Systems and methods for individual identification and authorization utilizing conformable electronics

• US 9,905,063 B1
• Filed: 01/26/2017
• Issued: 02/27/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/10/2016
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Hyde, Roderick A., Kare, Jordin T., McKnight, Gary L., Petroski, Robert C., Sweeney, Elizabeth A.
• Primary Examiner(s): PENDLETON, DIONNE
• Application Number:
  US15/416,474
• Publication Number:
  US 20180047228A1
• Time in Patent Office: 397 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/164 the sensor is mounted in or on a conformable substrate or carrier
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/117 Identification of persons methods or arrangements for recognising patterns, e.g. fingerprints, G06F18/00, G06V40/00; identification of persons by analysing their voice or speech G10L17/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6833 Adhesive patches
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/90344 by using string matching techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/90348 by searching ordered data, e.g. alpha-numerically ordered data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2218/00 Aspects of pattern recognition specially adapted for signal processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/14 Vascular patterns
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/15 Biometric patterns based on physiological signals, e.g. heartbeat, blood flow
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/28 Recognition of hand or arm movements, e.g. recognition of deaf sign language static hand signs G06V40/113
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/70 Multimodal biometrics, e.g. combining information from different biometric modalities
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00563 using personal physical data of the operator, e.g. finger prints, retinal images, voicepatterns
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/257 electronically G07C9/26 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G16B 40/00 ICT specially adapted for biostatistics; ICT specially adapted for bioinformatics-related machine learning or data mining, e.g. knowledge discovery or pattern finding
• CPC Class Codes: G16B 40/10 Signal processing, e.g. from mass spectrometry [MS] or from PCR
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/00 ICT specially adapted for medical diagnosis, medical simulation or medical data mining; ICT specially adapted for detecting, monitoring or modelling epidemics or pandemics
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/20 for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 80/00 ICT specially adapted for facilitating communication between medical practitioners or patients, e.g. for collaborative diagnosis, therapy or health monitoring

Abstract

An identification device includes, but is not limited to, a deformable substrate configured to conform to a skin surface of a body portion of a healthcare provider; a sensor assembly coupled to the deformable substrate, the sensor assembly including one or more identity sensors configured to generate one or more identity sense signals associated with at least one physical characteristic of the healthcare provider; circuitry configured to compare the one or more identity sense signals generated by the sensor assembly to reference data indicative of one or more physical characteristics associated with an identity; and a reporter configured to generate one or more communication signals associated with a comparison of the one or more identity sense signals generated by the sensor assembly to reference data indicative of one or more physical characteristics associated with an identity of at least one individual.

Claims

1. A device, comprising:

a deformable substrate configured to contact and conform to a skin surface of a body portion of a healthcare provider;

a sensor assembly coupled to the deformable substrate, the sensor assembly including one or more identity sensors configured to generate one or more identity sense signals associated with at least one physical characteristic of the healthcare provider, the one or more identity sensors further configured to generate one or more second identity sense signals associated with at least one physical characteristic of an individual subject other than the healthcare provider while the deformable substrate is in contact with the skin surface of the body portion of the healthcare provider;

circuitry operably coupled to the sensor assembly and configured to receive the one or more identity sense signals associated with the at least one physical characteristic of the healthcare provider, the circuitry including an identity comparison module configured to compare the one or more identity sense signals generated by the sensor assembly to reference data indicative of one or more physical characteristics associated with an identity of at least one individual to determine whether the one or more identity sense signals correspond to the identity of the at least one individual, the identity comparison module further configured to compare the one or more second identity sense signals to reference data indicative of one or more physical characteristics associated with an identity of at least one second individual to determine whether the one or more second identity sense signals correspond to the identity of the at least one second individual; and

a reporter operably coupled to the circuitry and configured to generate one or more communication signals responsive to instruction by the circuitry prior to or in conjunction with authorization of the healthcare provider to perform a health service action with respect to the individual subject, the one or more communication signals associated with at least one of a comparison of the one or more identity sense signals generated by the sensor assembly to the reference data indicative of the one or more physical characteristics associated with the identity of the at least one individual or a comparison of the one or more second identity sense signals generated by the sensor assembly to the reference data indicative of the one or more physical characteristics associated with the identity of the at least one second individual.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the one or more communication signals correspond to authorization of the healthcare provider to perform the health service action with respect to the individual subject responsive to a correspondence between the one or more identity sense signals and the reference data indicative of one or more physical characteristics associated with the identity of the at least one individual at least at a threshold correspondence.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the one or more communication signals correspond to authorization of the healthcare provider to perform the health service action with respect to the individual subject responsive to a correspondence between the one or more second identity sense signals and the reference data indicative of one or more physical characteristics associated with the identity of the at least one second individual being at least at a threshold correspondence.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the one or more communication signals correspond to authorization of the healthcare provider to perform the health service action with respect to the individual subject responsive to both of (i) a correspondence between the one or more identity sense signals and the reference data indicative of one or more physical characteristics associated with the identity of the at least one individual being at least at a threshold correspondence and (ii) a correspondence between the one or more second identity sense signals and the reference data indicative of one or more physical characteristics associated with the identity of the at least one second individual being at least at a threshold correspondence.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the circuitry includes an authorization comparison module configured to compare at least one of the one or more identity sense signals or the identity of the at least one individual with one or more authorization parameters.

6. The device of claim 5, wherein the one or more communication signals correspond to authorization of the healthcare provider to perform the health service action with respect to the individual subject responsive to a correspondence between at least one of the one or more identity sense signals or the identity of the at least one individual with one or more authorization parameters being at least at a threshold correspondence.

7. The device of claim 5, wherein the one or more authorization parameters include a list of identities of one or more individuals authorized to operate an external device.

8. The device of claim 5, wherein the one or more authorization parameters include a list of identities of one or more individuals authorized to perform a scheduled procedure.

9. The device of claim 1, wherein the circuitry includes a logging module configured to store at least one activity state of the healthcare provider.

10. The device of claim 1, wherein the reporter is configured to transmit the one or more communication signals to an information system.

11. The device of claim 10, wherein the information system includes at least one of an electronic health records system, a billing system, a scheduling system, an inventory management system, a claim processing system, or an administrative system.

12. The device of claim 10, wherein the reporter is configured to transmit the one or more communication signals to the information system to identify the healthcare provider to the information system.

13. The device of claim 10, wherein the reporter is configured to transmit the one or more communication signals to the information system to sign an information system entry for the healthcare provider.

14. A method, comprising:

generating one or more identity sense signals corresponding to a healthcare provider via an identification device having a deformable substrate configured to contact and conform to a skin surface of a body portion of the healthcare provider and having one or more identity sensors coupled to the deformable substrate, the one or more identity sense signals associated with at least one physical characteristic of the healthcare provider;

generating, via the identification device, one or more second identity sense signals associated with at least one physical characteristic of an individual subject other than the healthcare provider while the deformable substrate is in contact with the skin surface of the body portion of the healthcare provider;

comparing via circuitry the one or more identity sense signals to reference data indicative of one or more physical characteristics associated with an identity of at least one individual to determine whether the one or more identity sense signals correspond to the identity of the at least one individual;

comparing via circuitry the one or more second identity sense signals to reference data indicative of one or more physical characteristics associated with an identity of at least one second individual to determine whether the one or more second identity sense signals correspond to the identity of the at least one second individual; and

prior to or in conjunction with authorization of the healthcare provider to perform a health service action with respect to the individual subject, reporting to an external device one or more communication signals associated with at least one of a comparison of the one or more identity sense signals to the reference data indicative of the one or more physical characteristics associated with the identity of the at least one individual or a comparison of the one or more second identity sense signals generated by the sensor assembly to the reference data indicative of the one or more physical characteristics associated with the identity of the at least one second individual.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the one or more communication signals correspond to authorization of the healthcare provider to perform the health service action with respect to the individual subject responsive to a correspondence between the one or more identity sense signals and the reference data indicative of one or more physical characteristics associated with the identity of the at least one individual at least at a threshold correspondence.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the one or more communication signals correspond to authorization of the healthcare provider to perform the health service action with respect to the individual subject responsive to a correspondence between the one or more second identity sense signals and the reference data indicative of one or more physical characteristics associated with the identity of the at least one second individual being at least at a threshold correspondence.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the one or more communication signals correspond to authorization of the healthcare provider to perform the health service action with respect to the individual subject responsive to both of (i) a correspondence between the one or more identity sense signals and the reference data indicative of one or more physical characteristics associated with the identity of the at least one individual being at least at a threshold correspondence and (ii) a correspondence between the one or more second identity sense signals and the reference data indicative of one or more physical characteristics associated with the identity of the at least one second individual being at least at a threshold correspondence.

18. A device, comprising:

a deformable substrate configured to contact and conform to a skin surface of a body portion of a healthcare provider;

a sensor assembly coupled to the deformable substrate, the sensor assembly including one or more identity sensors configured to generate one or more identity sense signals associated with at least one physical characteristic of the healthcare provider, the one or more identity sensors further configured to generate one or more second identity sense signals associated with at least one physical characteristic of an individual subject other than the healthcare provider while the deformable substrate is in contact with the skin surface of the body portion of the healthcare provider and in contact with a skin surface of a body portion of the individual subject;

circuitry operably coupled to the sensor assembly and configured to receive the one or more identity sense signals associated with the at least one physical characteristic of the healthcare provider, the circuitry including an identity comparison module configured to compare the one or more identity sense signals generated by the sensor assembly to reference data indicative of one or more physical characteristics associated with an identity of at least one individual to determine whether the one or more identity sense signals correspond to the identity of the at least one individual, the identity comparison module further configured to compare the one or more second identity sense signals to reference data indicative of one or more physical characteristics associated with an identity of at least one second individual to determine whether the one or more second identity sense signals correspond to the identity of the at least one second individual; and

a reporter operably coupled to the circuitry and configured to generate one or more communication signals responsive to instruction by the circuitry prior to or in conjunction with authorization of the healthcare provider to perform a health service action with respect to the individual subject, the one or more communication signals associated with at least one of a comparison of the one or more identity sense signals generated by the sensor assembly to the reference data indicative of the one or more physical characteristics associated with the identity of the at least one individual or a comparison of the one or more second identity sense signals generated by the sensor assembly to the reference data indicative of the one or more physical characteristics associated with the identity of the at least one second individual.

19. The device of claim 18, wherein the one or more communication signals correspond to authorization of the healthcare provider to perform the health service action with respect to the individual subject responsive to a correspondence between the one or more second identity sense signals and the reference data indicative of one or more physical characteristics associated with the identity of the at least one second individual being at least at a threshold correspondence.

20. The device of claim 18, wherein the one or more communication signals correspond to authorization of the healthcare provider to perform the health service action with respect to the individual subject responsive to both of (i) a correspondence between the one or more identity sense signals and the reference data indicative of one or more physical characteristics associated with the identity of the at least one individual being at least at a threshold correspondence and (ii) a correspondence between the one or more second identity sense signals and the reference data indicative of one or more physical characteristics associated with the identity of the at least one second individual being at least at a threshold correspondence.