Activity Monitoring

• US 20090221937A1
• Filed: 02/25/2009
• Published: 09/03/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/25/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Shriners Hospitals For Children (Shriner's International Headquarters Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Shriners Hospitals For Children (Shriner's International Headquarters Incorporated)
• Inventors: Bagley, Anita, Smith, Warren D.
• Granted Patent: US 8,152,745 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/595
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0219 Inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt switches
• 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 5/0022 Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1117 Fall detection
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1118 Determining activity level

Abstract

Sensors and methods for automatically detecting and recording physical activities of an individual are described. An event is detected, in which data representative of at least one physical activity of an individual is received from an activity monitor associated with the individual. The data is combined into at least two intermediate calculations. A score is generated from the at least two intermediate calculations. The score is compared to a predefined threshold to decide whether or not an event has occurred. Data representative of the event is recorded.

Claims

1. A method of activity monitoring, the method comprising:

delivering data representative of at least one physical activity of an individual from an activity monitor associated with the individual;

combining the data into at least two intermediate calculations;

generating a score from the at least two intermediate calculations; and

recording the score as representative of the physical activity.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

recording the data representative of the at least one physical activity.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein one of the at least two intermediate calculations is associated with an orientational feature of the physical activity.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the data is combined and the score is generated on the activity monitor.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the data is combined and the score is generated on a computer system in communication with the activity monitor.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the computer system communicates with the activity monitor through a wireless communication.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

comparing the score to a predefined threshold to identify the occurrence of an event; and

recording the score as representative of the event.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the data is received from at least one sensor comprising an accelerometer.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the one of the at least two intermediate calculations is associated with an activity level of the individual.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein combining includes multiplying the at least two intermediate calculations.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the threshold is determined by a database of measured data from at least three subjects.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the event is a fall.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the measurement is performed remotely.

14. The method of claim 3, wherein the measure of the orientational feature includes a rotational feature.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the measure of the activity level includes a delayed, smoothed, squared norm of an acceleration vector.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the acceleration vector is smoothed over a period of 1 minute.

17. An apparatus comprising:

at least one sensor for sensing a physical activity;

a collector for receiving data representative of the sensed activity, the collector is configured to combine the received data into at least two intermediate calculations; and

a detector for computing a score from the intermediate calculations.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein one of the at least two intermediate calculations is associated with an orientational feature of the physical activity.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the collector and the detector are components of a activity monitor local to the sensor.

20. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the detector and the collector are components of a computer system remote to the sensor.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the computer system communicates with the sensor through a wireless communication.

22. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising a memory for data storage.

23. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the sensor includes an accelerometer.

24. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the one of the at least two intermediate calculations is associated with an activity level of the individual.

25. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the measure of the orientational feature includes a rotational feature.

26. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the measure of the activity level includes a delayed, smoothed, squared norm of an acceleration vector.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the acceleration vector is smoothed over a period of 1 minute.

28. A computer program product, encoded on a computer-readable medium, operable to cause a data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

receiving data representative of at least one physical activity of an individual from an activity monitor associated with the individual;

combining the data into at least two intermediate calculations; and

generating a score from the at least two intermediate calculations.

29. The computer program product of claim 28, further comprising:

recording the data representative of the at least one physical activity.

30. The computer program product of claim 28, wherein one of the at least two intermediate calculations is associated with an orientational feature of the physical activity.

31. The computer program product of claim 28, wherein the data is combined and the score is generated on the activity monitor executing the computer program product.

32. The computer program product of claim 28, wherein the data is combined and the score is generated on a computer system remote to the activity monitor.

33. The computer program product of claim 32, wherein the computer system communicates with the activity monitor through a wireless communication.

34. The computer program product of claim 28, further comprising:

comparing the score to a predefined threshold to identify the occurrence of an event; and

recording the score as representative of the event.

35. The computer program product of claim 28, wherein the data is received from at least one sensor comprising an accelerometer.

36. The computer program product of claim 28, wherein the one of the at least two intermediate calculations is associated with an activity level of the individual.

37. The computer program product of claim 36, wherein combining includes multiplying the at least two intermediate calculations.

38. The computer program product of claim 34, wherein the threshold is determined by a database of measured data from at least three subjects.

39. The computer program product of claim 34, wherein the event is a fall.

40. The computer program product of claim 30, wherein the measure of the orientational feature includes a rotational feature.

41. The computer program product of claim 40, wherein the measure of the activity level includes a delayed, smoothed, squared norm of an acceleration vector.

42. The computer program product of claim 41, wherein the acceleration vector is smoothed over a period of 1 minute.