Flexible temperature sensor including conformable electronics

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9372123-B2
Application number	US-201414451981-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 5, 2014
Priority date	Aug 5, 2013
Publication date	Jun 21, 2016
Grant date	Jun 21, 2016

Abstract

Systems, methods, apparatus and devices are described for monitoring a property of an object or an individual, using a conformal sensor device that substantially conforms to contours of a portion of a surface of the object or the individual. The measurement includes data indicative of a property of a temperature of the portion of the surface and the degree of the conformal contact. An analysis engine is used to analyze the data and to generate at least one parameter indicative of the property of the temperature. Based on a comparison of the at least one parameter to a preset threshold, at least one alert can be issued and/or a command can be transmitted to regulate an environmental condition. The at least one alert can be indicative of a potential risk of harm to the object or individual.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system to monitor a potential risk of harm to an object or an individual using a conformal sensor device mounted to a portion of a surface of the object or the individual, the system comprising:
at least one memory for storing processor executable instructions; and
a processing unit for accessing the at least one memory and executing the processor executable instructions, the processor-executable instructions comprising:
a communication module to receive data indicative of at least one measurement of at least one sensor component of the conformal sensor device, wherein:
the at least one measurement comprises a measure of a property of a temperature of the portion of the surface;
the conformal sensor device substantially conforms to contours of the surface to provide a degree of conformal contact; and
the data indicative of the at least one measurement comprises data indicative of the degree of the conformal contact; and

an analysis engine comprising processor-executable instructions:
to analyze the data indicative of at least one measurement;
to generate at least one parameter indicative of the property of the temperature based on the degree of the conformal contact; and
to compare the at least one parameter indicative of the property of the temperature to a preset threshold; and

a notification component comprising processor-executable instructions:
to issue a first alert at a time T 1 if the at least one parameter indicative of the property of the temperature exceeds the preset threshold; and
to issue a second alert at a time T 2 greater than T 1 if the at least one parameter indicative of the property of the temperature falls below the preset threshold and subsequently exceeds the preset threshold for at least a dwell time t,
wherein the second alert indicates a potential risk of harm to the object or individual.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the dwell time t is about 3 minutes, about 5 minutes, about 8 minutes, or about 10 minutes.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the property of the temperature is at least one of a magnitude, a spatial gradient, and a rate of change with time.

4. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a display module to display the data and/or the at least one parameter.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the conformal sensor device further comprises at least one communication interface to transmit the data indicative of the at least one measurement.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the conformal sensor device further comprises a flexible and/or stretchable substrate, and wherein the at least one sensor component is disposed on the flexible and/or stretchable substrate.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the surface is a portion of a tissue, a fabric, a plant, an artwork, paper, wood, a mechanical tool, or a piece of equipment.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the conformal sensor device further comprises at least one stretchable interconnect to electrically couple the at least one sensor component to at least one other component of the conformal sensor device.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the at least one other component is at least one of: a battery, a transmitter, a transceiver, an amplifier, a processing unit, a charger regulator for a battery, a radio-frequency component, a memory, and an analog sensing block.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the communication module comprises a radio-frequency identification (RFID)-enabled component to receive the data.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the RFID-enabled component is at least one of a near-field communication (NFC) RFID-enabled component and an ultra high frequency (UHF)-based RFID-enabled component.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the communication module implements a communication protocol based on Bluetooth® technology, Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, IEEE 802.11 technology, a radio frequency (RF) communication, an infrared data association (IrDA) compatible protocol, or a shared wireless access protocol (SWAP).

13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the analysis engine analyzes the data by comparing the data to a calibration standard.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the comparing provides the indication of the temperature of the object or the individual.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the calibration standard comprises a correlation between values of the data and computed temperatures of objects or individuals.

16. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor-executable instructions further comprise instructions to store the data and/or the at least one parameter to the at least one memory.

17. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one measurement comprises a measure of a property of a temperature of an environment proximate to the portion of the surface.

18. A system to monitor a potential risk of harm to objects or individuals using conformal sensor devices mounted to a surface of the objects or the individuals, the system comprising:
a communication interface to receive data indicative of a measurement of a sensor component of a conformal sensor device, wherein:
the measurement comprises a measure of a property of a temperature of the portion of a surface;
the conformal sensor device substantially conforms to contours of the surface to provide a degree of conformal contact; and
the data indicative of the at least one measurement comprises data indicative of the degree of the conformal contact;

at least one memory for storing processor executable instructions; and
at least one processing unit, communicatively coupled to the at least one communication interface and the at least one memory, wherein upon execution of the processor-executable instructions, the at least one processing unit:
using the communication module, receives first data indicative of a first measurement of a first sensor component of a first conformal sensor device disposed on a first surface;
using the communication module, receives second data indicative of a second measurement of a second sensor component of a second conformal sensor device disposed on a second surface;
computes, using the first data, a first parameter indicative of the first property of the first temperature based on the first degree of the conformal contact;
computes, using the second data, a second parameter indicative of the second property of the second temperature based on the second degree of the conformal contact;
compares the first parameter to the second parameter;
issues a first notification if the second parameter exceeds the first parameter; and
issues a second notification if at least one of the first parameter and the second parameter exceeds a preset threshold for at least a dwell time t,
wherein the first alert and/or the second alert indicates a potential risk of harm to the object or individual.

19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the first surface and the second surface are differing portions of a single object or body part of an individual.

20. The system of claim 18 , wherein the first surface and the second surface are portions different objects or individuals.

21. The system of claim 18 , wherein the dwell time t is about 3 minutes, about 5 minutes, about 8 minutes, or about 10 minutes.

22. The system of claim 18 , wherein the at least one processing unit further stores to the at least one memory at least one of: the first data, the second data, the first parameter, and the second parameter.

23. The system of claim 18 ,

Assignees

• Mc10 Inc

Inventors

• Li Xia
• Gupta Sanjay
• Dowling Kevin J
• Kacyvenski Isaiah
• Ceruolo Melissa
• Ives Barry G

Classifications

• A61B5/015

  By temperature mapping of body part · CPC title

• A61B5/02055

  Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular condition and temperature · CPC title

• A61B5/0531

  Measuring skin impedance · CPC title

• G01K1/143

  for measuring surface temperatures · CPC title

• A61B5/0004

  characterised by the type of physiological signal transmitted · CPC title