Method and arrangement for monitoring physiological data

• US 9,621,684 B2
• Filed: 02/07/2014
• Issued: 04/11/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 02/07/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Myfitnesspal Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Under Armour Incorporated
• Inventors: Oleson, Mark A., Kovach, F. Grant
• Primary Examiner(s): Khan, Aftab N.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Anh
• Application Number:
  US14/175,457
• Publication Number:
  US 20140222943A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,159 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7214 using signal cancellation, e.g. based on input of two identical physiological sensors spaced apart, or based on two signals derived from the same sensor, for different optical wavelengths
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/30 relating to physical therapies or activities, e.g. physiotherapy, acupressure or exercising
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• 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 69/16 Implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP]

Abstract

A physiological monitoring arrangement comprises a biometric sensor device coupled to a first garment, a first handheld computing device, and a second handheld computing device. The first handheld computing device is configured to act as a master in a device network and the biometric sensor is configured to act as a slave in the device network. The second handheld computing device is configured for wireless communication with both the biometric sensor device and the first handheld computing device according to the communications protocol in the device network. In particular, the second handheld computing device is configured to act as a slave to the first handheld computing device if the first handheld computing device is present in the device network, and the second handheld computing device is configured to act as a master to the biometric sensor device if the first handheld computing device is not present in the device network.

Claims

1. A physiological monitoring system comprising:

a biometric sensor device coupled to a first garment worn by a user, the biometric sensor device including a transmitter configured to transmit physiological data of the user, wherein the biometric sensor device includes a heart rate sensor and the physiological data includes heart rate data;

a first handheld computing device configured for wireless communication with the biometric sensor device according to a communication protocol in a device network, the first handheld computing device configured to act as a master in the device network and the biometric sensor configured to act as a slave in the device network, the first handheld computing device configured to receive transmitted physiological data from the biometric sensor device and display the physiological data on a first user interface; and

a second handheld computing device configured for wireless communication with both the biometric sensor device and the first handheld computing device according to the communications protocol in the device network, the second handheld computing device configured to act as a slave to the first handheld computing device when the first handheld computing device is present in the device network, and the second handheld computing device configured to act as a master to the biometric sensor device when the first handheld computing device is not present in the device network, the second handheld configured to display the physiological data on a second user interface,

wherein the first handheld computing device is configured to determine whether the heart rate data is inaccurate, and if the heart rate data is determined to be inaccurate, deliver a message that the monitoring system is having difficulty collecting heart rate information and provide instructions for adjustment of the heart rate sensor; and

wherein the second handheld computing device is configured to both (i) advertise itself as a slave in the device network for control by an available master in the device network, and (ii) search for available slaves in the device network for which the second handheld computing device will act as a master in the device network when operating in a search mode.

2. The monitoring system of claim 1 wherein the first handheld computing device is a smartphone.

3. The monitoring system of claim 1 wherein the second handheld computing device is a wristwatch.

4. The monitoring system of claim 1 wherein the garment is configured to be worn on a torso of a human body.

5. The monitoring system of claim 1 wherein the second handheld computing device is configured to establish communications with the first the first handheld computing device, the first v computing device acting as a master in the device network, the second handheld computing device configured to follow instructions from the first handheld computing device until communications with the first handheld computing device are lost, and when communications with the first handheld computing device are lost, the second handheld computing device is configured to operate in the search mode.

6. The monitoring system of claim 1 wherein the second handheld computing device is configured to establish communications with the biometric sensor device as the available slave in the device network, provide instructions to the biometric sensor device, and receive data from the biometric sensor device until an instruction is received from the available master, or if no instruction is received from the available master, until communications with the biometric sensor device are lost.

7. The monitoring system of claim 6 wherein communications with the biometric sensor device are deemed lost when a signal strength indicator falls below a predetermined threshold.

8. A method of monitoring a user wearing a garment with a biometric sensor, the method comprising:

obtaining physiological data from a biometric sensor device coupled to a first garment of a user, wherein the biometric sensor device includes a heart rate sensor and the physiological data includes heart rate data;

transmitting the physiological data of the user from the biometric sensor device within a device network;

receiving the physiological data transmitted from the biometric sensor device at a first handheld computing device, the first handheld computing device configured for wireless configured for wireless communications with the biometric sensor device according to a communications protocol in the device network, the first handheld computing device configured to act as a master in the device network and the biometric sensor configured to act as a slave in the device network, the first handheld computing device configured to display the physiological data on a first user interface;

configuring a second handheld computing device for wireless communication with both the biometric sensor device and the first handheld computing device according to the communications protocol in the device network, the second handheld computing device acting as a slave to the first handheld computing device when the first handheld computing device is present in the device network, and the second handheld computing device acting as a master to the biometric sensor device when the first handheld computing device is not present in the device network;

determining whether the heart rate data is inaccurate and when the heart rate data is determined to be inaccurate delivering a message that the monitoring arrangement is having difficulty collecting heart rate information and providing instructions for adjustment of the heart rate sensor; and

when operating in a search mode, operating the second handheld computing device to both (i) advertise itself as a slave in the device network for control by an available master in the device network and (ii) search for available slaves in the device network for which the second handheld computing device acting as a master in the device network.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the first handheld computing device is a smartphone.

10. The method of claim 8 wherein the second handheld computing device is a wristwatch.

11. The method of claim 8 wherein the garment is configured to be worn on a torso of a human body.

12. The method of claim 8 further comprising, the second handheld computing device establishing communications with the first handheld computing device with wherein the first handheld computing device acting acts as a master in the device network, the second handheld computing device not operating in the search mode but following instructions from the first handheld computing device until communications with the first handheld computing device are lost, and then when communications with the first handheld computing device are lost, the second handheld computing device operating in the search mode.

13. The method of claim 8 further comprising, the second handheld computing device establishing communications with the biometric sensor device with wherein the biometric sensor device acting acts as the available slave in the device network, providing instructions to the biometric sensor device, and receiving data from the biometric sensor device until an instruction is received from the available master, or if no instruction is received from the available master, until communications with the biometric sensor device are lost.