Portable tele-homecare monitoring system and method for the same

• US 8,111,817 B2
• Filed: 11/09/2006
• Issued: 02/07/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yuan Ze University
• Original Assignee: Yuan Ze University
• Inventors: Hsu, Yeh-Liang, Wu, Chang-Huei, Cheng, Chih-Ming, Ma, Hung-Hsiang
• Primary Examiner(s): Ramakrishnaiah, Melur
• Application Number:
  US11/594,803
• Publication Number:
  US 20070264931A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,916 Days
• Field of Search: 379/106.02, 379/106.01, 379 37- 51, 379/90.01, 379/93.05, 340/538.11, 340/539.12, 340/531, 600/300, 600/301, 702/19
• US Class Current: 379/106.02
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0242 adapted to measure environmental factors, e.g. temperature, pollution
• 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 5/02055 Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular condition and temperature
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/024 Detecting, measuring or recording pulse rate or heart rate A61B5/0205, A61B5/021 take precedence
• 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 5/145 Measuring characteristics of blood in vivo, e.g. gas concentration, pH value; Measuring characteristics of body fluids or tissues, e.g. interstitial fluid, cerebral tissuemeasuring of blood pressure or blood flow A61B5/02; non-radiation detecting or locating of foreign bodies in blood A61B5/06
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 9/005 Solid-state data loggers
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/23 Indication means, e.g. displays, alarms, audible means

Abstract

A portable tele-homecare monitoring system and method for the same overcomes the problem of medical monitoring requiring a large organized system, with the associated high costs and disadvantages generated due to the large amount of equipment required by the prior art. The present invention allows a user to access home monitoring data by a portable electronic device, an application program or explorer via the Internet from a distributed data server. The portable tele-homecare monitoring system does not require a server and is designed to be modular and portable, so it costs are reduced and so that the design is flexible.

Claims

1. A portable tele-homecare monitoring system, comprising:

a distributed data server;

a centralized database coupled to the distributed data server for storing a plurality of health data and home environment of a plurality of users;

an application server coupled to the distributed data server and the centralized database and having an application program;

a plurality of home sensors coupled to the distributed data server for detecting the health data and the environmental data of the users; and

a portable electronic device embedded with a browser for coupling to the application server through a network, accessing the health data and the environmental data of the users via the application program and for remotely reviewing the health data and the environmental data displayed on the browser.

2. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a wireless transceiver for coupling to the distributed data server.

3. The system according to claim 1, further comprising at least one home control device for coupling to the distributed data server.

4. The system according to claim 1, further comprising at least one electric outputted device for coupling to the distributed data server.

5. The system according to claim 4, wherein the electric outputted devices is a mobile phone, a PDA, a notebook or an e-mail receiver.

6. The system according to claim 1, wherein the home sensor includes a plurality of health sensors and a plurality of environment sensors.

7. The system according to claim 6, wherein the environment sensors include a body temperature sensor, a pulse sensor, a behavior sensor, and a blood sensor.

8. The system according to claim 6, wherein the environment sensor includes a room temperature sensor, a light sensor, a door/window sensor, and a warning sensor.

9. A method of facilitating portable tele-homecare monitoring through a portable tele-homecare monitoring system having a distributed data server, a centralized database coupled to the distributed data server, an application server coupled to the distributed data server and the centralized database, a plurality of home sensors coupled to the distributed data server, and a portable electronic device embedded with a browser, comprising:

transmitting a plurality of home monitoring data detected from a by the home sensors to the distributed data server;

storing, processing and calculating the home monitoring data transmitted from the home sensors by the distributed data server;

receiving a search requirement command transmitted through a network from the portable electronic device by the distributed data server wherein upon a receipt of the search requirement command the distributed data server executes a corresponding search program; and

transmitting the home monitoring data required by the search program to the portable electronic device from the distributed data server.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the home monitoring data includes a plurality of the user'"'"'s health data and a plurality of environmental data.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the user'"'"'s health data is a body temperature, a blood composition, or a pulse.

12. The method according to claim 10, wherein the environmental data comprises a room temperature, a light intensity, or an electronic access device.

13. The method according to claim 9, wherein the search program is a browser program combined with an application program.

14. The method according to claim 9, after storing, processing and calculating the home monitoring data further comprising:

receiving the search requirement command from a centralized database periodically or in a batch from an application server by the distributed data server.

15. The method according to claim 13, wherein the application program is written using a programming language.

16. The method according to claim 9, further comprising:

detecting whether an irregular signal has been generated by the home sensors or not;

receiving the irregular signal and determining a type of the irregular signal transmitted by the distributed data server when detecting the irregular signal has been generated by the home sensors; and

transmitting the irregular signal in accordance with the type of the irregular signal determined by the distributed data server to an electric output device or a home control device.

17. The method according to claim 16, further comprising displaying text or graphics in accordance with the irregular signal on a screen of the electronic output device.

18. The method according to claim 16, further comprising repeatedly detecting whether a irregular signal has been generated by the home sensors or not when no irregular signal generated by the home sensors has been detected.

19. The method according to claim 16, wherein the type of irregular signal include the user'"'"'s health alarm or the home environment alarm.

20. The method according to claim 16, wherein the electronic output device is a mobile phone or an e-mail receiving device.