Apparatus and method for monitoring hand washing
First Claim
1. An apparatus for monitoring hand washing comprisingan input device in front of which a subject places his or her hands after he or she has applied and spread a layer of soap or detergent over the front and back of his or her hands, said input device converting light reflected from the soap and subject'"'"'s hands into an optical image,a device for digitizing the optical image into a digitized image with a plurality of pixels,a computer having an input for the digitized image and an output for a report,a reference feature that distinguishes the soap from the subject'"'"'s hands, said reference feature in the computer,an algorithm executed in the computer that compares the digitized image, pixel by pixel, with the reference feature and accumulates the number of pixels that match the reference feature, indicating the area to which soap is applied, and the number of pixels that do not match the reference feature, indicating the area of the hands to which soap has not been applied, calculates whether the number of pixels matching the reference feature out of the total number of pixels matching the reference feature plus the number pixels not matching the reference feature is greater than a predetermined level of coverage, and creates a report sent through the output.
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Abstract
An apparatus and method for monitoring hand washing wherein a subject'"'"'s hands are checked after he or she has applied soap or detergent and spread it over the front and back of his or her hands. An optical image of the subject'"'"'s hands is digitized and compared, pixel by pixel, with a reference feature that distinguishes the soap and a report is generated indicating whether the subject'"'"'s hands are covered with enough soap or detergent to receive a satisfactory report.
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Citations
10 Claims
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1. An apparatus for monitoring hand washing comprising
an input device in front of which a subject places his or her hands after he or she has applied and spread a layer of soap or detergent over the front and back of his or her hands, said input device converting light reflected from the soap and subject'"'"'s hands into an optical image, a device for digitizing the optical image into a digitized image with a plurality of pixels, a computer having an input for the digitized image and an output for a report, a reference feature that distinguishes the soap from the subject'"'"'s hands, said reference feature in the computer, an algorithm executed in the computer that compares the digitized image, pixel by pixel, with the reference feature and accumulates the number of pixels that match the reference feature, indicating the area to which soap is applied, and the number of pixels that do not match the reference feature, indicating the area of the hands to which soap has not been applied, calculates whether the number of pixels matching the reference feature out of the total number of pixels matching the reference feature plus the number pixels not matching the reference feature is greater than a predetermined level of coverage, and creates a report sent through the output.
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2. An apparatus for monitoring hand washing comprising
a background in front of which a subject places his or her hands after he or she has applied and spread a layer of soap or detergent over the front and back of his or her hands, an input device for converting light reflected from the background, soap and subject'"'"'s hands into an optical image, a device for digitizing the image into a plurality of pixels, a computer having an input for the digitized image and an output for a report, a first reference feature that distinguishes the background from the soap and the subject'"'"'s hands and a second reference feature that distinguishes the soap from the background and the subject'"'"'s hands, said first and second reference features stored in the computer, an algorithm executed in the computer that compares the digitized image, pixel by pixel, with the first and second reference features and accumulates the number of pixels that match the first reference feature, indicating the area to which soap is applied, or that matches neither reference feature, indicating the area of the hands to which soap has not been applied, calculates whether the number of pixels matching the second reference feature out of the total number of pixels matching the second reference feature plus the number pixels matching neither reference feature is greater than a predetermined level of coverage, and creates a report sent through the output.
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7. A method for monitoring hand washing comprising
having a subject place his or her hands in front of a background after he or she has applied and spread a layer of soap or detergent over the front and back of his or her hands, converting light reflected from the background, soap and subject'"'"'s hands into an optical image, digitizing the image into a digitizing image with a plurality of pixels, identifying a first reference feature that distinguishes the background from the soap and the subject'"'"'s hands and a second reference feature that distinguishes the soap from the background and the subject'"'"'s hands, said first and second reference features in a computer, and, executing an algorithm in the computer that compares the digitized image, pixel by pixel, with the first and second reference features and accumulates the number of pixels that match the first reference feature, indicating the area to which soap is applied, or that matches neither reference feature, indicating the area of the hands to which soap has not been applied, calculates whether the number of pixels matching the second reference feature out of the total number of pixels matching the second reference feature plus the number pixels matching neither reference feature is greater than a predetermined level of coverage, and creates a report.
Specification