METHOD FOR DISPLAYING A MEDICAL VALUE

Abstract

This disclosure relates to a computer-implemented method, a mobile device, and a computer readable storage medium, for displaying a medical value such as, e.g., a glucose value, on a screen of a mobile device.

Claims

1. A method of displaying a medical value on a screen of a mobile device having a medical application, the method comprising: receiving on the mobile device a first medical value; converting the first medical value to a first text if the first medical value is not directly received as text; creating a first style information for drawing; creating a first drawing area; drawing the first text on the first drawing area using the first style information to create an image of the first medical value; creating a first medical value icon from the image of the first medical value; and displaying the first medical value icon on the screen of the mobile device, wherein the screen is a home screen, a lock screen or another screen outside of the medical application.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of displaying of the first medical value icon and one or more of the steps of converting the first medical value to a first text, creating the first style information, creating the first drawing area, drawing the first text on the first drawing area, and creating the first medical value icon are only conducted if the difference between the time of measurement of the first medical value and the current time does not exceed a predefined time threshold.

3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising: determining or re-determining whether the difference between the measurement time of the first medical value, or if a second medical value was received, the measurement time of the second medical value and the current time exceeds the predefined time threshold; and if the difference between the time of measurement of the first medical value, or if a second medical value was received, the time of measurement of the second medical value and the current time exceeds the predefined time threshold, replacing the display of the currently displayed medical value icon on the screen of the mobile device by displaying a predefined icon stored in the memory of the mobile device.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein the predefined time threshold is between 1 min and 30 minutes.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising creating a timestamp associated with the first medical value indicating the time of measurement of the first medical value.

6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising: receiving on the medical device a second medical value and a time stamp associated with the second medical value indicating the time of measurement of the second medical value; determining whether the difference between the time of measurement of the second medical value and the current time does not exceed the predefined time threshold; and if the time threshold is not exceeded: converting the second medical value to a second text if the second medical value is not directly received as text, (ii) retrieving the first style information or creating second style information for drawing, (iii) creating a second drawing area, (iv) drawing the second text on the second drawing area using the first style information or the second style information to create an image of the second medical value, (v) creating a second medical value icon from the image of the second medical value, and (vi) replacing the display of the currently displayed medical value icon on the screen of the mobile device by displaying the second medical value icon on the screen of the mobile device instead or replacing the display of the currently displayed predefined icon on the screen of the mobile device by displaying the second medical value icon on the screen of the mobile device instead.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising creating a timestamp associated with the second medical value indicating the time of measurement of the second medical value.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the medical value(s) is/are a glucose value(s).

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the mobile device is a smart phone.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the medical application is configured to send a notification comprising the respective created medical value icon for displaying on the screen of the mobile device outside of the medical application by an operating system of the mobile device and for presenting the notification comprising the respective created medical value icon and additional information as a banner alert or pop-up notification in a notification panel on a screen of the mobile device outside of the medical application.

11. The method according to the claim 10, wherein the mobile device comprises a touch-sensitive display and the notification is not dismissible by a user swiping the notification off the display.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the medical value(s) are received wirelessly from a medical sensor, a separate electronic device or from a cloud.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first medical value icon is displayed on the lock screen of the mobile device.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein a status bar is displayed on the display of the mobile device and the first medical value icon is displayed in the status bar.

15. A mobile device having at least one display, the mobile device being configured for performing the method according to claim 1.

16. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for performing the method according to claim 1.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0099] The above-mentioned aspects of exemplary embodiments will become more apparent and will be better understood by reference to the following description of the embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0100] FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a mobile device of this disclosure displaying a glucose value icon on the lock screen in the status bar;

[0101] FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a mobile device of this disclosure displaying the predefined icon on the home screen in the status bar; and

[0102] FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the method of this disclosure.

DESCRIPTION

[0103] The embodiments described below are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed in the following detailed description. Rather, the embodiments are chosen and described so that others skilled in the art may appreciate and understand the principles and practices of this disclosure.

[0104] In FIG. 1, an exemplary embodiment of a mobile device 110 is shown displaying a medical value icon 116 in the status bar 114 on the lock screen 112. The medical value icon 116 may particularly be a glucose value icon. 135 in this case may stand for a blood glucose level of 135 mg/dl. The status bar in this example comprises other icons than the medical value icon. In the right of the status bar, status icons are displayed such as a battery icon, a signal strength icon and a WiFi icon. In the left of the status bar notification icons are displayed, such as the medical value icon 116, a new email icon (e.g., with graphical representation of a small envelope) and a missed call icon (e.g., with graphical representation of a telephone receiver). The status bar may be arranged in the top part of the screen. The status bar only takes a small part of the screen. As an example, the status bar takes up less 1/10, or less than 1/20 of the entire screen displayed. Thereby sufficient parts of the screen are available for displaying other content than notification icons and status icons to the patient. In particular, the medical value icon should only inform the patient in a discrete manner about his current medical state without attracting the attention of others. All icons in the status bar may, e.g., have a size of less than 96×96 pixels. In particular, all icons in the status bar, e.g., have a size of 96×96 or less pixels on a xxxhdpi screen. As another example, all icons in the status bar may be displayed as 24×24 dp or less. dp (Density-independent Pixels) is an abstract unit that is based on the physical density of the screen. These units are relative to a 160 dpi screen, so one dp is one pixel on a 160 dpi screen. The notification icons may be displayed on the screen all white. In one embodiment, the medical value icon(s) and/or the predefined icon are thus displayed on the screen all white.

[0105] In FIG. 2, another exemplary embodiment of a mobile device 110 is shown displaying the predefined icon 120 (also termed unknown current medical status icon) in the status bar on the home screen 118. On the home screen, also a plurality of icons of applications installed on the mobile device may be shown. By tapping such an icon on a touch sensitive display the respective application can be launched so that it will be executed in the foreground. Such icons may thus be termed launcher icons. Launcher icons are displayed bigger on the home screen than notification icons are displayed. Launcher icons, e.g., have at least a 1.5 fold or at least a two-fold, or at least a three-fold size of notification icons. The embodiment of FIG. 2 comprises 4 launcher icons displayed on the screen. For example, a launcher icon for a phone app 124 is displayed in the left, followed (from left to right) by a launcher icon for a mail app, followed by a launcher icon for a music app. On the right a launcher icon for the medical app 122 installed on the mobile device is displayed. The medical app may particularly be a diabetes app. In the example of FIG. 2, the unknown current medical status icon may be a graphical representation of (parts of) the launcher icon of the medical app and a question mark.

[0106] In the examples of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a patient might thus check the lock screen of his mobile device at 20:20 and see the glucose value icon displayed in the status bar. Thereby he is informed about his current medical status, more particularly, this way he may be informed about his current glucose value (135 stands for a blood glucose level of 135 mg/dl). 32 minutes later (at 20:52) he takes a look at the home screen of his mobile device in the example of FIG. 2 and sees the unknown current medical status icon. Assuming as an example, that the predefined time threshold is set to 10 min, the patient may thereby be informed that no glucose value has been received on the mobile device that has been measured in the last 10 minutes. This may trigger the patient to check whether his glucose sensor stopped working or whether a connectivity problem might have arisen causing potential problems for the mobile device to receive the current glucose value measured by the glucose sensor.

[0107] The mobile device 110 is configured, by appropriate programming of a processor comprised in the mobile device, for performing and/or supporting the method according to this disclosure. This will be described with reference to an exemplary embodiment shown in a flow chart in FIG. 3.

[0108] The method 130 comprises the following steps, which may specifically be performed in the given order. Still, a different order may also be possible. It may be possible to perform two or more of the method steps fully or partially simultaneously. It may further be possible to perform one, more than one or even all of the method steps once or repeatedly. The method 130 comprises: [0109] (denoted with reference number 132) receiving on the mobile device (112) a first medical value and optionally a timestamp associated with the first medical value indicating the time of measurement of the first medical value [0110] (denoted with reference number 134) converting the first medical value to a first text if the first medical value is not directly received as text [0111] (denoted with reference number 136) creating first style information for drawing [0112] (denoted with reference number 138) creating a first drawing area [0113] (denoted with reference number 140) drawing the first text on the first drawing area using the first style information to create an image of the first medical value [0114] (denoted with reference number 142) creating a first medical value icon from the image of the first medical value [0115] (denoted with reference number 144) displaying the first medical value icon (116) on the screen of the mobile device, wherein the screen is a home screen, a lock screen (112) or another screen outside of the medical application (122),
optionally wherein the step of displaying of the first medical value icon, and none, one or more of the steps of converting the first medical value to a first text, creating the first style information, creating the first drawing area, drawing the first text on the first drawing area, and creating the first medical value icon are only conducted if the difference between the time of measurement of the first medical value and the current time does not exceed a predefined time threshold.

[0116] The method 130 may comprise additional method steps that are not listed in FIG. 3. The method 130 may thus comprise additional steps: [0117] receiving on the mobile device a second medical value after having received the first medical value and optionally a timestamp associated with the second medical value indicating the time of measurement of the second medical value which is after the time of measurement of the first medical value [0118] converting the second medical value to a second text if the second medical value is not directly received as text [0119] retrieving the first style information or creating second style information for drawing [0120] creating a second drawing area [0121] drawing the second text on the second drawing area using the first style information or the second style information to create an image of the second medical value [0122] creating a second medical value icon from the image of the second medical value [0123] replacing the display of the first medical value icon on the screen of the mobile device by displaying the second medical value icon on the screen of the mobile device instead,
optionally wherein the step of displaying the second medical value icon, and none, one or more of the steps of converting the second medical value to second text, retrieving the first style information or creating the second style information, creating the second drawing area, drawing the second text on the second drawing area, and creating the second medical value icon are only conducted if the difference between the time of measurement of the second medical value and the current time does not exceed the predefined time threshold and/or [0124] determining or re-determining whether the difference between the measurement time of the first, or if a second medical value was received, the measurement time of the second medical value and the current time exceeds the predefined time threshold,
if the difference between the time of measurement of the first, or if a second medical value was received, the time of measurement of the second medical value and the current time exceeds the predefined time threshold replacing the display of the currently displayed medical value icon on the screen of the mobile device by displaying a predefined icon stored in the memory of the mobile phone. 100781 The method may further comprise: [0125] receiving on the medical device a further medical value and a timestamp associated with the further medical value indicating the time of measurement of the further medical value [0126] determining whether the difference between the time of measurement of the further medical value and the current time does not exceed the predefined time threshold, [0127] if the time threshold is not exceeded [0128] converting the further medical value to a further text if the further medical value is not directly received as text [0129] retrieving the first style information or creating further style information for drawing [0130] creating a further drawing area [0131] drawing the further text on the further drawing area using the first style information or the further style information to create an image of the further medical value [0132] creating a further medical value icon from the image of the further medical value,
replacing the display of the currently displayed medical value icon on the screen of the mobile device by displaying the further medical value icon on the screen of the mobile device instead or replacing the display of the currently displayed predefined icon on the screen of the mobile device by displaying the further medical value icon on the screen of the mobile device instead.

[0133] The invention is not limited to the particular methodology and protocols, described herein because they may vary. Although any methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice of the present invention, the preferred methods, and materials are described herein. Further, the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

[0134] Further, while exemplary embodiments have been disclosed hereinabove, the present invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Instead, this application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of this disclosure using its general principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains and which fall within the limits of the appended claims.