Non-invasive automatic monitoring of pet animal's core temperature

• US 9,823,138 B2
• Filed: 08/21/2013
• Issued: 11/21/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/21/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Petpace Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Petpace Ltd.
• Inventors: Zakharov, Michael, Dagan, Asaf, Bukchin, Michael, Menkes, Abraham
• Primary Examiner(s): Satanovsky, Alexander
• Assistant Examiner(s): Cordero, Lina
• Application Number:
  US13/971,902
• Publication Number:
  US 20150057963A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,553 Days
• Field of Search: 119859
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 29/005 Monitoring or measuring activity, e.g. detecting heat or mating
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2503/40 Animals
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0252 using ambient temperature
• 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 5/11 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 5/1118 Determining activity level
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 13/20 Clinical contact thermometers for use with humans or animals
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 7/427 Temperature calculation based on spatial modeling, e.g. spatial inter- or extrapolation

Abstract

A system, device and method monitoring whether a core temperature of a warm-blooded pet animal is within a normal range for the pet animal comprises a sensing assembly including (i) a skin temperature sensor positioned such that a sensing surface of the skin temperature sensor faces the animal, the skin temperature sensor configured to produce a skin temperature output, (ii) an ambient temperature sensor spaced away from the animal and configured to produce an ambient temperature output, and (iii) an accelerometer for sensing an acceleration of the pet animal and producing an acceleration output; and a processor for receiving the outputs, calculating an activity level from the acceleration data and determining whether the core temperature of the pet animal is within the normal range based on a pre-defined function relating the skin temperature T_S, the ambient temperature T_A, and the activity level of the pet animal.

Claims

1. A system for monitoring a health of a warm-blooded pet animal including non-invasively monitoring and providing early detection of whether a core temperature of the warm-blooded pet animal is within a normal range for the pet animal, wherein the pet animal is a dog or cat, the system comprising:

a non-invasive collar, including an elastic band, for positioning on a neck of the pet animal, the collar having an outer surface and an inner surface, the collar configured to output signals for ambient temperature, skin temperature, at least one of heart rate and respiration and at least one of posture and movement of the pet animal, while being positioned on a single integrally connected body part of the pet animal,

the collar including a sensing assembly having sensors positioned at different points along the collar including (i) a skin temperature sensor positioned such that a sensing surface of the skin temperature sensor faces a body of the pet animal, the skin temperature sensor configured to produce a skin temperature output, (ii) an ambient temperature sensor positioned on the outer surface and configured to produce an ambient temperature output, (iii) an accelerometer for sensing an acceleration level of the pet animal and producing an acceleration level output including posture and movement of the pet animal and (iv) an acoustic sensor configured to measure the at least one of heart rate and respiration and output at least one signal representing vital sign data for the at least one of heart rate and respiration, the acoustic sensor having multiple elastic projections of a substantially same length that face the neck and that are configured in shape to penetrate a fur of the dog or cat and to absorb noise from friction due to movement of a head of the dog or cat, the absorption of the noise increasing a signal to noise ratio of the at least one signal conducted to the acoustic sensor, the length running radially from the collar to the neck; and

one or more processors configured to receive the skin temperature output, T_S, the ambient temperature output T_A, and the acceleration level output and to determine an activity level, A, of the pet animal from the acceleration level output,

the one or more processors also configured to

(i) use T_A to select a zone from one of three zones including (i) a thermoneutral zone, (ii) a zone below lower critical temperature (Tlc) and (iii) a zone above upper critical temperature (Tuc);

(ii) use a pre-defined function T_MODEL=a*T_A+b to calculate from T_A a baseline model skin temperature, wherein T_A is a variable of the ambient temperature output and a and b are coefficients that are set depending upon an animal size and kind and the selected zone of T_A, wherein, in each of the three zones, the baseline model skin temperature varies across varying values of T_A;

(iii) use c₁*A+d₁ to calculate from activity A and coefficients (c_i, d_i) an adjustment of the baseline model skin temperature yielding a lower margin of a tolerance range and to use c₂*A+d₂ to calculate from activity A and coefficients (c_iand d_i) an adjustment of the baseline model skin temperature yielding an upper margin of the tolerance range, wherein coefficients c_i and d_i are set depending upon activity units and animal kind or size and

(iv) determine if Ts is within the tolerance range, and to determine if the core temperature is within the normal range under a rule that if, and only if, Ts is within the tolerance range the core temperature of the pet animal is within the normal range

the system is configured to operate in ambient temperature environments spanning the three zones.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the accelerometer and one or more processors are configured to also detect an indication of at least one of the following postures of the dog:

lying on back, trotting, running, urinating (male/female), defecating, scratching hind leg.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors is also configured to receive, as part of the acceleration data, (i) a waking state of the pet animal, (ii) real-time clock data, and (iii) animal kind and/or size.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the accelerometer and one or more processors are configured to also detect an indication of at least two of the following postures of the dog:

lying on back, trotting, running, urinating (male/female), defecating and scratching hind leg.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the following characteristics of the surface temperature sensor and the ambient temperature sensor are within ten percent of one another:

(i) nominal resistance value, (ii) resistance temperature coefficient and (iii) a surface area of a heat collection surface.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the skin temperature sensor and the ambient temperature sensor are made of the same material.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the multiple elastic projections are elongated.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the pet animal has a body including a neck and a non-neck portion and wherein the system is configured to monitor the health and provide the early detection using the collar and the one or more processors without having to cover the non-neck portion of the pet animal.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the accelerometer and one or more processors are configured to also detect an indication of at least three of the following postures of the dog:

lying on back, trotting, running, urinating (male/female), defecating and scratching hind leg.

10. A method of monitoring a health of a pet animal including non-invasively monitoring and providing early detection of whether a core temperature of the pet animal is within a normal range for the pet animal, the pet animal being a dog or cat, the method comprising:

providing a non-invasive collar having an outer surface and an inner surface, the inner surface configured with multiple elastic projections projecting toward the neck of the pet animal, the collar including an elastic band,

providing the collar with a temperature sensor of a sensor assembly facing a body of the pet animal and sensing and outputting a skin temperature of the pet animal;

providing the collar with an ambient temperature sensor on an outer surface of the sensor assembly sensing and outputting an ambient temperature;

providing the collar with an accelerometer of the sensor assembly sensing and outputting an acceleration of the pet animal including by detecting movement and posture of the pet animal;

providing the collar with an acoustic sensor sensing and outputting at least one of a heart rate and a respiration rate of the pet animal, the acoustic sensor having the multiple elastic projections being of a substantially same length and configured in shape to penetrate a fur of the dog or cat and to absorb noise from friction due to movement of a head of the dog or cat, the absorption of the noise increasing a signal to noise ratio of a signal conducted to the acoustic sensor, the length running radially from the collar to the neck;

transmitting the outputs of the skin temperature, ambient temperature and acceleration to one or more processors configured to calculate an activity level, A, of the pet animal from the acceleration output, the processor determining whether the pet animal'"'"'s core temperature is in a normal range based on a pre-defined function relating the skin temperature, the ambient temperature and the activity level;

configuring the one or more processors either on or remote from the collar to

(i) use T_A to select a zone from one of three zones including (i) a thermoneutral zone, (ii) a zone below lower critical temperature (Tlc) and (iii) a zone above upper critical temperature (Tuc);

(ii) use the pre-defined function T_MODEL =a*T_A+b to calculate from T_A a baseline model skin temperature, wherein T_A is a variable of the ambient temperature and a and b are coefficients that are set depending upon an animal size and kind and on the selected zone of T_A, wherein, in each of the three zones, the baseline model skin temperature varies across varying values of T_A,

(iii) use c₁*A+d₁ to calculate from activity A and coefficients (c_i, d_i) an adjustment of the baseline model skin temperature yielding a lower margin of a tolerance range and to use c₂*A+d₂ to calculate from activity A and coefficients (c_iand d_i) an adjustment of the baseline model skin temperature yielding an upper margin of the tolerance range, wherein coefficients c_i and d_i are set depending upon activity units and animal kind or size and

(iv) determine if Ts is within the tolerance range, and to determine if the core temperature is within the normal range under a rule that if, and only if, Ts is within the tolerance range the core temperature of the pet animal is within the normal range,

the one or more processors determining a health of the pet animal from the outputs of the sensor assembly and the output of the acoustic sensor.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising positioning the sensor assembly and processor of the pet animal non-invasively in relation to the pet animal.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising configuring the ambient temperature sensor to be at least two centimeters from the skin temperature sensor.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising situating the one or more processors at a location remote from the sensor assembly and transmitting signals comprising the outputs from the sensor assembly to the one or more processors at the remote station.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the accelerometer and one or more processors are configured to also detect an indication of at least one of the following postures of the dog:

lying on back, trotting, running, urinating (male/female), defecating and scratching hind leg.

15. A method of monitoring a health of a pet animal including non-invasively monitoring and providing early detection of whether a pet animal'"'"'s core temperature is within a normal range, the pet animal being a dog or cat, comprising:

using sensors in a non-invasive collar, the collar including an elastic band, positioned on a neck of the pet animal, sensing, and obtaining data for, a measured ambient temperature T_A, skin temperature T_S, and acceleration data, the sensors including (i) a skin temperature sensor positioned such that a sensing surface of the skin temperature sensor faces a body of the pet animal, the skin temperature sensor configured to produce a skin temperature output Ts, (ii) an ambient temperature sensor configured to produce an ambient temperature output, and (iii) an accelerometer for sensing an acceleration level of the pet animal and producing an acceleration level output including posture and movement of the pet animal;

using one or more processors to;

(i) calculate activity level, A, from the acceleration data;

(ii) use T_A to select a zone from one of three zones including (i) a thermoneutral zone, (ii) a zone below lower critical temperature (Tlc) and (iii) a zone above upper critical temperature (Tuc);

(iii) obtain one or more coefficients that are set depending upon an animal size and kind;

(iv) use a pre-defined function T_MODEL=a*T_A +b to calculate from T_A a baseline model skin temperature, wherein T_A is a variable of the ambient temperature output and a and b are coefficients that are set depending upon an animal size and kind and the selected zone of T_A, wherein, in each of the three zones, the baseline model skin temperature varies across varying values of T_A,

(v) use c₁*A+d₁ to calculate from activity A and coefficients (c_i, d_i) an adjustment of the baseline model skin temperature yielding a lower margin of a tolerance range and to use c₂*A+d₂ to calculate from activity A and coefficients (c_iand d_i) an adjustment of the baseline model skin temperature yielding an upper margin of the tolerance range, wherein coefficients c_i and d_i are set depending upon activity units and animal kind or size and

(vi) determine if Ts is within the tolerance range, and to determine if the core temperature is within the normal range under a rule that if, and only if, Ts is within the tolerance range the core temperature of the pet animal is within the normal range,

the non-invasive collar including an acoustic sensor configured to measure at least one of heart rate and respiration rate and output at least one signal representing vital sign data for at least one of heart rate and respiration the acoustic sensor having multiple projections that face the neck and that are configured in shape to penetrate a fur of the dog or cat.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising signaling abnormal core temperature if the skin temperature at ambient temperatures within the zone is not within the tolerance range.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the projections of the acoustic sensor are elastic and of a substantially same length.