Remote monitoring of absorbent article

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12329617-B2
Application number	US-202318465857-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 12, 2023
Priority date	Apr 22, 2015
Publication date	Jun 17, 2025
Grant date	Jun 17, 2025

Abstract

In one example, a sensor system of a patient monitoring system includes a voiding sensor that includes an electrical circuit configured to be transitioned from a first impedance state to a second impedance state in response to a voiding event in an absorbent region of an absorbent article worn by a patient. The sensor system also includes one or more processors configured to: determine, based on whether the impedance state of the electrical circuit is open or closed, that the voiding event has occurred; and generate, based at least in part on the occurrence of the voiding event, patient status data of the patient. The sensor system also includes a communication module configured to wirelessly transmit, via a relay module, the patient status data to a remote monitoring device that is distinct from the relay module.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A patient monitoring system comprising:
a plurality of sensor systems each comprising:
a voiding sensor comprising an electrical circuit configured to be transitioned from a first impedance state to a second impedance state in response to a voiding event in an absorbent region of an absorbent article wearable by a corresponding patient, wherein the electrical circuit is either open or closed in the first impedance state and the other of open or closed in the second impedance state;
one or more motion sensors configured to generate motion data indicative of motion of the patient;
a first communication module; and
one or more first processors configured to:
determine, based on whether the impedance state of the electrical circuit is open or closed, that the voiding event has occurred,
generate, based at least in part on the occurrence of the voiding event, first patient status data of the patient,
cause the communication module to transmit, via at least one relay module and to a remote monitoring device distinct from the at least one relay module, the first patient status data,
determine, based at least in part on the motion data, patient motion or posture state,
generate, based at least in part on the patient motion or posture state, second patient status data, and
responsive to determining that a current time is within a predetermined time of day, cause the communication module to transmit, via the at least one relay module and to the remote monitoring device, the second patient status data; and

the remote monitoring device, comprising:
a second communication module configured to receive a plurality of first patient status data and a plurality of second patient status data from the plurality of sensor systems;
one or more second processors configured to:
generate one or more notifications based on one or more of the plurality of first patient status data and the plurality of second patient status data; and
present the one or more notifications to a caregiver.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the electrical circuit is open in the first impedance state and closed in the second impedance state.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the electrical circuit comprises a first electrically conductive pathway and a second electrically conductive pathway configured to conduct in response to the voiding event such that the electrical circuit closes in response to the voiding event.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the first and second electrically conductive pathways each comprise at least one of: an electrically conductive ink and an electrically conductive wire.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the electrical circuit is closed in the first impedance state and open in the second impedance state.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the electrical circuit comprises an electrically conductive pathway that comprises an electrically conductive material configured to at least partially dissolve in response to the voiding event such that the electrical circuit opens in response to the voiding event.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more first processors are further configured to:
determine, based on motion data, whether an activity level of the patient satisfies an activity level threshold, and
cause the first communication module to transmit, responsive to the activity level of the patient satisfying the activity level threshold, the second patient status data.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more first processors are further configured to cause the first communication module to transmit, responsive to the posture state being a sitting posture state or a standing posture state, the second patient status data.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more motion sensors comprise an accelerometer.

10. The system of claim 1 , further comprising the at least one relay module comprising:
a receiver configured to wirelessly receive, via a wireless relay network and from the plurality of sensor systems, the first and second patient status data;
a first transmitter configured to wirelessly transmit the first and second patient status data over an internet-accessible wireless communications network;
a second transmitter configured to wirelessly transmit the first and second patient status data to a second wireless relay module over the wireless relay network; and
one or more third processors coupled to the first and second transmitters, the one or more third processors being configured to select one of the first transmitter or the second transmitter for transmitting the received first and second patient status data.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the receiver is configured to wirelessly receive the first and second patient status data over the wireless relay network from the plurality of sensor systems.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein:
the at least one relay module includes a first relay module and a second relay module; and
a first subset of the plurality of sensor systems are configured to communicate with the first relay module and a second subset of the plurality of sensor systems are configured to communicate with the second relay module.

13. The system of claim 1 , further comprising absorbent articles, wherein the voiding sensor is configured to be attached to the absorbent articles.

14. The system of claim 1 , wherein to present the one or more notifications to the caregiver, the one or more second processors are further configured to:
cause the remote monitoring device to output, in response to receiving the first patient status data, a first indication that the corresponding patient has experienced a voiding event; or
cause the remote monitoring device to output, in response to receiving the second patient status data, a second indication that the corresponding patient has gotten out of bed or is attempting to get out of bed.

15. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more second processors are further configured to record first times associated with each of the voiding events.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the one or more second processors are further configured to record second times associated with the caregiver changing absorbent articles.

17. The system of claim 15 , wherein the one or more second processors are further configured to present the one or more notifications based on first times associated with each of the voiding events.

18. The system of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of first patient status data and the plurality of second patient status data includes one or more of a timestamp, a name of the corresponding patient, a patient identifier associated with the corresponding patient, or a room number associated with the corresponding patient.

19. The system of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of sensor systems comprises a kinetic energy-scavenging device configured to charge a battery of the sensor system.

Assignees

• Kpr Us Llc

Inventors

• Patel Harish
• Gaines Robert
• Narvekar Vishal
• Gahan Richard

Classifications

• A61B2503/08

  Elderly · CPC title

• A61B5/6808

  Diapers · CPC title

• A61B5/1116

  Determining posture transitions · CPC title

• A61B5/0002

  Remote monitoring of patients using telemetry, e.g. transmission of vital signals via a communication network (endoradiosondes A61B5/07) · CPC title

• A61B5/1118

  Determining activity level · CPC title