System and method for measuring and reporting changes in walking speed

• US 8,103,477 B2
• Filed: 04/28/2009
• Issued: 01/24/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/10/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Graichen, Catherine Mary, Cuddihy, Paul Edward, Ganesh, Meena, Weisenberg, Jenny Marie
• Primary Examiner(s): Khuu, Cindy Hien-Dieu
• Application Number:
  US12/431,239
• Publication Number:
  US 20090254004A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,001 Days
• Field of Search: 702/160
• US Class Current: 702/160
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2503/08 Elderly
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1113 Local tracking of patients, e.g. in a hospital or private home
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6887 mounted on external non-worn devices, e.g. non-medical devices
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 11/00 Measuring average value of speed by determining time taken to traverse a fixed distance G01P3/64, G01P5/18
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 3/50 for measuring linear speed G01P3/56 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0423 detecting deviation from an expected pattern of behaviour or schedule
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0469 Presence detectors to detect unsafe condition, e.g. infrared sensor, microphone G08B21/0476 takes precedence

Abstract

A system and method for identifying a change in walking speed of a person is provided. The system comprises a plurality of sensors disposed in various rooms of a structure. The system may also include a processor-based system that may receive signals representative of the motion and/or location of the person from the sensors. The system may establish and store a travel time for a path traveled by the person through the structure based on the signals representative of the motion and/or location of the person. The system may identify at least one path from among various travel paths traveled by the person through the structure as having a consistent travel time over a period of time. The system also identifies a change in the person'"'"'s walking speed by identifying changes in the travel time for the at least one path traveled by the person through the structure.

Claims

1. A method of operating a monitoring system to identify a change in walking speed of a person, comprising:

receiving data representative of movement of the person within a structure and the time that the movement occurred;

processing the data to establish a representative travel time for the person to walk along a specific sequence of sensors from among a plurality of different sequences of sensors; and

periodically comparing a current travel time for the person to walk along the specific sequence of sensors to the representative travel time to identify a change in the travel time for the person to walk along the specific sequence of sensors.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein receiving data representative of movement of the person comprises receiving data from a plurality of motion sensors operable to detect movement of the person in a location within the structure.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein receiving data representative of movement of the person comprises receiving data from at least one occupancy sensor operable to detect when the person is positioned on the at least one occupancy sensor within the structure.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein receiving data representative of movement of the person comprises receiving a signal representative of one of a door being open or closed.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein processing the data comprises establishing travel times for the person to walk along the plurality of sequences of sensors and identifying those specific sequences of sensors of the plurality of sequences of sensors having generally consistent travel times and wherein the representative travel time comprises a representative travel time for one of the specific sequences of sensors having generally consistent travel times.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, comprising contacting a caregiver when a changing trend in the travel time between the sequences of sensors is identified.

7. A method of operating a monitoring system to identify a change in walking speed of a person, comprising:

receiving a signal representative of movement of the person from each of a plurality of sensors disposed within a building;

establishing travel times for walks that the person takes between rooms of the building based on the signals representative of movement of the person received from the plurality of sensors disposed within the building;

identifying at least one path through a first plurality of rooms in the building that produces consistent travel times from among a plurality of paths through a plurality of rooms in the building; and

storing a representative travel time of a walk along the path through the first plurality of rooms as a reference for comparison over time.

8. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein receiving a signal representative of movement of the person comprises receiving a signal representative of location of the person within the building.

9. The method as recited in claim 7, comprising periodically comparing a current travel time for a walk along the path through the first plurality of rooms with the representative travel time.

10. The method as recited in claim 9, comprising notifying a caregiver if the current travel times are changing over time.

11. A non-transitory computer readable medium that stores programming instructions executable by at least one processor-based device, wherein the programming instructions enable the processor-based device to establish travel times for a person walking between rooms of a building based on data received from a plurality of sensors in the building and the programming instructions enable the processor-based device to identify a specific sequence of rooms that are walked through by the person as producing the consistent travel times.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium as recited in claim 11, wherein the programming instructions enable the processor-based device to establish a representative travel time for the specific sequence of rooms that are walked through by the person as producing consistent travel times.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium as recited in claim 12, wherein the programming instructions enable the processor-based device to compare travel times with the representative travel time to identify a trend towards a change in the travel times.