Systems and methods for treating nausea and vomiting
A wearable stimulator device can be used to treat nausea and vomiting resulting from pregnancy, gastroparesis, virtual reality use, motion sickness, chemotherapy, and post-surgical nausea and vomiting, or other conditions by stimulating the P6 point of a user's forearm. A method of treating nausea includes monitoring one or more physiological parameters of a user via a wearable device, for example a smartwatch. Based on the one or more physiological parameters, the P6 point of the user's forearm can be stimulated for a predetermined time, for example via vibrational stimulation effected via a smartwatch or other wearable device. Data regarding the user's physiological parameters, stimulation sessions, and user-provided input regarding treatment efficacy and user symptoms can be collected and analyzed at scale to develop improved treatment regimes, for example modifying stimulation waveforms and/or timing, and identifying physiological parameters useful for predicting the onset of nausea.
1. A method of treating nausea, the method comprising:
monitoring one or more physiological parameters of a user via a wearable device;
evaluating the one or more physiological parameters using an aggregated history of physiological data and nausea events from a population of users and a user-specific history of physiological data and nausea events;
based on the evaluation, obtaining an indication of nausea onset or of approaching nausea;
based on the indication, obtaining a customized treatment for the user, wherein the customized treatment characterizes at least a frequency, intensity, and duration of a mechanical actuator;
based at least in part of the indication, stimulating a region of the user's wrist about a P6 point via the mechanical actuator in accordance with the customized treatment;
obtaining an indication of user relief from nausea symptoms; and
after obtaining the indication of user relief, ceasing stimulating the region of the user's wrist.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, based on the one or more physiological parameters, providing an indication, via the wearable device, to the user to modify the user's behavior.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein modification of the user's behavior comprises one or more of: changing body position, changing movement, changing breathing, changing food or fluid intake, changing location, turning on or turning off lights, contacting a specified individual, listening to a specified sound, or viewing a specified visual output.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting, via the wearable device, information regarding the treatment to one or more remote computing devices.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein monitoring one or more physiological parameters comprises sensing one or more of: the user's heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, bodily position, bodily movement, body temperature, altitude, chemical levels, or electrolyte levels.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein monitoring one or more physiological parameters comprises receiving input from the user regarding one or more of: user symptoms, user food intake, user fluid intake, or user medication intake.
7. A method of treating nausea or a gastric motility disorder, the method comprising:
monitoring one or more physiological parameters of a user via a wearable device;
evaluating the one or more physiological parameters using an aggregated history of physiological data and symptom events from a population of users and a user-specific physiological data and symptom events;
based on the evaluation, obtaining an indication of symptom onset or of approaching symptoms;
based on the indication, obtaining a customized treatment for the user, wherein the customized treatment characterizes at least a frequency, intensity, and duration of a mechanical actuator;
based at least in part on the one or more physiological parameters, stimulating the median nerve via the mechanical actuator in accordance with the customized treatment;
obtaining an indication of user relief from symptoms; and
after obtaining the indication of user relief, ceasing stimulating the median nerve.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein monitoring one or more physiological parameters comprises sensing, via the wearable device, one or more of: the user's heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, bodily position, bodily movement, body temperature, geolocation, altitude, chemical levels, or electrolyte levels.
9. The method of claim 7 , wherein monitoring one or more physiological parameters comprises receiving input from the user regarding one or more of: user symptoms, user food intake, user fluid intake, or user medication intake.
10. A method of treating nausea, the method comprising:
receiving, at one or more computing devices, one or more physiological parameters associated with a user of a wearable device;
evaluating the one or more physiological parameters using an aggregated history of physiological data and nausea events from a population of users and a user-specific physiological data and nausea events;
based on the evaluation, obtaining an indication of nausea onset or of approaching nausea;
based on the indication, obtaining a customized treatment for the user, wherein the customized treatment characterizes at least a frequency, intensity, and duration of a mechanical actuator; and
in response to the indication, providing instructions to the wearable device to initiate stimulation of a nerve of the user via the mechanical actuator in accordance with the customized treatment.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the wearable device is configured to be worn over a user's wrist.
12. The method of any claim 10 , wherein stimulating the nerve comprises delivering energy to the nerve via mechanically stimulating a P 6 region of a wrist of the user via the wearable device.
13. The method of claim 10 , further comprising, based on the one or more physiological parameters, providing an indication, via the wearable device, to the user to modify the user's behavior.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the obtaining of the indication of user relief from nausea symptoms comprises:
outputting a user-interface element that allows a user to indicate whether the user is still experiencing nausea; and
receiving a user input via the user-interface element.
15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
responsive to receiving the user input via the user-interface element, storing a record of the user input, an associated treatment, and the one or more physiological parameters in an aggregated collection of such user records; and
analyzing the aggregated collection of user records to develop additional treatments.
16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the obtaining of the indication of user relief from nausea symptoms comprises:
continuing to monitor the one or more physiological parameters of a user via the wearable device;
evaluating the one or more physiological parameters; and
based on the evaluation, obtaining an indication of user relief from nausea symptoms.
17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more physiological parameters comprises a user's geolocation data.
18. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, based on the indication, providing a prompt, via the wearable device, to the user to modify the user's behavior, wherein modification of the user's behavior comprises one or more of: changing body position, changing movement, or changing breathing.