Method and system for personalized medical monitoring and notifications therefor

• US 7,905,832 B1
• Filed: 03/26/2003
• Issued: 03/15/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: IpVenture, Inc.
• Original Assignee: IpVenture, Inc.
• Inventors: Lau, Chung, Thomas, C. Douglass
• Primary Examiner(s): Johnson, III, Henry M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rajan, Kai
• Application Number:
  US10/397,641
• Time in Patent Office: 2,911 Days
• Field of Search: 600300-301, 128903-906, 128920-923, 705 2- 4, 701/213
• US Class Current: 600/300
• 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 5/0022 Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0024 for multiple sensor units attached to the patient, e.g. using a body or personal area network
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02 Detecting, measuring or recording pulse, heart rate, blood pressure or blood flow; Combined pulse/heart-rate/blood pressure determination; Evaluating a cardiovascular condition not otherwise provided for, e.g. using combinations of techniques provided for in this group with electrocardiography or electroauscultation; Heart catheters for measuring blood pressure
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02055 Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular condition and temperature
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1112 Global tracking of patients, e.g. by using GPS
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1116 Determining posture transitions
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1118 Determining activity level
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1123 Discriminating type of movement, e.g. walking or running A61B5/1116, A61B5/112 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/24 Detecting, measuring or recording bioelectric or biomagnetic signals of the body or parts thereof
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6801 specially adapted to be attached to or worn on the body surface
• 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: G06F 11/3013 where the computing system is an embedded system, i.e. a combination of hardware and software dedicated to perform a certain function in mobile devices, printers, automotive or aircraft systems testing or monitoring of control systems or parts thereof G05B23/02
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3055 Monitoring arrangements for monitoring the status of the computing system or of the computing system component, e.g. monitoring if the computing system is on, off, available, not available error or fault processing without redundancy G06F11/0703; error detection or correction by redundancy in data representation G06F11/08; error detection or correction by redundancy in operation G06F11/14; error detection or correction by redundancy in hardware G06F11/16
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3058 Monitoring arrangements for monitoring environmental properties or parameters of the computing system or of the computing system component, e.g. monitoring of power, currents, temperature, humidity, position, vibrations thermal management in cooling arrangements of a computing system G06F1/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0832 Special goods or special handling procedures, e.g. handling of hazardous or fragile goods
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0833 Tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 : for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/10 : relating to drugs or medications, e.g. for ensuring correct administration to patients
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 : specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 : specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 : Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/027 : using movement velocity, acceleration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 : Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/20 : Services signaling; Auxiliary data signalling, i.e. transmitting data via a non-traffic channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 : Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 128/92 : Computer assisted medical diagnostics

Abstract

Improved methods and systems for personal medical monitoring are disclosed. The monitoring yields status information pertaining to persons being monitored. Notifications, recommendations and/or actions can be initiated by examination or analysis of the status information. The status information can include health, position (location) and other information.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring status of a person, said method being performed at least in part by a monitoring server, said method comprising:

acquiring status information of the person being monitored, the status information being acquired using at least one electronic device, and the status information including at least health information of the person;

obtaining at least a first threshold condition and a second threshold condition for use in monitoring the person;

determining, at the monitoring server, whether an action condition exists by comparing the health information with at least one or both of the first threshold condition and the second threshold condition; and

initiating an action when said determining determines that the action condition exists,

wherein the action includes sending a notification to at least one recipient,

wherein the status information further includes location information of the person being monitored, and

wherein at least the first threshold condition is dependent on the location information of the person being monitored, such that the first threshold condition is set to a first level when the person is at a first location, and the first threshold condition is set to a second level when the person is at a second location.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the notification advises the person to compensate for a physical condition of the person.

3. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said acquiring of the status information of the person being monitored is periodically performed.

4. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said acquiring of the status information of the person being monitored is performed in real-time.

5. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one recipient is enabled through a web interface to configure at least one attribute of the notification to be sent.

6. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the health information is acquired using at least one sensor.

7. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein at least one of the first threshold condition and the second threshold condition is configurable.

8. A method as recited in claim 7, wherein the location information is based on location data acquired using a GPS receiver.

9. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein at least one of the first threshold condition and the second threshold condition is personal to and able to be adjusted by the person.

10. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the location information is based on location data acquired using a GPS receiver.

11. A method as recited in claim 10, wherein the at least one recipient is enabled through a web interface to configure at least one attribute of the notification to be sent.

12. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the notification is an electronic message.

13. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one electronic device is a wearable device.

14. A method as recited in claim 13, wherein at least one of the first threshold condition and the second threshold condition is configurable, and wherein the location information is based on location data acquired using a GPS receiver.

15. A method as recited in claim 14, wherein the health information is acquired using at least one sensor.

16. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one electronic device is a status-aware mobile device that is adapted to be affixed to the person, and wherein said acquiring of the status information of the person being monitored is provided by at least one sensor of the status-aware mobile device.

17. A method for monitoring status of a person, said method being performed at least in part by a monitoring server, said method comprising:

acquiring status information of the person being monitored, the status information being acquired using at least one electronic device, and the status information including at least health information of the person;

obtaining at least one threshold condition to be applied;

determining, at the monitoring server, whether an action condition exists by comparing the health information with at least the at least one threshold condition; and

initiating an action when said determining determines that the action condition exists,

wherein the status information further includes at least location information pertaining to the person,

wherein said obtaining of the at least one threshold condition comprises;

determining an activity associated with the person; and

determining the at least one threshold condition based on the activity associated with the person, the at least one threshold condition being determined is set to a first level when the person is engaging in a first activity and is set to a second level when the person is engaging in a second activity, and

wherein said determining of the activity associated with the person is based on at least the location information pertaining to the person.

18. A method as recited in claim 17, wherein the at least one electronic device is a status-aware mobile device that is adapted to be affixed to the person, and wherein said acquiring of the status information of the person being monitored is provided by the status-aware mobile device.

19. A method as recited in claim 18, wherein said acquiring transmits the status information from the status-aware mobile device to the monitoring server over at least a part of a wireless network.

20. A method as recited in claim 19, wherein the monitoring server stores a plurality of threshold conditions respectively corresponding to a plurality of persons or status-aware mobile devices.

21. A method as recited in claim 18, wherein the status-aware mobile device is a wearable device.

22. A method as recited in claim 17, wherein the action depends on a piece of demographic information of the person.

23. A method as recited in claim 17, wherein the action depends on a piece of status information of the person that was previously acquired.

24. A method as recited in claim 17, wherein the action is related to a medication dosage, and wherein the medication is administered by a device fabricated using micromachining techniques.

25. A method as recited in claim 17, wherein the action is a medication dosage, and wherein the medication dosage is adjusted based on a subsequent piece of the status information.

26. A method as recited in claim 17, wherein the location information includes a location of the person being monitored, wherein said method comprises generating a notification that directs the person to another location for health reasons, and wherein the another location is determined depending on the location of the person.

27. A method as recited in claim 17, wherein the threshold condition is configurable.

28. A method for monitoring status of a person, said method comprising:

acquiring status information of the person being monitored, the status information being acquired using at least one electronic device, and the status information including at least health information of the person;

obtaining at least one threshold condition to be applied;

determining whether an action condition exists by comparing the health information with at least the at least one threshold condition; and

initiating an action when said determining determines that the action condition exists,

wherein the status information further includes at least location information pertaining to the person,

wherein said obtaining of the at least one threshold condition comprises;

determining an activity associated with the person; and

determining the at least one threshold condition based on the activity associated with the person, the at least one threshold condition being determined is set to a first level when the person is engaging in a first activity and is set to a second level when the person is engaging in a second activity, and

wherein said determining of the activity associated with the person is based on at least the location information pertaining to the person, and

wherein the action includes an electronic mail notification sent to at least one recipient, and wherein the at least one recipient is enabled through a web interface to configure when and/or how the notification is to be sent.

29. A method for monitoring status of a person, said method being performed at least in part by a monitoring server, said method comprising:

receiving status information of a person being monitored, the status information being provided by a status-aware mobile device adapted to be affixed to the person, the status information including at least a location of the status-aware mobile device and a health condition of the person;

obtaining at least one threshold condition to be applied, the at least one threshold condition being able to be influenced by or for the person;

determining, at the monitoring server, whether a notification should be provided to the person based on at least the health condition of the person and the at least one threshold condition;

generating a notification based on the location and the health condition if said determining has determined that a notification should be provided; and

providing the notification to the person,

wherein the at least one threshold condition is dependent on an activity associated with the person, such that the at least one threshold condition used by said determining is set to a first level when the person is engaging in a first activity, and the at least one threshold condition is set to a second level when the person is engaging in a second activity, and

wherein the activity associated with the person is based on at least the location of the status-aware mobile device.

30. A method as recited in claim 29, wherein the at least one threshold condition is dependent on the location of the status-aware mobile device adapted to be affixed to the person, such that the at least one threshold condition used by said determining is set to a first level when the status-aware mobile device is at a first location, and the at least one threshold condition is set to a second level when the status-aware mobile device is at a second location.

31. A method as recited in claim 29, wherein the at least one threshold condition is dependent on the location of the status-aware mobile device adapted to be affixed to the person.

32. A method for monitoring status of a person, said method comprising:

receiving status information of a person being monitored, the status information being provided by a status-aware mobile device adapted to be affixed to the person, the status information including at least a location of the status-aware mobile device and a health condition of the person;

obtaining at least one threshold condition to be applied, the at least one threshold condition being able to be influenced by or for the person;

determining whether a notification should be provided to the person based on at least the health condition of the person and the at least one threshold condition;

generating a notification based on the location and the health condition if said determining has determined that a notification should be provided; and

providing the notification to the person,

wherein the at least one threshold condition is dependent on an activity associated with the person, such that the at least one threshold condition used by said determining is set to a first level when the person is engaging in a first activity, and the at least one threshold condition is set to a second level when the person is engaging in a second activity, and

wherein the activity associated with the person is based on at least the location of the status-aware mobile device, and

wherein said providing of the notification causes an electronic mail notification to be sent to at least one recipient and the notification includes at least a portion of the status information.

33. A method for monitoring status of a person, said method being performed at least in part by a monitoring server, said method comprising:

acquiring status information of the person being monitored, the status information being acquired using at least one electronic device, and the status information including at least health information of the person, the health information including at least first health condition data provided by a first sensor and second health condition data provided by a second sensor;

obtaining at least a first threshold condition for use with respect to the first health condition data;

obtaining at least a second threshold condition for use with respect to the second health condition data;

determining, at the monitoring server, whether an action condition exists based on (i) comparing the first health condition data to the first threshold condition, and/or (ii) comparing the second health condition data to the second threshold condition; and

initiating an action when said determining determines that the action condition exists,

wherein the action includes sending a notification to at least one recipient if the action condition is determined to exist,

wherein the status information further includes location information of the person being monitored, and

wherein at least the first threshold condition is dependent on the location information of the person being monitored.

34. A method as recited in claim 33, wherein the first threshold condition is configurable for the person by either the person or the at least one recipient.

35. A method as recited in claim 33, wherein the first threshold condition is set to a first level when the person is at a first location, and the first threshold condition is set to a second level when the person is at a second location.

36. A method as recited in claim 33, wherein the at least one recipient is enabled through a web interface to configure when and/or how the notification is to be sent.

37. A method as recited in claim 33, wherein the at least one electronic device is a status-aware mobile device that is adapted to be affixed at or proximate to the person, and wherein said acquiring of the status information of the person being monitored is provided by the status-aware mobile device.

38. A method as recited in claim 37, wherein said method is performed by a remote server, and

wherein, in providing the status information to the remote server, said acquiring of the status information comprises transmitting the status information from the status-aware mobile device to the remote server over at least a part of a wireless network.

39. A method as recited in claim 38, wherein the remote server stores a plurality of threshold conditions respectively corresponding to a plurality of persons or status-aware mobile devices.