Apparatus and Method for Monitoring Rehabilitation from Joint Surgery

Abstract

Apparatus and methods are described for setting rehabilitation goals for a patient, measuring patient movements, storing the movement data for later transfer to a computer, displaying progress indicators and inspirational messages based on progress towards goals, reporting movement, skin temperature and swelling data to a caregiver so that they monitor compliance and be aware of potential infection. The invention consolidates data from motion, temperature and swelling sensors placed on the patient with data received directly from the patient in response to questions displayed on a tablet computer screen, to create one or more representative values indicating the patient's current status. These representative values may include the patient's degree of compliance with their prescribed exercise and icing regimen; their degree of wellness based on their self-reported pain scale and sensed temperature and limb swelling; and their current level of physical activity as detected by the motion sensors.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates to apparatus and methods for monitoring a patient in various respects including the compliance of a patient to the rehabilitation regimen that is prescribed for preparation for and recovery from joint surgery such as total joint arthroplasty. More specifically, the present invention relates to the use of sensors applied to a post-surgical patient for the purpose of detecting, acquiring and measuring the patient's movement, temperature and limb circumference and for using acquired data for tracking the patient's progress during rehabilitation while reporting their progress to their caregivers.[0002]Joint arthroplasty is a surgical procedure for resurfacing or replacing those parts of knee, hip, elbow, shoulder and other joints that are damaged, typically from arthritis, in older adults. Knee arthroplasty is a very common procedure—more than 700,000 were done in the United States in 2015—and is rapidly increasing as a result of...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention is a sensor apparatus that uses two temperature sensors to monitor the skin temperature of a patient during a surgical procedure. One sensor is placed near the surgical wound site, while another sensor is placed in a nearby area to provide a comparison of the wound site temperature to a basal skin temperature, eliminating environmental variations that might affect the measurements. The sensor apparatus also has data storages and wireless communication capabilities, which allow the sensor readings to be stored and transmitted wirelessly to a computer or network at a later time, without needing a patient to be within wireless communication range of a computer. This ensures that measurement data is not lost.

Problems solved by technology

Many find this difficult to do and may not be entirely honest about their level of compliance.

As a caregiver may be responsible for a large number of patients, it may be difficult for them to determine which patients are complying well and which need additional attention.

Similarly, increased swelling of the limb near the surgical site may be indicative of infection, overuse of the limb or a need for additional icing.

These systems do not provide a convenient single unit for measuring the required parameters, nor do they provide for storage of the data for later transmission to a caregiver's computer.

In addition, a single temperature sensor near the wound site may provide misleading data if the patient moves into a hot or cold environment, as there is no way, with one sensor, to tell if the temperature increase or decrease is a local effect (caused by infection or icing of the joint).

Manual measurement of swelling provides only intermittent data and may be inaccurate as a result of varying measurement locations and measurement techniques.

The prior art fails to teach the combination of data from motion and temperature sensors into a patient coaching system and caregiver management system.

The prior art also fails to teach consolidating data from patient-worn sensors and patient reported data into one or more figures of merit which allow a caregiver to easily determine if the patient is doing well or not.

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