Surgery – Diagnostic testing
Reexamination Certificate
2001-05-22
2004-11-23
Dahbour, Fadi H. (Department: 3743)
Surgery
Diagnostic testing
C600S485000, C600S508000, C128S920000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06821248
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for supporting lives of aged people, handicapped people, etc.
2. Problems to be Solved by the Invention
Recently life styles have been changing through the use of various types of digital equipment as the information-oriented society has evolved. For instance, there are proposed various types of service providing systems for supporting life using a computer network, such as the Internet.
Such service providing systems for supporting life include, for instance, a vital monitoring system which monitors the condition of health of a subject of diagnosis who is far away from a medical institution.
However, when aged or handicapped people, for example, are to receive such services for supporting their lives, some people find it very difficult to manipulate an advanced information
etwork terminal, such as a personal computer, and use the Internet or the like.
This leads to a digital divide between people who can operate an advanced information
etwork terminal, such as a personal computer, and people who can not operate an advanced information
etwork terminal. Therefore, there is a problem that those who can not operate digital equipment can not fully access such support in their lives which use otherwise helpful information networks.
Such a problem is frequent among old people who particularly need supports in their lives, which is thought to be a worsening problem with the progressive aging of society.
The present invention has been made to solve the digital divide problem in the support of people's lives as described above.
More precisely, the present invention aims at allowing even those people who are not familiar with how to operate an information
etwork terminal, such as a personal computer, to easily use an information network-based life supporting system, and hence expand the network distribution business.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[Means for Solving the Problems]
To achieve the above object, a life supporting device according to the first aspect of the invention comprises an image display member, an imaging member, a recording member, a voice output member, and service selection members allocated to each life supporting service which is to be provided, and is characterized in that as life supporting services are selected by operating said service selection member, said image display member, said imaging member, said recording member and said voice output member become connected to service providing facilities which provide selected life supporting services through a telecommunications line or a computer network.
The life supporting device according to the first aspect of the invention can be installed in a public space, such as an old people's center, a nursing home for the aged and a care house, where people who are in need of support such as the elderly and handicapped people gather, or can be installed in a home.
The life supporting device is connected to service providing facilities, such as a medical service center and an Internet site which provides various types of on-line services, through a public telephone line network, and a computer network such as the Internet, or the like.
When a user who wishes to use the life supporting device tries to receive various types of on-line life supporting services, the user first selects a desired life supporting service using the service selection member.
This connects the image display member, the imaging member, the recording member, the voice output member which are disposed to the life supporting device to service providing facilities which provide the desired selected life supporting service through a public telephone line network, a computer network such as the Internet, or the like, thereby making it possible to transmit and receive information to and from the service providing facilities.
Image data transmitted from the service providing facilities are displayed by the imaging member, voice data similarly transmitted from the service providing facilities are outputted from the voice output member, or video data imaged with the imaging member or voices recorded by the recording member are transmitted to the service providing facilities, whereby various types of life supporting services, such as medical services including medical checkup and doctors' inquiries, counseling services, communication supporting services and entertainment services, using the image display member, the imaging member, the recording member and the voice output member.
As described above, according to the first aspect of the invention, a user, even someone who is not familiar with how to operate an information
etwork terminal such as a personal computer, or an aged person who particularly needs supports to his or her life, etc., is required only to select a desired life supporting service using the service selection members in order to be connected to service providing facilities which provide the desired life supporting service, resulting in easy access to such services.
The digital divide is therefore narrowed, which in turn makes it easy particularly for the aged and the like to use a life supporting system on an information network, and hence, allows the network distribution business to expand.
To achieve the above object, a life supporting device according to the second aspect of the invention is characterized in further comprising, in addition to the structure according to the first aspect of the invention, a data reader member which reads recorded data which are recorded in a recording medium from said recording medium, and becomes connected to service providing facilities which are selected by operating said service selection member so as to transmit said recorded data read from said recording medium to said service providing facilities to which said data reader member are connected.
As a user selects a desired life supporting service using the service selection member, said data reader member of the life supporting device according to the second aspect of the invention, together with the image display member, the imaging member, the recording member and the voice output member, becomes connected to service providing facilities which provide the desired selected life supporting service through a public telephone line network, a computer network such as the Internet, or the like, whereby it becomes possible to communicate with the service providing facilities.
This makes it possible to easily transmit to the service providing facilities data for receiving the life supporting service which have been recorded in a recording medium in advance.
When a user uses the medical checkup service, or medical services based on doctor's inquiries to patients, or the like provided by a medical institution or the like using this life supporting device, for example, the data reader member such as an IC card reader reads vital data such as electrocardiogram data regarding the user which are recorded in a recording medium such as an IC card, from this recording medium and transmits the vital data to a connected medical institution or the like, so that the user can easily receive medical services such as a medical checkup.
To achieve the above object, a life supporting device according to a third invention is characterized in further comprising, in addition to the structure according to the first aspect of the invention, a printing member which becomes connected to service providing facilities which are selected by operating said service selection members so as to print the contents of data which are transmitted from said service providing facilities to which said printing member are connected.
As a user selects a desired life supporting service using the service selection member, said printing member of the life supporting device according to the third invention, together with the image display member, the imaging member, the recording member and the voice output member, becomes connected to service providing facilities whi
Dahbour Fadi H.
Pioneer Design Corporation
Sughrue & Mion, PLLC
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