Devices, systems, and methods for preventing, detecting, and treating pressure-induced ischemia, pressure ulcers, and other conditions
Inventors
LARSON, Barrett J • Shen, Daniel Z. • Weckwerth, Mark V. • HAMMOND, Charles Matthew Peterson
Assignees
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Publication Number
US-11278237-B2
Publication Date
2022-03-22
Expiration Date
Abstract
A system for monitoring medical conditions including pressure ulcers, pressure-induced ischemia and related medical conditions comprises at least one sensor adapted to detect one or more patient characteristic including at least position, orientation, temperature, acceleration, moisture, resistance, stress, heart rate, respiration rate, and blood oxygenation, a host for processing the data received from the sensors together with historical patient data to develop an assessment of patient condition and suggested course of treatment, including either suspending or adjusting turn schedule based on various types of patient movement. The sensor can include one or more of bi-axial or tri-axial accelerometers, magnetometers and altimeters as well as resistive, inductive, capacitive, magnetic and other sensing devices, depending on whether the sensor is located on the patient or the support surface, and for what purpose. In some embodiments, the sensor can be self-contained in that it can detect orientation and suggest repositioning independent of a host.
Core Innovation
The disclosure describes a pressure-ulcer/ischemia monitoring and management approach that uses sensing to estimate patient position and orientation over time. Patient and support-surface sensing is used to derive an orientation-based surface pressure distribution and a pressure-time dose, supporting identification of multiple body regions corresponding to multiple patient positions pressurized over time.
The system uses a wearable sensor device with at least one accelerometer to generate acceleration data representative of a patient’s orientation in multiple patient positions over time. A processor uses the acceleration data to determine a respective measure of cumulative pressurization for each of multiple body regions associated with the multiple patient positions, and detects patient turns between the multiple patient positions.
The disclosure further includes visualization of the current orientation and cumulative pressurization measures. An array of multiple selectively controllable LEDs or other display elements is controlled in a sequential pattern corresponding with a sequence of the multiple patient positions defined by a rotation of the patient, with automatically detected patient turns indicated by movement of a visual indication of the current orientation across the array.
Claims Coverage
The provided independent claims are clm-00001, clm-00010, and clm-00012. Across these, the inventive concepts are centered on a self-contained wearable sensor device using an accelerometer to determine orientation in multiple patient positions over time, compute a respective measure of cumulative pressurization for corresponding body regions/positions, automatically detect patient turns, and present the results via a sequentially patterned array of controllable light/display elements aligned with the rotation-defined position sequence.
Orientation-based accelerometer pressurization for multiple body regions
A self-contained wearable sensor device with at least one accelerometer generates acceleration data representative of the patient’s orientation in multiple patient positions over time, where each patient position pressurizes a corresponding body region; a processor uses the acceleration data for determining a respective measure of cumulative pressurization at each of the multiple body regions.
Automatically detected patient turn indicated by sequential visual movement across an array
The processor indicates an automatically detected patient turn from a first patient position to a second patient position by automatic movement of a visual indication of a current orientation across an array of multiple selectively controllable LEDs or display elements, moving the indication from a first LED/display element corresponding with the first patient position to a second LED/display element corresponding with the second patient position.
Sequential pattern display element arrangement corresponding to rotation-defined patient positions
A display device includes an array of multiple display elements or multiple selectively controllable display elements arranged in a sequential pattern corresponding with a sequence of the multiple patient positions defined by a rotation of the patient, enabling the processor to present the orientation-related sequential indication and the respective measure of cumulative pressurization.
In combination, the independent claims cover accelerometer-based orientation estimation in multiple patient positions over time, computation of cumulative pressurization measures for corresponding body regions/positions, automatic patient turn detection, and processor-controlled sequential visual indication across an array aligned with a rotation-defined sequence.
Stated Advantages
Not explicitly described in patent.
Documented Applications
Not explicitly described in patent.
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