Methods and systems for measuring and communicating pain and distress level

• US 8,764,650 B2
• Filed: 10/06/2011
• Issued: 07/01/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/06/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: University of Rochester
• Original Assignee: University of Rochester
• Inventors: Seidman, Scott, Schiavenato, Martin, Carney, Laurel H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Thomson, Bill
• Assistant Examiner(s): JIAN, SHIRLEY XUEYING
• Application Number:
  US13/267,842
• Publication Number:
  US 20120088985A1
• Time in Patent Office: 999 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 600/300
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2503/045 Newborns, e.g. premature baby monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2505/03 Intensive care
• 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 5/024 Detecting, measuring or recording pulse rate or heart rate A61B5/0205, A61B5/021 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 5/4824 Touch or pain perception evaluation A61B5/4821 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/20 for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/30 for calculating health indices; for individual health risk assessment

Abstract

Systems and methods are described for communicating the distress or pain experienced by an infant or a non-communicative patient. The systems and methods can provide an objective quantification of pain and/or distress in conjunction with, e.g., various distressing procedures commonly found in the newborn intensive care unit (NICU). The systems may include a processor in communication with a distress level input device and a display configured to provide a representation of a pain or distress score calculated in the processor. The processor may include executable code to translate data from the distress level input into the distress score.

Claims

1. A method of communicating a pain level of a patient, comprising:

acquiring objective measurements of two parameters of the patient associated with the pain level and a first procedure, the parameters selected from the group consisting of heart rate variability, facial grimacing, and hand flexing;

scaling the objective measurements, according to magnitude estimation or a generalized labeled magnitude scale, to obtain logarithmically scaled scores;

determining, by a processor and based on the scaled scores, a pain score;

displaying a representation of the pain score;

calculating, by a processor, a future pain score by applying a decay rate according to a procedure load index based on data from another patient; and

displaying a representation of the future pain score.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein acquiring the objective measurements of the two parameters associated with the pain level further comprises acquiring a signal corresponding to heart rate variability of the patient.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein acquiring the objective measurements of the two parameters associated with the pain level further comprises acquiring a signal corresponding to facial grimacing of the patient.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein acquiring the objective measurements of the two parameters associated with the pain level further comprises acquiring a signal corresponding to hand flexing of the patient.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a pain score comprises one of adding the two parameters, applying Boolean logic to the two parameters, or processing the two parameters with a neural network.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the representation of the pain score comprises a visual representation.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the visual representation comprises visible light.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the visible light is emitted from a ball or orb.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

calculating a time when a combination of the future pain score and a second pain score associated with a second procedure will fall below a predetermined limit, wherein the second pain score is determined according to the procedure load index.

10. A system for measuring and communicating pain level comprising:

a sensory level input device configured to acquire objective measurements of two parameters selected from the group consisting of heart rate variability, facial grimacing, and hand flexing;

a processor communicably coupled to the sensory level input device, the processor having executable code configured to (i) scale the objective measurements, according to magnitude estimation or a generalized labeled magnitude scale, to obtain logarithmically scaled scores, (ii) determine, based on the scaled scores, a pain score, and (iii) calculate a future pain score by applying a decay rate according to a procedure load index based on data from another patient; and

a display configured to provide a representation of the pain score and a representation of the future pain score.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the sensory level input device is configured to provide data about the parameters.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the sensory level input device comprises two of an electrocardiogram monitor configured to provide data about heart rate variability, a facial electromyography monitor configured to provide data about facial grimacing, or a hand flexure sensor to provide data about hand flexing.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the sensory level input device is further configured to acquire an objective measurement of, a galvanic skin response, an electroencephalography signal, or a near-infrared spectroscopy signal.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the processor utilizes the procedure load index to determine the pain score.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the display provides a visual representation of the pain score.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the display comprises a ball or orb, and the visual representation comprises a colored light emitted from the ball or orb.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured to calculate a time when a combination of the future pain score and a second pain score associated with a second procedure will fall below a predetermined limit, wherein the second pain score is determined according to the procedure load index.

18. A method of measuring distress in a patient, comprising:

acquiring objective indications of two parameters associated with a distress level of the patient, the parameters being selected from the group consisting of heart rate of the patient, facial electromyography of the patient, and hand flexing of the patient;

scaling the objective indications, according to magnitude estimation or a generalized labeled magnitude scale, to obtain logarithmically scaled scores;

determining, based on the scaled scores, a distress score;

displaying a representation of the distress score on a display;

calculating, by a processor, a future distress score by applying a decay rate according to a procedure load index based on data from another patient; and

displaying a representation of the future distress score.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein acquiring the objective indications of the distress level of the patient comprises assigning the distress level based on selection of a particular distressing procedure.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein translating data from the objective indications of the distress level into the distress score comprises looking up a pre-determined distress level associated with the particular distressing procedure in the procedure load index.

21. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

calculating a time when a combination of the future distress score and a second distress score associated with a second procedure will fall below a predetermined limit, wherein the second distress score is determined according to the procedure load index.