Surgery – Diagnostic testing
Reexamination Certificate
2000-12-15
2003-08-05
Wolfe, Willis R. (Department: 3747)
Surgery
Diagnostic testing
C128S903000, C128S904000, C128S923000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06602191
ABSTRACT:
REFERENCE TO GOVERNMENTAL SUPPORT
(none)
REFERENCE TO MICROFICHE APPENDIX
(none)
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to monitoring of living subjects, and more particularly to health-monitoring of persons where measured or input health data is communicated by a wireless device to and from a software application running on an internet-connected server and where the same may be studied and processed by the software application, a health professional, or the subject.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Several attempts have been made in the past to achieve efficient interactive communication of medical or health information between a subject or patient and a reviewer or provider of that information. In particular, communication of consumer physiological information has been a subject of such attempts. It is noted that in this regard the “reviewer or provider of medical or health information” is understood to include not only a physician but also a software application or algorithm that may analyze the information.
Medical or health information has been made available on a CD-ROM accessible by a home computer system. This passive approach had certain disadvantages. First, although the personal computer is prevalent is the United States, it is generally too expensive for a consumer physiological monitoring system and there are many people who find it too complicated to set up and use for that purpose. High-risk, chronically ill patients, responsible for more than half of health care costs in the United States and forming the fastest growing segment of those requiring health care, are indeed the most likely not to be able to afford or use a system built around a personal computer. In addition, such systems are limited in their interactivity to the information stored on the CD.
Previous patents by the Inventor addressed both of these disadvantages, as well as the need to reduce health care costs through providing educational health care information and interactive physiological monitoring in the home environment by means of a user-friendly, interactive system (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,601,435, 6,144,837, and continuations thereof).
These previous patents were based on a video game console, or a multimedia player using a conventional television screen as the display device to achieve a system which is simpler to use than systems based on a personal computer. An initial embodiment of the previous patents utilized a compact disc to provide interactive information for disease management.
Even with the advantages provided, these systems limited the user to location in which the device was located. Even where devices are portable, as in the case of a laptop computer with a modem, an ordinary POTS phone line must be found and used. Where the user's computer employs a broadband connection, such as DSL or satellite, the choices of location are even more limited.
Attempts have been made to remedy this deficiency. For example, many telemetry systems allow a “wireless” distance to be placed between a health measuring unit and a remote monitoring system. However, such systems are limited in their range.
Other systems have used cellular telephone technology to increase the wireless health monitoring range. However, these systems have several deficiencies, such as requiring significant modification of the mobile phone. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,772,586, issued Jun. 30, 1998 to Heinonon et al., discloses a method for monitoring the health of a patient. This system uses a specialized connection between the patient health measuring unit and the cellular phone, however. The patient health measuring unit is located in the battery space of the mobile phone and is connected to a communication bus of the mobile phone. Other systems have been proposed, but these suffer from similar deficiencies in that they are not designed to be used with “off-the-shelf” wireless devices or health measuring equipment.
The deployment of the above systems also currently lacks employment of full back-end server functionality with which to provide a wide range of interactive communication with the patient. Instead, such systems, if internet-enabled, are often limited to mere one-way non-interactive data transfer via a modem. While some systems are more enhanced, including that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,357,427, issued Oct. 18, 1994 to Langen, et al., and entitled “Remote Monitoring of High-Risk Patients using Artificial Intelligence”, these systems are limited by the wired telecommunications infrastructure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention overcome one or more of the disadvantages of the prior art by providing a full-feature health-monitoring system that may wirelessly connect to a back-end server application via the internet. The invention allows wireless access to and from a wide variety of present medical or health-related instruments and devices, while maintaining the capability of connecting to future such devices.
In particular, the invention may be embodied in several systems. Two complementary such systems are described herein, although extensions to other such systems can be envisioned. First, an embodiment of the invention may be employed to manage the disease state or condition of a patient. In this embodiment, the patient may employ a health monitoring device (“HMD”), in particular a medical device, and a wireless connection provides data from the medical device for processing via the internet including a review by a physician or other health care professional if required.
In the second embodiment, a health or lifestyle management plan may be implemented. Various health parameters, such as those relating to nutrition or exercise, may be entered into a health monitoring device, in this instance termed an “exercise machine”, and the same may be wireless communicated to a server. An application may process and store the health parameters, and a health specialist may optionally review the same.
Wireless internet connectivity has many advantages. For example, in the first embodiment, a diabetic could connect a blood glucose meter to an internet-enabled wireless web device (“WWD”) away from home and download data to a Diabetes Management Company's server and, in response, receive guidance displayed on the screen (or by voice) about choices for the next meal.
Alternatively, in the second embodiment, a person interested in tracking an exercise program may take the WWD to the local health club and attach the same to an exercise machine, send data output from various exercise machines over the Internet, and receive a personalized response from the server of a company specializing in Health & Lifestyle Management. The individual may input caloric content of foods eaten, and may further input caloric content of exercise performed. In this way, e.g., a person in a weight-loss program may see in great detail whether they are expending more calories in the form of exercise than the same individual is consuming in the form of food.
In general, in the health management embodiment, the system may be employed to monitor the physiologic status of a healthy subject while eating, exercising, or performing other activities. For clarity, such devices are termed herein “exercise machines”. These may include an electronic body weight scale, a body fat gauge, biofeedback devices, physiotherapy or chiropractic equipment, blood pressure recorders, or the like, or any type of exercise machine or monitor, including a heart rate monitor, treadmill, rowing machine, stepper, or the like.
In more detail, the present invention provides a method and system for assisting patients to manage a disease or maintain healthy lifestyle by collecting health-related data and providing information in response to those data by means of a WWD designed to display interactive information through a connection to the Internet. The present invention may be connected to various HMDs, both medical and exercise-related in nature, and may communicate information via a wireless connection such as a wireless Internet
Q-tec Systems LLP
Wieczorek Mark D.
Wolfe Willis R.
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