Systems, Devices, and Methods for Tracking Abdominal Orientation and Activity

• US 20160374608A1
• Filed: 06/27/2016
• Published: 12/29/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/27/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Smart Human Dynamics, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Smart Human Dynamics, Inc.
• Inventors: Dugan, Stephen
• Granted Patent: US 9,763,616 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2503/02 Foetus
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0219 Inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt switches
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0022 Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0059 using light, e.g. diagnosis by transillumination, diascopy, fluorescence A61B5/0093, A61B5/1455, A61B5/02416 and A61B5/0261 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02411 of foetuses
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/053 Measuring electrical impedance or conductance of a portion of the body
• 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 5/1073 Measuring volume, e.g. of limbs
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1075 for measuring dimensions by non-invasive methods, e.g. for determining thickness of tissue layer A61B8/0858 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1107 Measuring contraction of parts of the body, e.g. organ, muscle apparatus for measuring work or force in general G01L
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1114 Tracking parts of the body
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1116 Determining posture transitions
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1118 Determining activity level
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1121 Determining geometric values, e.g. centre of rotation or angular range of movement
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14542 for measuring blood gases A61B5/14551 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14552 Details of sensors specially adapted therefor
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4343 Pregnancy and labour monitoring, e.g. for labour onset detection
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4356 Assessing uterine contractions A61B5/033 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4362 Assessing foetal parameters
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6804 Garments; Clothes
• 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 5/7275 : 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 5/746 : Alarms related to a physiological condition, e.g. details of setting alarm thresholds or avoiding false alarms alarms per se G08B
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/163 : Wearable computers, e.g. on a belt
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 : for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/30 : for calculating health indices; for individual health risk assessment

Abstract

The disclosed apparatus, systems and methods relate to tracking abdominal orientation and activity for purposes of preventing or treating conditions of pregnancy or other types of medical conditions. In certain specific embodiments, the system, device, or method relates to identifying abdominal orientation risk values, calculating and updating a cumulative risk value, comparing the cumulative risk value to a threshold, and outputting a warning when the cumulative risk value crosses the threshold.

Claims

1. A system for reducing fetal risk in a pregnant user, comprising:

a. a wearable device;

b. a memory unit;

c. at least one sensor configured to monitor the user for at least one physiological parameter and generate sensor data; and

d. a processor coupled to the at least one sensor and configured to;

i. monitor fetal risk by processing sensor data to identify risk values associated with the at least one physiological parameter to produce a time series of identified fetal risk values; and

ii. calculate and update at least one cumulative risk value by calculating a first moving average for a subset of the time series of identified fetal risk values.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to compare the at least one cumulative risk value to a risk threshold.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the device is configured to output a warning when the first cumulative risk value exceeds the first threshold.

4. The system of claim 2, further comprising a database in communication with the processor, wherein:

a. the database comprises at least one adapting risk threshold and is configured to adapt the at least one adapting risk threshold based on the recorded time series of identified fetal risk values, and

b. the processor is configured to compare the at least one cumulative risk value to the at least one adapting risk threshold.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising a garment configured to house the device and retain a fixed orientation relative to the user.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one magnet configured to promote device orientation.

7. A system for reducing fetal risk in a pregnant user, comprising:

a. a fetal risk device comprising a housing;

b. a transmission component disposed in the housing;

c. at least one sensor disposed within the housing for monitoring a physiological parameter and generating parameter data;

d. a processor configured to assign fetal risk values from the parameter data to produce a time series of identified fetal risk values; and

e. an alert system configured to notify the user of identified risk values.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the system is configured to alert the user when the identified fetal risk values exceed an established risk threshold.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the garment is selected from the group consisting of:

a shirt and an undergarment.

11. The system of claim 7, further comprising a clip configured to promote device orientation.

13. The system of claim 7, wherein the at least one sensor is selected from the group consisting of an acoustic sensor, an ultrasound sensor, a bio-impedance sensor, a voltage sensor, a current sensor, an accelerometer, an ultra-wideband sensor, a blood oxygen sensor and a light sensor.

14. The system of claim 7, further comprising an external sensor disposed outside the housing.

15. The system of claim 7, wherein the processor is configured to assign at least one zone threshold for time monitoring of a physiological parameter.

16. A system for reducing fetal health risks in a pregnant user, comprising:

a. a wearable device housing comprising a housing, a memory unit and a transmission unit;

b. at least one sensor disposed within the housing and configured to generate fetal data relating to physiological parameters; and

c. a processor coupled to the sensor so as to receive the fetal data.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the processor is configured to calculate and produce a time-series of fetal risk scores in response to the fetal data, and wherein the fetal risk scores can be wirelessly transmitted via the transmission unit.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the processor configured to:

a. monitor the orientation of the of the user abdomen by processing the fetal data;

b. estimate the orientation of the abdomen of the user;

c. assign a health zone to the orientation;

d. assign time thresholds for each health zone; and

e. output a warning when a time threshold is exceeded.

19. The data collection system of claim 16, wherein the physiological parameters are selected from the group consisting of:

abdominal/body orientation, snoring, blood oxygen, blood pressure, location of center of gravity, physical activity, body heat, altitude tracking, pressure, temperature, respiration, respiration during sleep, fetal activity, fetal heart rate, uterine contraction, fetal ECG, tension, and hemodynamic flow.

20. The processing system of claim 16, wherein the processor identifies risk values associated with one or more physiological parameters.