METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR MONITORING PATIENTS FOR CLINICAL EPISODES

• US 20070118054A1
• Filed: 10/25/2006
• Published: 05/24/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/01/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: EarlySense Ltd.
• Original Assignee: EarlySense Ltd.
• Inventors: GROSS, Yosef, HALPERIN, Avner, PINHAS, Itzhak, LANGE, Daniel, AVERBOUKH, Arkadi
• Application Number:
  US11/552,872
• Publication Number:
  US 20070118054A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/587
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0247 for compensation or correction of the measured physiological value
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0823 Detecting or evaluating cough events
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1101 Detecting tremor
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1102 Ballistocardiography
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1104 induced by stimuli or drugs; A61B5/1102 takes precedence; investigating medicinal preparations G01N33/15
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/113 occurring during breathing
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/411 Detecting or monitoring allergy or intolerance reactions to an allergenic agent or substance
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4809 Sleep detection, i.e. determining whether a subject is asleep or not
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4812 Detecting sleep stages or cycles
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4815 Sleep quality
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4818 Sleep apnoea
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6891 Furniture
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6896 Toys
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7239 using differentiation including higher order derivatives
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7264 Classification of physiological signals or data, e.g. using neural networks, statistical classifiers, expert systems or fuzzy systems neural networks per se G06N3/00; expert systems per se G06N5/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7275 Determining trends in physiological measurement data; Predicting development of a medical condition based on physiological measurements, e.g. determining a risk factor
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7282 Event detection, e.g. detecting unique waveforms indicative of a medical condition A61B5/4094, A61B5/4818, A61B5/349, A61B5/0823 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/20 for handling medical images, e.g. DICOM, HL7 or PACS
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/20 for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems

Abstract

Methods and systems for monitoring vital signs for the prediction and treatment of physiological ailments are provided. The methods and systems may be applied to the monitoring of a broad range of physiological ailments or “episodes,” including, but not limited to, asthma, hypoglycemia, coughing, edema, sleep apnea, labor, and REM sleep stages, among others. The methods employ sensors, for example, non-contact sensors, adapted to detect vital signs, such as heart rate or respiration rate, to produce signals that can be analyzed for trends, for deviations, or for comparison to prior conditions or criteria. The sensors may be positioned whereby the subject need not be viewed by the health care provider. Some methods and systems employ the use of “scores” based upon the combination of sensed vital signs or based upon a comparison of the vital signs to criteria.

Claims

1-22. -22. (canceled)

23. A method for detecting edema in a subject, the method comprising:

providing a plurality of mechanical sensors, each sensor adapted to sense a mechanical signal of a part of the body of the subject without contacting the subject;

sensing a plurality of mechanical signals from the plurality of sensors; and

analyzing the plurality of mechanical signals to determine the presence of edema.

24. The method as recited in claim 23, wherein said analyzing comprises detecting variation of the mechanical signal distribution of the subject with time to determine the presence of edema.

25. The method as recited in claim 23, wherein providing the plurality of mechanical sensors comprises providing a plurality of pressure sensors.

26. The method as recited in claim 23, wherein the method is practiced while the subject is asleep.

27. The method as recited in claim 23, wherein the method is practiced without requiring compliance of the subject.

28. A system for detecting edema in a subject, the system comprising:

a plurality of mechanical sensors, each sensor adapted to sense a mechanical signal of a part of the body of the subject without contacting the subject and produce a plurality of mechanical signals from the plurality of sensors; and

a signal analyzer adapted to analyze the plurality of mechanical signals to determine the presence of edema.

29. The system as recited in claim 28, wherein the analyzer is adapted to detect variation of the mechanical signal distribution of the subject with time to determine the presence of edema.

30. The system as recited in claim 28, wherein the plurality of mechanical sensors comprise a plurality of pressure sensors.

31. The system as recited in claim 28, wherein the system is adapted to be used while the subject is asleep.

32. The system as recited in claim 28, wherein the system is adapted to be used without requiring compliance of the subject.

33-116. -116. (canceled)