Thermal Imaging

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2022401015-A1
Application number	US-202017776765-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Nov 12, 2020
Priority date	Nov 15, 2019
Publication date	Dec 22, 2022
Grant date	—

Abstract

The present disclosure provides methods and apparatus for evaluating tissue structure 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 interventions selected, based on thermal imaging (TI). 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 TI intensities to detect tissue damage before it is visible, and methods to compare bisymmetric TI intensities to identify damaged tissue.

First claim

We claim:

1 . A method of assessing thermal imaging (TI) characteristics in tissue below a patient's intact skin, the method comprising the steps of:
a) obtaining an TI image, and b) assessing the TI image for TI signal intensity.

2 . A method of reducing the incidence of tissue damage in patients admitted to a care facility, the method comprising the steps of:
a) evaluating a patient for a risk of tissue damage upon admission to the care facility, wherein evaluating comprises:
i) taking a TI image of the patient at one or more body locations at risk of wound development, and
ii) determining an average TI intensity of the TI images;
b) administering an intervention of level-0 if the average TI intensity is below a first threshold, and c) administering an intervention of level-N if the average TI intensity is above a first threshold, wherein N is an integer and N has a value of 1 or greater.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the one or more body locations at risk of wound development are selected from the group consisting of a sternum, a sacrum, a heel, a scapula (os latum scapularum ), an elbow, an ear, and other fleshy tissues over a bony prominence of a patient.

4 . The method of claim 2 or 3 , wherein the one or more body locations at risk of wound development comprise one or more anatomical sites in long-term contact with a medical device.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the body location at risk of wound development is selected from the group consisting of a cheek, a nose, a chest, a stomach, and a lower abdomen area.

6 . A method of stratifying a plurality of patients in a care facility based on care levels, the method comprising the steps of:
a) taking an TI image of a patient in the plurality of patients at one or more body locations selected for monitoring; b) determining an average TI intensity of the TI image of the patient; c) determining a care level of N care levels that corresponds to the average TI intensity; d) assigning the care level to the patient; and e) arranging the patient of the plurality of patients into groups based on each of the patient's assigned care levels.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the one or more body locations at risk of wound development are selected from the group consisting of a sternum, a sacrum, a heel, a scapula (os latum scapularum ), an elbow, an ear, and other fleshy tissues over a bony prominence of a patient.

8 . The method of claim 6 , wherein one or more body locations at risk of wound development comprise one or more anatomical sites in long-term contact with a medical device, and are selected from the group consisting of a cheek, a nose, a chest, a stomach, and a lower abdomen area.

9 . A method for identifying and providing an appropriate level of care to a patient in a care facility, the method comprising the steps of:
a) taking a plurality of TI images of the patient at one or more body locations; b) determining an average TI intensity of the TI image of the patient; c) providing one or more anatomy-specific interventions based on the average TI intensity; d) increasing the level of anatomy-specific interventions based on an increase in the average TI intensity; and e) decreasing the level of anatomy-specific interventions based on a decrease in the average TI intensity.

10 . A method of assigning a patient in a care facility to a risk category selected from a plurality of risk categories, the method comprising the steps of:
a) taking an initial TI image of one or more locations of the body selected for monitoring; b) determining an average TI intensity of the TI image; and c) assigning the patient to a risk category selected from the plurality of risk categories, wherein the assigning is based partially on the average TI intensity of the TI image.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the locations of the body are selected from the group consisting of a sternum, a sacrum, a heel, a scapula (os latum scapularum ), an elbow, an ear, and other fleshy tissues over a bony prominence of a patient.

12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the locations of the body comprise one or more anatomical sites in long-term contact with a medical device, and are selected from the group consisting of a cheek, a nose, a chest, a stomach, and a lower abdomen area.

13 . A method of managing care of a patient, the method comprising the steps of:
a) taking a first set of TI images at one or more body locations selected for monitoring upon admission to a care facility; b) determining a first average TI intensity of each of the first set of TI images; c) setting an intervention level to N=1 if one of the average TI intensity of the first set of TI images is above a first threshold; d) implementing a level-N intervention for each of the one or more body locations having an average TI intensity above a first threshold; e) taking subsequent sets of TI images at each of the one or more body locations at a level-N frequency; and f) determining new average TI intensities for each of the one or more body locations.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the one or more body locations selected for monitoring are selected from the group consisting of a sternum, a sacrum, a heel, a scapula (os latum scapularum ), an elbow, an ear, and other fleshy tissues over a bony prominence of a patient.

15 . The method of claim 13 , wherein one or more body locations selected for monitoring comprise one or more anatomical sites in long-term contact with a medical device, and are selected from the group consisting of a cheek, a nose, a chest, a stomach, and a lower abdomen area.

16 . A method of identifying and treating a patient at risk of tissue damage, the method comprising the steps of:
a) evaluating a patient for a risk of tissue damage upon admission to a care facility, wherein the evaluating step comprises:
i) taking a first plurality of TI images in the patient; and
ii) determining a first average TI intensity of the initial set of TI images;
b) administering a first intervention of level-0 if the first average TI intensity is below or equal to a first threshold; and c) administering a first intervention of level-N if the first average TI intensity is above the first threshold, where N is an integer and N has a value of 1 or greater.

17 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising the steps of:
a) taking a second plurality of TI images in the patient at a first pre-determined frequency corresponding to the administered intervention level; b) determining a second average TI intensity of the second plurality of TI images; c) determining whether the second average TI intensity value exceeds a second threshold; d) continuing to administer the first intervention if the second average TI intensity does not exceed the second threshold; e) continuing to take a plurality of TI images at the first pre-determined frequency if the second average TI intensity value does not exceed the second threshold; f) administering a second intervention of level-M if the second average TI intensity value exceeds the second threshold, where M is an integer and M is greater than N; and g) taking a plurality of TI images at a second pre-determined frequency corresponding to level-M if the second average TI intensity exceeds the second threshold.

18 . The method of claim 16 or 17 , further comprising the steps of:
a) determining whether the second average TI intensity is less than a third threshold;
b) continuing to administer the first intervention if the second

Assignees

• Bruin Biometrics Llc

Inventors

• Burns Martin F

Classifications

• A61B5/01

  Measuring temperature of body parts {; Diagnostic temperature sensing, e.g. for malignant or inflamed tissue} (clinical contact thermometers G01K13/20) · CPC title

• A61B5/445 Primary

  Evaluating skin irritation or skin trauma, e.g. rash, eczema, wound, bed sore · CPC title

• G06T2207/10016

  Video; Image sequence · CPC title

• G06T2207/10048

  Infrared image · CPC title

• G06T2207/10088

  Magnetic resonance imaging [MRI] · CPC title