Grooming systems, devices, and methods including detection of hair-covered skin lesions during grooming and including topographical analysis

• US 9,301,598 B2
• Filed: 12/13/2013
• Issued: 04/05/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/13/2013
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Hyde, Roderick A., McKnight, Gary L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Cwern, Jonathan
• Application Number:
  US14/106,161
• Publication Number:
  US 20150164406A1
• Time in Patent Office: 844 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A45D 24/10 combined with additional devices
• CPC Class Codes: A46B 15/0004 with a controlling means
• CPC Class Codes: A46B 15/0036 with a lighting means, e.g. laser, bulb A46B15/0034 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A46B 15/0055 Brushes combined with other articles normally separate from the brushing process, e.g. combs, razors, mirrors
• CPC Class Codes: A46B 2200/1093 Brush for use on animal A46B2200/1086 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A46B 9/023 arranged like in hair brushes, e.g. hair treatment, dyeing, streaking
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0266 Optical strain gauges
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/046 in a matrix array
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0064 Body surface scanning
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0066 Optical coherence imaging
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0071 by measuring fluorescence emission
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0075 by spectroscopy, i.e. measuring spectra, e.g. Raman spectroscopy, infrared absorption spectroscopy A61B5/0071 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0077 Devices for viewing the surface of the body, e.g. camera, magnifying lens
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0531 Measuring skin impedance
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1032 Determining colour for diagnostic purposes measuring colour in general G01J3/46
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1072 measuring distances on the body, e.g. measuring length, height or thickness A61B5/1076 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1077 Measuring of profiles
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1079 using optical or photographic means
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/444 Evaluating skin marks, e.g. mole, nevi, tumour, scar
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6887 mounted on external non-worn devices, e.g. non-medical devices
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7264 : Classification of physiological signals or data, e.g. using neural networks, statistical classifiers, expert systems or fuzzy systems neural networks per se G06N3/00; expert systems per se G06N5/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7405 : using sound
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/742 : using visual displays A61B5/339 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7455 : characterised by tactile indication, e.g. vibration or electrical stimulation
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/08 : Detecting organic movements or changes, e.g. tumours, cysts, swellings A61B8/02 - A61B8/06 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/085 : for locating body or organic structures, e.g. tumours, calculi, blood vessels, nodules
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/0858 : involving measuring tissue layers, e.g. skin, interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/13 : Tomography A61B8/10, A61B8/12 take precedence; tomography for radiation diagnosis A61B6/02
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/4455 : Features of the external shape of the probe, e.g. ergonomic aspects
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/4472 : Wireless probes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/483 : involving the acquisition of a 3D volume of data
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/488 : involving Doppler signals
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/5223 : for extracting a diagnostic or physiological parameter from medical diagnostic data for algorithms to analyse biomedical images G06T7/0012
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 7/00 : Ultrasound therapy lithotripsy A61B17/22, A61B17/225; massage using supersonic vibration A61H23/00 ; using ultrasound for introducing media into the body A61M37/0092
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/30 : for calculating health indices; for individual health risk assessment

Abstract

Systems, devices, and methods are described for acquiring, among other things, lesion information from a hair or fur-covered region of a biological subject.

Claims

1. A grooming system, comprising:

a body structure including a plurality of spaced-apart projections configured to engage hair;

a sensor array including one or more sensors forming part of at least one of the plurality of spaced-apart projections, the sensor array operably coupled to the body structure, and configured to scan a scalp region;

a scalp lesion morphology module operably coupled to the sensor array and including computing device circuitry and memory circuitry;

wherein the scalp lesion morphology module is operably coupled to the sensor array and is configured to generate lesion information associated with the scalp region responsive to one or more inputs from the sensor array;

one or more marker-dispenser components; and

an examined region module operably coupled to the one or more marker dispenser components and including computing device circuitry and memory circuitry, the examined region module configured to activate release of one or more marker or dye particles by the marker dispenser components.

2. The grooming system of claim 1, including one or more accelerometers, gyroscopes, or inclinometers forming part of the grooming system;

an inertial navigation module operably coupled to the body structure and to the one or more accelerometers, gyroscopes, or inclinometers, the inertial navigation module including computing device circuitry and memory circuitry;

wherein the inertial navigation module is configured to use the one or more accelerometers, gyroscopes, or inclinometers to generate information indicative of a location and orientation of a portion of the grooming system.

3. The grooming system of claim 2, wherein the inertial navigation module includes circuitry configured to determine the location of one or more of the plurality of spaced-apart projections with respect to a scalp region location.

4. The grooming system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of spaced-apart projections include a plurality of bristles dimensioned and configured to groom hair.

5. The grooming system of claim 1, wherein one or more of the plurality of spaced-apart projections form part of the sensor array.

6. The grooming system of claim 1, wherein the sensor array includes a plurality of optical fibers dimensioned and configured to deflect during grooming responsive to contacting topographic features on a scalp.

7. The grooming system of claim 1, wherein the sensor array includes a plurality of optical fibers configured to mechanically deform and to generate an output signal responsive to contacting topographic features on a scalp during grooming.

8. The grooming system of claim 1, wherein the sensor array includes one or more fiber optic strain sensors, piezoelectric components, flexure sensors, translation sensors, or capacitive sensors configured to measure surface variations on a scalp as a function of position during grooming.

9. The grooming system of claim 8, wherein the scalp lesion morphology module is configured to store data associated with one or more surface variations of the scalp measured with the sensor array by position in the memory circuitry of the scalp lesion morphology module.

10. The grooming system of claim 1, wherein the sensor array includes one or more sensor elements configured to detect skin contact;

and wherein the scalp lesion morphology module is operable to collect lesion information associated with the scalp region responsive to an indication that at least one of the one or more sensor elements is in contact with the scalp region.

11. The grooming system of claim 1, wherein the scalp lesion morphology module is configured to determine a rate of change of at least one parameter of the lesion responsive to a comparison of user-specific reference information to the one or more inputs from the sensor array.

12. The grooming system of claim 1, wherein the scalp lesion morphology module is configured to generate cancer classification information responsive to one or more inputs from the sensor array.

13. The grooming system of claim 1, wherein the scalp lesion morphology module is configured to generate lesion information.

14. The grooming system of claim 1, wherein the scalp lesion morphology module is configured to generate topographic information associated with a scalp lesion responsive to one or more inputs from the sensor array.

15. The grooming system of claim 1, wherein the scalp lesion morphology module is configured to generate infection information associated with a scalp lesion responsive to one or more inputs from the sensor array.

16. The grooming system of claim 1, wherein the scalp lesion morphology module is configured to combine measurements from the sensor array obtained at different spatial locations.

17. The grooming system of claim 1, wherein the scalp lesion morphology module is configured to generate scalp surface variation information.

18. The grooming system of claim 1, wherein the scalp lesion morphology module is configured to generate scalp topographic information.

19. The grooming system of claim 1, wherein the scalp lesion morphology module includes at least one of a receiver component, a transceiver component, and a transmitter component operable to communicate lesion information.

20. The grooming system of claim 1, wherein the scalp lesion morphology module is configured to generate one or more of a tactile, an audible, and a visual response indicative of a user instruction.

21. The grooming system of claim 1, wherein the scalp lesion morphology module is configured to generate one or more of a tactile, an audible, or a visual response indicative of an instruction to a user to groom the scalp region with the grooming system.

22. The grooming system of claim 1, including one or more impedance sensors forming part of the sensor array;

and

a scalp lesion dielectric module operably coupled to the one or more impedance sensors and including computing device circuitry and memory circuitry, the scalp lesion dielectric module configured to identify a scalp surface object based on a comparison of an impedance detected with the one or more impedance sensors to reference scalp surface object impedance information.

23. The grooming system of claim 1, including one or more image sensors forming part of the sensor array;

and

a scalp lesion imaging module operably coupled to the one or more image sensors and including computing device circuitry and memory circuitry, the scalp lesion imaging module configured to identify a scalp surface object based on one or more images of a scalp region obtained with the one or more image sensors during grooming.

24. The grooming system of claim 1, including one or more ultrasonic transducers;

and

a scalp lesion ultrasound imaging module operably coupled to the one or more ultrasonic transducers and including computing device circuitry and memory circuitry, the scalp lesion ultrasound imaging module configured to identify a scalp surface object based on one or more ultrasound images of a scalp region obtained with the one or more ultrasonic transducers during grooming.

25. The grooming system of claim 1, including

a scalp examination module operably coupled to the scalp lesion morphology module and including computing device circuitry and memory circuitry, the scalp examination module configured to track locations of examined regions of a scalp and determine which locations have not been examined.

26. The grooming system of claim 1, wherein the examined region module is configured to activate release of one or more particles to mark scalp regions.

27. The grooming system of claim 1, wherein the examined region module is configured to activate release of a dye to mark scalp regions.

28. The grooming system of claim 1, wherein the one or more marker-dispenser components are operably coupled to one or more of the plurality of spaced-apart projections.

29. The grooming system of claim 1, wherein the examined region module is operable to detect a marker previously released by the marker-dispenser component.

30. A grooming device, comprising:

a comb component including a spine having a plurality of spaced-apart teeth extending outward from the spine;

one or more sensors forming part of at least one of the plurality of spaced apart teeth, the one or more sensors forming a sensor array operable to measure surface variations on the scalp as a function of position during grooming;

one or more marker-dispenser components;

circuitry for acquiring surface variations information of a scalp lesion from one or more inputs from the sensor array during grooming;

circuitry for generating classification information associated with the scalp lesion responsive to the one or more inputs from the sensor array;

an examined region module operably coupled to the one or more marker-dispenser components and configured to activate release of one or more marker or dye particles by the marker-dispenser components; and

circuitry including at least one of a receiver component, a transceiver component, and a transmitter component operable to communicate with a remote enterprise for actuating a discovery protocol that allows the circuitry including the at least one of the receiver component, the transceiver component, and the transmitter component and the remote enterprise to identify each other and to negotiate one or more pre-shared keys via the at least one of the receiver component, the transceiver component, and the transmitter component;

wherein the circuitry for acquiring surface variations, the circuitry for generating classification information, the examined region module, and the circuitry including the at least one of the receiver component, the transceiver component, and the transmitter component include computing device circuitry and memory circuitry.

31. The grooming device of claim 30, wherein the circuitry for acquiring surface variations information is operably coupled to the one or more sensors forming part of at least one of the plurality of spaced-apart teeth.

32. The grooming device of claim 30, wherein the circuitry for generating classification information associated with the scalp lesion is configured to generate cancer classification information by comparison of the surface variations information from the one or more inputs from the sensor array with reference information stored in the memory circuitry.

33. The grooming device of claim 30, wherein the circuitry for generating classification information associated with the scalp lesion is configured to generate classification information responsive to one or more inputs indicative of a lesion shape by comparison of the one or more inputs indicative of the lesion shape with reference information stored in the memory circuitry.

34. The grooming device of claim 30, including circuitry for negotiating, via the at least one of the receiver component, transceiver component, and transmitter component, user-specific scalp lesion information based on at least one cryptographic protocol, encryption protocol, or decryption protocol.

35. The grooming device of claim 30, including circuitry for communicating with the remote enterprise and to receive control command information from the remote enterprise via the at least one of the receiver component, transceiver component, and transmitter component.

36. The grooming device of claim 30, including circuitry for actuating the discovery protocol to allow the circuitry including the at least one of the receiver component, the transceiver component, and the transmitter component and the remote enterprise to negotiate information.

37. A method, comprising:

acquiring surface variation information of a hair-covered scalp region with a sensor array operably coupled to a grooming device during grooming with the grooming device, the grooming device including a comb component including a spine having a plurality of spaced-apart teeth extending outward from the spine;

the sensor array, wherein the sensor array includes one or more sensors forming part of at least one of the plurality of spaced apart teeth;

one or more marker-dispenser components;

an examined region module operable connected to the one or more marker-dispenser components and including computing device circuitry and memory circuitry; and

a scalp lesion morphology module including computing device circuitry, memory circuitry and at least one of a receiver component, a transceiver component, and a transmitter component;

generating scalp lesion morphology information with the scalp lesion morphology module based on acquiring the surface variation information of the scalp region with the sensor array operably coupled to the grooming device; and

activating the one or more marker-dispenser components with the examined region module to release a marker to the scalp region.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein acquiring the surface variation information of the scalp region includes storing the surface variation information of the scalp region as a function of position.

39. The method of claim 37, wherein acquiring the surface variation information of the scalp region includes accessing stored data associated with previously detected surface variations as a function of position.

40. The method of claim 37, wherein acquiring the surface variation information of the scalp region includes comparing surface variation information acquired with the sensor array with stored data associated with previously detected surface variations.

41. The method of claim 37, wherein acquiring surface variation information of the scalp region includes detecting a deflection of an array of projections forming part of the grooming device.

42. The method of claim 37, wherein generating the scalp lesion morphology information includes generating classification information associated with one or more scalp lesions responsive to one or more inputs from the sensor array as a function of position during grooming.

43. The method of claim 37, wherein generating the scalp lesion morphology information includes generating lesion configuration information responsive to one or more inputs from the sensor array.

44. The method of claim 37, wherein generating the scalp lesion morphology information includes generating cancer classification information associated with a scalp lesion responsive to one or more inputs from the sensor array.

45. The method of claim 37, wherein generating the scalp lesion morphology information includes generating lesion dimension information responsive to one or more inputs from the sensor array.

46. The method of claim 37, including actuating a discovery protocol with the scalp lesion morphology module that allows the scalp lesion morphology module and a remote enterprise to identify each other and to negotiate one or more pre-shared keys via the at least one of the receiver component, transceiver component, and transmitter component.

47. The method of claim 37, including detecting a previously released marker within the scalp region with the examined region module.