Sensor sheet with digital distributed data acquisition for wound monitoring and treatment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2022257851-A1
Application number	US-202017626089-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jul 7, 2020
Priority date	Jul 11, 2019
Publication date	Aug 18, 2022
Grant date	—

Abstract

A wound monitoring and/or therapy apparatus can include multiple sensor circuits, a selection circuit coupled to each sensor circuit, and a processor configured to be in communication with the selection circuit. Each sensor circuit can process multiple sensor signals to generate a single output signal from the multiple sensor signals. Each of the sensor signals can correspond to a measurement of a sensor positioned on a substrate that is configured to be positioned at least partially in a wound. The selection circuit can receive the single output signals from the sensor circuits and outputs a selected single output signal. The processor can receive the selected single output signal and decomposes the selected signal output signal into the multiple sensor signals used to generate the selected single output signal. The processor can activate sensors and receive sensor data from the sensors. The processor can digitize the sensor data and transmit the digitized sensor data to a remote controller.

First claim

1 . A wound monitoring and/or therapy apparatus comprising:
a substrate configured to be positioned at least partially in a wound, the substrate supporting a plurality of sensors; a plurality of sensor circuits positioned on the substrate and configured to generate a plurality of input signals, wherein each sensor circuit is configured to process a plurality of input signals to generate a particular single output signal from the plurality of input signals, wherein the plurality of input signals corresponds to measurements from at least two sensors of the plurality of sensors positioned on the substrate, wherein the at least two sensors are each of a different type; a selection circuit positioned on the substrate and coupled to each sensor circuit, the selection circuit configured to receive the plurality of single output signals from the plurality of sensor circuits and output a selected one of the plurality of single output signals; and a processor configured to be in electrical communication with the selection circuit, the processor configured to:
communicate, to the selection circuit, which of the plurality of sensor circuits to select,
receive, from the selection circuit, the selected single output signal, and
separately extract each of the plurality of input signals from the selected single output signal of the selected sensor circuit.

2 . The therapy apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of input signals comprises a first input signal and a second input signal, wherein the first input signal corresponds to a zero-frequency component of the single output signal, wherein the second input signal corresponds to a non-zero-frequency component of the single output signal.

3 . The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the non-zero-frequency component of the single output signal is a first non-zero-frequency component of the single output signal, and wherein the plurality of input signals further comprises a third input signal, the third input signal corresponding to a second non-zero-frequency component of the single output signal that is different from the first non-zero-frequency component of the single output signal.

4 . The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the first non-zero-frequency component of the single output signal corresponds to a frequency of approximately 50 kHz.

5 . The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the second non-zero-frequency component of the single output signal corresponds to a frequency between approximately 1 kHz and approximately 10 kHz.

6 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of input signals comprises a first input signal and a second input signal, wherein the first input signal corresponds to a DC component of the single output signal.

7 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first input signal corresponds to measurement from a first sensor of the plurality of sensors and the second input signal corresponds to a measurement from a second sensor of the plurality of sensors.

8 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein each of the first and second sensors comprises one of a temperature sensor, an optical sensor, an accelerometer, a motion sensor, a gyroscope, an impedance sensor, a conductivity sensor, a pH sensor, a pressure sensor, or a perfusion sensor, and wherein the first and second sensors are different.

9 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the first sensor is a temperature sensor and the second sensor is an impedance sensor.

10 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to separately extract each of the plurality of input signals from the single output signal of the selected sensor circuit by being further configured to:
determine a first input signal of the plurality of input signals based at least in part on a zero-frequency component of the single output signal of the selected sensor circuit; and determine a second input signal of the plurality of input signals based at least in part on a non-zero-frequency component of the single output signal of the selected sensor circuit.

11 . (canceled)

12 . A wound monitoring and/or therapy system comprising:
a substrate configured to be positioned at least partially in a wound; at least one first sensor of a first sensor type positioned on the substrate; at least one second sensor of a second sensor type positioned on the substrate, the second sensor type being different from the first sensor type; and a processor in electrical communication with the at least one first sensor and the at least one second sensor, the processor positioned on the substrate and configured to:
receive, over a wired interface, control commands from a controller that is external to the substrate,
activate at least one of the at least one first sensor or at least one second sensor based at least in part on the control commands,
digitize sensor data received from at least one of the at least one first sensor or at least one second sensor, and
transmit to the controller, over the wired interface, the digitized sensor data of at least one of the first or second sensor data.

13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein each of the at least one of the at least one first sensor or at least one second sensor comprises a temperature sensor, an optical sensor, an accelerometer, a motion sensor, a gyroscope, an impedance sensor, a conductivity sensor, a pH sensor, a pressure sensor, or a perfusion sensor.

14 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the at least one first sensor comprises a plurality of temperature sensors and the at least one second sensor comprises a plurality of optical sensors.

15 . The system of claim 14 , wherein each temperature sensor of the plurality of temperature sensors produces analog sensor data, and wherein each temperature sensor is connected to a respective analog sensor input of the processor.

16 . The system of claim 14 , wherein each optical sensor of the plurality of optical sensors produces digital sensor data, and wherein each optical sensor is connected to a respective digital signal input of the processor.

17 . The system of claim 14 , wherein each optical sensor of the plurality of optical sensors produces digital sensor data, and wherein each optical sensor is connected to a respective digital signal input of the processor.

18 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the processor is configured to communicate with the controller using a serial protocol.

19 . The system of claim 18 , wherein the serial protocol comprises Inter-integrated Circuit (I2C) Protocol.

20 . (canceled)

21 . A wound monitoring and/or therapy system comprising:
a substrate configured to be positioned at least partially in a wound; a plurality of sensors positioned on the substrate, the plurality of sensors configured to detect physiological data associated with the wound; a plurality of light sources positioned on the substrate; and a control circuit positioned on the substrate, the control circuit configured to:
receive data from at least some sensors of the plurality of sensors, and
control the light sources to communicate the received data to a remote computing device via an optical communication protocol.

22 . The system of claim 21 , wherein the light sources are positioned in at least one of at an edge or in a corner of the substrate.

23 . (canceled)

24 . (canceled)

25 . (canceled)

Assignees

• Smith & Nephew

Inventors

• Bray David Michael
• Quintanar Felix Clarence

Classifications

• A61B5/6833 Primary

  Adhesive patches · CPC title

• A61M1/90

  Negative pressure wound therapy devices, i.e. devices for applying suction to a wound to promote healing, e.g. including a vacuum dressing · CPC title

• A61M1/95 Primary

  with sensors for exudate composition · CPC title

• A61F2013/00438

  blood tests · CPC title

• A61M2205/50

  with microprocessors or computers · CPC title