AUTOMATIC DETECTION OF HUMAN PHYSIOLOGICAL PHENOMENA

• US 20170150917A1
• Filed: 05/13/2016
• Published: 06/01/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/29/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: My.Flow, Inc.
• Original Assignee: My.Flow, Inc.
• Inventors: Brief, Amanda Karen, Ghori, Madeeha, Chen, Katie, Vega, Tomas, Myers, Drake, McEntire, Jacob David Schatz
• Granted Patent: US 10,905,371 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0266 for monitoring or limiting apparatus function
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0406 specially shaped apparatus housings
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0443 Modular apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/029 Humidity sensors
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/227 Sensors with electrical connectors
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/002 Monitoring the patient using a local or closed circuit, e.g. in a room or building A61B5/0017 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0022 Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02042 Determining blood loss or bleeding, e.g. during a surgical procedure
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/026 Measuring blood flow A61B3/1233, A61B3/1241 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4318 Evaluation of the lower reproductive system A61B5/4343 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6808 Diapers
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7225 Details of analog processing, e.g. isolation amplifier, gain or sensitivity adjustment, filtering, baseline or drift compensation A61B5/30, A61B5/316 take precedence; transformers for specific applications H01F38/00; amplifiers H03F
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/742 using visual displays A61B5/339 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 13/84 Accessories, not otherwise provided for, for absorbent pads
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2013/8473 for diagnostic purposes

Abstract

Introduced here is technology to monitor moisture levels in a hygiene product, such as tampons, pads, menstrual cups, child diapers, adult diapers etc. According to one embodiment, a moisture sensor is inserted inside a feminine hygiene product. The moisture sensor is connected to a wearable device that gathers the moisture data and sends the data to a mobile device, such as a cell phone. The cell phone generates notifications to the user, such as percentage saturation of the feminine hygiene product, message to change the feminine hygiene product, expected start and end dates of the next menstrual cycle, etc. According to another embodiment, the moisture sensor can be inserted in other hygiene products, such as child diapers or adult diapers, to measure the amount of urination, defecation, or other excretions, and to generate notifications to the user, the user'"'"'s caretaker, or a third party.

Claims

1. A feminine hygiene product to monitor blood flow during a menstrual cycle, the feminine hygiene product comprising:

an absorbent part, the absorbent part configured to collect blood;

a sensor disposed within the absorbent part, the sensor configured to gather data regarding an amount of blood associated with the menstrual cycle of a user;

a string attached to the absorbent part and to the sensor, the string enclosing a plurality of conductive wires;

a wearable device coupled to the string and to the sensor, the wearable device configured to;

receive the data from the sensor regarding the amount of blood;

perform low-pass filtering on the data to obtain a smooth data;

communicate the smooth data, via a wireless connection, to a processor;

the processor communicatively coupled to the wearable device, the processor configured to;

receive the smooth data from the wearable device via the wireless connection;

store the smooth data in a database to create a historical data associated with the menstrual cycle of the user; and

analyze the smooth data and the historical data to generate a notification to the user, the notification comprising an amount of saturation associated with the feminine hygiene product.

2. The feminine hygiene product of claim 1, the wearable device comprising a contact disposed within the wearable device, and an entry point formed through an exterior surface of the wearable device, wherein the contact is configured to establish a connection with the plurality of conductive wires when the string is inserted through the entry point into the wearable device and engaged with the contact therein.

3. The feminine hygiene product of claim 2, the wearable device comprising a button disposed within the exterior surface of the wearable device, and a clamp disposed inside the wearable device, the clamp proximate to the entry point, wherein the button, when pressed, engages the clamp to enable the plurality of conductive wires to establish the connection with the contact within the wearable device.

4. The feminine hygiene product of claim 2, the wearable device comprising a display configured to notify the user when the connection between the plurality of conductive wires and the string is established.

5. The feminine hygiene product of claim 1, the sensor comprising a probe pair inserted inside the feminine hygiene product, the probe pair configured to measure the amount of blood by measuring at least one of changes in an ohmic resistance between the probe pair, and changes in a capacitance observed by one or more probes, wherein the changes in the ohmic resistance are negatively correlated to changes in moisture between the probe pair, and wherein the changes in the capacitance are positively correlated to changes in moisture in the tampon.

6. The feminine hygiene product of claim 1, further comprising a display communicatively coupled to the wearable device, the display configured to generate a visual message corresponding to the notification, the visual message comprising at least one of a textual message, an image, a graph, or a video.

7. The feminine hygiene product of claim 1, the feminine hygiene product comprising a tampon, a menstrual cup, a panty liner, or a sanitary napkin.

8. The feminine hygiene product of claim 1, the wearable device comprising a removable keychain attachment member.

9. The feminine hygiene product of claim 1, the wearable device comprising a clip configured to attach to a piece of clothing associated with the user.

10. A feminine hygiene product comprising:

a sensor disposed within the feminine hygiene product, the sensor configured to gather data regarding an amount of blood associated with a menstrual cycle of a user;

a processor communicatively coupled to the sensor, the processor configured to;

receive the data regarding the amount of blood;

store the data in a database to create a historical data associated with the menstrual cycle of the user; and

based on the data and the historical data, generate a notification to the user, the notification comprising at least one of an amount of saturation associated with the feminine hygiene product, expected start and end of next menstrual cycle, an alert to change the feminine hygiene product, or a graph of the data over time.

11. The feminine hygiene product of claim 10, the sensor comprising a probe pair inserted inside the feminine hygiene product, the probe pair configured to measure the amount of blood by measuring changes in an electric conductivity between the probe pair, wherein the changes in the electric conductivity are due to changes in moisture between the probe pair.

12. The feminine hygiene product of claim 10, the sensor configured to:

detach from the feminine hygiene product when an outward force is applied to the sensor; and

re-attach to the feminine hygiene product when an inward force is applied.

13. The feminine hygiene product of claim 10, the feminine hygiene product comprising a tampon, a menstrual cup, a panty liner, or a sanitary napkin.

14. The feminine hygiene product of claim 10, the processor coupled to the sensor via a wireless communication protocol.

15. The feminine hygiene product of claim 10, comprising:

an electronics unit coupled to the sensor, the electronics unit configured to receive the data from the sensor and to wirelessly transmit the data to the processor.

16. The feminine hygiene product of claim 10, the processor associated with a mobile device.

17. The feminine hygiene product of claim 10, the processor associated with a wearable device.

18. The feminine hygiene product of claim 10, further comprising a display communicatively coupled to the processor, the display configured to generate a visual message corresponding to the notification, the visual message comprising at least one of a textual message, an image, or a video.

19. A hygiene product to monitor physiological phenomena associated with a user, the hygiene product comprising:

a sensor disposed inside the hygiene product, the sensor configured to gather data regarding an amount of moisture collected within the hygiene product, the sensor comprising a probe pair inserted inside the hygiene product, the probe pair configured to measure the amount of moisture by measuring changes in an electric conductivity between the probe pair, wherein the changes in the electric conductivity are due to changes in moisture between the probe pair; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the sensor, the processor configured to;

receive the data regarding the amount of moisture;

store the data in a database to create a historical data associated with the amount of moisture; and

based on the data and the historical data, generate a notification, the notification comprising at least one of the notification to change the hygiene product, or the notification that the user may be sick.

20. The hygiene product of claim 19, the hygiene product comprising at least one of a child diaper, an adult diaper, a sanitary napkin, a tampon, a panty liner, or an incontinence pad.

21. The hygiene product of claim 19, the processor configured to:

detect an abnormal fluctuation between the historical data and the data, wherein the abnormal fluctuation is outside of a normal fluctuation range associated with the historical data; and

when the abnormal fluctuation is detected, send the notification to a responsible person that the user may be sick, wherein the responsible person comprises at least one of the user, or a caretaker associated with the user.

22. The hygiene product of claim 19, the processor configured to send the notification to a caretaker associated with the user to change a diaper associated with the user.

23. A method to monitor a blood flow during a menstrual cycle of a user, the method comprising:

obtaining data regarding an amount of blood associated with the menstrual cycle of the user from a sensor disposed within a feminine hygiene product;

storing the data in a database to create a historical data associated with the menstrual cycle of the user;

analyzing the data to generate a notification, the notification comprising at least one of a message to change the feminine hygiene product, a start date and an end date associated with a next menstrual cycle, or the message that the user may be sick; and

sending the notification to a responsible person, the responsible person comprising at least one of the user, a caretaker associated with the user, or a third party.

24. The method of claim 23, said analyzing the data comprising:

based on the data, determining whether the feminine hygiene product is within a predefined threshold of being fully saturated; and

when the feminine hygiene product is within the predefined threshold, sending the notification to the responsible person to change the feminine hygiene product, wherein the notification comprises a time when the feminine hygiene product is expected to be fully saturated.

25. The method of claim 23, said analyzing the data comprising:

obtaining a time elapsed since the feminine hygiene product has been in use; and

when the time elapsed is above a specified threshold, sending the notification to the responsible person to change the feminine hygiene product.

26. The method of claim 23, said analyzing the data comprising:

based on the historical data, predicting the start date and the end date associated with the next menstrual cycle.

27. The method of claim 26, comprising:

generating a plurality of calendar entries associated with the start date and the end date; and

displaying the plurality of calendar entries in a calendar.

28. The method of claim 23, comprising:

based on the historical data, calculating an average amount of time elapsed before the feminine hygiene product is fully saturated on a day associated with the menstrual cycle; and

generating a graph representing a correspondence between the average amount of time elapsed before the feminine hygiene product is fully saturated in the day associated with the menstrual cycle.

29. The method of claim 23, said analyzing the data comprising:

detecting an abnormal fluctuation between the historical data and the data, wherein the abnormal fluctuation is outside of a normal fluctuation range associated with the historical data; and

when the abnormal fluctuation is detected, sending the notification to the responsible person that the user may be sick, wherein the responsible person comprises at least one of the user, or the caretaker associated with the user.

30. The method of claim 23, comprising:

receiving an authorization from the user to share the historical data with a third party device.