Grooming systems, devices, and methods including detection of hair-covered skin lesions during grooming and including topographical analysis
First Claim
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1. A hair and scalp care system, comprising:
- a body structure including a plurality of spaced-apart projections configured to engage hair, one or more of the spaced-apart projections having a scalp contact region;
one or more ultrasound transducers acoustically coupled to the scalp contact region of the spaced-apart projections;
an ultrasound-imaging module including computing device circuitry and memory circuitry, the ultrasound-imaging module operably coupled to the one or more ultrasound transducers, the ultrasound-imaging module operable to transmit and receive ultrasound signals associated with a scalp lesion;
a scalp lesion morphology module including computing device circuitry and memory circuitry, the scalp lesion morphology module operably coupled to the ultrasound transducers and configured to generate, responsive to one or more inputs from the one or more ultrasound transducers, a tactile response for delivery to a user; and
an output component operably coupled to the scalp lesion morphology module and configured to deliver the tactile response to the user.
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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.
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Citations
37 Claims
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1. A hair and scalp care system, comprising:
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a body structure including a plurality of spaced-apart projections configured to engage hair, one or more of the spaced-apart projections having a scalp contact region; one or more ultrasound transducers acoustically coupled to the scalp contact region of the spaced-apart projections; an ultrasound-imaging module including computing device circuitry and memory circuitry, the ultrasound-imaging module operably coupled to the one or more ultrasound transducers, the ultrasound-imaging module operable to transmit and receive ultrasound signals associated with a scalp lesion; a scalp lesion morphology module including computing device circuitry and memory circuitry, the scalp lesion morphology module operably coupled to the ultrasound transducers and configured to generate, responsive to one or more inputs from the one or more ultrasound transducers, a tactile response for delivery to a user; and an output component operably coupled to the scalp lesion morphology module and configured to deliver the tactile response to the user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A scalp examination device, comprising:
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a body structure having a plurality of spaced-apart projections configured to engage hair; one or more electromechanical transducer elements acoustically coupled to one or more scalp contact regions of one or more of the plurality of spaced-apart projections; one or more contact sensors forming part of the body structure and configured to sense skin contact by one or more scalp contact regions of one or more of the plurality of spaced-apart projections; circuitry for interrogating one or more scalp regions with an ultrasonic stimulus delivered from one or more of the electromechanical transducer elements via one or more scalp contact regions of one or more of the plurality of spaced-apart projections during grooming; circuitry for assessing whether one or more scalp contact regions of one or more of the spaced-apart projections are in contact with the one or more scalp regions; circuitry for acquiring an ultrasonic response via one or more of the electromechanical transducer elements responsive to an indication that one or more scalp contact region of the one or more spaced-apart projections is in contact with the one or more scalp regions, the ultrasonic response associated with interrogation of the one or more scalp regions with the ultrasonic stimulus during grooming; and a scalp lesion morphology module including computing device circuitry and memory circuitry, the scalp lesion morphology module operably coupled to the one or electromechanical transducer elements and configured to generate scalp lesion morphology information associated with the one or more scalp regions responsive to the ultrasonic response. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A method, comprising:
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interrogating one or more hair-covered scalp regions with an ultrasonic stimulus during grooming with a scalp examination device, the scalp examination device including a body structure having a plurality of spaced-apart projections configured to engage hair, one or more electromechanical transducer elements acoustically coupled to one or more scalp contact regions of one or more of the plurality of spaced-apart projections and configured to interrogate the one or more hair-covered scalp regions with the ultrasonic stimulus, one or more contact sensors configured to sense skin contact by one or more scalp contact regions of one or more of the plurality of spaced-apart projection, an output component configured to deliver a tactile response to the user, a scalp lesion morphology module operably connected to the one or more electromechanical transducer elements and configured to generate the tactile response, and computing device circuitry and memory circuitry operably coupled to the one or more electromechanical transducer elements and one or more contact sensors; sensing via the one or more contact sensors skin contact by the one or more scalp contact regions of one or more of the plurality of spaced-apart projections; detecting via the one or more of the electromechanical transducer elements acoustically coupled to the one or more scalp contact regions, responsive to sensing via the one or more contact sensors skin contact by the one or more scalp contact regions of one or more of the plurality of spaced-apart projections, an ultrasonic response associated with interrogating the one or more scalp regions with the ultrasonic stimulus; generating scalp lesion information associated with the one or more scalp regions with the computing device circuitry responsive to one or more inputs indicative of the ultrasonic response; generating the tactile response with the scalp lesion morphology module, responsive to one or more inputs from the one or more electromechanical transducer elements; and delivering the tactile response to the user via the output component. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A method, comprising:
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interrogating one or more hair-covered scalp regions with an ultrasonic stimulus during grooming with a hair and scalp care system, the hair and scalp care system including a body structure having a plurality of spaced-apart projections configured to engage hair, one or more ultrasound transducers acoustically coupled to one or more scalp contact regions of one or more of the plurality of spaced-apart projections and configured to interrogate the one or more hair-covered scalp regions with the ultrasonic stimulus, an output component configured to deliver a tactile response to a user, and computing device circuitry and memory circuitry including an ultrasound imaging module operable to transmit and receive ultrasound signals associated with the scalp region via the one or more ultrasound transducers, and a scalp lesion morphology module configured to generate a tactile response for delivery to the user; sensing with the ultrasound imaging module, via the one or more ultrasound transducers, an ultrasound signal associated with a scalp lesion; generating with the scalp lesion morphology module, responsive to one or more inputs from the one from the one or more ultrasound transducers, a tactile response; and delivering, via the output component, the tactile response to the user.
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Specification