U.S. patent number RE39,871 [Application Number 11/129,743] was granted by the patent office on 2007-10-09 for particulate detection and air advice provision.
This patent grant is currently assigned to AirAdvice, Inc.. Invention is credited to John N. Skardon.
United States Patent |
RE39,871 |
Skardon |
October 9, 2007 |
Particulate detection and air advice provision
Abstract
A novel basic allergen/particulate data collection device and a
novel multi-function personal air quality management device are
disclosed. Both devices include sensor sub-assembly detecting and
reporting on allergen/particulate data (preferably, for
allergen/particulate with sizes smaller than 5 micron) for an
indoor location (where the asthma patient is situated). Both
devices are communication enabled to allow the allergen/particulate
data to be provided to an air/asthma advice server, to generate
air/asthma advice for an asthma patient, taking into consideration
the allergen/particulate data as well as air quality data for a
surrounding outdoor area of the indoor location. In one embodiment
of the basic device, the communication interface is tailored for
"harsh environment" local area networking. When combined with its
streamlined functionality, the device is particularly suitable
(especially in terms of economics) for multiple deployment (along
with a "base station"), such as in the case of an home application.
In one embodiment of the multi-function device, the communication
interface is tailored for "controlled environment" wide area
networking. When combined with its rich functionality, the device
is particularly suitable for standalone deployment, such as in the
case of a professional application. Various alterations and
modifications of different embodiments are also disclosed.
Inventors: |
Skardon; John N. (Vancouver,
WA) |
Assignee: |
AirAdvice, Inc. (Portland,
OR)
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Family
ID: |
27011719 |
Appl.
No.: |
11/129,743 |
Filed: |
May 13, 2005 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
|
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09387041 |
Aug 31, 1999 |
6466133 |
|
|
Reissue of: |
10205825 |
Jul 26, 2002 |
06693546 |
Feb 17, 2004 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
340/627;
340/539.26; 340/601; 340/539.29; 340/539.28; 340/539.12; 340/603;
340/870.2; 702/23; 702/29; 706/930; 340/607; 340/517 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G01N
33/0075 (20130101); G16H 40/63 (20180101); Y10S
706/93 (20130101); G16H 50/20 (20180101) |
Current International
Class: |
G08B
21/00 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;340/607,601,603,870.92,627,539.26,539.28,539.29,539.12,517 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Other References
William F. Lyon, Ohio State University Extension Facsheet;
Entomology, "House Dust Mites," reprinted Feb. 26, 1998, pp. 1-4.
cited by examiner .
"Model 1060 Features and Specifications,"
http://www.ppmcorp.com/products/hh60spec.html, reprinted Mar. 8,
1999, 1 page. cited by examiner .
Joel Johnson and Gerry Flanagan, "Real-Time Dust Monitoring
provides Data on Aerosols and Particulates," reprinted from
Industrial Hygiene News, 2 pages. cited by examiner .
"Model 1060 Handheld Aerosol Monitor with Detached Sensor,"
http://www.ppmcorp.com/products/hh60desc.html, reprinted Mar. 8,
1999, 1 page. cited by examiner .
"Model 1010 Handheld Aerosol Monitor,"
http://www.ppmcorp/hh05desc.html, reprinted Mar. 8, 1999, 1 page.
cited by examiner .
Health and Safety Application Note ITI-036, "Dusttrak.TM. Aerosol
Monitor Theory of Operation, Revised Nov. 14, 1997,"
http://www.tsi.com/his/homepage/applnote/iti_036.htm, Copyright
1996 TSI Incorporated, reprinted Mar. 8, 1999, 2 pages. cited by
examiner .
"Dusttrak.TM. Aerosol Monitor Model 8520, Features, Specification
and Accessories," Revised Sep. 10, 1998,
http://www.tsi.com/his/homepage/dusttrak/dustspec.htm, Copyright
1997 TSI Incorporated, reprinted Mar. 8, 1999, pp. 1-4. cited by
examiner .
Opto-System project Team, ELECOM Group, Sharp Corporation, "Dust
Sensor GP2U 5 Application Note," Nov. 28, 1997, pp. 2-14. cited by
examiner .
Sharp Corporation, "GP2U06 High Sensitivity Dust Sensor," as of May
1997, 2 pages. cited by examiner.
|
Primary Examiner: Lieu; Julie Bichngoc
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt
Parent Case Text
This is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.
09/387,041 filed on Aug. 31, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,466,133.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A method comprising: receiving particulate data collected at an
interior location; retrieving air quality data for an exterior
surrounding area of the interior location .Iadd.from a remote
server.Iaddend.; and generating a particulate advice response for a
client situated at the interior location, based at least in part on
the combination of the received particulate data of the interior
location and the retrieved air quality data of the exterior
surrounding area.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein said particulate data comprises
data for particulate with sizes smaller than 5 micron.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein said receiving comprises
receiving said particulate data of the interior location through a
data connection.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein said data connection is
established over a communication media selected from a group
consisting of a Public Switching Telephone Network (PSTN)
connection, an Integrated Digital Service Network (ISDN)
connection, and an Internet connection.
5. The method of claims 1, wherein said air quality data comprises
data selected from a group consisting of ozone, oxides of nitrogen,
oxides of sulphur, photochemical smog, humidity, temperature,
barometric air pressure, pollen level, occurrence of sandstorm,
occurrence of tornado, occurrence of forest fire, occurrence of
agricultural burning.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein said retrieving comprises
retrieving said air quality data from a remote server through a
data connection.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein said remote server is a server
maintained by an entity selected from a group consisting of a
government agency, a hospital, a university, a research
institution, a news reporting organization, and a commercial air
quality reporting service.
8. The method of claim 6, wherein said data connection is
established over a communication media selected from a group
consisting of a Public Switching Telephone Network (PSTN)
connection, an Integrated Digital Service Network (ISDN)
connection, a Frame Relay connection, an Asynchronous Transfer Mode
(ATM) connection, and an Internet connection.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein said particulate advice response
comprises a response selected from a group consisting of an indoor
air quality advisory, an outdoor air quality advisory, a weather
advisory, and a natural/mad-made pollution event advisory.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises
delivering the generated particulate advice response on behalf of
the client to an associated recipient selected from a group
consisting of a medical physician, a nurse, a pharmacist, a parent
and a guardian of the client.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein said generated particulate
advice response being delivered to the associated recipient in a
form selected from a group consisting of beeping signal, a pager
message, a voice message, a faxed report, and an e-mail
message.
12. The method of claim 10, wherein said delivery being made to the
associated recipient through a communication link selected from a
group consisting of a wired and a wireless communication link.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein said receiving further comprises
receiving additional data selected from a group of consisting of
lung function data of the client, ambient temperature of the
interior location, humidity at the interior location, and
concentration of a gas at the interior location, and said
particulate advice response is generated based also on said
received additional data.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein said additional data being
collected contemporaneously with said particulate data.
15. The method of claim 1, wherein said particulate advice response
is generated based also in part on particulate triggering
threshold(s).
16. The method of claim 15, wherein said particulate trigger
thresholds being provided by one selected from a group consisting
of the client, a medical physician of the client and a nurse of the
client.
17. The method of claim 1, wherein said retrieving further
comprises retrieving weather data of the surrounding area, and said
particulate advice response is generated based also on said
retrieved weather data.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein said weather data being
retrieved from a remote server of a weather monitoring and
reporting service.
19. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises
compiling aggregated statistical data on said generation of
particulate advice response for a plurality of clients.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein the method further comprises
providing said compiled aggregated statistical data to a recipient
selected from a medical research organization, a product marketing
organization, a product manufacturer, a product distributor, and a
product retailer.
21. An apparatus, comprising: a processor; at least one
communication interface coupled to the processor; and a storage
medium coupled to processor and having stored therein a first, a
second, and a third plurality of programming instructions to be
executed by the processor to receive particulate data collected at
an interior location, to retrieve air quality data for an exterior
surrounding area of the interior location from a remote server, and
to generate a particulate advice response for a client situated in
the interior location, based at least in part on the combination of
the received particulate data of the interior location and the
retrieved air quality data of the exterior location.
22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein said at least one
communication interface comprises at least one communication
interface selected from a group consisting of a local area
networking (LAN) interface, a Public Switching Telephone Network
(PSTN) interface, an Integrated Digital Service Network (ISDN)
interface, a T1 line interface, a cellular transceiver interface,
and a satellite transceiver interface.
23. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein said storage medium further
having pre-stored therein said air quality data.
24. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein said storage medium further
having stored therein a fourth plurality of programming
instructions to be executed by the processor to deliver the
generated particulate advice response to a recipient in a form
selected from a group consisting of a beeping signal, a pager
message, a voice message, a faxed report, and an e-mail
message.
25. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein said apparatus further
comprises a voice response unit for constituting said generated
particulate advice response in said voice message form.
26. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein said first plurality of
programming instructions are also to be executed by the processor
to receive additional data selected from a group of consisting of
lung function data of the client, ambient temperature of the
interior location, humidity at the interior location, and
concentration of a gas at the interior location, and said third
plurality of programming instructions in generating said
particulate advice response further base said generation on said
received additional data.
27. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein said third plurality of
programming instructions in generating said particulate advice
response further base said generation on particulate triggering
threshold(s).
28. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein said second plurality of
programming instructions are also to be executed by the processor
to retrieve weather data of the surrounding area, and said third
plurality of programming instructions in generating said
particulate advice response further base said generation on said
retrieved weather data.
29. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein said storage medium further
having stored therein a fourth plurality of programming
instructions to be executed by the processor to compile aggregated
statistical data on said generation of particulate advice response
for a plurality of clients.
30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein said storage medium further
having stored therein a fifth plurality of programming instructions
to be executed by the processor to provide said compiled aggregated
statistical data to a recipient selected from a medical research
organization, a product marketing organization, a product
manufacturer, a product distributor, and a product retailer.
.Iadd.31. A method comprising: collecting particulate data at a
site using one or more sensors locally disposed at the site;
accessing a wireless local area network medium at the site, the
wireless local area network medium coupled with a public network
disposed off-site; sending the collected particulate data to a
remote server coupled to the public network, via the wireless local
area network medium; and receiving particulate advice response,
from the remote server, that is based at least in part upon the
collected particulate data and air quality data for an exterior
surrounding area of the site..Iaddend.
.Iadd.32. The method of claim 34, further comprising: receiving the
collected particulate data from the one or more sensors at a base
station coupled to the local area network medium; and sending the
collected particulate data to the remote server from the base
station..Iaddend.
.Iadd.33. A system comprising: one or more data collection units
coupled to a local area network at a site, at least one of the one
or more data collection units having a particulate sensor to
collect particulate data at the site; a base station coupled to the
local area network and a public network, to receive the particulate
data from the one or more data collection units via the local area
network and to send the collected particulate data to a server,
which is at a location remote from the site, via the public
network; and an advice receipt arrangement at the site to receive
advice from the server via the public network, said advice based at
least in part upon the collected particulate data..Iaddend.
.Iadd.34. A method comprising: receiving air quality data collected
at an interior location defined at least in part by a structure;
receiving structure data related to the structure; and generating
an advice response based at least in part on a combination of the
received air quality data and the received structure
data..Iaddend.
.Iadd.35. The method of claim 34, wherein said receiving structure
data further comprises receiving data related to at least
construction or location of the structure..Iaddend.
.Iadd.36. The method of claim 34, further comprising: receiving
data on air quality for an exterior surrounding area of the
structure; and generating the advice response based at least in
part on a combination of the air quality data collected at the
interior location, air quality data for the exterior surrounding
area, and the structure data..Iaddend.
.Iadd.37. A system comprising: a collection arrangement configured
to collect air quality data at an interior location defined at
least in part by a structure; and an advice generation module
configured to receive the collected air quality data; receive
structure data related to the structure; and generate an advice
response based at least in part on a combination of the received
air quality data and the received structure data..Iaddend.
.Iadd.38. The system of claim 37, wherein the collection
arrangement comprises: at least two sensors selected from a
particulate sensor, a chemical sensor, a temperature sensor, and a
humidity sensor to collect the air quality data..Iaddend.
.Iadd.39. The system of claim 37, wherein the advice generation
module is further configured to: receive data on air quality for an
exterior surrounding area of the structure; and generate the advice
response based at least in part on a combination of the air quality
data collected at the interior location, data on air quality for
the exterior surrounding area, and the structure data..Iaddend.
.Iadd.40. A machine accessible medium having instructions stored
thereon, which, when accessed, results in a machine: receiving air
quality data collected at an interior location defined at least in
part by a structure; receiving structure data related to the
structure; and generating an advice response based at least in part
on a combination of the received air quality data and the received
structure data..Iaddend.
.Iadd.41. The machine accessible medium of claim 40, wherein said
receiving of air quality data further comprises: receiving at least
data relating to particulates, temperature, humidity, or gas
levels..Iaddend.
.Iadd.42. A method comprising: receiving air quality data collected
at an interior location defined at least in part by a structure;
receiving client data related to a condition of a client associated
with the structure; and generating an advice response based at
least in part on a combination of the received air quality data and
the received client data..Iaddend.
.Iadd.43. The method of claim 42, wherein said receiving client
data further comprises: receiving medical data of the
client..Iaddend.
.Iadd.44. The method of claim 42, further comprising: receiving
structure data; and generating the advice response based at least
in part on a combination of the received air quality data, the
received client data, and the received structure data..Iaddend.
.Iadd.45. The method of claim 42, further comprising: receiving
data on air quality for an exterior surrounding area of the
structure; and generating the advice response based at least in
part on a combination of the received air quality data collected at
the interior location, the received client data, and the received
data on air quality for the exterior surrounding area..Iaddend.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of medical devices and
advising systems. More specifically, the present invention relates
to allergen detection and air or asthma related advising
systems.
2. Background Information
Asthma is a chronic disease that affects among other things, the
lung functions of a patient. It is estimated that 6% to 9% of the
population of the developed world are affected, and the number of
diagnosed cases is growing at 5% per year, ten times the rate of
population growth. The number of newly diagnosed cases of pediatric
asthma has the health authorities of many countries consider asthma
to be an epidemic. In United States, about 15 millions American are
affected, making it the sixth ranked chronic disease of the
country. About 5,500 people die from asthma related complication
each year. The annular medical cost is estimated to be $6 billion.
In addition, thousands of work and school days are lost.
Lung irritants such as particulates, plants and animal allergens,
and certain types of man-made pollution are the usual triggers
leading to asthma attacks. Typically, they are 50 microns or
smaller. In the home setting, recent research has determined that
allergens can accumulate to levels 2.times.-10.times. higher than
outside levels. More importantly, "respirable" particulates less
than 5 microns in size are of particular concern to health
authorities. Current asthma treatment guidelines typically advise a
patient to, in order to priority, (1) prevent an attack by avoiding
asthma triggers, (2) check their lung function regularly and (3)
take medication when necessary.
Although prevention is a high priority or even preferred aspect of
the treatment plan for a patient, currently, very limited help is
available to assist a patient to avoid asthma triggers, especially
in the home setting. This is because allergenic particles that are
50 microns or smaller in size are too small to see without a
microscope. Much of the air monitoring devices known in the art are
catered for commercial (i.e. workplace) use, designed to monitor
industrial pollutants. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,001,463 and 5,646,597
issued to Hamburger disclosed two allergen detection devices for
triggering an alarm when allergen level exceeding certain
predetermined threshold is detected. A filter, collection and
detection arrangement is employed in the '463 patent, whereas the
'597 patent improves on the optical detection of the 463 patent.
However, both devices suffer from at least the following
disadvantages: (a) neither devices are designed to detect
respirable allergens that are smaller than 5 microns, which as
mentioned above, have recently been identified by medical research
as among the most relevant allergens to avoid; (b) both devices are
only capable of generating an alarm based on the amount of
allergens detected in the ambient air of the location of the
monitoring device, which when located indoor, ignore the critical
component of outdoor air quality (i.e. the air quality of the
immediate outdoor area surrounding the indoor location); (c) the
vertical sampling arrangement requires the use of extensive
filtering and purging system; (d) the art ignores the role of
humidity and temperature in the lung function; (e) maintaining,
including cleaning, and calibrating these devices are difficult,
requiring extensive disassembly and instrumentation; and (f) no
provisions are provided for storing and communicating the collected
data.
Thus, an improved approach to allergen monitoring and air/asthma
advice generation is desired.
3. Terminology
Throughout the remaining specification, including the claims, usage
of the term "allergen" is intended to include particulates, plants
and animal allergens, man-made pollution, and the like, and usage
of the term "air/asthma advice" is intended to cover air quality
and/or asthma related information, suggestion, counsel, guidance,
recommendation, admonition, direction, instruction, alert, warning,
and the like.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A sub-assembly for detecting and reporting on allergen data
(preferably, for allergen with sizes smaller than 5 micron) is
provided to a basic allergen data collection device as well as a
multi-function personal asthma management device. Both devices are
communication enabled, to allow the allergen data of the location
where the device is situated (typically indoor), to be provided to
an air/asthma advice server, that generates air/asthma advice for
an asthma patient, taking into consideration allergen condition of
a location as well as air quality of the surrounding area. In one
embodiment of the basic model, the communication interface is
tailored for "harsh environment" local area networking. In one
embodiment of the multi-function model, the communication interface
is tailored for "controlled environment" wide area networking.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
The present invention will be described by way of exemplary
embodiments, but not limitations, illustrated in the accompanying
drawings in which like references denote similar elements, and in
which:
FIG. 1 illustrates an overview of the present invention in
accordance with one embodiment;
FIGS. 2a-2b illustrate allergen detection arrangement of FIG. 1 in
further detail, in accordance with two embodiments;
FIGS. 3a-3e illustrate air/asthma advice receipt arrangement of
FIG. 1 in further detail, in accordance with two embodiments;
FIG. 4 illustrates an example server suitable for use to practice
air/asthma advice server of FIG. 1, in accordance with one
embodiment;
FIG. 5 illustrates the air/asthma advice application of FIG. 1 in
further detail, in accordance with one embodiment;
FIG. 6 illustrates the patient client database of FIG. 1 in further
detail, in accordance with one embodiment; and
FIG. 7 illustrates an air/asthma advice method of the present
invention, in accordance with one embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In the following description, various aspects of the present
invention will be described, and various details will be set forth
in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present
invention. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art
that the present invention may be practiced with only some or all
aspects of the present invention, and the present invention may be
practiced without the specific details. In other instances, well
known features are omitted or simplified in order not to obscure
the present invention.
Parts of the description will be presented using terminology
commonly employed by those skilled in the art to convey the
substance of their work to others skilled in the art, including
terms of operations performed by a computer system, and their
operands, such as transmitting, receiving, retrieving, determining,
generating, allergen data, air quality data, and the like. As well
understood by those skilled in the art, these operands take the
form of electrical, magnetic, or optical signals, and the
operations involve storing, transferring, combining, and otherwise
manipulating the signals through electrical, magnetic or optical
components of a system. The term system includes general purpose as
well as special purpose arrangements of these components, that are
standalone, adjunct or embedded.
Various operations will be described as multiple discrete steps
performed in turn in a manner that is most helpful in understanding
the present invention. However, the order of description should not
be construed as to imply that these operations are necessarily
performed in the order they are presented, or even order dependent.
Lastly, repeated usage of the phrase "in one embodiment" does not
necessarily refer to the same embodiment, although it may.
Referring now FIG. 1, wherein a block diagram illustrating an
overview of the present invention in accordance with one embodiment
is shown. As illustrated, for the particular embodiment, each
patient client 102 is equipped with allergen detection arrangement
104, as well as air/asthma advice receipt arrangement 106. Both
allergen detection and air/asthma advice receipt arrangements 104
and 106 are communicatively coupled to geographically removed
air/asthma advice server 112; for the particular embodiment,
through communication links 108 and 110 respectively. Air/asthma
server 112 includes air/asthma advice application 114 and patient
client database 116. Air/asthma advice server 112 in turn is also
communicatively coupled to a number of other remote servers 122,
through a communication link or links 118. Each of the other remote
servers 122 includes at least air quality and other asthma related
information databases 124.
Allergen detection arrangement 104 provided to each patient client
102 is used to detect allergen level at a location for the patient
client 102, the location particular arrangement 104 is located. In
a presently preferred embodiment, to be described more fully below,
the allergens monitored are allergens with sizes smaller than 5
microns. Typically, a monitored location is a "fixed" indoor
location, such as the "home" or the office of a patient client 102.
The term "home" as used herein is intended to cover the primary as
well as other temporary residence of a patient client 102, where
the patient client 102 e.g. is an "invitee", such as someone else's
home, a hotel, and so forth. As will be readily apparent from the
description to follow, in alternate embodiments, a monitored
location may also be simply a "substantially stationery" enclosed
location, such as the patient client's automobile or a boat, to be
described more fully below.
In accordance with the present invention, allergen detection
arrangement 104 provides the detected allergen level at a monitored
location to air/asthma server 112, more specifically, to air/asthma
advice application 114 of server 112.
In response, air/asthma advice application 114 retrieves at least
air quality data for a general area of the location monitored, e.g.
in the earlier described case of a "fixed" indoor location, an
outdoor area surrounding the indoor location being monitored. For
the particular embodiment, air/asthma advice application 114
retrieves the air quality data from remote servers 122. Examples of
air quality data include air pollution data (such as ozone, oxides
of nitrogen, oxides of sulphur, photochemical smog), weather data
(such as humidity, temperature, and barometric pressure), natural
phenomenons (such as pollen level, occurrence of sandstorm,
tornado, forest fire,), man made pollution events (such as
agricultural burns) and so forth. Examples of remote servers 122
include publicly accessible servers of the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) and National Weather Services of the United States
Government, as well as network or cable news web servers, such as
MSNBC.com and CNN.com. In alternate embodiments, air/asthma advice
application 114 may further retrieve other asthma related
information for the general area from additional other remote
servers 122. Examples of other asthma related information and
additional other servers 122 include asthma alerts or warning
bulletins posted on free or subscription based servers of
educational and research institutions of the like (such as servers
of the National Center for Diseases, Harvard Medical School and so
forth). In yet other alternate embodiments, air/asthma advice
application 114 may cache some of the air quality and other asthma
related data (e.g. the most frequently accessed data) on server
112, i.e. maintaining local copies of the data. For these
embodiments, whenever local copies are available, air/asthma advice
application 114 may retrieve from the local cache instead.
The size of the general area is dependent on the granularity of the
air quality and other asthma related data being maintained by other
servers 122. For examples, the size of the general area may be an
area covered by the same zip code, or it may be an entire
statistical metropolitan area, depending on whether the air quality
data are maintained by other servers 122 by zip codes or by
statistical metropolitan areas. The size of the general area may
also be further application dependent. For example, even though the
air quality data are available by zip codes, air/asthma application
114 may nevertheless treat all areas with the same m most
significant zip code digits as the same general area.
Upon retrieving air quality (and optionally, other asthma related
data), air/asthma application 114 generates air/asthma advice for
each patient client 102, based at least in part on the allergen
level data received from the patient client 102 for a monitored
location and the retrieved air quality data for the surrounding
general area of the monitored location. Thus, for the purpose of
the present invention, as long as the companion outdoor air quality
to be taken into consideration in the generation of air/asthma
advice is considered invariant (as in the case of a statistical
metropolitan area), a monitored location such as the interior space
of the patient client's automobile or boat (when used on a routine
"local" basis, as opposed to an exceptional long distance journey)
is "substantially stationery", equivalent to that of a "fixed"
location, as in the case of the patient's home or office.
For the particular embodiment, patient client database 116 stores
medical as well as basic identification information for each of a
number of patient clients 102. In generating air/asthma advice for
each patient client 102, air/asthma application 114 further takes
into consideration the relevant medical information maintained for
the patient client 102. Similarly, what medical information is
considered relevant and taken into consideration is also
application dependent. That is, in a more sophisticated variation
of the embodiment, more medical information may be taken into
consideration, and in a less sophisticated variation of the
embodiment, less medical information may be taken into
consideration. In a most basic alternative embodiment, air/asthma
application 114 may simply generate the air/asthma advice without
taking into consideration the medical data of a patient client 102.
Additionally, non-medical client data, such as location and
construction of "home", proximity to sources of ambient air
pollution (e.g. highways, power plants, chemical facilities, and so
forth), may also be collected, and taken into consideration by
air/asthma advice application 114.
Upon generating an air/asthma advice response in one of the above
described manners, air/asthma advice application 114 provides the
generated air/asthma advice response to the patient client 102
through the patient client's air/asthma advice receipt arrangement
106. The content of the advice response is application dependent,
e.g. the response may be an indoor air quality advisory, an outdoor
air quality advisory, a weather advisory and/or a natural/man made
pollution event advisory. The advice response may be provided in
any one of a number of forms, including but not limited to, a
beeping signal, a paging message, a voice message, a fax message,
an email, and so forth, so long it is consistent with the
capability of the air/asthma advice receipt arrangement 106
provided to the particular patient client 102. Different types of
receipt arrangement 106, and therefore, different advice response
forms may be employed for different patient clients 102. Multiple
receipt arrangements 106 may also be provided for one patient
client 102. In alternate embodiments, the air/asthma advice
responses may also be provided to the patient clients' parents,
guardians, nurses or doctors, in lieu of or in addition to the
patient clients.
Having now described an overview of the present invention, various
embodiments of allergen detection arrangement 104 as well as
air/asthma advice receipt arrangement 106 will be described in more
detail below, along with communication link or links 108,
referencing FIGS. 2a-2b and FIGS. 3a-3e. Similarly, one embodiment
each of server 112, air/asthma application 114 and patient client
database 116 will be described in more detail below, referencing
FIGS. 4-6. As to remote servers 122, the examples described above
adequately set forth their nature to practice the present
invention. It is readily apparent from these examples.,
communication link or links 118 may be any one of a number of
communication medium known in the art, including but not limited to
the Public Switching Telephone Network (PSTN), the Integrated
Service Digital Network (ISDN), a Frame Relay network, an
Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) network, or the Internet,
depending on the requirement of remote servers 122 accessed.
Accordingly, remote servers 122 and communication link or links 118
will not be further described.
Referring now to FIGS. 2a-2b, wherein two block diagrams
illustrating allergen detection arrangement 104 of FIG. 1 in
further detail, in accordance with two embodiments, are shown. For
the embodiment of FIG. 2a, arrangement 104 includes one or more
"basic" allergen data collection units 202 and a companion base
station 242, coupled to each other through communication link or
links 262. Allergen data collection unit 202 includes filtering
arrangements 204, sensor 206, analog-to-digital (AID) converter
208, data buffer 210, communication interface 212, and
micro-controller 214, coupled to each other as shown. Base station
242 includes communication interface 244, data buffer 246,
communication interface 248, and micro-controller 250, coupled to
each other as shown.
Filtering arrangement 204 (of allergen data collection unit 202) is
used to filter out large allergens in the ambient air that are not
relevant to the issue of asthma trigger, allowing only allergens
smaller than certain sizes that are relevant to the issue of asthma
trigger to pass through. In one embodiment, filter arrangement 204
filters out allergens with sizes 5 micron or larger, allowing only
allergens with sizes smaller than 5 micron to pass through. In one
embodiment, filter arrangement 204 is a collection of successive
filters. In other embodiments, filter arrangement 204 may be a
cyclone separator, or a virtual impactor.
Sensor 206 (of allergen data collection unit 202) monitors and
detects the amount of allergens present in the filtered air, and
outputs signals representative of the amount detected. In one
embodiment, sensor 206 is of the optical type, capable of detecting
and outputting signals to denote the amount of allergens (smaller
than 5 microns) in the filtered air. An example of such sensor is
the GP2U06 High Sensitivity Dust Sensor available from Sharp
Electronics Corporation of Camas, Wash. Other sensors or sensor
modules with similar capability or built along similar principles
may also be used.
Analog-to-digital (A/D) converter 208 digitizes the allergen level
signals output by sensor 206, and data buffer 210 stores the
digitized allergen data. Communication interface 212 facilitates
provision of the buffered allergen data (via communication link or
links 262) to base station 242 for transmission to air/asthma
advice server 112. Micro-controller 214 controls the operation of
these elements. A/D converter 208, data buffer 210, communication
interface 212 and micro-controller 214 are intended to represent a
broad range of these elements known in the art. For examples, data
buffer 210 may be SRAM, DRAM, and memory of other like kinds, and
micro-controller 214 may be 8-bit, 16-bit, or >16-bit
micro-controller. Communication interface 212 may be a serial or
parallel interface, a serial bus interface, a "harsh environment"
wired network controller or a wireless transceiver. Examples of
serial bus interfaces are bus interfaces designed for the Universal
Serial Bus (USB) as specified by USB Specification R1.0, Jan. 15,
1996, or the "Firewire" serial bus as specified by IEEE 1394 High
Performance Serial Bus. Examples of "harsh environment" network
controllers are network controllers designed for the consumer
electronics bus as specified by The CEBus Standard EIA-600, for
phone line based networking (as AnyPoint.TM. Home Networking
controllers available from Intel Corporation of Santa Clara,
Calif.), or for power line based networking (as controllers
available from Intelogis of American Fork, Utah). Examples of
wireless transceivers are transceivers designed in accordance with
the Draft Specification of Bluetooth: A Global Specification for
Wireless Connectivity, promulgated by the Bluetooth Special
Interest Group, and wireless network controllers designed in
accordance with IEEE 802.11 Wireless LAN Standard.
Communication interface 244 (of base station 242) facilitates
receipt of the collected allergen data (via communication links
262) from allergen data collection unit or units 202. Communication
interface 244 is an interface of like kind that complements
communication interface 212 (of allergen data collection unit 202).
Similar to data buffer 210 (of allergen data collection unit 202),
data buffer 246 (of base station 242) temporarily stores the
received allergen data, and staged them for transmission to
geographically removed air/asthma advice server 112. Communication
interface 248 (of base station 242) facilitates the actual
transmission to air/asthma advice server 112. Likewise,
micro-controller 250 controls the operations of these elements.
Again, data buffer 246, communication interface 248, and
micro-controller 250 are intended to represent a broad range of
these elements known in the art. Data buffer 246 may be SRAM, DRAM
and memory of other like kinds, and micro-controller 250 may be
8-bit, 16-bit or >16-bit micro-controllers. Communication
interface 248 may be a modem, an ISDN adapter, a DSL adapter and
the like, depending on whether the communication link between base
station 242 and air/asthma advice server 112 is a PSTN connection,
an ISDN connection or a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) connection,
and so forth. Other communication interfaces consistent with the
communication media may also be used.
As alluded to earlier in the description of communication interface
212 of allergen data collection unit 202, communication link 262
may be a wired or a wireless communication connection. In the case
of a wired communication connection, link 262 may be a serial or a
parallel link, a serial bus, as well as a "harsh environment" local
area network segment, as set forth above. In the case of a wireless
communication link, link 262 may be any one of the example wireless
medium set forth above.
In alternate embodiments, base station 242 may be replaced with a
computer, properly equipped with the dual communication interfaces.
These alternate embodiments are particularly useful in a home or
office settings where the required computer already exist, thereby
advantageously allowing the patient client to leverage on his/her
past equipment investment. Alternatively, in like manner, base
station 242 may be replaced with a cell phone. Such alternate
arrangement is particularly useful in the above described
automobile or boat settings, where the patient client is already
equipped with a cell phone, thereby also advantageously allowing
the patient client to leverage on his/her past equipment
investment.
The embodiment of FIG. 2b is a "full" function integrated
embodiment of allergen detection arrangement 104. That is, the data
collection unit and the base station transmission unit of FIG. 2a
have been combined into a single unit, and additional functional
units are provided. Thus, similar to the embodiment of FIG. 2a,
under the embodiment of FIG. 2b, arrangement 104 still includes
filter arrangement 272, allergen sensor 274 and A/D converter 276,
performing like functions as described earlier. However, unlike the
embodiment of FIG. 2a, a single communication interface 278,
capable of directly facilitating provision of the buffered allergen
data to the geographically removed air/asthma advice server, as
opposed to the dual communicative interfaces and base station
approach, is used instead. In other words, communication interface
278 is analogous to the communication interface of the base station
of FIG. 2a, and the communication interface of the "basic" allergen
data collection unit has been eliminated.
Additionally, arrangement 104 is further provided with peak flow
meter 280, a spirometer 282, a thermometer 284, a humidity meter
286, and chemical sensors 288 to measure various asthma related
metrics. Peak flow meter 280 measures peak expiratory flow rate of
a patient client, whereas spirometer 282 measures the forced
expiratory volume and other lung function metrics of a patient
client. Thermometer 284 measures the temperature of the ambient air
and humidity meter 286 measures the humidity of the ambient air.
Chemical sensors 288 measure various gas levels, e.g. carbon
monoxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and so forth.
These elements are known in the art. Arrangement 104 also includes
display and input interface 290 to interact with the patient
client, to facilitate provisions of inputs from, and feedback to
the patient client. Display and input interface 290 may be any
end-user input/output device known in the art. Larger memory 292
and more powerful microprocessor 294 are provided to buffer
allergen and other asthma related (like peak expiratory flow rate)
data, and to control the operation of the various elements. For the
illustrated embodiment, the various elements are coupled to each
other through bus 296, which may be one or multiple buses bridged
together. Bus 296 may be any one of a number of system or
peripheral buses known in the art, such as the I.sup.2C bus, the
ISA bus, the EISA bus, and the like.
Referring now to FIGS. 3a-3e, wherein a number of example
air/asthma advice receipt arrangements, suitable for use with the
allergen detection arrangements of FIGS. 2a-2b, in accordance with
a number of embodiments, are shown. FIG. 3a illustrates a
conventional beeper known in the art. Under this embodiment,
patient client 102 is provided with beeper, which in turn is
employed by air/asthma advice server 112 to deliver a beeping
signal to alert patient client 102 of an undesirable air/asthma
condition. FIG. 3b illustrates a conventional pager known in the
art. Under this embodiment, patient client 102 is provided with
pager, which in turn is employed by air/asthma advice server 112 to
page patient client 102 to call a particular telephone number for
air or asthma advice, in view of an undesirable air/asthma
condition.
FIG. 3c illustrates a conventional PSTN or cellular telephone known
in the art. Under this embodiment, patient client 102 is provided
with telephone, which in turn is employed by air/asthma advice
server 112 to deliver a verbal advice to patient client 102 in view
of an undesirable air/asthma condition. If a cell phone is employed
in lieu of base station 242 for allergen detection arrangement 104
(under the embodiment of FIG. 2a), phone may be the same phone.
Air/asthma advice server 112 may wait till phone is not in use
(e.g. not providing allergen data) before calling patient client
102 to provide the verbal advice.
FIG. 3d illustrates a conventional fax machine known in the art.
Under this embodiment, patient client 102 is provided with fax
machine, which in turn is employed by air/asthma advice server 112
to deliver a written advice to patient client 102 in view of an
undesirable air/asthma condition. FIG. 3e illustrates a
conventional computer (equipped with communication and email
capability) known in the art. Under this embodiment, patient client
102 is provided with computer, which in turn is employed by
air/asthma advice server 112 to deliver an electronic written
advice to patient client 102 in view of an undesirable air/asthma
condition. If a computer is employed in lieu of base station 242
for allergen detection arrangement 104 (under the embodiment of
FIG. 2a), computer may be the same computer. For this embodiment,
communication links 108 and 110 may be the same communication
link.
Referring now to FIG. 4, wherein a block diagram illustrating an
example server suitable for use as air/asthma advice server 112 of
FIG. 1, in accordance with one embodiment, is shown. As
illustrated, server 400 includes a number of processors 402 and
system memory 404 coupled to each other via system bus 406. System
bus 406 is intended to represent a single bus implementation as
well as a multi-bus implementation (where the buses are bridged
together). Coupled to system bus 406 are non-volatile mass storage
408, such as hard disks, floppy disk, and so forth, input/output
devices 410, such as keyboard, displays, and so forth, and
communication interfaces 412, such as modem, ISDN adapters, DSL
adapters, T1 DSU/CSU, cellular transceivers, satellite
transceivers, Ethernet controllers, and so forth. For the
illustrated embodiment, server 400 also includes voice response
unit 414, which is also coupled to system bus 406. In alternate
embodiments, server 400 may be a uni-processor system instead.
Each of these elements perform its conventional functions known in
the art, i.e. processors 402 are used to execute programming
instructions, system memory 404 and non-volatile mass storage 408
are used to store working and permanent copies of the programming
instructions and data, and so forth. In particular, system memory
404 and non-volatile mass storage 408 are employed to store a
working copy and a permanent copy of the programming instructions
implementing air/asthma advice application 114 and patient client
database 116. The constitution of elements 402-414 are well known,
and accordingly, will not be further described.
Referring now to FIG. 5, wherein a block diagram illustrating
air/asthma advice application 114 of FIG. 1 in further detail, in
accordance with one embodiment, is shown. As illustrated,
air/asthma advice application 114 includes registration module 502,
air/asthma advice response generation module 504, and air/asthma
advice delivery module 506. For the illustrated embodiment,
air/asthma advice application 114 further includes aggregate
statistical reporting module 508. These modules 502-508 are
operationally "coupled" to each other and patient client database
116 as shown.
Registration module 502 is used to enroll and register patient
client 102. In response to a registration request, registration
module 502 creates a patient client record, along with the proper
patient client information, to be described more fully below, in
patient client database 116. For the illustrated embodiment,
registration module 502 supports direct on-line registration by the
patient client or the patient client's representative (in
particular, through the Internet), as well as registration by an
agent of the air/asthma advice server 112. Examples of the patient
client's representative are the patient client's doctor, nurse,
parent, guardian, and so forth, as described earlier.
Air/asthma advice generation module 504 is used to generate
air/asthma advice for the patient clients, taking into
consideration at least collected allergen data provided by the
patient clients, and the air quality and related data for the
surrounding areas of the allergen data collection locations. As
described earlier, in response to the receipt of allergen data of a
monitored location, generation module 504 retrieves air quality and
related data from remote servers 122, and produces the air/asthma
advice as set forth earlier.
For the illustrated embodiment, generation module 504 stores the
advice generated for a patient client in an advice portion of the
patient client's record in patient client database 116.
Additionally, generation module 504 schedules the stored advice for
delivery by delivery module 506. Scheduling is made by creating a
delivery entry in a delivery job queue (not shown). Alternate
approaches may also be employed.
For the illustrated embodiment, an identifier of the monitored
location (e.g. a zip code, an identifier of a statistical
metropolitan area, a telephone number area code, a global
positioning coordinate, and so forth) may be dynamically provided
along with the collected allergen data. However, an identifier of
the patient client is always directly or indirectly provided (e.g.
through a phone number or a unique network address of the patient
client). If the identifier of the monitored location is not
dynamically provided along with the collected allergen data,
generated module 504 assumes the monitored location is a defaulted
location (e.g. the patient client's home) previously identified and
stored in patient client database 116, and retrieves the pre-stored
default location identifier for the patient client accordingly.
For the illustrated embodiment, generation module 504 caches local
copies for the air quality and related data for various surrounding
areas. Accordingly, generation module 504 retrieves the air quality
and related data for a surrounding area from the local cache, if
the data are available locally and valid. Various application
dependent validity policies, such as "not older than 7 days" or
"not older than 24 hours" may be employed. That is, cache data are
invalidated or considered to be invalid, once their "shelf lives"
have exceeded the validity policy limits.
For the illustrated embodiment, generation module 504 also takes
into consideration medical history of a patient client (including
various allergen trigger thresholds), and employs artificial
intelligence (AI) to generate the air/asthma advice responses. The
precise policies to be employed for the AI reasoning portion of
generation module 504 is application dependent. It may vary from a
small set of simple rules to a large complex collection of
interdependent rules.
Air/asthma advice delivery module 506 is used to make the actual
delivery of the generated air/asthma advice to the patient clients
(or their representatives, i.e. doctors, nurses, parents, guardians
and so forth). As described earlier, the advice may be delivered in
a variety of forms, beeping signals, pager messages, and so forth,
and the patient clients may be equipped with different advice
receipt arrangements. For the illustrated embodiment, delivery
module 506 is equipped to support delivery in a wide range of
forms, including in particular a beeping signal, a pager message, a
voice message, a fax message, and an email. The preferred delivery
form or forms of a patient client (and/or the representative) is
pre-stored in a patient client database 116. In response to the
scheduling of a delivery job, delivery module 506 ascertains the
appropriate delivery form or forms for the advice, and makes the
delivery accordingly.
In addition to the "push" model for delivering generated advice,
delivery module 506 also supports a "pull" model for delivering
generated advice. That is, delivery module 506 also "delivers" the
generated advice to the patient client or his/her representative
(e.g. doctor, nurse and so forth) in response to their queries (in
particular, through the Internet).
Aggregated statistical reporting module 508 is used to compile and
report on various advice related statistics. Examples of these
aggregated statistics include cumulative exposures to indoor or
outdoor allergens, correlation between individual or cumulative
exposure data and lung function measurements, minimum, maximum,
mean and standard deviation of exposure and lung function data by
single and multiple unit dwellings and by geographical areas,
multiple dwellings aggregated by common "medical" as well as
non-medical characteristics, and so forth. The compiled statistics
may be provided to interested third parties as well as operator of
air/asthma advice server 112. Examples of interested third parties
are educational and research institutions, pharmaceutical and
medical device manufacturers, distributors and retailers, and
marketing research organizations. For the illustrated embodiment,
reporting module 508 supports batch delivery of the compiled
statistics as well as on-line inquiry of the compiled statistics
(in particular, through the Internet).
Modules 502-508 may be implemented in a variety of programming
languages known in the art, including but not limited to, C, C++,
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Java, JavaScript, and so
forth.
Referring now to FIG. 6, wherein a block diagram illustrating
patient client database 116 of FIG. 1 in further detail, in
accordance with one embodiment, is shown. As illustrated, patient
client database 116 includes various patient client records 602.
Each patient client record 602 includes patient client identifier
604 identifying the patient client. In addition, each record 602
also includes basic information 606 about the patient client,
medical related information 608 of the patient client, allergen
data collected 610, and advice generated/delivered 612. Examples of
basic information 606 include the patient client's address, phone
number, doctor's name, address and phone number, pharmacist's name
address and phone number, identifier and characteristics of the
defaulted monitored location, password for accessing the patient
client's information, and so forth. Where applicable, it may also
include parent or guardian information. Examples of medical related
information 608 include the patient client's birthday, age,
allergens allergic to, trigger thresholds for various allergens and
related matters, medication currently taking, and so forth.
Allergen data collected 610 includes related data such as
temperature, humidity, level of various gases in the ambient air,
as well as in some embodiments, the patient clients' peak
expiratory flow rate, and forced expiratory volume. Air/asthma
advice generated/delivered 612 includes the advice, and the date
and time the advice are generated and delivered, as well as to whom
and in what form the advice were delivered.
Referring now to FIG. 7, wherein a flow chart summarizing an
air/asthma advice method of the present invention, in accordance
with one embodiment, is shown. As illustrated, at 702, a patient
client is registered or enrolled with an operator of the air/asthma
advice server described earlier, resulting in the creation of a
patient client record in the patient client database for the
patient client. The registration may be made by the patient client
or a representative (doctor, nurse, and so forth) on behalf of the
patient client. The registration may be made directly on-line or by
an agent of the operator.
At 704, a registered patient client, using an allergen detection
arrangement, provides collected allergen data for a monitored
location to the air/asthma advice server. The monitored location
may be a default location, or a temporal location (dynamically
identified for the air/asthma advice server). At 706, air/asthma
advice server retrieves air quality and related data for a general
area surrounding the monitored location. The data are either
retrieved from local cached copies or directly from remote servers
(operated by various public or private institutions). At 708,
air/asthma advice server generates air/asthma advice for the
patient client based at least on the allergen data provided and the
air quality and related data retrieved. In one embodiment, the
air/asthma advice is generated based also on the medical history of
the patient client.
At 710, performed immediately or in due course, the air/asthma
advice server delivers the air/asthma advice for the patient
client. The delivery may be made to the patient client and/or
his/her representative, in one or more of a number of forms, as
described earlier.
Epilogue
Various embodiments for methods and apparatuses for detecting
allergen and generating/providing air/asthma advice for patient
clients have been described. Those skilled in the art will
recognize that the present invention is not limited by the
embodiments and their detail described, instead, the present
invention can be practiced with modifications and alterations
within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. The description
is thus to be regarded as illustrative instead of restrictive on
the present invention.
* * * * *
References