Hand-held medical-data capture-device having a digital infrared sensor and interoperation with electronic medical record systems

• US 9,591,968 B2
• Filed: 12/28/2014
• Issued: 03/14/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/25/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ARC Devices, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Arc Devices (Ni) Limited
• Inventors: Gross, Irwin, Smith, Michael G., Khachaturian, Mark, Crawley, Martin, Gerst, Steven, Barrett, John, Cronin, Michael, Turnbull, Derek, Bodnick, Jason
• Primary Examiner(s): Ahn, Sam K
• Assistant Examiner(s): Murillo Garcia, Fabricio R
• Application Number:
  US14/583,767
• Publication Number:
  US 20160113496A1
• Time in Patent Office: 807 Days
• Field of Search: 340/573.1
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0214 of power generation or supply
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0475 Special features of memory means, e.g. removable memory cards
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/166 the sensor is mounted on a specially adapted printed circuit board
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2576/00 Medical imaging apparatus involving image processing or analysis A61B1/00009, A61B6/52 and A61B8/52 take precedence; image processing per se G06T; details of algorithms for analysing medical images G06T7/0012
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0008 Temperature signals
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0013 Medical image data A61B1/00011, A61B6/56, A61B8/56 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0022 Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0059 using light, e.g. diagnosis by transillumination, diascopy, fluorescence A61B5/0093, A61B5/1455, A61B5/02416 and A61B5/0261 take precedence
• 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 5/01 Measuring temperature of body parts ; Diagnostic temperature sensing, e.g. for malignant or inflamed tissue clinical contact thermometers G01K13/20
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/015 By temperature mapping of body part
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02055 Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular condition and temperature
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/021 Measuring pressure in heart or blood vessels A61B5/0205 takes precedence
• 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 5/02433 for infrared radiation
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0245 by using sensing means generating electric signals, i.e. ECG signals
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0261 using optical means, e.g. infrared light
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/03 Detecting, measuring or recording fluid pressure within the body other than blood pressure, e.g. cerebral pressure; Measuring pressure in body tissues or organs A61B5/205 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/08 Detecting, measuring or recording devices for evaluating the respiratory organs A61B5/0205 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/318 : Heart-related electrical modalities, e.g. electrocardiography [ECG]
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/441 : Skin evaluation, e.g. for skin disorder diagnosis
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6887 : mounted on external non-worn devices, e.g. non-medical devices
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6898 : Portable consumer electronic devices, e.g. music players, telephones, tablet computers
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7225 : Details of analog processing, e.g. isolation amplifier, gain or sensitivity adjustment, filtering, baseline or drift compensation A61B5/30, A61B5/316 take precedence; transformers for specific applications H01F38/00; amplifiers H03F
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/725 : using specific filters therefor, e.g. Kalman or adaptive filters A61B5/316 take precedence
• 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 5/7271 : Specific aspects of physiological measurement analysis A61B5/316, A61B5/349 and A61B5/374 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7275 : Determining trends in physiological measurement data; Predicting development of a medical condition based on physiological measurements, e.g. determining a risk factor
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7278 : Artificial waveform generation or derivation, e.g. synthesising signals from measured signals A61B5/327 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/742 : using visual displays A61B5/339 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7425 : Displaying combinations of multiple images regardless of image source, e.g. displaying a reference anatomical image with a live image geometric transforms for image registration G06T3/14; enhancement using image fusion G06T5/50; algorithms for registration of images G06T7/30
• 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 5/7475 : User input or interface means, e.g. keyboard, pointing device, joystick
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 2005/0077 : Imaging
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 5/0025 : Living bodies ear thermometers G01J5/0011; detecting, measuring or recording for diagnostic purposes A61B5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 5/025 : Interfacing a pyrometer to an external device or network; User interface
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 5/10 : using electric radiation detectors
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 13/223 : Infrared clinical thermometers, e.g. tympanic
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 13/14 : for use with infrared or ultraviolet radiation G02B13/008, G02B13/16 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 18/23 : Clustering techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10048 : Infrared image
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/20024 : Filtering details
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/20132 : Image cropping
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30004 : Biomedical image processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30088 : Skin; Dermal
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30104 : Vascular flow; Blood flow; Perfusion
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2210/22 : Cropping
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2210/41 : Medical
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/40 : Scaling of whole images or parts thereof, e.g. expanding or contracting
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/0012 : Biomedical image inspection
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/174 : involving the use of two or more images
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/269 : using gradient-based methods
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/90 : Determination of colour characteristics
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/182 : Level alarms, e.g. alarms responsive to variables exceeding a threshold
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 5/36 : using visible light sources
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 17/02 : using a radio link
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 : for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/60 : for the operation of medical equipment or devices
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 : for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 : for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/26 : at least one of which is mobile
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4633 : Interconnection of networks using encapsulation techniques, e.g. tunneling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 : specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 : in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 : specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 : Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/53 : using third party service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 : Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/76 : Addressed sensors, e.g. MOS or CMOS sensors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/33 : Transforming infrared radiation cameras or camera modules for generating image signals from infrared radiation H04N23/20; circuitry of SSIS for transforming infrared radiation into image signals H04N25/20
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 : Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/08 : Access restriction or access information delivery, e.g. discovery data delivery signalling during connection H04W76/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 : Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 : Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/11 : Allocation or use of connection identifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/12 : Setup of transport tunnels
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/04 : Network layer protocols, e.g. mobile IP [Internet Protocol]

Abstract

In one implementation, an apparatus estimates body core temperature from an infrared measurement of an external source point using a cubic relationship between the body core temperature and the measurement of an external source point is described, estimates temperature from a digital infrared sensor and determines vital signs from a solid-state image transducer, or determines vital signs from a solid-state image transducer and estimates body core temperature from an infrared measurement of an external source point using a cubic relationship between the body core temperature and the measurement of an external source point; after which the estimated and/or determined information is transmitted to an external database.

Claims

1. A non-touch thermometer configured to estimate a body core temperature, the non-touch thermometer comprising:

a microprocessor;

a wireless communication subsystem that is operably coupled to the microprocessor and that is operable to transmit a representation of an estimated body core temperature;

a battery operably coupled to the microprocessor; and

a digital infrared (IR) sensor operably coupled to the microprocessor, the digital IR sensor having only digital readout ports and comprising a low noise amplifier, an analog-to-digital converter, a digital signal processor, and a pulse width modulator (PWM), the digital readout ports operable to transmit to the microprocessor a digital signal that is representative of an IR signal, acquired from a forehead of a user, that is detected by the digital IR sensor, wherein the digital IR sensor is configured with no need for recalibration after an initial factory calibration with an emissivity range of 0.1 to 1.0,

wherein the microprocessor is operable to receive from the digital readout ports the digital signal that is representative of the IR signal of the forehead and is further configured to estimate the body core temperature from the forehead by using the PWM in a temperature range of −

20°

C. to 120°

C. and generating the estimated body core temperature with an output resolution of about 0.14°

C.,

wherein the body core temperature is estimated by the microprocessor by correlating the digital signal outputted by the PWM that is representative of the IR signal from the forehead with a table that correlates forehead temperature to body-core-temperature.

2. The non-touch thermometer of claim 1, wherein the display device further comprises:

a green traffic light operable to indicate that the temperature is good;

an amber traffic light operable to indicate that the temperature is low; and

a red traffic light operable to indicate that the temperature is high.

3. The non-touch thermometer of claim 1 further comprising:

a camera operably coupled to the microprocessor and providing at least two images to the microprocessor.

4. The non-touch thermometer of claim 3, the microprocessor further comprising:

a pixel-examination-module configured to examine pixel values of the at least two images, a temporal-variation module to determine temporal variation of the pixel values between the at least two images being below a particular threshold, a signal processing module configured to amplify the temporal variation resulting in amplified temporal variation, and a visualizer to visualize a pattern of flow of blood in the amplified temporal variation in the at least two images.

5. The non-touch thermometer of claim 4, the microprocessor further comprising:

a cropper that is operable to receive the at least two images and operable to crop the images to exclude a border area of the images, generating at least two cropped images, the microprocessor also including a temporal-variation-amplifier of at least two cropped images that is operable to generate a temporal variation, the microprocessor also including a vital-sign generator that is operably coupled to the temporal-variation-amplifier that is operable to generate at least one vital sign from the temporal variation and the microprocessor also operably coupled to the vital-sign generator that is operable to display the at least one vital sign.

6. The non-touch thermometer of claim 1 further comprising:

a first circuit board including;

the microprocessor, the battery, the display device and the single button; and

a first digital interface operably coupled to the microprocessor; and

a second circuit board including;

the digital infrared sensor; and

a second digital interface, the second digital interface being operably coupled to the first digital interface and the second digital interface being operably coupled to the digital infrared sensor.

7. The non-touch thermometer of claim 1 wherein the wireless communication subsystem transmits to a static Internet Protocol address in order to reduce Internet Protocol discovery burden on the non-touch thermometer.

8. The non-touch thermometer of claim 1 wherein the non-touch thermometer does not support specific discovery protocols or domain name service.

9. The non-touch thermometer of claim 1 wherein a connection is established and data is pushed from the non-touch thermometer through the wireless communication subsystem, thereafter an external device controls flow of the data between the non-touch thermometer and the external device, wherein the connection further comprises:

an authenticated communication channel.

10. The non-touch thermometer of claim 1, the wireless communication subsystem is configured to operate on a specific segment of a network.

11. The non-touch thermometer of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication subsystem further comprises:

a component that is operable to transmit a representation of date and time, operator identity, patient identification and manufacturer, model number and firmware revision of the non-touch thermometer.

12. The non-touch thermometer of claim 1, wherein the temperature further comprises a body core temperature and wherein determining the body core temperature is based on a cubic relationship representing three thermal ranges between a numerical representation of electromagnetic energy of an external source point and the body core temperature, wherein the cubic relationship includes a coefficient representative of different relationships between the external source point and the body core temperature in the three thermal ranges.

13. An apparatus configured to measure a body core temperature, the apparatus comprising:

a microprocessor;

a wireless communication subsystem that is operably coupled to the microprocessor and that is operable to transmit a representation of the body core temperature;

a battery operably coupled to the microprocessor;

a digital infrared (IR) sensor that is operable to receive an infrared signal, the digital IR sensor comprising a port that provides a digital signal representing a temperature of a human skin surface, the digital IR sensor further comprising a low noise amplifier, an analog-to-digital converter, a digital signal processor, and a pulse width modulator (PWM), the port operable to transmit to the microprocessor a digital signal that is representative of an IR signal of the temperature of the human skin surface that is detected by the digital IR sensor, wherein the digital IR sensor is configured with no need for recalibration after an initial calibration with an emissivity range of 0.1 to 1.0,

wherein the microprocessor is configured to receive from the port of the digital IR sensor the digital signal that is representative of the IR signal of the human skin surface and is further configured to estimate the body core temperature from the human skin surface by using the PWM in a temperature range of −

20°

C. to 120°

C. and determining the body core temperature with an output resolution of about 0.14°

C.

wherein the body core temperature is estimated by the microprocessor by correlating the digital signal outputted by the PWM that is representative of the IR signal from the human skin surface with a table that correlates forehead temperature to body-core-temperature.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 further comprising:

a camera operably coupled to the microprocessor and providing at least two images to the microprocessor.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, the microprocessor further comprising:

a pixel-examination-module configured to examine pixel values of the at least two images, a temporal-variation module to determine temporal variation of the pixel values between the at least two images being below a particular threshold, a signal processing module configured to amplify the temporal variation resulting in amplified temporal variation, and a visualizer to visualize a pattern of flow of blood in the amplified temporal variation in the at least two images.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, the microprocessor further comprising:

a cropper that is operable to receive the at least two images and operable to crop the images to exclude a border area of the images, generating at least two cropped images, the microprocessor also including a temporal-variation-amplifier of at least two cropped images that is operable to generate a temporal variation, the microprocessor also including a vital-sign generator that is operably coupled to the temporal-variation-amplifier that is operable to generate at least one vital sign from the temporal variation and the microprocessor also operably coupled to the vital-sign generator that is operable to display the at least one vital sign.

17. The apparatus of claim 13 further comprising:

a first circuit board including;

the microprocessor and the battery; and

a first digital interface operably coupled to the microprocessor; and

a second circuit board including;

the digital infrared sensor; and

a second digital interface, the second digital interface being operably coupled to the first digital interface and the second digital interface being operably coupled to the digital infrared sensor.

18. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the wireless communication subsystem transmits to a static Internet Protocol address in order to reduce Internet Protocol discovery burden on the apparatus.

19. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein a connection is established and data is pushed from the apparatus through the wireless communication subsystem, thereafter an external device controls flow of the data between the apparatus and the external device, wherein the connection further comprises:

an authenticated communication channel.

20. The apparatus of claim 13, the wireless communication subsystem is configured to operate on a specific segment of a network.