Portable terminal and health management method and system using portable terminal

• US 7,752,058 B2
• Filed: 11/27/2001
• Issued: 07/06/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Sasaki, Toshiaki, Tsutsumi, Takayoshi, Sugama, Sadayuki
• Primary Examiner(s): O'Connor; Gerald J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Najarian; Lena
• Application Number:
  US09/993,663
• Publication Number:
  US 20020065685A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,143 Days
• Field of Search: 128200-203, 455/566, 455/404, 705/3, 705/2
• US Class Current: 705/3
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 15/00 Inhalators drug delivery in endotracheal tubes A61M16/04
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 15/0065 Inhalators with dosage or measuring devices A61M15/0028 takes precedence; dosage devices incorporated in aerosol cans B65D83/52
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 15/0068 Indicating or counting the number of dispensed doses or of remaining doses
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 15/008 Electronic counters
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 15/0083 Timers
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 15/025 Bubble jet droplet ejection devices
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/505 Touch-screens; Virtual keyboard or keypads; Virtual buttons; Soft keys; Mouse touches
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/52 with memories providing a history of measured variating parameters of apparatus or patient
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/6027 Electric-conductive bridges closing detection circuits, with or without identifying elements, e.g. resistances, zener-diodes
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/6063 Optical identification systems
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/609 Biometric patient identification means
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/65 stored on portable record carriers, e.g. on smartcards, RFID tags or CD
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/10 relating to drugs or medications, e.g. for ensuring correct administration to patients
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/13 delivered from dispensers
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation

Abstract

A portable terminal carried and owned by each user is provided with a display screen, a communication unit, a memory storing personal information about each user, and an input/output device such as an inhaler. A database that communicates with each portable terminal is provided with a personal information storage unit storing the personal information about each user carrying the portable terminal, a medical information storage unit storing information about a medical facility, a drugstore, a medicine, and the input/output device, and a communication unit for communicating with each portable terminal. In the database, the user of the portable terminal is identified by collating the part of the information transmitted from the communication unit with information stored in the personal information storage unit. When a specific signal is transmitted from the communication unit, communication is performed with a medical facility while information, of the information stored in the medicine information storage unit, which is necessary for the user is provided for the portable terminal as an emergency measure. This makes it possible to properly and quickly handle an emergency.

Claims

1. A health management system for managing health of each patient carrying a portable terminal, comprising:

a portable terminal which is arranged to be carried by a patient and includes

a display screen,

radio communication means for accessing a predetermined radio communication network,

storage means for storing personal information of the patient, wherein the personal information includes information of a clinical chart of the patient and a prescription of the patient,

an input/output device for supporting health management for the patient, and

emergency notification means for transmitting to the radio communication network a type of emergency notification specified by the patient from a plurality of types of emergency notifications; and

a database including

personal information storage means for storing the personal information about each patient carrying said portable terminal,

medical information storage means for storing information about a medical facility, a drugstore, a medicine, and said input/output device; and

communication means for communicating with said portable terminal through the radio communication network,

wherein said radio communication means transmits part of the personal information stored in said storage means in starting to communicate with said database, and

wherein said database further includes

identification means for identifying the patient of said portable terminal by collating the part of the information transmitted from said radio communication means with information stored in said personal information storage means, and

emergency handling means which is activated when the type of emergency notification is transmitted from said emergency notification means and which provides, in accordance with the type of emergency notification, said portable terminal either with communication or with information, wherein the communication provided to said portable terminal uses said radio communication means to communicate with a medical facility whose information is stored in said medical information storage means, and wherein the information provided to the portable terminal comprises information about a medical facility or a drugstore providing a medicine needed for the identified patient, and wherein the information is selected from information stored in said medical information storage means based on at least one of the clinical chart and the prescription of the patient,

said portable terminal further comprises position information acquisition means for acquiring position information of said terminal, and said emergency handling means causes said portable terminal to display information about a route from a position of said portable terminal to a suitable medical facility or drugstore on said display screen on the basis of the position information transmitted from said position information acquisition means.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein said radio communication means and said communication means perform encryption/decryption in accordance with a predetermined scheme in transmitting/receiving at least part of the personal information.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein said emergency handling means communicates with an emergency facility when no information is transmitted a predetermined period of time after said emergency handling means is activated.

5. The system according to claim 1, wherein part of the information includes information about biometrical characteristics of the patient.

3. A health management system for managing health of each patient carrying a portable terminal, comprising:

a portable terminal which is arranged to be carried by a patient and includes

a display screen,

radio communication means for accessing a predetermined radio communication network,

storage means for storing personal information of the patient, wherein the personal information includes information of a clinical chart of the patient and a prescription of the patient,

an input/output device for supporting health management for the patient, and

emergency notification means for transmitting to the radio communication network a type of emergency notification specified by the patient from a plurality of types of emergency notifications; and

a database including

personal information storage means for storing the personal information about each patient carrying said portable terminal,

medical information storage means for storing information about a medical facility, a drugstore, a medicine, and said input/output device; and

communication means for communicating with said portable terminal through the radio communication network,

wherein said radio communication means transmits part of the personal information stored in said storage means in starting to communicate with said database,

wherein said input/output device is an inhaler for discharging a medicine in the form of fine droplets to make the patient inhale the droplets, and the information about said input/output device includes information about handling of said inhaler, and

wherein said database further includes

identification means for identifying the patient of said portable terminal by collating the part of the information transmitted from said radio communication means with information stored in said personal information storage means, and

emergency handling means which is activated when the type of emergency notification is transmitted from said emergency notification means and which provides, in accordance with the type of emergency notification, said portable terminal either with communication or with information, wherein the communication provided to the said portable terminal uses said radio communication means to communicate with a medical facility whose information is stored in said medical information storage means, and wherein the information provided to the portable terminal comprises information about a medical facility or a drugstore providing a medicine needed for the identified patient, and wherein the information is selected from information stored in said medical information storage means based on at least one of the clinical chart and the prescription of the patient, and

wherein said portable terminal further comprises position information acquisition means for acquiring position information of said terminal, and said emergency handling means causes said portable terminal to display information about a route from a position of said portable terminal to a suitable medical facility or drugstore on said display screen on the basis of the position information transmitted from said position information acquisition means.

6. A health management method of managing health of each patient carrying a portable terminal, including the steps of:

providing a portable terminal carried by a patient with a display screen, radio communication means for accessing a predetermined radio communication network, storage means for storing personal information of the patient, an input/output device for supporting health management for the patient, emergency notification means for transmitting to the radio communication network a type of emergency notification specified by the patient from a plurality of types of emergency notifications, wherein the personal information includes information of a clinical chart of the patient and a prescription of the patient;

providing a database for communicating with each portable terminal with personal information storage means for storing the personal information about each patient carrying the portable terminal, medical information storage means for storing information about a medical facility, a drugstore, a medicine, and the input/output device, and communication means for communicating with the portable terminal through the radio communication network;

transmitting part of the personal information stored in the storage means by the radio communication means when starting to communicate with the database;

identifying using the database, the patient of the portable terminal by collating the part of the information transmitted from the radio communication means with information stored in the personal information storage means; and

activating, when the type of emergency notification is transmitted from said emergency notification means, an emergency handling means which provides, in accordance with the type of emergency notification, said portable terminal either with communication or with information, wherein the communication provided to said portable terminal uses said radio communication means to communicate with a medical facility whose information is stored in said medical information storage means, and wherein the information provided to the portable terminal comprises information about a medical facility or a drugstore providing a medicine needed for the identified patient, and wherein the information is selected from information stored in said medical information storage means based on at least one of the clinical chart and the prescription of the patient,

wherein

said portable terminal further comprises position information acquisition means for acquiring position information of said terminal, and, in the step of activating, said emergency handling means causes said portable terminal to display information about a route from a position of said portable terminal to a suitable medical facility or drugstore on said display screen on the basis of the position information transmitted from said position information acquisition means.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the radio communication means and the communication means perform encryption/decryption in accordance with a predetermined scheme in transmitting/receiving at least part of the personal information.

9. The method according to claim 6, wherein in the database, when no information is transmitted a predetermined period of time after a specific signal is transmitted from the radio communication means, communication is made to an emergency facility.

10. The method according to claim 6, wherein part of the information includes information about biometrical characteristics of the patient.

8. A health management method of managing health of each patient carrying a portable terminal, including the steps of:

providing a portable terminal carried by a patient with a display screen, radio communication means for accessing a predetermined radio communication network, storage means for storing personal information of the patient, an input/output device for supporting health management for the patient, and emergency notification means for transmitting to the radio communication network a type of emergency notification specified by the patient from a plurality of types of emergency notifications, wherein the personal information includes information of a clinical chart of the patient and a prescription of the patient;

providing a database for communicating with each portable terminal with personal information storage means for storing the personal information about each patient carrying the portable terminal, medical information storage means for storing information about a medical facility, a drugstore, a medicine, and the input/output device, and communication means for communicating with the portable terminal through the radio communication network;

transmitting part of the personal information stored in the storage means by the radio communication means when starting to communicate with the database;

identifying, using the database, the patient of the portable terminal by collating the part of the information transmitted from the radio communication means with information stored in the personal information storage means; and

activating, when the type of emergency notification is transmitted from said emergency notification means, an emergency handling means which provides, in accordance with the type of emergency notification, said portable terminal either with communication or with information, wherein the communication provided to said portable terminal uses said radio communication means to communicate with a medical facility whose information is stored in said medical information storage means, and wherein the information provided to the portable terminal comprises information about a medical facility or a drugstore providing a medicine needed for the identified patient, and wherein the information is selected from information stored in said medical information storage means based on at least one of the clinical chart and the prescription of the patient

wherein the input/output device is an inhaler for discharging a medicine in the form of fine droplets to make the patient inhale the droplets, and the information about the input/output device includes information about handling of the inhaler, and

said portable terminal further comprises position information acquisition means for acquiring position information of said terminal, and, in the step of activating, said emergency handling means causes said portable terminal to display information about a route from a position of said portable terminal to a suitable medical facility or drugstore on said display screen on the basis of the position information of transmitted from said position information acquisition means.

11. An information provision method for providing medical information about health, a medical treatment or a medicine from a database, comprising steps of:

receiving, from a portable terminal carried by a patient through a network, patient information stored in the portable terminal and a type of emergency notification specified by the patient from a plurality of types of emergency notifications, wherein the patient information includes a clinical chart of the patient and a prescription of the patient;

identifying the patient by collating the patient information transmitted from the portable terminal with personal information stored in the database; and

activating an emergency handling means which is included in the database and which provides, in accordance with the type of emergency notification, said portable terminal either with communication or with information, wherein the communication provided to said portable terminal uses said radio communication means to communicate with a medical facility whose information is stored in said medical information storage means, and wherein the information provided to said portable terminal comprises information which is about a medical facility or a drugstore providing a medicine needed for the identified patient, and wherein the information is selected from information stored in said medical information storage means based on at least one of the clinical chart and the prescription of the patient,

wherein said portable terminal further comprises position information acquisition means for acquiring position information of said terminal, and, in the step of activating, said emergency handling means causes said portable terminal to display information about a route from a position of said portable terminal to a suitable medical facility or drugstore on said display screen on the basis of the position information transmitted from said position information acquisition means.

13. The method according to claim 11, wherein the medical information is route information about a suitable medical facility or drugstore for the identified patient.

12. An information provision method for providing medical information about health, a medical treatment or a medicine from a database, comprising steps of:

receiving, from a portable terminal carried by a patient through a network, patient information stored in the portable terminal and a type of emergency notification specified by the patient from a plurality of types of emergency notifications by the radio communication network;

identifying the patient by collating the patient information transmitted from the portable terminal with personal information stored in the database, wherein the personal information includes information of a clinical chart of the patient and a prescription of the patient; and

activating an emergency handling means which is included in the database and which provides, in accordance with the type of emergency notification, said portable terminal either with communication or with information, wherein the communication provided to said portable terminal uses said portable terminal to communicate with a medical facility whose information is stored in said database, and wherein the information provided to said portable terminal comprises information about a medical facility or a drugstore providing a medicine needed for the identified patient, and wherein the information is selected from information stored in said database based on at least one of the clinical chart and the prescription of the patient,

wherein said portable terminal includes an inhaler which discharges a medicine on the basis of an ink-jet scheme using heat, and

said portable terminal further comprises position information acquisition means for acquiring position information of said terminal, and, in the step of activating, said emergency handling means causes said portable terminal to display information about a route from a position of said portable terminal to a suitable medical facility or drugstore on said display screen on the basis of the position information transmitted from said position information acquisition means.

14. A health management system for managing health of each user carrying a portable terminal, comprising:

a portable terminal which is arranged to be carried by a user and includes

a display screen,

radio communication means for accessing a predetermined radio communication network,

storage means for storing personal information of the user, wherein the personal information includes information of a clinical chart of the user and a prescription of the user,

an input/output device including a medication device for supporting health management for the user, and

emergency notification means for transmitting to the radio communication network a type of emergency notification specified by the user from a plurality of types of emergency notifications; and

a database including

personal information storage means for storing the personal information about each user carrying said portable terminal,

medical information storage means for storing information about a medical facility, a drugstore, a medicine, and said input/output device; and

communication means for communicating with said portable terminal through the radio communication network,

wherein said radio communication means transmits part of the personal information stored in said storage means in starting to communicate with said database, and

wherein said database further includes

identification means for identifying the user of said portable terminal by collating the part of the information transmitted from said radio communication means with information stored in said personal information storage means, and

emergency handling means which is activated when the type of emergency notification is transmitted from said emergency notification means and which provides, in accordance with the type of emergency notification, said portable terminal either with communication or with information, wherein the communication provided to said portable terminal uses said radio communication means to communicate with a medical facility whose information is stored in said medical information storage means, and wherein the information provided to said portable terminal comprises information which is about a medical facility or a drugstore providing a medicine needed for the identified user, and wherein the information is selected from information stored in said medical information storage means based on at least one of the clinical chart and the prescription of the user.

15. The system according to claim 14, wherein said radio communication means and said communication means perform encryption/decryption in transmitting/receiving at least part of the personal information.

16. The system according to claim 14, wherein said portable terminal further comprises position information acquisition means for acquiring position information of said portable terminal, and displaying information about a route to the medical facility or the drugstore selected by said emergency handling means on said display screen based on the position information.

17. The system according to claim 14, wherein said medication device is an inhaler for discharging a medicine in the form of fine droplets to make the user inhale the droplets, and the information about said input/output device includes information about handling of said inhaler.

18. The system according to claim 14, wherein said emergency handing means communicates with an emergency facility when no information is transmitted for a predetermined period of time after said emergency handling means is activated.

19. The system according to claim 14, wherein part of the information includes information about biometrical characteristics of the user.

20. A health management method of managing health of each user carrying a portable terminal, including the steps of:

providing a portable terminal carried by a user with a display screen, radio communication means for accessing a predetermined radio communication network, storage means for storing personal information of the user including information of a clinical chart of the user and a prescription of the user, an input/output device including a medication device for supporting health management for the user, and emergency notification means for transmitting to the radio communication network a type of emergency notification specified by the user from a plurality of types of emergency notifications;

providing a database for communicating with each portable terminal with personal information storage means for storing the personal information about each user carrying the portable terminal, medical information storage means for storing information about a medical facility, a drugstore, a medicine, and the input/output device, and communication means for communicating with the portable terminal through the radio communication network;

transmitting part of the personal information stored in the storage means by the radio communication means when starting to communicate with the database;

identifying using the database, the user of the portable terminal by collating the part of the information transmitted from the radio communication means with information stored in the personal information storage means; and

activating an emergency handling means when the type of emergency notification is transmitted from said emergency notification means, wherein the emergency handling means provides, in accordance with the type of emergency notification, said portable terminal either with communication or with information, wherein the communication provided to said portable terminal uses said radio communication means to communicate with a medical facility whose information is stored in said medical information storage means, and wherein the information provided to said portable terminal comprises information about a medical facility or a drugstore providing a medicine needed for the identified user, and wherein the information is selected from information stored in said medical information storage means based on at least one of the clinical chart and the prescription of the user.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein said radio communication means and said communication means perform encryption/decryption in transmitting/receiving at least part of the personal information.

22. The method according to claim 20, further including the steps of:

acquiring position information of said portable terminal using position information acquisition means, and

displaying information about a route to the medical facility or the drugstore selected from the database on said display screen based on the position information.

23. The method according to claim 20, wherein said medication device is an inhaler for discharging a medicine in the form of fine droplets to make the user inhale the droplets, and the information about said input/output device includes information about handling of said inhaler.

24. The method according to claim 20, further including the step of communicating with an emergency facility in the database when no information is transmitted for a predetermined period of time after said emergency handling means is activated.

25. The method according to claim 20, wherein part of the information includes information about biometrical characteristics of the user.

26. A health management system for providing medical information about health, a medical treatment or a medicine from a database, comprising:

means for receiving, from a portable terminal including a medication device via a network, information including a clinical chart of a user and a prescription of the user stored in the portable terminal, and a type of emergency notification specified by the user from a plurality of types of emergency notifications;

identification means for identifying the user of said portable terminal by collating the received information with personal information stored in said database, and

means for conducting the identification in response to transmission of the type of emergency notification from said portable terminal, and for providing, in accordance with the type of emergency notification, said portable terminal either with communication or with information, wherein the communication provided to said portable terminal uses said portable terminal to communicate with a medical facility whose information is stored in said database, and wherein the information provided to the portable terminal comprises information about a medical facility or a drugstore providing a medicine needed for the identified user, and wherein the information is selected from information stored in said database.

27. The system according to claim 26, wherein said medication device includes an inhaler discharging a medicine on the basis of the ink-jet scheme using heat.