System and method to measure pain levels of patients following surgery
This invention provides a non-invasive system for measuring pain level in a body at a site containing a predetermined concentration of magnetic nanoparticles. A drive coil and a pickup coil transmit and measure a field passing through the site based upon response of the magnetic nanoparticles, and a processor computes a pain level based upon variations in the field. The pain level can be indexed to an absolute scale that affords more predictability and objectivity in determining true pain level. Illustratively, the processor derives values for levels of cytokine IL-6, SP and temperature at the site, which are translated into the pain level. In an embodiment, the system and method can be implemented in a handheld device in which the drive coil and pickup coil reside in a housing.
1 . A system for measuring pain level in a body at a site containing a predetermined concentration of magnetic nanoparticles comprising:
a drive coil and a pickup coil that transmit and measure a field passing through the site based upon response of the magnetic nanoparticles; and
a processor that computes a pain index corresponding to a degree of pain at the site, the pain index being determined from variations in measurements of magnetic nanoparticle behavior indicative of inflammation and pain biomarker concentration of the field.
2 . The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein the processor derives values for levels of cytokine IL-6, SP and temperature at the site.
3 . The system as set forth in claim 2 wherein the drive coil and pickup coil reside in a housing of a handheld sensing device.
4 . The system as set forth in claim 3 wherein the processor resides in the housing.
5 . The system as set forth in claim 4 wherein the drive coil and the pickup coil are arranged in a coaxial arrangement on a same side of the site.
6 . The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein the drive coil and the pickup coil are arranged, respectively, at separate, remote locations relative to the site.
7 . The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein the pickup coil comprises a pair of pickup coils located on each of opposing sides of the site and the drive coil comprises a pair of drive coils coaxial with respect of the pickup coils.
8 . A method for measuring pain level in a body at a site containing a predetermined concentration of magnetic nanoparticles comprising the steps of:
operating a drive coil and a pickup coil with respect to the site so as to transmit and measure a field passing through the site based upon response of the magnetic nanoparticles; and
computing a pain index corresponding to a degree of pain at the site, the pain index being determined from variations in measurements of magnetic nanoparticle behavior indicative of inflammation and pain biomarker concentration of the field.
9 . The method as set forth in claim 8 , further comprising, deriving values for levels of cytokine IL-6, SP and temperature at the site.
10 . The method as set forth in claim 8 , further comprising, locating the drive coil and pickup coil reside in a housing of a handheld sensing device and positioning the handheld device with respect to the body to measure the field at the site.
11 . The method as set forth in claim 10 , further comprising, performing the computing with a processor located in the housing.
12 . The method as set forth in claim 8 , further comprising, arranging the drive coil and the pickup coil in a coaxial arrangement on a same side of the site.
13 . The method as set forth in claim 8 , further comprising, arranging the drive coil and the pickup coil, respectively, at separate, remote locations relative to the site.
14 . The method as set forth in claim 13 , further comprising, arranging the pickup coil perpendicular to the drive coil.
15 . The method as set forth in claim 14 , further comprising, locating the pickup coil adjacent to a DC coil.
16 . The method as set forth in claim 8 , further comprising, linking a computing device, wired or wirelessly, with a that performs the step of computing, the computing device comprising a graphical user interface.
17 . The method as set forth in claim 11 , further comprising powering the processor with at least one of an on-board power supply; or a wall-current transformer.
18 . The method as set forth in claim 17 , further comprising, powering the on-board power supply with at least one battery.
19 . The method as set forth in claim 8 , further comprising, displaying results of the step of computing on a graphical user interface.