Remote diagnosis system

• US 6,497,657 B2
• Filed: 02/08/2001
• Issued: 12/24/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 05/01/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Omron Healthcare Company Limited (Omron Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Colin Corporation (Fukuda Denshi Company Limited)
• Inventors: Nunome, Tomohiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Winakur, Eric F.
• Assistant Examiner(s): MCCROSKY, DAVID J
• Application Number:
  US09/778,799
• Publication Number:
  US 20010037056A1
• Time in Patent Office: 684 Days
• Field of Search: 600/300, 600/301, 600/485, 600/490, 600/494, 600/549, 128/903, 128/904, 128/923
• US Class Current: 600/300
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0002 Remote monitoring of patients using telemetry, e.g. transmission of vital signals via a communication network A61B5/07 takes precedence; transmission systems for measured values G08C; transmission H04B; transmission of digital information H04L; wireless communication networks H04W
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/022 by applying pressure to close blood vessels, e.g. against the skin; Ophthalmodynamometers
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0285 Measuring or recording phase velocity of blood waves
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/11 Measuring movement of the entire body or parts thereof, e.g. head or hand tremor, mobility of a limb for measuring pulse A61B5/02 ;A61B5/1038 takes precedence; motion detection to correct for motion artifacts in physiological signals A61B5/721
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/117 Identification of persons methods or arrangements for recognising patterns, e.g. fingerprints, G06F18/00, G06V40/00; identification of persons by analysing their voice or speech G10L17/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/318 Heart-related electrical modalities, e.g. electrocardiography [ECG]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 128/904 Telephone telemetry
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 128/923 by comparison of patient data to other data

Abstract

A remote diagnosis system including a patient-side device including a physical-information obtaining device which obtains a piece of current physical information from a patient, a plurality of doctor-side devices which are provided in a plurality of medical institutions, respectively, that are remote from the patient-side device and each of which can receive the piece of current physical information of the patient from the patient-side device, a preliminary-diagnosis device for making, based on the piece of current physical information obtained by the physical-information obtaining device, a preliminary diagnosis about whether the patient needs a proper diagnosis to be made by a doctor, and a physical-information transmitting device for transmitting, when the preliminary-diagnosis device makes a preliminary diagnosis that the patient needs a proper diagnosis to be made by a doctor, the piece of current physical information to at least one selected doctor-side device out of the plurality of doctor-side devices.

Claims

1. A remote diagnosis system comprising:

at least one patient-side device including at least one physical-information measuring device which measures at least one current physical information value from at least one patient;

a plurality of doctor-side devices which are provided in a plurality of medical institutions, respectively, that are remote from the patient-side device and each of which can receive the measured current physical information value of the patient from the patient-side device, wherein the at least one patient-side device further includes a doctor-side device selecting device operable by a patient to select at least one of the plurality of doctor-side devices;

a preliminary-diagnosis means for making, based on the physical information value measured by the physical-information measuring device, a preliminary diagnosis about whether the patient needs a proper diagnosis to be made by a doctor; and

a physical-information transmitting means for transmitting, when the preliminary-diagnosis means makes a preliminary diagnosis that the patient needs a proper diagnosis to be made by a doctor, the measured physical information value to said at least one doctor-side device that has been selected by the patient.

2. A system according to claim 1, wherein the preliminary-diagnosis means comprises means for judging whether the measured physical information value falls within a first reference range, and means for making, when it is judged that the measured physical information value does not fall within the first reference range, a preliminary diagnosis that the patient needs a proper diagnosis to be made by a doctor, and wherein each of the doctor-side devices comprises a reference-range changing means for transmitting, to the preliminary-diagnosis means, a second reference range and changing the first reference range to the second reference range, so that the preliminary-diagnosis means judges whether the measured physical information value falls within the second reference range.

3. A system according to claim 1, wherein the preliminary-diagnosis means further comprises:

means for judging whether the measured physical information value falls within a first reference range proper for the patient;

means for making, when it is judged that the measured physical information value does not fall within the first reference range, a preliminary diagnosis that the patient needs a proper diagnosis to be made by a doctor; and

a memory device which stores a plurality of first reference ranges respectively proper for a plurality of patients.

4. A system according to claim 3, wherein each of the doctor-side devices comprises a reference-range changing means for transmitting, to the preliminary-diagnosis means, a second reference range proper for the patient and changing the first reference range proper for the patient to the second reference range proper for the patient, so that the preliminary-diagnosis means judges whether the measured physical information value falls within the second reference range proper for the patient.

5. A system according to claim 1, wherein the patient-side device further comprises:

a display device; and

a display control means for controlling the display device to display the preliminary diagnosis made by the preliminary-diagnosis means.

6. A system according to claim 5, wherein the preliminary-diagnosis means comprises a preliminary-diagnosis transmitting means for transmitting the preliminary diagnosis to the patient-side device.

7. A system according to claim 1, comprising a plurality of patient- side devices for a plurality of patients, respectively, each of the plurality of patient-side devices including at least one physical-information measuring device which measures at least one current physical information value from one of the plurality of patients corresponding to each patient-side device, wherein the preliminary-diagnosis means comprises a memory device which stores, for each of the plurality of patients, at least one past physical information value which had been measured by the physical-information measuring device of one of the plurality of patient-side devices corresponding to each patient, and wherein the physical-information transmitting means transmits, to the selected doctor-side device, the measured current physical information value with the measured past physical information value stored for each patient in the memory device.

8. A system according to claim 1, wherein said at least one physical-information measuring device comprises at least one device selected from the group consisting of a blood-pressure measuring device, a pulse-wave-propagation-velocity-relating-information measuring device, a body-weight meter, a pedometer, and a clinical thermometer.

9. A system according to claim 1, further comprising a communication network which connects the patient-side device to each of the doctor-side devices, so that said each of the doctor-side devices can receive the measured physical information value of the patient from the patient-side device.

10. A system according to claim 9, further comprising a central control device which is connected via the communication network to the patient-side device and the doctor-side devices, wherein the central control device comprises at least one of the preliminary-diagnosis mean and the physical-information transmitting means.

11. A system according to claim 1, wherein the selected doctor-side device further comprises:

an input device which is operable by a doctor to input a proper diagnosis made by the doctor based on the measured physical information value transmitted to said selected doctor-side device; and

a proper-diagnosis transmitting means for transmitting the proper diagnosis to the patient-side device.

12. A system according to claim 11, wherein the patient-side device further comprises a display device which displays the proper diagnosis transmitted from the selected doctor-side device.

19. A system according to claim 7, wherein said plurality of doctor-side devices comprise at least three doctor-side devices, and wherein the patient-side device further comprises a doctor-side-device selecting device operable by the patient to select at least two doctor-side devices from said at least three doctor-side devices, and the physical-information transmitting means transmits, when the preliminary-diagnosis means makes the preliminary diagnosis that the patient needs the proper diagnosis, the measured physical information value to each of said at least two selected doctor-side devices.

13. A remote diagnosis system comprising:

at least one patient-side device including at least one physical-information measuring device which measures at least one current physical information value from at least one patient;

a plurality of doctor-side devices which are provided in a plurality of medical institutions, respectively, that are remote from the patient-side device and each of which can receive the measured physical information value of the patient from the patient-side device;

a preliminary-diagnosis means for making, based on the physical information value measured by the physical-information measuring device, a preliminary diagnosis about whether the patient needs a proper diagnosis to be made by a doctor; and

a physical-information transmitting means for transmitting, when the preliminary-diagnosis means makes a preliminary diagnosis that the patient needs a proper diagnosis to be made by a doctor, the measured physical information value to each of the plurality of doctor-side devices.

14. A system according to claim 13 wherein the preliminary-diagnosis means comprises means for judging whether the measured physical information value falls within a first reference range, and means for making, when it is judged that the measured physical information value does not fall within the first reference range, a preliminary diagnosis that the patient needs a proper diagnosis to be made by a doctor, and wherein each of the doctor-side devices comprises a reference-range changing means for transmitting, to the preliminary-diagnosis means, a second reference range and changing the first reference range to the second reference range, so that the preliminary-diagnosis means judges whether the measured physical information value falls within the second reference range.

15. A system according to claim 13, wherein the preliminary-diagnosis means further comprises:

means for judging whether the measured physical information value falls within a first reference range proper for the patient;

means for making, when it is judged that the measured physical information value does not fall within the first reference range, a preliminary diagnosis that the patient needs a proper diagnosis to be made by a doctor; and

a memory device which stores a plurality of first reference ranges respectively proper for a plurality of patients.

16. A system according to claim 15, wherein each of the doctor-side devices comprises a reference-range changing means for transmitting, to the preliminary-diagnosis means, a second reference range proper for the patient and changing the first reference range proper for the patient to the second reference range proper for the patient, so that the preliminary-diagnosis means judges whether the measured physical information value falls within the second reference range proper for the patient.

17. A system according to claim 13, wherein the patient-side device further comprises:

a display device; and

a display control means for controlling the display device to display the preliminary diagnosis made by the preliminary-diagnosis means.

18. A system according to claim 13, comprising a plurality of patient-side devices for a plurality of patients, respectively, each of the plurality of patient-side devices including at least one physical-information measuring device which measures at least one current physical information value from one of the plurality of patients corresponding to each patient-side device, wherein the preliminary-diagnosis means comprises a memory device which stores, for each of the plurality of patients, at least one past physical information value which had been measured by the physical-information measuring device of one of the plurality of patient-side devices corresponding to each patient, and wherein the physical-information transmitting means transmits, to said each doctor-side device, the measured current physical information value with the measured past physical information value stored for each patient in the memory device.

20. A system according to claim 13, wherein said at least one physical-information measuring device comprises at least one device selected from the group consisting of a blood-pressure measuring device, a pulse-wave-propagation-velocity-relating-information measuring device, a body-weight meter, a pedometer, and a clinical thermometer.