around the waist of the user;

wherein the belt is configured to support the one or more acoustic sensors such that the one or more sensors are positioned adjacent the abdominal wall of the user.

21. A system as recited in claim 14, further comprising:

a wireless transceiver coupled to the one or more acoustic sensors for transferring the acquired sensor data to a remote server.

22. A system as recited in claim 21, wherein the remote server comprises a data fusion module for identification, classification, and notification of abdominal physiological events.

23. A method for monitoring the abdomen of a patient, comprising:

positioning one or more acoustic sensors configured to be positioned adjacent a user'"'"'s abdominal wall to receive signals from the abdominal wall;

acquiring data relating to the signals;

generating an acoustic feature set for each of the one or more sensors; and

inputting the acoustic feature set to a classifier to produce an output computation corresponding to an inference for a subject condition of the abdomen.

24. A method as recited in claim 23, wherein the acoustic sensors comprise digital stethoscopes transducers.

25. A method as recited in claim 23, wherein the acoustic sensors are configured to receive real-time acoustic signals relating to one or more of:

gastrointestinal and abdominal wall functions, motility emanating from the gastrointestinal tract and heart rate via abdominal arterial pulse.

26. A method as recited in claim 23, wherein the acoustic feature set comprises one or more of:

amplitude, primary frequency components, time of occurrence of signals and coincidence of signals.

27. A method as recited in claim 23, wherein the classifier comprises a Bayesian classifier.

28. A method as recited in claim 23, wherein the classifier is modified according to training data comprising a library of signals obtained from trials on subjects of a known state.

29. A method as recited in claim 23, further comprising:

transferring the acquired sensor data to a remote server.

30. A method as recited in claim 24, further comprising:

analyzing the acquired data for identification, classification, and notification of abdominal physiological events.