Systems for monitoring and improving biometric health of employees

• US 9,693,734 B2
• Filed: 02/14/2014
• Issued: 07/04/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/05/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Government of Saudi Arabia)
• Original Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Government of Saudi Arabia)
• Inventors: Horseman, Samantha J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Jackson, Gary
• Assistant Examiner(s): PAHAKIS, MANOLIS Y
• Application Number:
  US14/180,993
• Publication Number:
  US 20140163336A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,236 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2503/20 Workers
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/002 Monitoring the patient using a local or closed circuit, e.g. in a room or building A61B5/0017 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0205 Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular conditions and different types of body conditions, e.g. heart and respiratory condition
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02055 Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular condition and temperature
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6889 Rooms
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6891 Furniture
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6892 Mats
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/30 for calculating health indices; for individual health risk assessment

Abstract

Provided are embodiments of systems for monitoring the health of an employee while the employee is located in an employee workstation. A system for monitoring the health of an employee including for collecting, from a plurality of biometric sensors disposed throughout an employee workstation, biometric heath data indicative of biometric characteristics of the employee. The system configured to determine an employee biometric health profile including biometric health characteristics; biometric health conditions and/or biometric heath risks for the employee based at least in part on the collected biometric health data. The system configured to generate a health plan for the employee based at least in part on the biometric health profile, and to display the employee biometric heath profile and the health plan to the employee workstation and an employer computer.

Claims

1. A system for monitoring health of an employee, the system comprising:

an employer computer associated with an employer of the employee, the employer computer comprising a display;

an employee workstation associated with the employee and comprising;

an employee computer comprising a display;

a work surface positioned above and parallel to a floor of the workstation;

a computer mouse positioned on the work surface;

a chair disposed on the floor of the workstation;

a floor mat disposed on the floor of the workstation; and

a set of biometric health sensors configured to detect biometric characteristics of the employee via a plurality of points of contact with the employee while the employee is located in the employee workstation and to output biometric health data corresponding to the biometric characteristics of the employee detected,

the set of biometric health sensors in communication with a communications network and comprising temperature transducers, force transducers, pairs of conductive contacts, a blood pressure transducer, a respiration sensor, and a pulse oximeter,

the biometric health data comprising temperature data output by the temperature transducers that is indicative of a body temperature of the employee, force data output by the force transducers that is indicative of a body weight of the employee, resistance data output by the pairs of conductive contacts that is indicative of a body fat of the employee, pressure data output by the blood pressure transducers that is indicative of a blood pressure of the employee, respiration data output by the respiration sensor that is indicative of a respiration rate of the employee, and blood condition data output by the pulse oximeter that is indicative of a blood oxygenation of the employee;

the floor mat comprising floor mat biometric sensors for detecting biometric characteristics of the employee via contact with feet of the employee defining a first point of contact with the employee, the floor mat biometric sensors comprising;

a floor mat temperature sensor comprising one of the temperature transducers configured to sense body temperature of the employee;

a floor mat force sensor comprising one of the force transducers configured to sense a force applied to the floor mat; and

a floor mat body fat sensor comprising one of the pairs of conductive contacts configured to sense a resistance that is indicative of the body fat of the employee,

the floor mat configured to output floor mat health data corresponding to the body temperature of the employee sensed by the floor mat temperature sensor, the force sensed by the floor mat force sensor, and the resistance sensed by the floor mat body fat sensor,

the computer mouse comprising computer mouse biometric sensors for detecting biometric characteristics of the employee via contact with a hand of the employee defining a second point of contact with the employee, the computer mouse biometric sensors comprising;

a computer mouse temperature sensor comprising one of the temperature transducers configured to sense body temperature of the employee;

a computer mouse blood pressure sensor comprising the blood pressure transducers configured to sense blood pressure of the employee; and

a computer mouse blood condition sensor comprising the pulse oximeter configured to sense blood oxygenation of the employee,

the computer mouse configured to output computer mouse health data corresponding to the body temperature of the employee sensed by the computer mouse temperature sensor, the blood pressure of the employee sensed by the computer mouse blood pressure sensor, and the blood oxygenation of the employee sensed by the computer mouse blood condition sensor, and

the chair comprising chair biometric sensors for detecting biometric characteristics of the employee via contact with portions of the employee seated in the chair defining a third point of contact with the employee, the chair biometric sensors comprising;

a chair temperature sensor comprising one of the temperature transducers configured to sense body temperature of the employee;

a chair force sensor comprising one of the force transducers configured to sense a force applied to the chair; and

a chair body fat sensor comprising one of the pairs of conductive contacts configured to sense a resistance that is indicative of the body fat of the employee,

the chair configured to output chair health data corresponding to the body temperature of the employee sensed by the chair temperature sensor, the force sensed by the chair force sensor, and the resistance sensed by the chair body fat sensor,

the biometric health data comprising the floor mat health data, the computer mouse health data, and the chair health data;

a database in communication with the communications network and storing employee health information associated with one or more employees; and

a computer server in communication with the communication network, the computer server configured to;

conduct a health test of the employee comprising collecting, via the communications network, the biometric health data output by the set of biometric sensors;

determine a biometric health profile for the employee using the biometric health data collected, the biometric health profile comprising a body temperature, a body weight, a body fat, a heart rate, a blood pressure, a respiration rate, and a blood oxygenation for the employee;

determine a health plan for the employee using the biometric health data collected;

serve, to the employee computer, health content comprising the biometric health profile for the employee and the health plan for the employee, wherein the employee computer is configured to display the health content;

update the health information stored in the database to reflect the biometric health profile for the employee,

serve, to the employer computer, the biometric health profile for the employee,

the employer computer configured to;

display an interactive employer review interface comprising an interactive listing of employees comprising the employee, and

display, in response to receiving user selection of the employee from the interactive listing of employees;

the biometric health profile for the employee; and

an interactive health test element for the employee that is user selectable to initiate a health test of the employee,

the computer server further configured to, in response to user selection of the interactive health test element;

initiate an updated health test of the employee comprising collecting updated biometric health data output by the set of biometric sensors;

determine an updated health profile for the employee using the updated biometric health data collected; and

serve, to the employer computer, the updated biometric health profile for the employee, wherein the employer computer is configured to display the updated biometric health profile for the employee.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein determining a biometric health profile for the employee using the biometric health data collected further comprises determining one or more of body mass index, body composition, fitness level, resting heart rate, maximum heart rate, and target heart rate for the employee using the biometric health data collected.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein determining a biometric health profile for the employee using the biometric health data collected further comprises determining one or more of a risk for obesity, a risk of injury, a risk of diabetes, a risk of infection, a risk of inflammation, a risk of circulation problems, a risk of cardio vascular disease, a risk of cardio vascular accidents, a risk of illness, asthma, a risk of allergies, and a risk of bronchitis for the employee using the biometric health data collected.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein determining a biometric health profile for the employee using the biometric health data collected comprises determining one or more of health characteristics, health conditions and health risks for the employee using the biometric health data collected,

wherein the computer server is further configured to:

compare one or more of one or more of the health characteristics, health conditions and health risks determined for the employee to a corresponding predetermined threshold range for the one or more health characteristics, health conditions and health risks;

determine, based on the comparison, that at least one of the one or more of the health characteristics, health conditions and health risks determined for the employee are outside of the corresponding predetermined threshold range for the one or more of health characteristics, health conditions and health risks; and

in response to determining that at least one of the one or more of the health characteristics, health conditions and health risks determined for the employee are outside of the corresponding predetermined threshold range for the one or more of health characteristics, health conditions and health risks, alert emergency response personnel regarding the at least one of the one or more health characteristics, health conditions and health risks determined to be outside of the corresponding predetermined threshold range for the one or more of health characteristics, health conditions and health risks.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein collecting the biometric health data output by the set of biometric sensors comprises the steps of:

identifying a need to initiate a health test using a predetermined test schedule that specifies times at which the biometric health data needs to be collected from the set of biometric health sensors;

in response to identifying a need to initiate a health test using a predetermined test schedule that specifies times at which the biometric sensor data needs to be collected from the set of biometric health sensors, querying the employee computer for the biometric health data corresponding to the health test, the employee computer being configured to collect the biometric health data from the set of biometric health sensors; and

receiving, from the employee computer and via the communications network, the biometric health data corresponding to the health test.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the computer server is further configured to:

receive an employee initiated request to initiate a health test,

wherein collecting the biometric health data output by the set of biometric sensors is conducted in response to the employee request to initiate a health test.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the health content comprises an interactive health dashboard that enables the employee to review and edit biometric health information associated with the employee.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the health content comprises a health status widget comprising a graphical display indicative of the current biometric health of the employee, and the health status widget being viewable while the employee is working with other applications on the employee computer.

9. A system for monitoring health of an employee, the system comprising:

an employer computer associated with an employer of the employee, the employer computer comprising a display;

an employee workstation associated with the employee and comprising;

an employee computer comprising a display;

a work surface positioned above and parallel to a floor of the workstation;

a computer mouse positioned on the work surface;

a chair disposed on the floor of the workstation; and

a floor mat disposed on the floor of the workstation,

the floor mat comprising floor mat biometric sensors for detecting biometric characteristics of the employee via contact with feet of the employee, the floor mat biometric sensors comprising;

a floor mat temperature sensor comprising a temperature transducer configured to sense body temperature of the employee;

a floor mat force sensor comprising a force transducer configured to sense a force applied to the floor mat; and

a floor mat body fat sensor comprising a pair of conductive contacts configured to sense a resistance that is indicative of the body fat of the employee,

the floor mat configured to output floor mat health data corresponding to the body temperature of the employee sensed by the floor mat temperature sensor, the force sensed by the floor mat force sensor, and the resistance sensed by the floor mat body fat sensor,

the computer mouse comprising computer mouse biometric sensors for detecting biometric characteristics of the employee via contact with a hand of the employee, the computer mouse biometric sensors comprising;

a computer mouse temperature sensor comprising a temperature transducer configured to sense body temperature of the employee;

a computer mouse blood pressure sensor comprising a blood pressure transducer configured to sense blood pressure of the employee; and

a computer mouse blood condition sensor comprising a pulse oximeter configured to sense blood oxygenation of the employee,

the computer mouse configured to output computer mouse health data corresponding to the body temperature of the employee sensed by the computer mouse temperature sensor, the blood pressure of the employee sensed by the computer mouse blood pressure sensor, and the blood oxygenation of the employee sensed by the computer mouse blood condition sensor, and

the chair comprising chair biometric sensors for detecting biometric characteristics of the employee via contact with portions of the employee seated in the chair, the chair biometric sensors comprising;

a chair temperature sensor comprising a temperature transducer configured to sense body temperature of the employee;

a chair force sensor comprising a force transducer configured to sense a force applied to the chair; and

a chair body fat sensor a pair of conductive contacts configured to sense a resistance that is indicative of the body fat of the employee,

the chair configured to output chair health data corresponding to the body temperature of the employee sensed by the chair temperature sensor, the force sensed by the chair force sensor, and the resistance sensed by the chair body fat sensor;

a health monitoring server configured to;

conduct a health test of the employee comprising collecting, via the communications network, biometric health data comprising the floor mat health data, the computer mouse health data, and the chair health data;

determine a biometric health profile for the employee using the biometric health data collected, the biometric health profile comprising a body temperature, a body weight, a body fat, a heart rate, a blood pressure, a respiration rate, and a blood oxygenation for the employee;

determine a health plan for the employee using the biometric health data collected;

serve, to the employee computer, health content comprising the biometric health profile for the employee and the health plan for the employee, wherein the employee computer is configured to display the health content;

serve, to the employer computer, the biometric health profile for the employee,

the employer computer configured to;

display an interactive employer review interface comprising an interactive listing of employees comprising the employee, and

display, in response to receiving user selection of the employee from the interactive listing of employees;

the biometric health profile for the employee; and

an interactive health test element for the employee that is user selectable to initiate a health test of the employee,

the health monitoring server further configured to, in response to user selection of the interactive health test element;

initiate an updated health test of the employee comprising collecting updated biometric health data output by the computer mouse, chair, and floor pad biometric sensors;

determine an updated health profile for the employee using the updated biometric health data collected; and

serve, to the employer computer, the updated biometric health profile for the employee, wherein the employer computer is configured to display the updated biometric health profile for the employee.