Systems, computer medium and computer-implemented methods for monitoring and improving biomechanical health of employees

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9962083-B2
Application number	US-201213540180-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 2, 2012
Priority date	Jul 5, 2011
Publication date	May 8, 2018
Grant date	May 8, 2018

Abstract

Provided are embodiments of systems, computer medium and computer-implemented methods for monitoring the health of an employee while the employee is located in an employee workstation. A method including collecting, from a plurality of biomechanical sensors disposed throughout the employee workstation, biomechanical health data indicative of biomechanical characteristics of the employee, determining an employee biomechanical health profile based at least in part on the collected biomechanical health data. The employee biomechanical health profile including biomechanical health characteristics, biomechanical health conditions and/or biomechanical health risks for the employee. The method including generating a health plan for the employee based at least in part on the biomechanical health profile, and displaying the employee biomechanical health profile and the health plan to the employee.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for monitoring health of an employee seated in an employee workstation, the system comprising:
the employee workstation comprising:
a chair;
a chair pad disposed on the chair;
a floor mat positioned on a floor of the employee workstation;
an employee computer comprising a display;
a computer mouse positioned on a work surface of the employee workstation; and
a plurality of biomechanical sensors disposed throughout the employee workstation, the plurality of biomechanical sensors configured to sense biomechanical characteristics of the employee seated in the chair and output corresponding biomechanical health data indicative of the biomechanical characteristics of the employee,
the plurality of biomechanical sensors comprising:
computer mouse sensors comprising:
one or more computer mouse location sensors integrated in the computer mouse and configured to sense movement of the computer mouse relative to the work surface of the employee workstation;
one or more computer mouse temperature sensors integrated in the computer mouse and configured to sense a body temperature of the employee by way of the employee contacting the computer mouse;
one or more computer mouse blood pressure sensors integrated in the computer mouse and configured to sense a blood pressure of the employee by way of the employee contacting the computer mouse; and
one or more computer mouse blood condition sensors integrated in the computer mouse and configured to sense a blood oxygen saturation of blood of the employee by way of the employee contacting the computer mouse,
wherein the biomechanical health data comprises computer mouse data comprising a location of the computer mouse sensed by the one or more computer mouse location sensors, a body temperature of the employee sensed by the one or more one or more computer mouse temperature sensors, a blood pressure of the employee sensed by the one or more computer mouse blood pressure sensors, and a blood oxygen saturation of blood of the employee sensed by the one or more computer mouse blood condition sensors;

chair pad sensors comprising:
one or more chair pad force transducers integrated in the chair pad and configured to sense a force applied to the chair pad by the employee seated in the chair;
one or more chair pad temperature sensors integrated in the chair pad and configured to sense a body temperature of the employee seated in the chair; and
one or more chair pad body fat sensors integrated in the chair pad and configured to sense a body fat of the employee seated in the chair, and
wherein the biomechanical health data comprises chair pad data comprising a force sensed by the one or more chair pad force transducers, a body temperature of the employee sensed by the one or more chair pad temperature sensors, and a body fat of the employee sensed by the one or more chair pad body fat sensors;

floor mat sensors comprising:
one or more floor mat force transducers integrated in the floor mat and configured to sense a force applied to the floor mat by the employee seated in the chair;
one or more floor mat temperature sensors integrated in the floor mat and configured to sense a body temperature of the employee seated in the chair; and
one or more floor mat body fat sensors integrated in the floor mat and configured to sense a body fat of the employee seated in the chair, and
wherein the biomechanical health data comprises floor mat data comprising a force sensed by the one or more floor mat force transducers, a body temperature of the employee sensed by the one or more floor mat temperature sensors, and a body fat of the employee sensed by the one or more floor mat body fat sensors; and

a three-dimensional position sensor comprising:
a camera adapted to capture images of the employee seated in the chair, wherein the biomechanical health data comprises images of the employee seated in the chair captured by the camera; and

a biomechanical health monitoring server configured to:
continuously collect the biomechanical health data indicative of the biomechanical characteristics of the employee;
determine, in real time based on the biomechanical health data collected, the following:
a body temperature of the employee based on the body temperature of the employee sensed by the one or more computer mouse temperature sensors, the body temperature of the employee sensed by the one or more chair pad temperature sensors, and the body temperature of the employee sensed by the one or more floor mat temperature sensors;
a body position of the employee based on the location of the computer mouse sensed by the one or more computer mouse location sensors, the force sensed by the one or more chair pad force transducers, the force sensed by the one or more floor mat force transducers, and the images of the employee seated in the chair captured by the camera, the body position indicating a position and movement of an arm of the employee seated in the chair;
a body fat of the employee based on the body fat of the employee sensed by the one or more chair pad body fat sensors, and the body fat of the employee sensed by the one or more floor mat body fat sensors;
a blood pressure of the employee based on the blood pressure of the employee sensed by the one or more computer mouse blood pressure sensors;
blood oxygen saturation of blood of the employee based on the blood oxygen saturation of blood of the employee sensed by the one or more computer mouse blood condition sensors;

determine, based on the body position of the employee, a length of time that the arm of the employee has been extended to interact with the computer mouse;
determine, based on the length of time that the arm of the employee has been extended to interact with the computer mouse, a muscle tension of the employee;
determine, in real time, a biomechanical health profile for the employee based at least in part on the biomechanical health data collected, the biomechanical health profile for the employee comprising one or more of biomechanical health characteristics, biomechanical health conditions and biomechanical health risks for the employee, wherein the health profile comprises the following:
the body temperature of the employee;
the body position of the employee;
the body fat of the employee;
the blood pressure of the employee;
the blood oxygenation of the employee; and
the muscle tension of the employee;

generate, in real time, a health plan for the employee based at least in part on the biomechanical health profile for the employee determined; and
serve, in real time to the employee computer for display to the employee, health content comprising the biomechanical health profile for the employee and the health plan for the employee, wherein the health content includes an indication of the following:
the body temperature of the employee;
the body position of the employee;
the body fat of the employee;
the blood pressure of the employee;
the blood oxygenation of the employee; and
the muscle tension of the employee;

the employee computer configured to display, via the display of the employee computer, the health content comprising the indication of the body temperature of the employee, the body position of the employee, the body fat of the employee, the blood pressure of the employee, the blood oxygenation of the employee, and the muscle tension of the employee; and
serve, in real time to an employer workstation for display to an employer of the employee via a display of the employer workstation, a reviewer interface to enable the employer to review the biomechanical health profile for the employee and to select an employee group to review, the employee group characterized by a plurality of employees common to one or more of a facility, region, division, and team;
the employer workstation configured to display, via a display o

Assignees

• Horseman Samantha J
• Saudi Arabian Oil Co

Inventors

• Horseman Samantha J

Classifications

• A61B5/6892

  Mats · CPC title

• A61B5/145

  Measuring characteristics of blood in vivo, e.g. gas concentration or pH-value {; Measuring characteristics of body fluids or tissues, e.g. interstitial fluid or cerebral tissue} (non-radiation detecting or locating of foreign bodies in blood A61B5/06) · CPC title

• A61B5/6887

  mounted on external non-worn devices, e.g. non-medical devices · CPC title

• A61B5/021

  Measuring pressure in heart or blood vessels · CPC title

• A61B5/72

  Signal processing specially adapted for physiological signals or for diagnostic purposes · CPC title