Education and demonstration – Cathode ray screen display and audio means
Reexamination Certificate
1998-07-20
2001-12-11
Cheng, Joe H. (Department: 3713)
Education and demonstration
Cathode ray screen display and audio means
C434S118000, C434S350000, C434S362000, C128S897000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06330426
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to remote education systems. More particularly, this present invention relates to a system and method of remote health education in which an individual is provided with a memory card capable of being placed in a multimedia processor to automatically access selected educational health programs.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
One of the biggest problems many healthcare providers face is their patients' lack of knowledge. Patients may lack knowledge on basic preventative measures, such as why they should exercise, eat right, and not smoke. Patients may also lack knowledge on conditions or diseases they do have, such as how to measure their blood glucose levels if they are diabetic. This lack of knowledge is a problem for healthcare providers because patients who do not know how to take care of themselves are ill more frequently. Thus, they tend to visit their doctors more often and also tend to incur additional costs for hospital stays or laboratory tests. This results in greater fees for the patient, his or her insurance company, and often the taxpayers.
An example of this problem is seen in some diabetes patients. Diabetic patients must regularly receive insulin shots and adhere to a specific diet in order to control their blood glucose levels. Unfortunately, some diabetic patients do not understand all the reasons why they should have regular insulin shots or why they should or should not eat certain foods. In addition, many diabetic patients are unaware of the health consequences should they deviate from their treatment plan. As a result, uninformed patients usually become sicker and require more medical treatment when compared to patients who understand all aspects of their diseases. Sicker patients require more healthcare, which is expensive and time-consuming for healthcare professionals, insurance companies, and the patients themselves.
One way to solve this problem is to increase the amount of education patients receive about their lifestyle choices and/or their diseases. When patients know what is required to stay healthy, they are less likely to become ill and require treatment. In addition, if patients understand the health problems that will result from not taking care of themselves, they will be more likely to follow their prescribed treatments.
Presently, forms of health education range from pamphlets in a doctor's office to radio announcements and television shows. Paper-based educational materials such as pamphlets are cheap and easy to both produce and distribute. Unfortunately, pamphlets or articles are limited to words and pictures and are usually quite boring, which makes it less likely that patients read them. Radio announcements and television shows are more lively and entertaining, but they indiscriminately broadcast to the general public. Accordingly, these radio announcements and television show cannot be customized to a particular patient.
Due to technological advances, patients can now be educated using CD-ROMs, the Internet, and multimedia processors. U.S. Pat. No. 5,307,263 by the present inventor discloses a modular, microprocessor-based health monitoring system. The hand-held unit has a display screen, a control button pad, interchangeable program cartridges, and sensors for monitoring a variety of healthcare data. The program cartridges include motivational and educational material related to use of the device, including step-by-step instructions. Acquired data may be transmitted to a data management unit via an interface cable, or to a clearing house via telephone lines. A program cartridge for monitoring glucose levels and a glucose sensor is disclosed for the purpose of caring for children with diabetes.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,597,307 and 5,624,265 by Redford and Stern describe an educational system and apparatus aimed at children which also uses a multimedia processor. This invention comprises a remote control located in a book or other printed publication. A child reads the book while watching the display generated by the multimedia processor, and then press the buttons in the remote control book to alter what he sees.
None of these prior art education systems allow an individual to automatically access assigned educational programs remotely. These inventions described above provide general educational programs which are not tailored to the specific needs of an individual. These systems do not allow a healthcare provider or teacher to easily custom-design an educational program to be viewed by the individual. Further, none of these systems provide confirmation that the individual completed the educational program. Finally, none of these systems provide a patient or individual access to an unlimited number of educational programs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention comprises a system and method for remote education using a memory card. This system preferably comprises a database, a file server, a remote interface, a memory card writer, a display unit, a multimedia processor, and a card reader. The file server acts as a central hub of the system, because it is preferably coupled to the database, the remote interface, and the multimedia processor. Accordingly, these three components are capable of being located a long distance from one another. The database preferably stores a plurality of educational programs. Preferably, the remote interface allows an administrator, such as a healthcare provider or educator, to assign a particular educational program to an individual. The identification code of the individual and a pointer referring to the assigned educational program are preferably stored on memory means of the file server. Preferably, by using the memory card writer, the administrator is capable of recording the individual's identification code and the address of the file server onto the memory card.
After the administrator assigns the particular educational program to the individual, the memory card can be given to the individual. When the individual wishes to view the assigned educational program, the individual simply places the card in the card reader. Preferably, the memory card reader is coupled to or located within the multimedia processor, which in turn is coupled to the file server. Upon receiving the memory card, the multimedia processor preferably sends the individual's identification code to the file server. Preferably, the file server then calls up the assigned educational program from the database. The content of the educational program is sent to the multimedia processor and displayed on a display unit for the individual.
Preferably, the file server is notified when the individual has completed the educational program. Completion data includes the date and time the individual watched the educational program. Further, the completion data can also include responses made by the individual to the educational program. Preferably, the file server records the completion data and then sends the completion data to the remote interface for the administrator to review.
In the preferred embodiment of the remote education system, the file server is a web server, the remote interface is an interactive web page, and the communication link is the Internet. An administrator preferably assigns an educational program to the individual by entering the assignment information onto the web page. Preferably, the assignment information is sent to the web server. When the individual places the memory card into the card reader, the multimedia processor preferably sends the individual's identification code to the web server, which in turn, preferably calls up the educational program from the database. In the preferred embodiment, the database comprises one or more web servers, which allows the administrator to assign to the individual an unlimited amount of material.
In the preferred embodiment, the memory card is a plastic card with a magnetic information strip, similar to an ordinary credit card. The magnetic strip preferably contains the individual's ident
Brown Stephen J.
Quy Roger
Black Lowe & Graham PLLC
Cheng Joe H.
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