Feedback systems and methods for communicating diagnostic and/or treatment signals to enhance obesity treatments
View Patent ↗Feedback systems and methods communicate implanted sensor-based feedback signals to promote behavior modifications that ameliorate obesity and other eating disorders. The system and methods described may also be applicable to any treatment in which presenting feedback regarding patients' eating and exercise habits is desired. The present invention provides a method and system for treating a patient by collecting ingestion and exercise information about the patient from an implanted sensor and communicating the collected information to the patient, his or her physician and/or other health care providers. In some embodiments, stimulation of the patient's stomach is also provided to reduce caloric intake. In some embodiments, the collected data is transmitted to a central server. Further embodiments may provide access to additional information in conjunction with the collected patient information, such as a calorie database, an exercise planner, and so forth, with the data optionally being used within a social networking system.
1. A system for providing feedback to treat an obese patient comprising:
an implantable sensor adapted to be coupled with the stomach of the patient, the sensor configured to sense patient data related to a food ingestion event;
an implanted wireless transmitter coupled to the sensor;
a wireless portable device comprising a processor, a storage medium, and transmitting/receiving circuitry, the wireless transmitter configured to transmit sensor-based patient data related to the food ingestion event to the device when the patient is within a distance less than about 30 feet from the device;
a GPS receiver configured to determine position signals indicating patient location; and
a remote server, the server comprising a tangible medium embodying machine-readable instructions for analyzing the sensor-based patient data related to the food ingestion event received from the device and the position signals from the GPS receiver and for, in response thereto, communicating analysis results to the patient or at least one other user via at least one of an email, a text message, a phone call, or a web page to reinforce healthy eating behavior of the patient;
wherein the device is in communication with the sensor via the transmitting/receiving circuitry and with the server, the device configured to receive patient sensor-based patient data related to the food ingestion event from the sensor and transmit the sensor-based patient data and the position signals to the server;
wherein the server is configured to communicate the analysis results to encourage healthy eating behavior within fifteen minutes after receiving the sensor-based patient data related to the food ingestion event and the position signals from the GPS receiver indicating patient location.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the wireless portable device comprises a cellular telephone, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant, a handheld computer, or a notebook computer.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the analysis results include a comparison of sensor-based performance with patient goals.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein a server determination that the patient location is in a restaurant or a food store induced the server to send a message to the patient encouraging healthy eating behavior, within fifteen minutes of receipt of position signals by the server.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein a server determination that the patient location is in a sports or outdoor recreation location induces the server to send a message to the patient encouraging healthy exercise activity, within fifteen minutes of receipt of position signals by the server.
6. The system of claim 1 , further comprising patient stimulation circuitry wirelessly coupled to the device and/or coupled to the sensor, wherein the circuitry is adapted to be implanted in the patient and includes at least one electrode, the electrode(s) coupled to the sensor by a processor of the circuitry so that the processor processes the data and delivers ingestion altering signals to the patient via the electrode(s).
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the device is also configured to receive data from at least one of an electronic scale, a glucose monitor, blood pressure cuff, a telephone, an image capture device or a personal digital assistant.