Pillow thermometer

• US 6,458,087 B1
• Filed: 09/28/2000
• Issued: 10/01/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Al-Rasheed, Abdullah K.
• Original Assignee: Al-Rasheed, Abdullah K.
• Inventors: Al-Rasheed, Abdullah K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Shaver, Kevin
• Assistant Examiner(s): SZMAL, BRIAN SCOTT
• Application Number:
  US09/672,419
• Time in Patent Office: 733 Days
• Field of Search: 600/549, 600/595, 600/483, 600/500, 600/537, 600/300, 563/9, 563/6, 563/7, 590/4
• US Class Current: 600/549
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/01 Measuring temperature of body parts ; Diagnostic temperature sensing, e.g. for malignant or inflamed tissue clinical contact thermometers G01K13/20

Abstract

One or more small metallic temperature sensors are attached to a pillow or pillowcase. Since the human head has a rich blood supply and human hair is not a significant insulator of heat, accurate temperature monitoring is achieved while the patient is sleeping. A wire attaches the sensor to a temperature monitoring unit. The monitor reads and stores the patient'"'"'s temperature and sounds an alarm when the patient'"'"'s temperature rises above a preset value, such as 98.5 F. The monitor can be placed in the patient'"'"'s room or it can be located in another room. In cases where the “patient” is a child at home, the monitor can advantageously be place in the parent'"'"'s room.

Claims

1. A temperature monitoring system that provides non-invasive automated monitoring of a patient'"'"'s temperature, comprising:

one or more thermometers that are adapted to come into contact with the patient'"'"'s head, the one or more thermometers being attached to a pillow case, wherein the patient sleeps or naps on the pillow case and the thermometer(s) measures the patient'"'"'s temperature;

a connector, connected to each thermometer, that transfers signals between the thermometer(s) and a monitoring unit, wherein the monitoring unit uses the signals from the thermometer(s) to calculate the patient'"'"'s temperature, the monitoring unit comprising;

a temperature display for displaying current or past temperature values;

a time display for displaying time values corresponding to the temperature values;

a visual and audio alarm that attracts the attention of a care giver through a light that may flash and an auditory alarm that can selectively be reset;

circuitry for calculating, storing and displaying temperature values; and

a memory for storing temperature related information.

2. The temperature monitoring system of claim 1, wherein each thermometer is a stainless steel electrical thermometer.

3. A temperature monitoring system that provides non-invasive automated monitoring of a patient'"'"'s temperature, comprising:

one or more thermometers that are adapted to come into contact with the patient'"'"'s head, the one or more thermometers being attached to a pillow, wherein the patient sleeps or naps on the pillow and the thermometer(s) measures the patient'"'"'s temperature;

a connector, connected to each thermometer, that transfers signals between the thermometer(s) and a monitoring unit, wherein the monitoring unit uses the signals from the thermometer(s) to calculate the patient'"'"'s temperature, the monitoring unit comprising;

a temperature display for displaying current or past temperature values;

a time display for displaying time values corresponding to the temperature values;

a visual and audio alarm that attracts the attention of a care giver through a light that may flash and an auditory alarm that can selectively be reset;

circuitry for calculating, storing and displaying temperature values; and

a memory for storing temperature related information, wherein the pillow is inside a pillow case and there are corresponding holes in the pillow case wherein the thermometer(s) is adapted to come into contact with the patient'"'"'s head through the holes in the pillow case.

4. A method for non-invasive monitoring of a patient'"'"'s temperature, the method involving the use of a pillow and a pillow case that the patient sleeps or naps on, comprising the steps of:

attaching one or more thermometers to the pillow case;

having the patient sleep on the pillow case;

sending temperature information from the thermometer(s) to a monitoring unit;

calculating the patient'"'"'s temperature in the monitoring unit based on the information received from the thermometer(s);

storing temperature and corresponding time values in a memory;

displaying temperature and time values on the monitoring unit; and

sounding an alarm when a calculated temperature is above a preset value.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising the step of:

making the thermometer(s) out of stainless steel.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the step of attaching one or more thermometers comprises attaching the thermometer(s) to the pillow itself.