Disease diagnostic system

• US 8,641,611 B2
• Filed: 10/26/2005
• Issued: 02/04/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Seems, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Seems, Inc.
• Inventors: Urushihata, Naoki, Tanemura, Hideki, Tajima, Yukinobu, Hirohama, Syuji
• Primary Examiner(s): Thomson, Bill
• Assistant Examiner(s): Sands, Davin K
• Application Number:
  US11/666,283
• Publication Number:
  US 20080091085A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,023 Days
• Field of Search: 600/300, 600/301, 600/529, 128903-905, 128/920
• US Class Current: 600/300
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 10/0038 Devices for taking faeces samples; Faecal examination devices anal receptacles A61F5/451
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 10/0045 Devices for taking samples of body liquids devices for taking blood samples A61B5/15
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 10/0064 for taking sweat or sebum samples measuring sweat production A61B5/4266
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 10/007 for taking urine samples measuring urological functions A61B5/20; genital receptacles A61F5/451; urinals for bed-ridden persons A61G9/006
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2010/0087 Breath samples
• 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 5/082 Evaluation by breath analysis, e.g. determination of the chemical composition of exhaled breath A61B5/083, A61B5/091 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/497 of gaseous biological material, e.g. breath
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/57423 of lung

Abstract

[Problem]

To provide a disease diagnostic system capable of diagnosing with high accuracy whether a subject is afflicted with a disease, without inflicting pain on the subject.

[Means for Resolution]

The disease diagnostic system includes collecting means (5) for collecting a substance (e.g., aspiration, sweat, human waste or urine) emitting an odor (e.g., mouth odor, body odor or underarm odor) and storing the same therein, measuring means (10) for measuring whether an indicated substance indicative of the existence of a disease is contained in the odor-emitting substance stored in the collecting means (5), and control means (20) for processing a signal indicative of a result of measurement by the measuring means (10) to determine whether the subject (2) is being afflicted with a disease.

Claims

1. A disease diagnostic system comprising:

collecting means for collecting an odor-emitting substance from a subject and storing the same therein;

a thin film sensor, for measuring whether an indicated substance indicative of the existence of a disease is contained in the odor-emitting substance stored in the collecting means, being constructed so as to sense only an indicated substance to be detected and so as to be capable of detecting a concentration of a detected target, said thin film sensor is constituted of a porous material in which a plurality of pores in a nano-level are formed, and is constructed so as to exhibit or exert selectivity necessary as a sensor by intruding molecules of a substance to be detected in the pores formed in a nano-level and so as to be capable of detecting a concentration of the detected target by transmitting an output signal in association with an amount of the detected target intruded in the pores; and

control means for processing a signal indicative of a result of measurement by the thin film sensor to thereby determine whether the subject is afflicted with the disease, wherein

a box-like body for collecting aspiration of a subject is provided with the thin film sensor, the sensor is connected to an amplifier, the amplifier is connected to an A/D converter, the A/D converter is connected to a diagnostic or diagnosis data creating means;

a signal line for transmitting personal information of the subject is connected to the diagnosis data creating means, the diagnosis data creating means has a function of creating analyzable and diagnosable diagnosis data in conjunction with data having come from the sensor and the personal information of the subject, the diagnosis data creating means is connected to a diagnosis data transmitting means;

the diagnosis data transmitting means has a function of transmitting data to an information network, the information network is connected to a central analysis center and a diagnostic result receiving means, the diagnostic result receiving means is connected to the subject;

the central analysis center is connected to the subject via the information network and by means of a transport means;

the central analysis center comprises a comparing means, a data storage or memory device, a determining means, a diagnostic result transmitting means and a reexamination unit;

the comparing means is connected to the data memory device and has a function of comparing data obtained by processing the aspiration of the subject and past data stored in the data memory device;

the data memory device has a function of storing therein a large amount of past data for the subject which data is obtained by the sensor, a function of holding threshold values or criteria in a case that the indicated substance is contained, and a function of transmitting corresponding data or threshold value when necessary;

the determining means is connected to the diagnostic result transmitting means and has a function of receiving a result of a comparison by the comparing means and a function of determining if a aniline and/or ortho-toluidine exists in the aspiration of the subject;

the diagnostic result transmitting means is connected to the reexamination unit and is constructed so as to send or transmit a result obtained by the determining means to the subject via the information network; and

the reexamination unit has a function of analyzing the aspiration carried by the transport means and a function of considering information being sent from the diagnostic result transmitting means, and when the determining means determines that aniline and/or ortho-toluidine exists in the aspiration, the reexamination unit analyzes the aspiration.

2. A disease diagnostic system comprising:

collecting means for collecting an odor-emitting substance from a subject and storing the same therein;

measuring means for measuring whether an indicated substance indicative of the existence of a disease is contained in the odor-emitting substance stored in the collecting means; and

control means for processing a signal indicative of a result of measurement by the measuring means to thereby determine whether the subject is afflicted with the disease;

the measuring means has plural types of sensors, and the control means is constructed for processing by setting coordinate axes extending radially in arbitrary directions with an origin of each coordinate axis as a center on the same plane, with the number of coordinate axes being the same number as the plural types of sensors, associating the respective coordinate axes with the plural types of sensors in a 1;

1 relationship arbitrarily, for plotting the results of measurement by the measuring means on the associated coordinate axes, and for determining according to each of graphic forms defined by plural plots whether an indicated substance indicative of the presence of a disease exists;

the collecting means and the measuring means are provided in the same physical location, the control means is provided in a physical location spaced away from the collecting means and the measuring means, the collecting means and the measuring means, and the control means are connected to one another by an information network and a transport means, and a signal indicative of a result of measurement by said measuring means is transmitted to the control means via the information network;

a box-like body corresponding to the collecting means for collecting aspiration of a subject is provided with a plurality of sensors, that the sensors are constituted of a semiconductor as the measuring means, each of which sensors is connected to an amplifier, the amplifier is connected to an A/D converter, the A/D converter is connected to a diagnostic data creating means;

the diagnostic data creating means has a function of creating data which is analyzable and diagnosable by a central analysis center by signals transmitted from the sensors and a function of attaching personal information of the subject to the above-mentioned data, and is connected to a diagnostic data sending or transmitting means;

the diagnostic data transmitting means has a function of transmitting data to the information network, the information network is connected to the central analysis center;

a sample case of the transport means is constructed so as to receive the aspiration of the subject and so as to transport to the central analysis center, and receives a plurality of samples of the aspiration of the subject and a dummy sample, an identification code being associated with the subject is attached to the sample case;

the diagnostic data transmitting means synthesizes measurement results of the individual samples stored in the same storage case which results are transmitted from the sensors and the identification code together upon creation of diagnostic data;

the central analysis center comprises a result-of-measurement synthetic means, a comparing means, a data storage or memory device, a determining means, a diagnostic result sending or transmitting means and a reexamination unit;

the result-of-measurement synthetic means is constructed so as to create the graphic forms defined by plural plots and so as to transmit the graphic forms to the comparing means;

the data memory device has a function of storing a large amount of past data about the subject and a function of holding threshold values for determining whether the indicated substance is contained, is constructed so as to transmit the past data and threshold values upon being necessary, and is connected to the comparing means;

the comparing means has a function of comparing the graphic forms being created by the result-of-measurement synthetic means with past graphic forms stored in the data memory device by a pattern recognition technique, and is connected to the determining means;

the determining means has a function of receiving the result of comparison by the comparing means and a function of determining whether aniline and/or ortho-toluidine is contained in the aspiration of the subject, and is connected to the diagnostic result transmitting means;

the diagnostic result transmitting means is constructed so as to transmit the result obtained by the determining means to the subject via the information network, and is connected to the information network and the reexamination unit;

the reexamination unit has a function of analyzing the aspiration of the subject transported by the transport means and a function of considering an information being sent from the diagnostic result transmitting means, and the number of sensors of the reexamination unit is increased from that of the box-like body, and when the determining means determines that aniline and/or ortho-toluidine exists in the aspiration, the reexamination unit analyzes the aspiration.