Wireless monitoring of safety helmets

• US 9,420,840 B2
• Filed: 04/20/2015
• Issued: 08/23/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/20/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Miller, II, Robert R.
• Primary Examiner(s): HUNNINGS, TRAVIS R
• Application Number:
  US14/691,162
• Publication Number:
  US 20150223541A1
• Time in Patent Office: 491 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A42B 3/046 Means for detecting hazards or accidents
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0219 Inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt switches
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0247 Pressure sensors
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/028 Microscale sensors, e.g. electromechanical sensors [MEMS]
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/04 Arrangements of multiple sensors of the same type
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/043 in a linear array
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0004 characterised by the type of physiological signal transmitted
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0022 Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet
• 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 5/1122 of movement trajectories
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4064 Evaluating the brain A61B5/031, A61B5/369, A61B5/14553 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6803 Head-worn items, e.g. helmets, masks, headphones or goggles
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6898 Portable consumer electronic devices, e.g. music players, telephones, tablet computers
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7246 using correlation, e.g. template matching or determination of similarity
• 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 5/7282 Event detection, e.g. detecting unique waveforms indicative of a medical condition A61B5/4094, A61B5/4818, A61B5/349, A61B5/0823 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/742 using visual displays A61B5/339 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/746 Alarms related to a physiological condition, e.g. details of setting alarm thresholds or avoiding false alarms alarms per se G08B
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/747 in case of emergency, i.e. alerting emergency services
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/043 detecting an emergency event, e.g. a fall

Abstract

The subject disclosure provides a system and method for remote monitoring of a subject wearing a sports helmet. In one aspect, the system includes a safety helmet and a sensor integrated with the helmet for continuously gathering head acceleration force data, the head acceleration force data associated with the head movements of a subject. The system also includes a wireless transceiver coupled to the sensor for transmitting the head acceleration force data and a mobile device for receiving the head acceleration force data from the wireless transceiver. The system further includes a database engine for displaying the head acceleration force data to a user.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising;

receiving pressure data from a wireless transceiver coupled to a pressure sensitive sensor attached to a helmet of a first person, wherein the pressure data represents a pressure within the helmet;

based on head acceleration force data corresponding to the pressure data, determining whether the pressure satisfies a defined condition with respect to pressure change data corresponding to a defined performance level of a second person; and

in response to determining that the pressure satisfies the defined condition with respect to the pressure change data corresponding to the defined performance level of the second person, sending an alert to a device.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining an average of the pressure data; and

determining the pressure change data based on deviations of the pressure data from the average of the pressure data.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the determining that the pressure satisfies the defined condition comprises determining whether the head acceleration force data corresponds to another defined condition related to a head injury.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the sending the alert to the device comprises sending the alert via an emergency service.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

monitoring the head acceleration force data; and

determining statistical feedback data in response to the head acceleration force data being determined to satisfy another defined condition related to a head injury.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the head acceleration force data corresponds to a determined velocity of the head.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the head acceleration force data corresponds to a determined directionality of the head.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

displaying changes in the head acceleration force data in response to the pressure change data being determined to satisfy another defined condition related to a head injury.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the pressure sensitive sensor comprises an array of sensors.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the pressure sensitive sensor comprises a microelectromechanical system axial accelerometer.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the pressure sensitive sensor comprises a time of arrival gauge sensor.

12. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a system comprising a processor, pressure data from a transceiver coupled to a pressure sensitive sensor integrated with a helmet, wherein the pressure data represents a pressure applied to a portion of a head of a first person;

determining, based on head acceleration force data associated with the pressure data, whether the pressure satisfies a defined condition with respect to pressure change data corresponding to a defined performance level of a second person; and

in response to determining, that the pressure satisfies the defined condition with respect to the pressure change data corresponding to the defined performance level of the second person, alerting, by the system, a device.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the determining comprises determining whether the head acceleration force data indicates a defined head injury condition.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

determining, by the system, a velocity of the helmet and a directionality of the helmet.

15. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

storing, by the system, condition data representing the defined condition in the memory.

16. A mobile device, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising;

receiving, via a wireless connection, pressure data from a wireless transceiver coupled to a pressure sensor of a helmet, wherein the pressure data represents a pressure that has been applied to a head of a first person;

determining, based on head acceleration force data associated with the pressure data, whether the pressure satisfies a defined condition with respect to reference pressure data corresponding to a defined performance level of a second person; and

in response to determining, that the pressure satisfies the defined condition with respect to the reference pressure data corresponding to the defined performance level of the second person, alerting a device.

17. The mobile device of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise:

analyzing the pressure data using a rule of a defined exercise program.

18. The mobile device of claim 16, wherein the determining comprises determining whether the head acceleration force data corresponds to a defined head injury condition.

19. The mobile device of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise:

monitoring the pressure data; and

displaying information based on the pressure data.

20. The mobile device of claim 16, wherein the wireless connection is based on a ZigBee communication protocol.