Communication system for monitoring the health status of a patient, communication device, sensor device and method

• US 7,952,475 B2
• Filed: 05/08/2007
• Issued: 05/31/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/16/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Wartena, Frank, Stut, Wim, Ivanov, Eugene
• Primary Examiner(s): Crosland; Donnie L
• Application Number:
  US12/300,639
• Publication Number:
  US 20090128325A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,484 Days
• Field of Search: 340/539.12, 600/301, 128/903, 706/924
• US Class Current: 340/539.12
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0271 using a remote monitoring unit
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0022 Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/30 for calculating health indices; for individual health risk assessment
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 90/10 Information and communication technologies [ICT] supporting adaptation to climate change, e.g. for weather forecasting or climate simulation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 128/903 Radio telemetry
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 128/904 Telephone telemetry
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 706/924 Medical

Abstract

A communication system for monitoring the health status of a patient includes a communication device and a sensor device, the communication device comprising a first communication interface for communication with the sensor device and comprising a second communication interface for communication with a health care center, the communication device being able to generate a warning message upon failure of either the first communication interface or the second communication interface, wherein the generation of a warning message is prevented if the failure of the first communication interface begins and ends during a first time interval and/or the generation of a warning message is prevented if the failure of the second communication interface begins and ends during a third time interval and/or the communication device comprises a detection device for detecting a critical or non-critical health status, and the generation of a warning message is prevented if both the duration of failure of the second communication interface is shorter than a second time interval and a non-critical health status is detected.

Claims

1. A communication device for monitoring the status of a user, comprising a first communication interface for communication with a sensor device and a second communication interface for communication with a health care center, the communication device generating a warning message upon failure of either the first communication interface or the second communication interface, wherein

the communication device comprises a detection device for detecting a critical or a non-critical status, and generating the warning message is prevented if both

the duration of failure of the second communication interface is shorter than a second time interval and

a non-critical status is detected.

2. Communication device according to claim 1, further comprising a positioning device for determining the position of the communication device.

3. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the generation of a warning message is prevented if the failure of the first communication interface begins and ends during a first time interval or if the failure of the second communication interface begins and ends during a third time interval.

4. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the second time interval is dynamically adjustable.

5. The communication device according to claim 3, wherein the first time interval or the third time interval is dynamically adjustable.

6. Method of monitoring the status of a user (60), comprising:

linking a communication device and a sensor device via a first communication interface, the communication device having a second communication interface for communication with a health care center,

transferring a sensor signal to the communication device via the first communication interface, the sensor signal comprising health information as to whether the status is critical or not, and

generating a warning message upon failure of either the first communication interface or the second communication interface, wherein

the status is detected via the sensor device and the generation of the warning message is prevented if both

the duration of the failure of the second communication interface is

shorter than a second time interval and

non-critical status is detected.

7. Method according to claim 6, wherein the sensor device senses at least one of:

a heart rate of the user, a blood pressure of the user, a temperature of the user, a breathing rate of the user, a ECG (electrocardiogram) of the user, a motion of the user, a galvanic skin response of the user, an oxygen level of the user, a blood flow of the user, an acidity of the user, a glucose level of the user as an indication of the status of the user.

8. Method according to claim 6, wherein the health information is implicit and the detection device detects the status of the user from the implicit health information by applying a detection algorithm.

9. Method according to claim 6, wherein the health information is explicit and the explicit health information is generated inside the sensor device, the sensor device detecting the status of the user by applying a detection algorithm.

10. Method according to claim 6, wherein the communication device monitors the signal strength of the second communication interface, and in case of the detection of a comparatively low signal strength, the user is guided towards a first area with a sufficient signal strength.

11. Method according to claim 6, wherein the communication device stores at least one-second area with a comparatively low signal strength, and the communication device detects whether the communication device is positioned inside the second area and, if so, the user is guided towards a first area with a sufficient signal strength.

12. A communication system for monitoring a status of a user, comprising a communication device coupled to a sensor device via a first communication interface, the communication device further comprising a second communication interface for communicating with a health care center, the communication device generating a warning message upon failure of either the first communication interface or the second communication interface, wherein the communication device includes a detection device for detecting a critical or a non-critical status, and wherein generating the warning message is prevented if 1) the duration of failure of the second communication interface is shorter than a second time interval, and 2) a non-critical status is detected.

13. The communication system according to claim 12, wherein the sensor device generates a sensor signal transmitted via the first communication interface to the communication device, the sensor signal comprising implicit health information as to whether the status is critical or not, and wherein the implicit health information is information regarding the status, which is extracted out of the sensor signal.

14. The communication system according to claim 12, wherein the sensor device generates a sensor signal transmitted via the first communication interface to the communication device, the sensor signal comprising explicit health information as to whether the status is critical or not.