Remote health monitoring system
A data collection system collects and stores physiological data from an ambulatory patient at a high resolution and/or a high data rate (“more detailed data”) and sends a low-resolution and/or downsampled version of the data (“less detailed data”) to a remote server via a wireless network. The server automatically analyzes the less detailed data to detect an anomaly. A two-tiered analysis is used, where the first tier is less specific than the second tier. If the less specific analysis detects or suspects the anomaly, the server signals the data collector to send more detailed data that corresponds to a time period associated with the anomaly. The more specific second tier analysis the more detailed data to verify the anomaly. The server may also store the received data and make it available to a user.
1. A system for remote physiologic monitoring, in association with a remote server, of a body of a patient, the system comprising:
a plurality of sensors, each sensor of the plurality of sensors configured to be coupled to the body of the patient to generate respective physiologic data about the body;
a transceiver assembly comprising a memory, a controller and a wireless transceiver, the transceiver assembly being communicatively coupled to the plurality of sensors and configured to:
receive the physiologic data from the plurality of sensors;
store the received physiologic data in the memory (“more detailed data”);
continuously stream a subset of the received physiologic data (“less detailed data”) in real time, via the wireless transceiver, to the remote server, wherein the less detailed data sent to the remote server is characterized by at least one of: a lower resolution than the more detailed data stored in the memory for a corresponding time period, and a lower sampling rate than the more detailed data stored in the memory for a corresponding time period; and
fetch at least a portion of the more detailed data from the memory and send the fetched more detailed data to the remote server, in response to a signal from the remote server based on the remote server determining that the less detailed data indicates a health-related anomaly.
2. A system according to claim 1 , wherein the remote server is configured to:
receive the less detailed data sent by the transceiver assembly;
automatically analyze the received less detailed data for an indication of a health-related anomaly; and
if the health-related anomaly is indicated, automatically send the signal to the transceiver assembly.
3. A system according to claim 1 , wherein the health-related anomaly comprises an arrhythmia.
4. A system according to claim 1 , wherein the remote server is further configured to:
receive the more detailed data; and
automatically analyze the received more detailed data to verify the indicated health-related anomaly.
5. A system according to claim 4 , wherein the remote server is configured to:
analyze the less detailed data according to a first analytic technique; and
analyze the more detailed data according to a second analytic technique;
wherein the second analytic technique has a higher specificity for the health-related anomaly than the first analytic technique.
6. A system according to claim 4 , wherein the remote server is configured to:
automatically analyze the received less detailed data for the indication of the health-related anomaly using ECG data; and
automatically analyze the received more detailed data to verify the indicated health-related anomaly using data other than ECG data.
7. A system according to claim 4 , wherein the remote server is configured to:
display a first user interface configured to accept at least one user-specified criterion; and
automatically analyze the received less detailed data for the indication of the health-related anomaly, based on at least a portion of the less detailed data meeting the user-specified criterion.
8. A system according to claim 4 , wherein the remote server is configured to:
display a first user interface configured to accept at least one user-specified criterion; and
automatically analyze the received more detailed data to verify the indicated health-related anomaly, based on at least a portion of the more detailed data meeting the user-specified criterion.
9. A system according to claim 1 , wherein the wireless transceiver comprises a cellular telephone.
10. A system according to claim 1 , wherein the wireless transceiver assembly comprises a cellular telephone coupled via a short-range wireless link to the wireless transceiver and configured to store the more detailed data in the memory, send the less detailed data to the remote server, responsive to the signal fetch the at least the portion of the more detailed data from the memory and send the fetched more detailed data to the remote server via a wireless carrier network.
11. A system according to claim 1 , further comprising a cellular telephone configured to be communicatively coupled to a wireless carrier network and to:
receive the physiologic data sent by the transceiver assembly via the wireless transceiver; and
send the received physiologic data via the wireless carrier network to the remote server.
12. A system according to claim 1 , further comprising an application program configured to be executed by a cellular telephone configured to be communicatively coupled to a wireless carrier network, the application program being configured to:
receive the physiologic data sent by the transceiver assembly via the wireless transceiver; and
send the received physiologic data via the wireless carrier network to the remote server.
13. A system according to claim 1 , wherein:
the plurality of sensors comprises an ECG sensor and at least one accelerometer; and
the remote server is configured to calculate a respiration rate based at least in part on data from the ECG sensor and data from the at least one accelerometer.
14. A system according to claim 13 , wherein the remote server is configured to:
calculate a first candidate respiration rate based on the data from the ECG sensor;
calculate a second candidate respiration rate based on the data from the at least one accelerometer;
if a difference between the first and second candidate respiration rates is less than a predetermined value, calculate the respiration rate as an average of the first and second candidate respiration rates;
if both the first and second candidate respiration rates are within a predetermined range, calculate the respiration rate as being equal to the first candidate respiration rate;
if only the first candidate respiration rate is within the predetermined range, calculate the respiration rate as being equal to the first candidate respiration rate; and
if only the second candidate respiration rate is within the predetermined range, calculate the respiration rate as being equal to the second candidate respiration rate.
15. A system according to claim 1 , wherein:
the remote server is configured to:
accept, through a first user interface, a user-specified data collection parameter; and
in response to accepting the user-specified data collection parameter, send the data collection parameter to the transceiver assembly; and
the transceiver assembly is configured to:
receive the data collection parameter; and
in response to receipt of the data collection parameter, change at least one of the resolution and sampling rate of the less detailed data thereafter sent to the remote server.
16. A system according to claim 1 , wherein the remote server is configured to:
generate a first display, in a first user interface, from the less detailed data received from the transceiver assembly;
in response to a user input, generate a second display, in the first user interface, from at least a portion of the more detailed data received from the transceiver assembly and corresponding to a time associated with the data displayed in the first display.
17. A system according to claim 16 , wherein the remote server is further configured, in response to the user input, to send the signal to the transceiver assembly.
18. A method for remote physiologic monitoring of a body of a patient, the method comprising:
receiving physiologic data from a plurality of sensors coupled to the body of the patient;
storing the received physiologic data in a memory (“more detailed data”);
continuously and wirelessly streaming a subset of the received physiologic data (“less detailed data”) to a remote server in real time, wherein the less detailed data sent to the remote server is characterized by at least one of: a lower resolution than the more detailed data stored in the memory for a corresponding time period, and a lower sampling rate than the more detailed data stored in the memory for a corresponding time period; and
fetching at least a portion of the more detailed data from the memory and sending the fetched more detailed data to the remote server, in response to a signal from the remote server based on the remote server determining that the less detailed data indicates a health-related anomaly.
19. A method according to claim 18 , further comprising:
receiving at the remote server, the less detailed data;
automatically analyzing; at the remote server, the received less detailed data for an indication of a health-related anomaly; and
if the health-related anomaly is indicated, automatically sending the signal.
20. A method according to claim 19 , further comprising:
receiving the more detailed data; and
automatically analyzing, at the remote server, the received more detailed data to verify the indicated health-related anomaly.
21. A method according to claim 20 , wherein:
analyzing the less detailed data comprises analyzing the less detailed data according to a first analytic technique;
analyzing the more detailed data comprises analyzing the more detailed data according to a second analytic technique; and
the second analytic technique has a higher specificity for the health-related anomaly than the first analytic technique.
22. A system for remote physiologic monitoring, in association with a remote server, of a body of a patient, the system comprising:
at least one sensor configured to be coupled to the body of the patient to generate physiologic data about the body;
a transceiver assembly comprising a memory, a controller and a wireless transceiver, the transceiver assembly being communicatively coupled to the at least one sensor and configured to:
receive the physiologic data from the at least one sensor;
store the received physiologic data in the memory (“more detailed data”);
continuously stream a subset of the received physiologic data (“less detailed data”) in real time regardless of whether the less detailed data is indicative of a health-related anomaly, via the wireless transceiver, to the remote server; and
fetch at least a portion of the more detailed data from the memory and send the fetched more detailed data to the remote server, in response to a signal from the remote server.
23. The system of claim 22 , wherein the less detailed data sent to the remote server is characterized by at least one of: a lower resolution than the more detailed data stored in the memory for a corresponding time period, a lower sampling rate than the more detailed data stored in the memory for a corresponding time period, and having been received from a different sensor than the more detailed data stored in the memory for a corresponding time period.
24. The system of claim 22 , wherein the signal from the remote server is based on the remote server determining that the less detailed data indicates a health-related anomaly.