Wearable device for monitoring fluid overload with built-in sensors

1 . A wearable device for monitoring a tissue swelling condition of a user, comprising:

a device attachment mechanism for securing the wearable device to a body of the user;

a sensing mechanism coupled to the device attachment mechanism, the sensing mechanism configured to provide an electrical signal in accordance with the tissue swelling condition; and

a console including one or more processors and logic, that, upon execution by the one or more processors, causes performance of operations including:

receiving the electrical signal from the sensing mechanism, and

providing swelling information to the user in accordance with the electrical signal,

wherein the device attachment mechanism comprises:

a light sensor operatively coupled with a light source, and

a variable aperture disposed between the light source and the light sensor, wherein:

the variable aperture varies in accordance with a length of a stretchable portion of the device attachment mechanism, and

the light sensor provides the electrical signal in accordance with an amount of light from the light source passing through the variable aperture to the light sensor.

2 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the device attachment mechanism comprises a band configured to extend around an extremity of the user.

3 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the device attachment mechanism is configured to extend around an ankle or a wrist of the user.

4 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the variable aperture comprises:

a first opening extending through a first portion of the device attachment mechanism; and

a second opening extending through a second portion of the device attachment mechanism, wherein:

the first portion overlaps the second portion,

the first portion and the second portion are coupled to opposite ends of the stretchable portion of the device attachment mechanism, so that the second portion is displaced relative to the first portion in accordance with a change in the length of the stretchable portion, and

the first opening and the second opening are positioned to variably overlap in accordance with the relative displacement between the second portion and the first portion to define the variable aperture.

5 . The device of claim 1 , wherein attachment mechanism is configured to secure the wearable device to the body of the user via one or more adhesive portions.

6 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the logic comprises a swelling logic module stored in memory, the swelling logic module configured to:

compare swelling data with a swelling limit stored in memory, and

as a result of the comparison, provide an alert to the user.

7 . The device of claim 6 , wherein the logic comprises a correlation module stored in memory, the correlation module configured to:

receive independent tissue swelling assessments as input by the user,

correlate the swelling data with the independent tissue swelling assessments, and

display swelling information in accordance with the correlation.

8 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are included within cloud computing resources.

9 . A system for monitoring tissue swelling of the user, comprising:

the wearable device of claim 1 ; and

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (CRM) including executable instructions that when executed by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform operations, comprising:

receiving tissue swelling data from the wearable device; and

rendering tissue swelling information on a display.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the CRM is stored on a cellular phone.

11 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the operations further comprise comparing the tissue swelling data with a swelling limit of the CRM.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein as a result of the comparison, the operations further comprise generating a user alert.

13 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the operations further comprise maintaining a historical record of the tissue swelling data.

14 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the operations further comprise rendering a chart on the display, the chart illustrating at least a portion of the historical record of the tissue swelling data.

15 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving independent tissue swelling assessments as input by the user;

correlating the tissue swelling data to the independent tissue swelling assessments; and

displaying swelling information in accordance with the correlation.

16 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving historical user event information as input by the user, the historical user event information including one or more user events;

correlating the tissue swelling data with the one or more user events; and

displaying historical swelling information in combination with the historical user event information.

17 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the operations further comprise transmitting user information across a network to an external entity.

18 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the external entity is a healthcare provider for the user.