VIVO DETERMINATION OF ACIDITY LEVELS

• US 20130178721A1
• Filed: 09/28/2011
• Published: 07/11/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/04/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Delavan Limited (Enpro Industries Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Delavan Limited (Enpro Industries Incorporated)
• Inventors: Livshits, David, Bird, Uzi
• Granted Patent: US 8,694,091 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/301
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 11/007 Boluses
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2503/40 Animals
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0004 characterised by the type of physiological signal transmitted
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0205 Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular conditions and different types of body conditions, e.g. heart and respiratory condition
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/036 by means introduced into body tracts A61B5/032 and A61B5/035 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/07 Endoradiosondes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/073 Intestinal transmitters
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/11 Measuring movement of the entire body or parts thereof, e.g. head or hand tremor, mobility of a limb for measuring pulse A61B5/02 ;A61B5/1038 takes precedence; motion detection to correct for motion artifacts in physiological signals A61B5/721
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14539 for measuring pH
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4238 stomach
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6861 Capsules, e.g. for swallowing or implanting
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6871 Stomach
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7225 Details of analog processing, e.g. isolation amplifier, gain or sensitivity adjustment, filtering, baseline or drift compensation A61B5/30, A61B5/316 take precedence; transformers for specific applications H01F38/00; amplifiers H03F
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7278 Artificial waveform generation or derivation, e.g. synthesising signals from measured signals A61B5/327 takes precedence

Abstract

A bolus for use in a ruminant animal'"'"'s reticulum includes a cavity (100) configured to receive ruminal fluids present in the stomach. The cavity has walls (110) of a dielectric material and is encircled by a coil member (120), which is configured to subject the ruminal fluids to an electro-magnetic field. A Sensor element (310) measures the electromag-netic field'"'"'s influence on the ruminal fluids and thus register an electromagnetic property representative of an acidity level of said fluids. A transmitter (410) transmits a wireless output signal (SD) reflecting the acidity measure.

Claims

1-13. -13. (canceled)

14. A bolus for introducing into a ruminant animal'"'"'s (A) reticulum (R) and for ongoing measurement of an acidity level of an animal'"'"'s stomach fluids, the bolus (100) comprising:

a housing (100) having an outermost surface exterior wall;

a cavity defined by a portion of the exterior wall of the housing, the cavity (C1, C2) having a wall of dielectric material and at least a first opening for receiving ruminal fluids into the cavity, the wall defining a dielectric conduit (110), the first opening being an unobstructed opening freely allowing the ruminal fluids from the animal'"'"'s (A) reticulum (R) to be received into the cavity;

a power generator (310) that generates electric power within a spectral range;

a sensor coil (120) encircling the dielectric conduit (110) and powered by the power generator, the sensor coil (120) configured to subject the received ruminal fluids (L) within the cavity to an electromagnetic field (B) within the spectral range;

a processor (320) connected to the sensor coil (120) to measure, under influence of the electromagnetic field (B), an electromagnetic property (z) of the ruminal fluids (L),

wherein from the measure of the electromagnetic property (z), the processor (320) determines an acidity measure (M_pH) of an acidity level of the ruminal fluids (L); and

a transmitter (410) connected to the processor (32) and configured to transmit a wireless output signal (S_D) reflecting the determined acidity measure (M_pH),

wherein the power generator (310), the sensor coil (120), the processor (320), and the transmitter (410) are each located within the housing (100).

15. The bolus of claim 14, wherein,

the spectral range includes a distinct center frequency within 5 Mhz through 15 MHz,

the electromagnetic property (z) is impedance of the ruminal fluids (L), and

the processor (320) is configured to derive the acidity measure (M_pH) from the measured impedance of the ruminal fluids (L).

16. The bolus of claim 14, wherein the dielectric conduit (110) is closed at one end and the first opening is further configured for discharging the received ruminal fluids.

17. The bolus of claim 14, wherein,

the dielectric conduit (110) further comprises a second opening opposite the first opening, the second opening allowing the ruminal fluids to be discharged from the dielectric conduit (110) of the cavity, and

the cavity defines a passage through the housing (100) allowing the received ruminal fluids passage through the dielectric conduit (110) from the first opening to the second opening,.

18. The bolus of claim 17, wherein,

the passage extends in a longitudinal direction running from a first end of the housing to a second end of the housing.

19. The bolus of claim 17, wherein,

the passage extends in a direction transverse to the longitudinal direction.

20. The bolus of claim 14, wherein,

an overall weight of the bolus is in a range of from 200 to 300 grams, and

the housing is sized for placement in the reticulum of a cow.

21. The bolus of claim 14, further comprising a battery (405), wherein,

the power generator (310) is powered by the battery (405),

the battery (405) is located within the housing (100), and

the battery is sized based on a lifespan of a cow.

22. The bolus of claim 14, wherein,

the cavity is located proximate a first end of the housing,

and, at an opposite, second end of the housing, the bolus further comprises:

a pressure sensor module (510) configured to transduce pressure signals (S_p) into electric signals (S), said pressure signals (S_p) being transmitted through the ruminal fluids (L) in the animal'"'"'s (A) stomach;

a mechanical amplifier element (MA) extending out from the first end of the housing, the mechanical amplifier element (MA) being adapted to be surrounded by the fluids (L) and absorb mechanical energy from the pressure signals (S_p), and

a guide element (540) configured to convey mechanical energy from the mechanical amplifier element (MA) to the pressure sensor module (110).

23. The bolus of claim 14, wherein the cavity further comprises a second opening opposite the first opening, the second opening for discharging the received ruminal fluids, the second opening being an unobstructed opening freely allowing the ruminal fluids to be discharged from the dielectric conduit (110) of the cavity.

24. The bolus of claim 14, wherein,

the processor (320) is further configured to extract data (D) from the electric signals (S), the data (D) representing at least one of:

body movements, a heart beat rate, a respiratory rate, a respiratory depth and stomach activity of the animal (200); and

the transmitter (410) is further configured to receive the data (D) and include the data (D) in the wireless output signal (S_p).

25. The bolus of claim 21, wherein,

an overall length of the bolus is in a range from 75 to 145 mm, and

an overall width of the bolus is in a range from 20 to 60 mm.

26. A method for repeatedly determining at least one health-related parameter for the animal (A), the method comprising:

using a bolus (100) located in the animal'"'"'s (A) reticulum (R), the bolus (100) comprising

an overall housing (100) having an outermost surface exterior wall,

a cavity defined by a portion of the exterior wall of the housing, the cavity (C1, C2) having a wall of dielectric material and at least a first opening for receiving ruminal fluids into the cavity, the wall defining a dielectric conduit (110), the first opening being an unobstructed opening freely allowing the ruminal fluids from the animal'"'"'s (A) reticulum (R) to be received into the cavity,

a power generator (310) that generates electric power within a spectral range,

a sensor coil (120) encircling the dielectric conduit (110) and powered by the power generator, the sensor coil (120) configured to subject the received ruminal fluids (L) within the cavity to an electromagnetic field (B) within the spectral range,

a processor (320) connected to the sensor coil (120) to measure, under influence of the electromagnetic field (B), an electromagnetic property (z) of the ruminal fluids (L),

wherein from the measure of the electromagnetic property (z), the processor (320) determines an acidity measure (MpH) of an acidity level of the ruminal fluids (L), and

a transmitter (410) connected to the processor (32) and configured to transmit a wireless output signal (SD) reflecting the determined acidity measure (MpH),

wherein the power generator (310), the sensor coil (120), the processor (320), and the transmitter (410) are each located within the housing (100);

with sensor coil (120) subjecting the received ruminal fluids (L) within the cavity to an electromagnetic field (B) within the spectral range, registering, via the sensor coil (120) and the processor (320), the acidity measure (MpH) of the ruminal fluids (L); and

transmitting, via the transmitter (410), the wireless output signal (S_D) reflecting the determined acidity measure (MpH).

27. The method of claim 26, wherein,

the spectral range includes a distinct center frequency within 5 Mhz through 15 MHz.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein,

the electromagnetic property (z) is impedance of the ruminal fluids (L), and

the processor (320) is configured to derive the acidity measure (M_pH) from the measured impedance of the ruminal fluids (L).

29. The method of claim 26, wherein,

the cavity of the bolus further comprises a second opening opposite the first opening, the second opening for discharging the received ruminal fluids, the second opening allowing the ruminal fluids to be discharged from the dielectric conduit (110) of the cavity, the cavity defines a passage through the housing (100) allowing the received ruminal fluids passage through the dielectric conduit (110), and

said registering step occurs with the ruminal fluids passing within the dielectric conduit.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the passage extends in a longitudinal direction running from a first end of the housing to a second end of the housing.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein the passage extends transverse to a longitudinal direction running from a first end of the housing to a second end of the housing.

32. The method of claim 26, wherein,

the bolus further comprises a battery (405),

the power generator (310) is powered by the battery (405),

the battery (405) is located within the housing (100), and

the battery is sized based on a lifespan of a cow.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein,

the cavity is located proximate a first end of the housing,

and, at an opposite, second end of the housing, the bolus further comprises

a pressure sensor module (510) configured to transduce pressure signals (S_p) into electric signals (S), said pressure signals (S_p) being transmitted through the ruminal fluids (L) in the animal'"'"'s (A) stomach;

a mechanical amplifier element (MA) extending out from the first end of the housing, the mechanical amplifier element (MA) being adapted to be surrounded by the fluids (L) and absorb mechanical energy from the pressure signals (S_p), and

a guide element (540) configured to convey mechanical energy from the mechanical amplifier element (MA) to the pressure sensor module (110), the method further comprising;

from the pressure sensor module, operating the processor (320) to extract data (D) from the electric signals (S), the data (D) representing at least one of body movements, a heart beat rate, a respiratory rate, a respiratory depth, and stomach activity of the animal (200); and

using the transmitter (410), transmitting the extracted data (D) in the wireless output signal (S_D).

34. A non-transitory computer readable medium (M) having a program recorded thereon, execution of the program causing computer control to repeatedly determine at least one health-related parameter for the animal (A), the method comprising:

using a bolus (100) located in the animal'"'"'s (A) reticulum (R), the bolus (100) comprising

a housing (100) having an outermost surface exterior wall,

a cavity defined by a portion of the exterior wall of the housing, the cavity (C1, C2) having a wall of dielectric material and at least a first opening for receiving ruminal fluids into the cavity, the wall defining a dielectric conduit (110), the first opening being an unobstructed opening freely allowing the ruminal fluids from the animal'"'"'s (A) reticulum (R) to be received into the cavity,

a power generator (310) that generates electric power within a spectral range,

a sensor coil (120) encircling the dielectric conduit (110) and powered by the power generator, the sensor coil (120) configured to subject the received ruminal fluids (L) within the cavity to an electromagnetic field (B) within the spectral range,

a processor (320) connected to the sensor coil (120) and under the computer control, to measure, under influence of the electromagnetic field (B), an electromagnetic property (z) of the ruminal fluids (L),

wherein, under the computer control, from the measure of the electromagnetic property (z), the processor (320) determines an acidity measure (MpH) of an acidity level of the ruminal fluids (L), and

a transmitter (410) connected to the processor (32) and configured to transmit a wireless output signal (SD) reflecting the determined acidity measure (MpH),

wherein the power generator (310), the sensor coil (120), the processor (320), and the transmitter (410) are each located within the housing (100);

with sensor coil (120) subjecting the received ruminal fluids (L) within the cavity to an electromagnetic field (B) within the spectral range, registering, via the sensor coil (120) and the processor (320), the acidity measure (MpH) of the ruminal fluids (L); and

transmitting, via the transmitter (410), the wireless output signal (S_D) reflecting the determined acidity measure (MpH).