Floor Mat System and Associated, Computer Medium and Computer-Implemented Methods for Monitoring and Improving Health and Productivity of Employees

• US 20130012787A1
• Filed: 07/02/2012
• Published: 01/10/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/05/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Government of Saudi Arabia)
• Original Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Government of Saudi Arabia)
• Inventors: Horseman, Samantha J.
• Granted Patent: US 9,615,746 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/301
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/00 Measuring for diagnostic purposes radiation diagnosis A61B6/00; diagnosis by ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves A61B8/00; Identification of persons
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0002 Remote monitoring of patients using telemetry, e.g. transmission of vital signals via a communication network A61B5/07 takes precedence; transmission systems for measured values G08C; transmission H04B; transmission of digital information H04L; wireless communication networks H04W
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0008 Temperature signals
• 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 5/01 Measuring temperature of body parts ; Diagnostic temperature sensing, e.g. for malignant or inflamed tissue clinical contact thermometers G01K13/20
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02055 Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular condition and temperature
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/021 Measuring pressure in heart or blood vessels A61B5/0205 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0537 Measuring body composition by impedance, e.g. tissue hydration or fat content
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/08 Detecting, measuring or recording devices for evaluating the respiratory organs A61B5/0205 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1113 Local tracking of patients, e.g. in a hospital or private home
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1114 Tracking parts of the body
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/145 Measuring characteristics of blood in vivo, e.g. gas concentration, pH value; Measuring characteristics of body fluids or tissues, e.g. interstitial fluid, cerebral tissuemeasuring of blood pressure or blood flow A61B5/02; non-radiation detecting or locating of foreign bodies in blood A61B5/06
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/40 Detecting, measuring or recording for evaluating the nervous system A61B5/4806, A61B5/4821, A61B5/4824 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4872 Body fat
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6803 Head-worn items, e.g. helmets, masks, headphones or goggles
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6887 mounted on external non-worn devices, e.g. non-medical devices
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6891 Furniture
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6892 Mats
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6897 Computer input devices, e.g. mice or keyboards
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6898 Portable consumer electronic devices, e.g. music players, telephones, tablet computers
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/72 : Signal processing specially adapted for physiological signals or for diagnostic purposes character recognition, recognising digital ink, document-oriented image-based pattern recognition G06V30/00; recognition or understanding of postal images G06V30/424
• 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: A61B 5/742 : using visual displays A61B5/339 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 15/00 : ICT specially adapted for medical reports, e.g. generation or transmission thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 : for remote operation

Abstract

Provided are embodiments of systems, computer medium and computer-implemented methods for sensing health characteristics of a user using a floor mat including a set of health sensors integrated therewith. The set of health sensors including temperature sensors, body position sensors, and body fat sensors. A method including receiving, from the temperature sensors, temperature data corresponding to a sensed body temperature of the user, receiving, from the body position sensors, body position data corresponding to a sensed body position of the user, receiving, from the body fat sensors, body fat data corresponding to a sensed body fat of the user, and transmitting, to a computer workstation, health data corresponding to the temperature data, the body position data, and the body fat data for use in determining the body temperature, the body position, and the body fat of the user.

Claims

1. A system for monitoring an employee'"'"'s health while the employee is working at a workstation, the workstation including a workstation surface located above and parallel to a floor, a computer workstation and a chair located on the floor adjacent to the workstation surface, the system comprising:

a floor mat in communication with the computer workstation, the floor mat comprising a planar mat configured to be disposed on the floor adjacent to the chair such that at least one of the employee'"'"'s right foot and left foot are disposed on the floor mat while the employee is seated in the chair, an upper surface of the floor mat comprising a set of health sensors integrated therewith for detecting biometric and biomechanical characteristics of the employee'"'"'s health, the set of health sensors comprising one or more temperature sensors, one or more position sensors, and one or more body fat sensors, the set of health sensors configured to output health sensor data comprising of temperature data output by one or more of the temperature sensors that is indicative of a body temperature of the employee, position data output by one or more of the position sensors that is indicative of the body position of the employee, and body fat data output by one or more of the body fat sensors that is indicative of a body fat of the employee; and

a database in communication with a communications network and storing health information associated with one or more employees; and

a computer server in communication with the communication network and configured to serve, to the computer workstation for display to the employee, health profile information for the employee, the computer server comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, an input/output (I/O) device interface and a processor, the I/O device interface connecting the computer server to the communications network, the non-transitory computer readable storage medium having a set of computer readable instructions stored thereon that are executable by the processor to cause the computer server to perform the steps of;

collecting, via the communications network, the health sensor data output by the set of health sensors of the floor mat;

determining an updated health profile for the employee using the health sensor data collected, the updated health profile comprising;

health characteristics for the employee including one or more of a body temperature, a body weight, a body fat, and a body position for the employee determined using the health sensor data collected; and

a health plan for the employee based on one or more of the health characteristics determined using the health sensor data collected;

updating the health information stored in the database to reflect the updated health profile for the employee; and

serving, for display to the employee via the computer workstation, the updated health profile for the employee.

2. A system according to claim 1, wherein collecting, via the communications network, the health sensor data output by the set of health sensors of the floor mat comprises:

identifying a need to initiate a health test using a predetermined test schedule that specifies times at which the health sensor data needs to be collected from the health sensors;

in response to identifying a need to initiate a health test using a predetermined test schedule that specifies times at which the health sensor data needs to be collected from the health sensors, querying the computer workstation for the health sensor data corresponding to the health test, the computer workstation being configured to collect the health sensor data from the set of health sensors of the floor mat; and

receiving, from the computer workstation and via the communications network, the health sensor data corresponding to the health test.

3. A system according to claim 1, wherein the floor mat comprises a floor mat controller configured to:

receive the temperature data output by one or more of the temperature sensors, the body position data output by one or more of the body position sensors, and the body fat data output by one or more of the body fat sensors; and

transmit, to the computer workstation, health data corresponding to the received temperature data, body position data, and body fat data received,

wherein the computer workstation is configured to transmit health data corresponding to the health data received to the computer server.

4. A system according to claim 3, wherein the floor mat controller is wirelessly connected to the computer workstation, and wherein the health data corresponding to the received temperature data, body position data, and body fat data received is transmitted from the floor mat controller to the computer workstation via the wireless connection.

5. A system according to claim 1, wherein the one or more temperature sensors comprises one or more temperature transducers located in at least one of a right portion of the upper surface of the floor mat and a left portion of the upper surface of the floor mat such that a temperature of at least one of the employee'"'"'s right foot or left foot is sensed while the employee is seated in the chair.

6. A system according to claim 1, wherein the one or more position sensors comprise one or more forces transducers located in at least one of a right portion of the upper surface of the floor mat and a left portion of the upper surface of the floor mat such that a force of at least one of the employee'"'"'s right foot or left foot resting on the floor mat is sensed while the employee is seated in the chair.

7. A system according to claim 1, wherein the one or more body fat sensors comprise one or more conductive contacts located in a right portion of the upper surface of the floor mat and a left portion of the upper surface of the floor mat such that body fat between the employee'"'"'s right foot and left foot is sensed while the employee is seated in the chair.

8. A system according to claim 1, wherein the floor mat is integrated into the floor of the workstation.

9. A floor mat for sensing health characteristics of a user, the floor mat comprising:

a floor mat controller;

a mat configured to be disposed on a floor; and

a set of health sensors integrated within the mat, the set of health sensors comprising;

one or more temperature sensors configured to sense a body temperature of the user, the floor mat controller configured to transmit temperature data corresponding to the sensed body temperature to a computer workstation for use in determining the body temperature of the user;

one or more body position sensors configured to sense a body position of the user, the floor mat controller configured to transmit body position data corresponding to the sensed body position to the computer workstation for use in determining the body position of the user; and

one or more body fat sensors configured to sense body fat of the user, the floor mat controller configured to transmit body fat data corresponding to the sensed body fat to the computer workstation for use in determining the body fat of the user.

10. A floor mat according to claim 9, wherein the one or more temperature sensors comprise one or more temperature transducers located in at least one of a right portion of an upper surface of the floor mat and a left portion of the upper surface of the floor mat such that a temperature of at least one of the user'"'"'s right foot or left foot is sensed while at least one of the user'"'"'s feet are contacting the floor mat.

11. A floor mat according to claim 9, wherein the one or more position sensors comprise one or more forces transducers located in at least one of a right portion of an upper surface of the floor mat and a left portion of the upper surface of the floor mat such that a force of at least one of the user'"'"'s right foot or left foot is sensed while at least one of the user'"'"'s feet are contacting the floor mat.

12. A floor mat according to claim 9, wherein the one or more body fat sensors comprise one or more conductive contacts located in a right portion of an upper surface of the floor mat and a left portion of the upper surface of the floor mat such that body fat between the employee'"'"'s right foot and left foot is sensed while the user'"'"'s right foot and left are contacting the floor mat.

13. A floor mat according to claim 9, wherein the floor mat controller is configured to:

receive a request for health data from the computer workstation; and

in response to receiving a request for health data from the computer workstation;

collect the temperature data from the one or more temperature sensors, the body position data from the one or more body position sensors, and the body fat data from the one or more body fat sensors; and

transmit, to the computer workstation, health data corresponding to the temperature data, the body position data, and the body fat data for use in determining the body temperature, the body position, and the body fat of the user.

14. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising program instructions for use in monitoring an employee'"'"'s health while the employee is working at a workstation, the workstation including a workstation surface located above and parallel to a floor, a computer workstation and a chair located on the floor adjacent to the workstation surface, the computer program instructions being executable by a computer processor to cause the steps of:

activating set of health sensors integrated with a floor mat connected to a communications network via the computer workstation, the floor mat comprising a planar mat configured to be disposed on the floor adjacent to the chair such that at least one of the employee'"'"'s right foot and left foot are disposed on the floor mat while the employee is seated in the chair, an upper surface of the floor mat comprising a set of health sensors integrated therewith for detecting biometric and biomechanical characteristics of the employee'"'"'s health, the set of health sensors comprising one or more temperature sensors, one or more position sensors, and one or more body fat sensors, the set of health sensors configured to output health sensor data comprising of temperature data output by one or more of the temperature sensors that is indicative of a body temperature of the employee, position data output by one or more of the position sensors that is indicative of the body position of the employee, and body fat data output by one or more of the body fat sensors that is indicative of a body fat of the employee;

collecting, via the communications network, the health sensor data output by the set of health sensors of the floor mat;

determining an updated health profile for the employee using the health sensor data collected, the updated health profile comprising;

health characteristics for the employee including one or more of a body temperature, a body weight, a body fat, and a body position for the employee determined using the health sensor data collected; and

a health plan for the employee based on one or more of the health characteristics determined using the health sensor data collected;

updating the health information stored in the database to reflect the updated health profile for the employee; and

serving, for display to the employee via the computer workstation, the updated health profile for the employee.

15. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 14, wherein collecting, via the communications network, the health sensor data output by the set of health sensors of the floor mat comprises:

identifying a need to initiate a health test using a predetermined test schedule that specifies times at which the health sensor data needs to be collected from the health sensors;

in response to identifying a need to initiate a health test using a predetermined test schedule that specifies times at which the health sensor data needs to be collected from the health sensors, querying the computer workstation for the health sensor data corresponding to the health test, the computer workstation being configured to collect the health sensor data from the set of health sensors of the floor mat; and

receiving, from the computer workstation and via the communications network, the health sensor data corresponding to the health test.

16. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 14, wherein the floor mat comprises a floor mat controller configured to:

receive the temperature data output by one or more of the temperature sensors, the body position data output by one or more of the body position sensors, and the body fat data output by one or more of the body fat sensors; and

transmit, to the computer workstation, health data corresponding to the received temperature data, body position data, and body fat data received,

wherein the computer workstation is configured to transmit health data corresponding to the health data received to the computer server.

17. A computer implemented method for sensing health characteristics of a user using a floor mat configured to be disposed on a floor and a set of health sensors integrated within the floor mat, the set of health sensors comprising one or more temperature sensors configured to sense a body temperature of the user, one or more body position sensors configured to sense a body position of the user, one or more body fat sensors configured to sense body fat of the user, the computer implemented method comprising:

receiving, from the one or more temperature sensors, temperature data corresponding to a sensed body temperature of the user;

receiving, from the one or more body position sensors, body position data corresponding to a sensed body position of the user;

receiving, from the one or more body fat sensors, body fat data corresponding to a sensed body fat of the user; and

transmitting, to the computer workstation, health data corresponding to the temperature data, the body position data, and the body fat data for use in determining the body temperature, the body position, and the body fat of the user.

18. A computer implemented method according to claim 17, wherein the one or more temperature sensors comprise one or more temperature transducers located in at least one of a right portion of an upper surface of the floor mat and a left portion of the upper surface of the floor mat such that the temperature of at least one of the user'"'"'s right foot or left foot is sensed while at least one of the user'"'"'s feet are contacting the floor mat.

19. A computer implemented method according to claim 17, wherein the one or more position sensors comprise one or more forces transducers located in at least one of a right portion of an upper surface of the floor mat and a left portion of the upper surface of the floor mat such that the force of the user'"'"'s right foot or left foot is sensed while at least one of the user'"'"'s feet are contacting the floor mat.

20. A computer implemented method according to claim 17, wherein the one or more body fat sensors comprise one or more conductive contacts located in a right portion of an upper surface of the floor mat and a left portion of the upper surface of the floor mat such that the body fat between the employee'"'"'s right foot and left foot is sensed while the user'"'"'s right foot and left are contacting the floor mat.

21. A computer implemented method according to claim 17, further comprising:

receiving a request for health data from the computer workstation; and

in response to receiving a request for health data from the computer workstation;

collecting the temperature data from the one or more temperature sensors, the body position data from the one or more body position sensors, and the body fat data from the one or more body fat sensors; and

transmitting, to the computer workstation, health data corresponding to the temperature data, the body position data, and the body fat data for use in determining the body temperature, the body position, and the body fat of the user.