Data capture and management system

• US 10,425,301 B2
• Filed: 04/30/2013
• Issued: 09/24/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Essity Hygiene and Health Aktiebolag
• Original Assignee: Essity Hygiene and Health Aktiebolag
• Inventors: Oloffson Ranta, Christer, Hermansson, Sofia, Granberg, Anna
• Primary Examiner(s): Dailey, Thomas J
• Application Number:
  US14/787,283
• Publication Number:
  US 20160134497A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,338 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/08 Monitoring or testing based on specific metrics, e.g. QoS, energy consumption or environmental parameters
• 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: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

A data capture and management system for providing an absorbent article, such as a diaper, a sanitary towel, an incontinence garment, a medical dressing and the like, with sensing and/or data logging capabilities is provided. The system includes a data logger configured to be detachably attached to or located in the vicinity of an absorbent article, a data link between the data logger and a data collection hub, and a user interface for permitting an operator to access the data collection hub from a remote location. For ease of identification, each data logger is provided with a user-friendly identifier, and the data collection hub includes a correlator that correlates the user-friendly identifier of the data logger with an IMEI number or other unique device identifier of that data logger. A method of capturing and managing incontinence data using the above system is also provided.

Claims

1. An incontinence data capture and management system comprising:

a data logger configured to be detachably attached to or located in the vicinity of an absorbent article;

a data link between the data logger and a data collection hub; and

a user interface that permits an operator to access the data collection hub from a remote location,

the data logger being configured to transmit a data package to the data collection hub at predetermined intervals, wherein the data logger has a unique device identifier that identifies the data logger and wherein the data package includes the unique device identifier of the data logger,

wherein the data logger is visibly marked with a user-friendly identifier that identifies the data logger, and the data collection hub correlates the user-friendly identifier of a data logger with the unique device identifier of that data logger, and wherein the user-friendly identifier has less alphanumeric characters than the unique device identifier.

2. The incontinence data capture and management system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the user interface is configured to permit the operator to associate a particular data logger with a particular individual by use of the user-friendly identifier.

3. The incontinence data capture and management system as claimed in claim 1, comprising several data loggers, each data logger being adapted to transmit data to the data collection hub via the data link.

4. The incontinence data capture and management system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the data link is a cellular telephone network and the unique device identifier is the IMEI number or the IMSI number.

5. The incontinence data capture and management system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the data collection hub is a server located remotely from the data logger and/or the user interface.

6. The incontinence data capture and management system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the user-friendly identifier is visible on an outer cover of the data logger.

7. The incontinence data capture and management system as claimed in claim 1, comprising a plurality of user interfaces.

8. The incontinence data capture and management system as claimed in claim 7, wherein one or more data loggers is associated with each of the user interfaces.

9. The incontinence data capture and management system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the user interface is a web-based interface that allows an operator to access the data collection hub over the internet.

10. The incontinence data capture and management system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the user-friendly identifier comprises fewer than five characters.

11. The incontinence data capture and management system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the user-friendly identifier comprises two or three alphanumeric characters.

12. The incontinence data capture and management system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system further comprises one or more charging units that charge the one or more data loggers.

13. The incontinence data capture and management system as claimed in claim 1, wherein each data logger is configured to store data until the data logger receives a signal from the data collection hub confirming that the data has been successfully transmitted to the data collection hub.

14. A method of capturing and managing incontinence data comprising:

providing a user interface that permits an operator to access a data collection hub from a remote location;

configuring one or more data loggers to transmit a data package to the data collection hub at predetermined intervals, wherein each of the one or more data loggers has a unique device identifier that identifies the corresponding data logger and wherein the data package includes the unique device identifier of the corresponding data logger, and wherein the data collection hub receives, via a data link, the data packages from each of the data loggers;

visibly marking each of the one or more data loggers with a user-friendly identifier that identifies the corresponding data logger, wherein for each of the one or more data loggers the user-friendly identifier has less alphanumeric characters than the unique device identifier for the same data logger;

for each of the one or more data loggers, correlating the user-friendly identifier of the data logger with the unique device identifier of the same data logger;

supplying a user with one or more of the one or more marked data loggers, and a web-based interface for accessing the data collection hub; and

using the data collection hub to identify the user-friendly identifier of the data logger from the unique device identifier of the same data logger, to collate data received from each data logger, and to provide, via the user interface, access to the data received from each data logger by the user providing the user-friendly identifier of the data logger.

15. The method of capturing and managing incontinence data as claimed in claim 14, further comprising providing the user with instructions to input the user-friendly identifier marked on the data logger, the start and finish time of use of the data logger, and a further personal identifier for identifying the end user of the data logger, via the user interface.

16. An incontinence data capture and management system comprising:

a data logger configured to be detachably attached to or located in the vicinity of an absorbent article;

a data link between the data logger and a data collection hub; and

a user interface that permits an operator to access the data collection hub from a remote location,

the data logger being configured to transmit a data package to the data collection hub at predetermined intervals, wherein the data logger has a unique device identifier that identifies the data logger and wherein the data package includes the unique device identifier of the data logger,

wherein the data logger is visibly marked with a user-friendly identifier that identifies the data logger, the user-friendly identifier being shorter than the unique device identifier,

wherein the data collection hub is configured to collate data packages received from different data loggers used for the same user, each data logger being identifiable in the data collection hub by a respective user-friendly identifier correlated to a respective unique device identifier, and

wherein when the operator accesses, via the user interface, the data collection hub using a user-friendly identifier of a data logger, the data collection hub is configured to provide data, collated by the data collection hub, from the data logger and other data loggers relating to the same user for access by the operator.

17. The incontinence data capture and management system as claimed in claim 16, wherein the user interface is configured to permit the operator to associate a particular data logger with a particular individual by use of the user-friendly identifier.

18. The incontinence data capture and management system as claimed in claim 16, wherein the data link is a cellular telephone network and the unique device identifier is the IMEI number or the IMSI number.

19. The incontinence data capture and management system as claimed in claim 16, wherein the user interface is a web-based interface that allows an operator to access the data collection hub over the internet.

20. The incontinence data capture and management system as claimed in claim 16, wherein each data logger is configured to store data until the data logger receives a signal from the data collection hub confirming that the data has been successfully transmitted to the data collection hub.