Wearable system and method for monitoring intoxication

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10987038-B2
Application number	US-202016823017-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 18, 2020
Priority date	Jan 31, 2013
Publication date	Apr 27, 2021
Grant date	Apr 27, 2021

Abstract

A system for transdermal alcohol sensing to be worn near a skin surface of a user, including: an alcohol sensor; a microporous membrane; a housing coupled to the alcohol sensor and the membrane, defining a volume between the alcohol sensor and a first membrane side, and fluidly isolating the volume from a second membrane side opposing the first membrane side; an electronics subsystem electrically coupled to the alcohol sensor, operable to power and receive signals from the alcohol sensor; and a fastener operable to position the second membrane side proximal the skin surface.

First claim

We claim:

1. A system for transdermal alcohol sensing, the system comprising:
an alcohol sensor;
a housing coupled to the alcohol sensor;
a processing system coupled to an electronic display and operable to receive signals from the alcohol sensor, wherein at least a portion of the processing system is located remotely from the housing, wherein the processing system is operable to:
determine a value of a blood alcohol content (BAC) metric based on the signals; and
control the electronic display based on the value of the BAC metric; and
in an event that the value of the BAC metric is above a predetermined threshold, triggering an increase in a sampling rate associated with the alcohol sensor;

a fastener coupled to the housing and operable to position the alcohol sensor proximal to a skin surface of the user.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the portion of the processing system is operable to control the electronic display based on the value of the BAC metric.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein a second portion of the processing system is mounted to and arranged within the housing.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the first and second portions of the processing system are electrically isolated.

5. The system of claim 3 , wherein the processing system is further operable to control an indicator element coupled to the fastener, wherein the indicator element comprises a light emitter.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein in response to the processing system determining that the value of the BAC metric is above a predetermined threshold, triggers a transition in operation mode of the indicator element.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein in an event that the value of the BAC metric is below a second predetermined threshold, the processing system triggers a decrease in the sampling rate associated with the alcohol sensor.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the fastener comprises a wrist watch strap configured to position the housing adjacent a wrist of the user.

9. A system for transdermal alcohol sensing, the system comprising:
an alcohol sensor;
a housing coupled to the alcohol sensor;
a fastener coupled to the housing and operable to position the alcohol sensor proximal to a skin surface of the user wherein the fastener comprises a wrist watch strap configured to position the housing adjacent a wrist of the user;
a first processing system coupled to the housing, wherein the first processing system is configured to communicate with a second processing system coupled to the fastener, the second processing system coupled to a second housing comprising an electronic display and operable to receive signals from the first processing system, wherein the second processing system is operable to:
determine a value of a blood alcohol content (BAC) metric based on the signals; and
control the electronic display based on the value of the BAC metric.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the first and second processing systems are electrically isolated.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the second processing system comprises a client application executing on a computing device coupled to the electronic display.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the second processing system is in communication with a third processing system onboard a remote user device.

13. The system of claim 9 , wherein the second processing system is further operable to control an indicator element coupled to the fastener, wherein the indicator element comprises at a light emitter.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein in response to determining that the value of the BAC metric is above a predetermined threshold, the second processing system triggers a transition in operation mode of the indicator element.

15. The system of claim 9 , wherein in an event that the value of the BAC metric is above a predetermined threshold, the first processing system triggers an increase in a sampling rate associated with the alcohol sensor.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the second processing system communicates that the value of the BAC metric is above a predetermined threshold to the first processing system via a data link between the first and second processing systems.

17. The system of claim 9 , wherein in an event that the value of the BAC metric is below a second predetermined threshold, the first processing system triggers a decrease in the sampling rate associated with the alcohol sensor.

18. The system of claim 9 , wherein controlling the electronic display comprises displaying a number of drinks determined based on the BAC metric.

19. A system for transdermal alcohol sensing, the system comprising:
an alcohol sensor;
a housing coupled to the alcohol sensor;
a fastener coupled to the housing and operable to position the alcohol sensor proximal to a skin surface of the user;
a first processing system coupled to the housing, wherein the first processing system is configured to communicate with a second processing system coupled to the fastener, the second processing system coupled to a second housing comprising an electronic display and operable to receive signals from the first processing system, wherein the second processing system is operable to:
determine a value of a blood alcohol content (BAC) metric based on the signals; and
control the electronic display based on the value of the BAC metric, wherein controlling the electronic display comprises displaying a number of drinks determined based on the BAC metric.

Assignees

• Khn Solutions Inc

Inventors

• Nothacker Keith Harry
• Tammen Will
• Aziz Imraan

Classifications

• G16Z99/00

  Subject matter not provided for in other main groups of this subclass · CPC title

• A61B5/082

  Evaluation by breath analysis, e.g. determination of the chemical composition of exhaled breath (A61B5/083, A61B5/091 take precedence) · CPC title

• A61B2010/0009

  Testing for drug or alcohol abuse · CPC title

• A61B5/7275

  Determining trends in physiological measurement data; Predicting development of a medical condition based on physiological measurements, e.g. determining a risk factor · CPC title

• G01N33/4972

  Determining alcohol content (for vehicle safety devices B60K28/06) · CPC title