Systems, methods, components, and software for monitoring and notification of vital sign changes

• US 9,339,242 B2
• Filed: 04/04/2014
• Issued: 05/17/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 04/21/2010
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Pacific Place Enterprises LLC
• Original Assignee: Pacific Place Enterprises LLC
• Inventors: Bailey, Melanie, Ballew, Connie, Segermark, James
• Primary Examiner(s): Lim, Steven
• Assistant Examiner(s): Fan, Hongmin
• Application Number:
  US14/246,001
• Publication Number:
  US 20140221797A1
• Time in Patent Office: 774 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0219 Inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt switches
• 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 5/0205 Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular conditions and different types of body conditions, e.g. heart and respiratory condition
• 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 5/14551 for measuring blood gases
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14552 Details of sensors specially adapted therefor
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6824 Arm or wrist
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6826 Finger
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6831 Straps, bands or harnesses
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/743 Displaying an image simultaneously with additional graphical information, e.g. symbols, charts, function plots
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/747 in case of emergency, i.e. alerting emergency services
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0453 worn on the body to detect health condition by physiological monitoring, e.g. electrocardiogram, temperature, breathing detecting, measuring or recording for diagnostic purposes A61B5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 80/00 ICT specially adapted for facilitating communication between medical practitioners or patients, e.g. for collaborative diagnosis, therapy or health monitoring

Abstract

A system and method for monitoring and notification of injury wherein an individual wears a monitoring device, the monitoring device tracks biometric data such as blood oxygen levels, heart rate, and acceleration of the individual and sends the data to a base station, the base station analyzes the data to see if bodily changes such as decreased blood oxygen levels or significant changes in heart rate or acceleration has occurred, and the base station determines whether to sound an alarm to indicate death or severe bodily injury.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising a wearable device, wherein the wearable device includes:

a circuit-board enclosure having a cradle containing a removable battery, wherein the cradle is in engagement with a transceiver module for contacting a wrist of a person;

an adjustable strap for encircling the wrist and removably attaching the wearable device to the wrist, the adjustable strap having a first and a second portion sandwiched between a portion of the transceiver module and a portion of the cradle, with one of the adjustable strap portion being an end of the adjustable strap;

a pulse oximeter for sensing change in a blood-related parameter;

an accelerometer for sensing change in a body movement of the person; and

a transmitter for transmitting the blood-related parameter and the body movement.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the pulse oximeter is a finger-mountable pulse oximeter.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the pulse oximeter is located on the inside of the adjustable strap.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the wearable device is also securably attachable to the person.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a base station for bidirectional wireless communication with the wearable device.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein biometric information for the person experiencing an emergency medical condition is inputted into the base station.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the biometric information inputted into the base station is baseline pulse data for use in determining whether the person is experiencing an emergency medical condition.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the adjustable strap encirlces a finger and includes a flexible circuit board supporting a processor coupled to a Bluetooth transmitter and the pulse-oximeter.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising a relay transceiver for receiving signals from the Bluetooth transmitter and relaying them to a base station.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the relay transceiver is mountable to the person or to a fixed location within a space containing the person.