A61B5/447

Method of monitoring a surface feature and apparatus therefor

Dimensions of a surface feature are determined by capturing an image of the surface feature and determining a scale associated with the image. Structured light may be projected onto the surface, such that the position of structured light in the captured image allows determination of scale. A non-planar surface may be unwrapped. The surface may alternatively be projected into a plane to correct for the scene being tilted with respect to the camera axis. A border of the surface feature may be input manually by a user. An apparatus and system for implementing the method are also disclosed.

Perfusion and oxygenation measurement

The present disclosure provides methods and apparatus for evaluating the flow of blood in damaged or healing tissue. The present disclosure also provides methods of identifying a patient at the onset of risk of pressure ulcer or at risk of the onset of pressure ulcer, and treating the patient with anatomy-specific clinical intervention selected based on perfusion or blood oxygenation values, or a combination thereof. The present disclosure also provides methods of stratifying groups of patients based on risk of wound development and methods of reducing incidence of tissue damage in a care facility. The present disclosure also provides methods to analyze trends of perfusion or oxygenation measurements to detect tissue damage before it is visible, and methods to compare bisymmetric perfusion values to identify damaged tissue.

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SCREENING A PATIENT'S FOOT
20200345295 · 2020-11-05 ·

A foot screening system configured to aid in screening a plantar surface of a foot of a user for sores, ulcers, and other signs of diseases. The foot screening system including a foot platform including a foot contacting surface configured to serve as a foot stabilizing device during a screening of a plantar surface of a foot of a user, a camera stabilizer platform configured to support a mobile computing device at a desired angle and distance from the foot platform, and a user interface configured to aid a user in capturing one or more images of the plantar surface of the foot of the user, flagging the one or more images for additional review, and uploading the one or more images to a network for access by a healthcare provider.

SENSING DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING THE DELIVERY OF CARE TO IMMOBILE PATIENTS

The present disclosure relates to the reduction of pressure ulcers and falls with respect to patients with physical or cognitive impairments who are in bed. A control system assures that the bed and ancillary apparatus are physically set and that patient behaviors are responded to by care providers. Motion is monitored with a non-mutually exclusive portfolio of sensors, and this information is used by one or more reasoning engines. An integrated clinical workflow is informed by the patterns of movement and then the physical environment, patient interaction, and care provider workflow are controlled to reduce the incidence of falls and pressure ulcers in bed ridden patients.

Patient immersion sensor using radar

A patient immersion sensor includes a radio detection and ranging (RADAR) apparatus to determine a time of flight (TOF) of a RADAR pulse and a reflected signal that is reflected by a patient or by a portion of a patient support surface supporting the patient. The TOF is indicative of an immersion depth or a distance toward bottoming out of a patient supported on the patient support surface, such as a mattress or a pad. The RADAR apparatus emits pulses of very short duration so as to be able to detect objects, such as a patient or a portion of a mattress or pad, at very close distances. The RADAR apparatus may use time-of-flight (TOF) between transmission of the pulse and receipt of a reflected signal to determine a distance toward bottoming out by the patient, thereby to determine if the patient is properly immersed into the patient support surface. Adjustments to inflation or deflation of one or more bladders are made to achieve a desired immersion amount within a tolerance range between upper and lower TOF thresholds.

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FACILITATING ANALYSIS OF A WOUND IN A TARGET SUBJECT
20200330028 · 2020-10-22 ·

A system and method for facilitating analysis of a wound in a target subject is provided. The method comprises obtaining one or more digital images of at least a portion of the wound; extracting a plurality of feature vectors from the one or more digital images; and identifying, using a first trained deep neural network, a type of wound tissue based on the plurality of extracted feature vectors.

SUPERCAPACITIVE IONTRONIC NANOFABRIC SENSING

An all-fabric iontronic supercapacitive pressure sensing device utilizing a novel iontronic nanofabric as the sensing element is disclosed. The sensing device can be applied in several various wearable health and biomedical applications on complex body topologies. As an alternative to conventional flexible sensors, the all-fabric iontronic pressure sensor provides an ultrahigh device sensitivity with a single Pascale resolution. The device also allows rapid mechanical responses (in the milliseconds range) for high-frequency biomechanical signals, e.g., blood pressure pulses and body movements. The fabrication process for the device is low-cost highly compatible with existing industrial manufacturing processes.

Active hermeticity monitoring

A system for measuring and monitoring wound hermaticity of a patient is provided that includes one or more sensors for measuring parameters that correlate to a degree of wound hermaticity, where the one or more sensors are incorporated into the design of a percutaneous skin access device (PAD), a bone anchor, a wound dressing, or a bandage. The degree of wound hermaticity is related to impedance measurements performed on the patient's skin, via measurements of humidity in a vacuum line to the PAD or the bone anchor, or via measurements of local tissue oxygenation in the immediate vicinity of the PAD or the bone anchor interface with the patient's skin. The hermaticity measurement parameters are communicated by wired or wireless connection to a computing or a communication device for immediate or remote monitoring.

Hyperspectral imager coupled with indicator molecule tracking

Provided are methods and systems for concurrent imaging at multiple wavelengths. In one aspect, an imaging device includes at least one objective lens configured to receive light backscattered by an object, a plurality of pixel array photo-sensors, a plurality of bandpass filters covering respective photo-sensors, where each bandpass filter is configured to allow a different respective spectral band to pass through the filter, and a beam steering assembly in optical communication with the at least one objective lens and the photo-sensors. The beam steering assembly directs light received by at least one objective lens from the tissue of a subject to at least one pixel array photo-sensor in the plurality of pixel array photo-sensors. The device further permits capture of near infrared images emitted by indicator molecules.

SYSTEM FOR MANAGING PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUSES AND PATIENT FALL RISKS
20200305766 · 2020-10-01 ·

A caregiver assistance system is disclosed for assisting a caregiver to ensure the beds of high fall risk patients are in desired states for reducing the likelihood of a patient falling. The system may also help the caregiver to perform rounding tasks. The system comprises a server in communication with the patients' beds and one or more mobile electronic devices (e.g. smart phones). The mobile devices receive answers to a plurality of fall risk questions and forward them to the server. The server generates a patient fall risk assessment from the answers, determines a desired state for fall-risk components of the bed if the patient fall risk assessment indicates the patient has a high risk of falling, compares the states of the fall-risk components to corresponding desired states, and issues an alert at the mobile device if any of the fall-risk components are not in their desired state.