MONITORING A PERSON FOR INDICATIONS OF A BRAIN INJURY

• US 20160278684A1
• Filed: 06/19/2015
• Published: 09/29/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/23/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: KOZLOSKI, JAMES R., LAMOREY, MARK C. H., PICKOVER, CLIFFORD A., RICE, JOHN J.
• Granted Patent: US 9,763,571 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0475 Special features of memory means, e.g. removable memory cards
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0204 Acoustic sensors
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0219 Inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt switches
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 3/0008 provided with illuminating means A61B3/117 takes precedence; goniolenses used for laser treatment A61F9/009; illuminating means for optical instruments G02B27/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 3/0025 characterised by electronic signal processing, e.g. eye models
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 3/112 for measuring diameter of pupils
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 3/113 for determining or recording eye movement
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 3/14 Arrangements specially adapted for eye photography apparatus or arrangements for taking photographs per se G03B
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 3/145 by video means
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1114 Tracking parts of the body
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4064 Evaluating the brain A61B5/031, A61B5/369, A61B5/14553 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6803 Head-worn items, e.g. helmets, masks, headphones or goggles
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7278 Artificial waveform generation or derivation, e.g. synthesising signals from measured signals A61B5/327 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7282 Event detection, e.g. detecting unique waveforms indicative of a medical condition A61B5/4094, A61B5/4818, A61B5/349, A61B5/0823 take 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

Abstract

Embodiments include methods, systems and computer program products for monitoring a user of a helmet for a traumatic brain injury. Aspects include monitoring one or more eyes of the user with a camera embedded in the helmet and analyzing, by a processor, one or more characteristics of the one or more eyes of the user. Aspects also include determining whether the one or more characteristics of the eyes indicate that the user may have suffered the traumatic brain injury and creating an alert that the user of the helmet may have suffered the traumatic brain injury

Claims

1. A method for monitoring a user of a helmet for a traumatic brain injury, the method comprising:

monitoring one or more eyes of the user with a camera embedded in the helmet;

analyzing, by a processor, one or more characteristics of the one or more eyes of the user;

determining whether the one or more characteristics of the eyes indicate that the user may have suffered the traumatic brain injury; and

creating an alert that the user of the helmet may have suffered the traumatic brain injury.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more characteristics of the one or more eyes of the user includes a dilation of a pupil.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the analyzing is performed based on a detected acceleration of the helmet exceeding a threshold level.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the determination that the one or more characteristics of the eyes indicate that the user may have suffered the traumatic brain injury is based on a comparison of the one or more characteristics of the one or more eyes of the user to a baseline reading of the one or more characteristics of the one or more eyes of the user.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the determination that the one or more characteristics of the eyes indicate that the user may have suffered the traumatic brain injury is based on a determination that the user has Anisocoria.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the monitoring further comprises illuminating the one or more eyes with a light source in the helmet.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting the alert to a separate computer system for processing and further analysis.