AU2017101125A4 - A solution to detect heart attacks and facilitate a timely response - Google Patents

Abstract

Abstract The invention relates to an alert system for monitoring heart rate and a method thereof. More particularly, the invention relates to the analysis of data captured from a wearable device and an alert system for monitoring heart rate with initiation of instant communication through a voice call if any critical condition is detected. It is system for heart rate monitoring that comprises a user interface server, data collected from an off the shelf wearable heart rate monitoring device communicating with said user interface server, and a cloud based storage server for storage of user profile data, said cloud based storage server is in constant communication with said wearable device, a collection of 4000 algorithms for detecting a potential cardiovascular condition depending on the heart rate compared to current activity levels, and baselined to gender, age, genetic, medical and lifestyle factors. Heart rate monitoringdevice collects data Device Data Layer compiles data to agreed PAYLOAD Device Comms Layer sends _data to Cloud on @freq uencyf Data ssesed for QUALITY DATA ISSUES ANALYZE F TECH ISSUES robleshootNETWORK/l Troubleshoot Device ACT I RESPOND To UeturN I Measuring Heart Rate Raisig AER *initiating response by] Continue Initiating response by Raising ALERT - response persne Monitoring r esponse personnely Determining Call Placed Call Paced Determining critical (Man /Auto) (Man /AutG) critical condition condition Codito y

Description

2017101125 19 Aug 2017

"AN ALERT SYSTEM FOR MONITORING HEART RATE AND A METHOD THEREOF" FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an alert system for monitoring heart rate and a method thereof. More particularly, the invention relates to the analysis of data captured from a wearable device and an alert system for monitoring heart rate with initiation of instant communication through a voice call if any critical condition is detected. Furthermore, the analysis schema validates the condition by measuring ECG signal in addition to other heart related parameters such as heartbeats or heart rate where such ECG signal is available.

The innovation lies in the database of over 4000 algorithms to identify potentially critical conditions. The basic rules applicable in the analysis are correlating the values of safe / unsafe heart rates with medical risk and activity levels.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Heart rate is a very vital health parameter that is directly related to the soundness of the human cardiovascular system. Heart rate is the number of times the heart beats per minute, reflects different physiological conditions. It can be measured either by the ECG waveform or by sensing the pulse - the rhythmic expansion and contraction of an artery as blood is forced through it by the regular contractions of the heart. There are a lot of methods to use heart rate to monitor people's health status and provide rapid diagnosis in a wearable context. These methods are usually limited to monitor heart rates of only an individual at a time. However, it would be beneficial if the heart rates of multiple users are monitored at the same time. As of 2017, over 5 million people are at high risk of having myocardial infarction and other cardiovascular complications in Australia.

The modern vision of healthcare industry is to provide better healthcare to people anytime and anywhere in the world in a more economic and patient friendly 2017101125 19 Aug 2017 manner. Therefore for increasing the patient care efficiency, there arises a need to improve patient monitoring devices and make them more mobile. As bio instrumentation, computers and telecommunications technologies get sophisticated, it has become feasible to design more vital sign tele-monitoring systems to acquire, record, display and to transmit the physiological signal from the human body to any location.

Recent works in communication technologies have inspired the development of telemedicine to a large extent. Telemedicine benefits not only the customers who are able to receive health care more efficiently; it also benefits the doctors who can streamline their efforts to assist more patients at the earliest. NOVELTY:

Conventional approaches for cardiovascular incident detection require the individual to identify the symptoms. Once the symptoms are identified, the individual has to visit a medical care facility. Then a diagnosis is performed by the triage nurse, and validates the suspected condition, after diagnosis a treatment regime is prescribed which could include medicines or surgical intervention. The primary concern in the current process is that 35% of the people do not get identifiable symptoms (silent attack). Another 36 to 40% of the users self-diagnose the symptoms and do not go to the medical care facility.

EXISTING WORKS OF ART US8290574B2 discloses an ECG monitoring system for ambulatory patients includes a small multi-electrode patch that adhesively attaches to the chest of a patient. A reusable battery-powered ECG monitor clips onto the patch and receives patient electrical signals from the electrodes of the patch. A processor continuously processes received ECG signals and analyzes the received ECGsignals forpre-defined arrhythmia. If an arrhythmia is detected, a wireless transceiver in the ECG monitor transmits the event information and an ECG strip to a monitoring center. At the commencement of a monitoring procedure a message is sent to the monitoring 2017101125 19 Aug 2017 center and configuration information for arrhythmia detection is down-loaded and installed in the monitor. The configuration file is determined by a screen of selectable standard and custom arrhythmias and alarm limits at the monitoring center.

Our novelty: We differ in the premise that arrhythmia is one of the conditions that could turn potentially fatal. We transfer the raw signals to the command center (monitored by experts 24 / 7). Our innovative software algorithm baselines an individual's cardiac performance in the initial 2 weeks and then monitors performance against this baseline. Any deviation is measured for the extent of deviation and if a certain threshold is breached, the individual's condition is referred to the in-house expert for further analysis/validation. Once validated, an interactive communication with the individual or his kin or even medical response professionals help in providing medical assistance within the crucial 10 minutes immediately after the detection. US20060264767A1 provides a disposable programmable ECG sensor patch for the non-invasive detection of risk patterns according to programmed criteria. The patch is programmed by a medical professional to select one or more monitoring parameters for detection and alarm indication. One application is to detect changes in the ECG due to cardioactive drugs. Another application is triggering an alarm for a cardiac patient during a stress condition. The programmable patch operates in conjunction with an external programming unit for selecting the detection monitoring parameters.

Our novelty: Our solution offers a sustainable solution with a charging port and continuous 24/7 monitoring. Our current form factors include a wrist wearable, as a standalone device or in conjunction with a chest strap, a chest strap in isolation, and as wearable garments like singlets, sports bras, t-shirts etc. Also, with an artificial intelligence platform analyzing collected data, our current knowledgebase of > 4000 algorithms would grow to include other cardiac conditions as well (we now 2017101125 19 Aug 2017 detect arrhythmias, tachycardias, atrial fibrillation, ST Elevated Myocardial Infarctions, a sample subset of Non ST Elevated Myocardial Infarctions with varying degrees of accuracy, upto 96%) W02009112976A1 illustrates an ECG monitoring system for ambulatory patients include a small multi-electrode patch that adhesively attaches to the chest of a patient. A reusable battery-powered ECG monitor clips onto the patch and receives patient electrical signals from the electrodes of the patch. A processor continuously processes received ECG signals and a wireless transceiver in the ECG monitor transmits the event information and an ECG strip to a cellphone handset. The cellphone handset automatically relays the event information and ECG strip to a monitoring center. The cellphone handset has a cover which adapts the user interface of a standard commercial cellphone to the ECG monitoring application and includes a custom control program that displays ECG monitoring messages on the cellphone display and controls the automatic relay of ECG and event information to the monitoring center.

Our novelty: The ability to retrieve, calibrate and measure ECG waveforms from a handheld device is very appealing. But it is impractical to keep contact with the sensors through the day, because a cardiac event can happen without warning. This solution can help identify the potential source of the pain, once the symptoms are detected. Our solution helps identify the point in time when the ECG needs to be collected/measured, without the involvement of the individual. This makes it non-intrusive into the lifestyle of the individual.

There is a need for an approach that constantly tracks cardiac performance of individuals having risk of cardiovascular incident; by monitoring the heart rate and (possibly) ECG and provides immediate, accurate treatment and assistance if any serious condition is detected. This is achieved by automatically placing a call from Command Center to the individual or any listed emergency contact number. 2017101125 19 Aug 2017

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The main object of the present invention is to provide a system (A) for monitoring heart rates and other cardiac parameters; (B) that automatically initiates instant communication by an emergency alert system if any critical condition is detected; (C) by comparing heart related parameters such as heart beats, ECG or heart rate with pre determined threshold values through an OFF THE SHELF heart rate monitoring device; (D) that constantly monitors individuals having risk of cardiovascular incident; (E) by facilitating immediate accurate treatment and assistance if any serious condition is determined by the Data Analysis & Algorithm system by automatically making a call to the individual, relative or response personnel.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a wearable device (redesigned with superior features than those available in current OFF THE SHELF devices) which monitors the heart parameters and initiates instant communication if any critical condition is detected.

THE INNOVATION

The present innovation relates to a system for monitoring heart rate and a method thereof. More particularly, the invention relates to collection of data from an OFF THE SHELF wearable device and a system for monitoring heart rate that initiates instant communication if any critical condition is detected; by measuring ECG signal and other heart related parameters such as heart beats or heart rate and method thereof.

In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, is proposed a system for heart rate monitoring comprising: 2017101125 19 Aug 2017 a) a database for storage of user data including registration details and previous heart/health related records; b) a module for identifying customers for device users depending upon previous records from stored database; c) a communication server for informing users at risk; d) an OFF THE SHELF wearable heart rate monitoring device; e) a collecting module that collects the heart related data from the said heart rate monitoring device; f) an uploading module for uploading the heart related data recorded by heart rate monitoring device on cloud; g) an automated system to compare the measured heart rate to a predefined threshold based on an individual profile consisting of medical history, genetic background (immediate family - parents and siblings) and lifestyle conditions; and current activity levels (time, intensity and cardiac response); and h) a 24 X 7 command center to validate the detected cardiac condition and contact the individual, relative or response personnel for immediate response.

The wearable device (Off the Shelf; approved for integration with our solution) for monitoring the heart rate ideally comprises of: a) a heart rate or heart activity measuring means (PPG or PhotoPlethysmoGraph, and/or ECG or ElectroCardioGraph); b) a communication module for communicating with a smart phone / internet server; c) a unique identifier to help identify the device and thus the user; and d) an ability to append location (GPS) data in real time. In the preferred embodiment of the device (in combination with a singularly paired smart phone), the location data and individual profile information is stored within, and appended to the data stream by an application in a smart phone wherein: 2017101125 19Aug2017 A) the alert raising module raises an alert if the individual's heart rate exceeds a threshold limit; B) the Command Center comprises adequately qualified/certified cardio experts that assess the risk of patient depending upon the recorded data of heart rate measuring means; and C) the Command Center informs the individual / listed relatives / response personnel by instant communication via a call or text message if the condition is found critical by the emergency alert system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A complete understanding of the system and method of the present invention may be obtained by reference to the following drawings:

Figure 1 elucidates the steps involved in setting user specific parameters for the system according to the present innovation.

Figure 2 elucidates the process flow of monitoring the parameters of a user.

Figure 3 elucidates the process flow of alarm system according to the present invention.

Claims (5)

1. CLAIMS We claim:

   1. A system for heart rate monitoring comprising: a) a user interface server; b) Data collected from an OFF THE SHELF wearable heart rate monitoring device communicating with said user interface server; and c) a cloud based storage server for storage of user profile data, said cloud based storage server is in constant communication with said wearable device; d) A collection of 4000 algorithms for detecting a potential cardiovascular condition depending on the heart rate compared to current activity levels; and baselined to gender, age, genetic, medical and lifestyle factors.
2. 2. The framework for the said system mentioned in CLAIM #1 above, based on run time COLLECTION, ANALYSIS and RESPONSE, wherein the ANALYSIS subsystem automatically triggers a series of response options depending on the severity of the condition detected
3. 3. The system for heart rate monitoring as mentioned in claim #1, wherein said threshold limit is predefined based on average data of heart rate of an individual based on the physical condition parameters including age, gender, weight and special medical conditions.
4. 4. The system as mentioned in claim #1 for measuring the consistency of heart beats (Standard Deviation of adjacent R-R intervals) over short term (60 - 90 seconds), mid term (5 - 10 minutes) and longer term (full day). Such consistency is measured using the biomarker - HEART RATE VARIABILITY (HRV) which is considered to be a more accurate indicator of a potential cardiac condition
5. 5. The system as mentioned in claim #1 to complete the analysis and initial validation within an estimated 3 minutes of the occurrence of the incident. Additionally, the response (where feasible) could possibly be provided in an additional 7 minutes. Where the medical history of the individual is known and the said individual has access to his / her set of medications, a possible response is the unassisted administration of an antiplatelet (example: ASPIRIN). Such administration helps in extending the platinum 10 minutes in emergency response parlance, thereby increasing the chances of survival for the individual.