System providing medical personnel with immediate critical data for emergency treatments

• US 7,609,155 B2
• Filed: 08/25/2006
• Issued: 10/27/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/25/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Midamerican Healthcare Incorporated
• Original Assignee: AEGIS 3
• Inventors: HinKamp, Thomas J.
• Primary Examiner(s): TWEEL JR, JOHN ALEXANDER
• Application Number:
  US11/510,317
• Publication Number:
  US 20070046476A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,159 Days
• Field of Search: 340/539.12, 340/573.1, 340/572.1, 340/572.7, 340/572.8, 600/300, 705/2
• US Class Current: 340/539.12
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 11/006 Automatic identification systems for animals, e.g. electronic devices, transponders for animals identification systems for access to feeding pens A01K1/0209; ear tags with electronic identification means A01K11/004
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1112 Global tracking of patients, e.g. by using GPS
• 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 5/1171 based on the shapes or appearances of their bodies or parts thereof
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/411 Detecting or monitoring allergy or intolerance reactions to an allergenic agent or substance
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/681 Wristwatch-type devices

Abstract

An RFID transponder on a person or animal provides the health care or security personnel with the critical information when the personnel employs a reader terminal capable of reading the RFID transponder. The transponder, after being interrogated by the reader, supplies the critical data such as name, blood type, allergies, directives, medicines, and emergency contact numbers. The reader immediately displays such critical information on its screen. The RFID tag can substantiate that it belongs to its owner. This identification process can involve biometric analysis. The reader terminal downloads additional data from a server and the additional data is presented on a reader terminal'"'"'s screen. The server queries the wireless carrier for reader terminal'"'"'s location data, correlates the reader location data with hospital location data, and sends the critical information to the nearby hospitals. Additionally, the server sends alert information to other firms or individuals contained in the transponder wearer'"'"'s data record. The RFID tag is the healthcare record. It relates and integrates into a larger database and network. It proves its owner and through wireless technology identifies location and other data characteristics of its owner.

Claims

1. A critical data retrieval and display system for providing a medical record comprising a first and a second sets of data, the system comprising:

a device attached to an animal and containing the first set of data describing information required for an urgent treatment, wherein the first set of data is held by the device in a manner to maintain them confidential, the first set of data including information identifying the animal;

means for assuring the first set of data in the device belongs to the animal;

a reader for communicating with the device, displaying at least the first set of data of the medical record and transmitting at least the information identifying the animal; and

a remote server receiving the transmission from the reader, identifying the second set of data from the information identifying the animal and providing the second set of data to the reader.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the device includes a tamper proof mechanical coupling for securely affixing the device to the animal.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the first and second sets of data includes one or more of (1) biometric data describing one or more biological conditions of the animal and (2) biometric data from a trusted source.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the first set of data further comprises at least one of medical data, emergency contact data, and directives data.

5. The system of claim 3 wherein the biometric data comprises at least one of an object photograph, a fingerprint, a dental record a DNA record, an iris scan and an RNA record.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the remote server includes at least an electronic database and the electronic database stores at least a device owner table, an identification table, and a medical triage location table.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the server identifies one or more treatment centers near the animal, alerts one or more of the treatment centers, and sends the second set of data to the one or more treatment centers.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the reader communicates with the device via an RFID interface to both read and write information to and from the device.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the server sends alert information to predetermined entities in response to receiving the information identifying the animal from the reader.

10. The system of claim 1 where the reader is configured to update the first set of data at the device during the urgent treatment.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein the reader includes a first transponder for providing a first communication session between the reader and the device.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the reader includes a second transponder for providing a second communication session between the reader and the remote server.

13. The system of claim 10 wherein at least one of the first and second sets of data includes one or more of a picture a voice record, a time a date, and location information.

34. The system of claim 1, wherein the reader includes means for determining a location of the animal for transmission to the remote server, and the remote server includes instructions responsive to the location for identifying one or more resources accessible from the location that provide medical services.

35. The system of claim 34 wherein the remote server includes instructions for transmitting the medical record to the one or more resources.

36. The system of claim 13, wherein the reader includes a mobile phone device having a capability of reproducing the voice record.

37. The system of claim 1 wherein the device attached to the animal is implanted under the animal'"'"'s skin.

38. The system of claim 1 wherein the device includes memory for maintaining the first set of data, which memory can be both read from and written to by the reader.

14. A device associated with an animal for use in urgent treatment, the device comprising:

a tamper resistant housing worn by the animal;

a memory for storing a first set of data, the first set of data including information identifying the animal; and

a transponder for wirelessly communicating at least the information identifying the animal to a reader in response to an excitation signal, wherein the reader is configured to wirelessly transmit the information identifying the animal to a remote server for authenticating the animal and to receive a second set of data from the remote server, the second set of data transmitted by the remote server in response to receiving the information identifying the animal, the first set of data and the second set of data comprising a patient medical record.

15. The device of claim 14 including a tamper proof mechanical coupling for securely affixing the device to the animal.

16. The device of claim 14 wherein the remote server authenticates the animal by comparing the information identifying the animal with information from a trusted source.

17. The device of claim 14 wherein the transponder includes an RFID interface for providing wireless communication between the device and the reader.

18. The device of claim 14 wherein at least one of the first and second sets of data comprises at least one of object medical data, emergency contact data, and directives data.

19. The device of claim 14 wherein the transponder receives an update to the first set of data for storing in the memory during the urgent treatment.

20. The device of claim 19 where the update to the first set of data includes information identifying the animal.

21. The device of claim 19 wherein the transponder further includes an interface for communicating with a computer network.

22. The device of claim 19 wherein the update to the first set of data includes one or more of a picture, a voice record an ID number a time, a date, and location information.

39. The device of claim 14 wherein the memory is a read/write memory that allows the reader to both read from and write to the first set of data.

40. The device of claim 14 is implanted under the animal'"'"'s skin.

23. A method for retrieving and displaying data associated with an animal for use in urgent treatment, the method comprising:

transmitting an excitation signal in a first communication session between a device worn by the animal and a reader operated by a first responder personnel;

retrieving a first set of data during the first communication session from the device worn by the animal, wherein the first set of data includes at least information uniquely identifying the animal;

transmitting the identification information in a second communication session to a remote server;

comparing the information received at the remote server with information maintained at the remote server in order to identify a second set of data that when matched with the first set of data provides a complete medical record of the animal; and

returning to the reader operated by the first responder personnel at least some information in the second set of data for use in the urgent treatment of the animal.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein at least one of the first and second sets of data comprises at least one of medical data, emergency contact data, and directives data.

25. The method of claim 23 wherein comparing the information received at the remote server with information maintained at the remote server includes correlating an object identifier number to biometric verification data and displaying the biometric verification data.

26. The method of claim 23 wherein at least one of the first and second sets of data includes biometric verification data including at least one of an object photograph, a fingerprint a dental record, a DNA record an iris scan, and an RNA record.

27. The method of claim 23 further comprising:

looking up the identification number in an owner table stored on the server;

identifying the second set of data according to the identification number; and

transmitting the second set of data to the reader for displaying at the reader.

28. The method of claim 23 including communicating during the second communication session a location of the animal to the remote server in order for the remote server to locate one or more accessible medical resources based on the location and communicate to the first responder personnel locations of the one or more resources;

and

communicating from the remote server to the one or more resources the complete medical record of the animal.

29. The method of claim 23 including verifying the device has not been tampered with.

30. The method of claim 23 including transmitting a set of updated biometric data to the device during the urgent treatment.

31. The method of claim 30 wherein the set of updated biometric data includes information identifying the animal.

32. The method of claim 30 including sending the set of updated biometric data to the server for storage.

33. The method of claim 30 wherein the set of updated biometric data includes one or more of a picture a voice record an ID number a time a date, and location information.

41. The method of claim 23 wherein the device worn by the animal is implanted under the animal'"'"'s skin.

42. The method of claim 23 including writing to a memory maintaining the first set of data.