Systems and methods for monitoring liquid accumulation within organ

Abstract

The invention relates to systems and methods for monitoring liquid accumulation within an organ. The system includes: first and second transceivers configured to transmit and receive wireless signals; and a controller in communication with the first and second transceivers, the controller configured to: transmit instructions to the transceivers during a state of health of the user to initiate fine time measurements (FTM) over a wireless channel to a body part associated with the user; storing FTM measurements associated with the health status of the user; sending instructions to the transceiver during the infected state of the user to initiate FTM on the wireless channel; storing FTM measurements associated with the infection status of the user; comparing the FTM measurement associated with the health status of the user with the FTM measurement associated with the infection status of the user; and outputting a notification in response to the comparison exceeding a threshold.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to utilizing wireless technology, including wireless technology for medical purposes. Background Art

[0002] COVID-19 mortality may be driven by abnormal alveolar fluid metabolism in the lungs. This can lead to fluid accumulation in the air sacs of the lungs, known as pulmonary edema. When this occurs, it becomes difficult to breathe and can potentially lead to respiratory failure. Summary of the invention

[0003] A first embodiment discloses a system comprising: first and second transceivers configured to emit and receive wireless signals; and a controller communicating with the first and second transceivers, the controller being configured to: send instructions to the transceivers during a healthy state of the user to initiate a fine time measurement (FTM) on a wireless channel to a body part associated with the user; store FTM measurements associated with the healthy state of the user; send instructions to the transceiver during an infectious state of the user to initiate FTM on the wireless channel; store FTM measurements associated with the infectious state of the user; compare the FTM measurements associated with the healthy state of the user with the FTM measurements associated with the infectious state of the user; and output a notification in response to the comparison exceeding a threshold.

[0004] A second embodiment discloses a system, comprising: a first transceiver configured to emit a wireless signal; a second transceiver configured to receive a wireless signal; and a controller communicating with the first transceiver and the second transceiver. The controller is configured to: during a healthy state of a user, send an instruction to the first transceiver to initiate a fine time measurement (FTM) on a wireless channel to a body part associated with the user; store the FTM measurement associated with the healthy state of the user; during an infection state of the user, send an instruction to the first transceiver to initiate the FTM on the wireless channel; store the FTM measurement associated with the infection state of the user; compare the FTM measurement associated with the healthy state of the user with the FTM measurement associated with the infection state of the user; and in response to the comparison exceeding a threshold, output a notification.

[0005] A third embodiment discloses a system comprising: a transmitter configured to emit a wireless signal; a receiver configured to receive the wireless signal and extract CSI data associated with the received signal; a controller communicating with the transmitter and the receiver, the controller being configured to: send instructions to the transmitter during a healthy state of the user to send a first set of data packets to a body part associated with the user on a wireless channel; store healthy CSI measurements associated with the user's health state; send instructions to the transceiver during an infected state of the user to initiate sending a second set of data packets on the wireless channel; store infected CSI measurements associated with the user's infected state; compare the healthy CSI measurements associated with the user's health state with the infected CSI measurements associated with the user's infected state; and output a notification in response to the comparison exceeding a threshold. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006] Figure 1 An example of a diagram of a lung with healthy air cells versus a lung with infected air cells is shown.

[0007] Figure 2 An example diagram of a transceiver unit is shown.

[0008] Figure 3 A flow diagram is shown of a transmitter and a receiver communicating with each other using distance estimation based on Wi-Fi fine time measurements according to one embodiment.

[0009] Figure 4A Wi-Fi fine-time measurements of determined fluid accumulation using a dry sponge are shown.

[0010] Figure 4B Wi-Fi fine-time measurements of determined fluid accumulation using a wet sponge are shown.

[0011] Figure 5A Wi-Fi channel status information for determining liquid accumulation using a dry sponge is shown.

[0012] Figure 5B Wi-Fi channel state information for determining liquid accumulation using a wet sponge is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0013] Embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein. However, it should be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely examples, and other embodiments may take various and alternative forms. The drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale; some features may be enlarged or reduced to show the details of a particular component. Therefore, the specific structural and functional details disclosed herein should not be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching those skilled in the art to adopt the embodiments in various ways. As will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art, the various features shown and described with reference to any one of the drawings may be combined with the features shown in one or more other drawings to produce embodiments that are not explicitly shown or described. The combination of features shown provides representative embodiments of typical applications. However, for specific applications or implementations, various combinations and modifications of features consistent with the teachings of the present disclosure may be required.

[0014] The system described in this article proposes to use wireless signals to determine fluid accumulation in the lungs. When the wireless signal propagates through the liquid, the liquid attenuates the signal and may affect the amplitude and phase of the wireless signal. To achieve this, the system may suggest placing a wireless transmitter (TX) and a receiver (RX) across the lungs. The idea is to use TX to send wireless signals and receive signals at RX under the following two conditions: (i) when the patient is healthy and (ii) when the patient has breathing problems. By comparing the signal characteristics when the patient is healthy, the system determines whether there is fluid accumulation in the lungs. The core technology can be used to determine fluid accumulation in any organ and for other diseases, such as cystic fibrosis, pneumonia, congestive heart failure, renal failure, or cirrhosis.

[0015] In one embodiment, the concept may be to use a transmitter TX to send a wireless signal and receive the signal at a receiver RX in two conditions: (i) when the patient is healthy and (ii) when the patient has a breathing problem. The transceiver (e.g., TX and RX) may be connected to any electronic device (e.g., laptop, tablet, phone, etc.) so that it can control the data collection and analysis process.

[0016] In one embodiment, the transceiver and receiver can be connected to a computer (such as a laptop) or any type of mobile device. In such an embodiment, the transmitter can send Wi-Fi packets that are received by the RX. The TX and RX can be interchangeable, or they can take turns transmitting and receiving. The TX and RX can have directional antennas to ensure that the wireless signal is forced to pass through specific areas of the human body. By comparing the signal characteristics when the patient is healthy, the system determines if there is fluid accumulation in the lungs.

[0017] The system described below may include two illustrative embodiments that compare wireless signal characteristics between a healthy organ and an organ with fluid accumulation.

[0018] Figure 1 An embodiment of a diagram of a lung with healthy air cells versus a lung with infected air cells is shown. As shown, the healthy air cells 101 may allow air to circulate throughout the lung. The path of travel of the air may be longer because it is along the entire lung. The air flow within the infected air cells 103 may be different. Due to the accumulated fluid 105, the infected air cells 103 may not have the same capacity as the healthy air cells 101. Therefore, the air flow may be of less capacity.

[0019] Figure 2 An example of a transceiver according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. The transceiver 200 may include a transmitter 201 (TX) and a receiver 203 (RX). The device may also include a controller or processor 205 for communicating with the transmitter 201 and / or the receiver 203. In one embodiment, the transmitter 201 and the receiver 203 may be part of a single transceiver, or may be separate.

[0020] The communication interface may include a wireless transmitter or transceiver for wireless communication over a communication network. As an alternative or in addition to a wireless transmitter or transceiver, the communication interface may include a port for receiving a cable, such as an Ethernet cable, for communicating over a communication network or a dedicated wired connection. It should be understood that in some embodiments, the controller or processor 205 may communicate with other devices through one or more intermediate devices (e.g., routers, gateways, repeaters, etc.).

[0021] Figure 3 A flow diagram of a transmitter and a receiver communicating with each other using distance estimation based on Wi-Fi fine time measurement according to one embodiment is shown. In such an embodiment, wireless round trip time (RTT) can be used as an effective feature to distinguish healthy organs from organs with fluid accumulation. RTT can be estimated by modifying the Wi-Fi firmware, or it can be estimated using Wi-Fi Fine Time Measurement (FTM), which may be part of the IEEE 802.11mc standard. To enable Wi-Fi FTM, both TX and RX need to be transmitted and received.

[0022] In one embodiment, the transmitter TX initiates an FTM request to the receiver RX on a specific Wi-Fi channel. The channel can be an operating channel in 2.4GHz, 5GHz, or another Wi-Fi band. Alternatively, it can perform channel hopping across the entire 2.4GHz, 5GHz, or another Wi-Fi band and send an FTM request for each Wi-Fi channel or a group of Wi-Fi channels through channel hopping. Then, RX and TX send a series of data packets to estimate the round-trip time, which is then converted into the distance between TX and RX. Figure 3 An example of such a message exchange and how to convert the RTT estimate to a distance is shown in .

[0023] The controller may execute instructions or algorithms for determining fluid accumulation within an organ. The instructions may include step 301 where a user sets up the unit by placing a transmitter TX and a receiver RX across an organ of interest for which fluid accumulation needs to be monitored. In step 303, when the user is healthy, a first set of FTM measurements may be performed using the transmitter and receiver. For example, the system may determine an average distance value from FTM measurements on a particular Wi-Fi channel, which may be referred to as D normal These values ​​can be stored in hardware in any type of memory, including volatile or non-volatile memory. These values ​​may be used later for comparison. Later, when the user is not feeling well or wants to test for fluid accumulation, the user can collect another round of FTM measurements using the transceiver on a similar setup. In one example, the average distance value from FTM measurements on the same Wi-Fi channel may be defined as D test .

[0024] If (D test –D normal )>T, the system may issue a notification or report of fluid accumulation in an organ. In such an example, T may be a threshold indicating that there may be infection or fluid in the user's body part. The threshold T may be determined by collecting data across a target population. The threshold may also be adjusted or defined in a lookup table based on the user's attributes. For example, the threshold T may be adjusted based on data indicating age, gender, height, weight, and BMI.

[0025] The analysis can be performed at a transceiver, transmitter, receiver, or any controller / processor communicating with the system. In another example, the analysis can be performed on a small computer attached to a transceiver and / or component, or communicating with a transceiver and / or component. In one embodiment, the result of the discovery (whether fluid accumulates) can be communicated via output auditory notifications (e.g., two different beeps to distinguish between two situations). In another embodiment, the result can be visualized in a small display on an electronic device (e.g., phone / tablet / laptop) by an application or another interface. In another embodiment, instead of using the average value of the measured data, a median value can be used.

[0026] In this embodiment, wireless channel state information (CSI) is used as an effective feature to distinguish healthy organs from organs with fluid accumulation. CSI captures how the signal propagates from the transmitter to the receiver and represents the combined effects of scattering, fading, and power attenuation over distance.

[0027] In one embodiment, TX sends Wi-Fi packets on a specific Wi-Fi channel, and RX is configured to receive packets on the channel. After receiving the packets, RX extracts Wi-Fi channel state information associated with each packet. In another embodiment, the positions and / or roles of TX and RX are swapped.

[0028] There may be various embodiments of algorithms for determining fluid accumulation within an organ. In one example, a user may set up the unit by placing TX and RX across an organ of interest where fluid accumulation needs to be monitored. The system may first require a scan of a user in a healthy state and store such a condition or measurement. When the user is healthy, a first set of CSI measurements is performed using TX and RX. TX may send N packets. In one embodiment, N may be 20,000. A window of size W is defined as dividing N packets into blocks of size W. In one embodiment, W may be 4,000. An example of CSI values ​​within window a under normal conditions is shown in FIG. 7( a), where the X-axis represents different subcarriers, the Y-axis represents different packets, and the Z-axis represents the amplitude of the CSI value. In another embodiment, instead of using CSI amplitude, CSI phase is used. The process generates K samples, where K = N / W. Let us represent these samples in a set as Snromal = {S1-normal, S2-normal, ..., SK-normal}. In another embodiment, a sliding window is used to include the same data in multiple consecutive windows. These values ​​are stored in the hardware where the CSI is extracted. In another embodiment, a scan of healthy users may not be necessary to establish baseline measurements. For example, in one embodiment, measurements from multiple users may be used to estimate baseline measurements. Such measurements may include weight, BMI, waist circumference, chest circumference, etc. The system may be able to establish baseline measurements for all users and then use such a baseline for subsequent analysis.

[0029] Later, when the user feels bad or wants to test fluid accumulation, he can collect another round of CSI measurements using TX and RX on a similar setup. Similarly, TX can send N packets. Similarly, a window of size W is defined to divide N packets into blocks of size W. An example of CSI values ​​within a window under abnormal / unhealthy conditions is shown in Figure 7(b), where the X-axis represents different subcarriers, the Y-axis represents different packets, and the Z-axis represents the amplitude of the CSI value. In another embodiment, instead of using CSI amplitude, CSI phase is used. The process generates K samples, where K = N / W. These samples are represented in a set as Stest = {S1-test, S2-test, ..., SK-test}.

[0030] In this step, the difference between Snormal and Stest is calculated. This process generates K sets of vectors from {S1-normal–S1-test, S2-normal–S2-test, …, SK-normal–SK-test}. Let us call this set Sdiff = {Sdiff1, Sdiff2, …, Sdiff-K}.

[0031] In this step, Sdiff is fed to a classifier to classify whether Stest is significantly different from Snormal, which could potentially mean the presence of fluid accumulation within the organ.

[0032] The analysis can be done at the TX, RX, or on a small computer attached to them. The result of the finding (fluid accumulation or not) can be communicated via playing two different beeps to differentiate between the two conditions, or the result can be visualized in a small display on the phone / tablet / laptop via an app / application.

[0033] Before using the classifier, the machine learning model is trained using the Sdiff value of a statistically significant population of people with or without fluid accumulation for each organ of interest by considering age, gender, height, weight, BMI and other physical characteristics. The classifier is then used to classify whether fluid accumulation exists. For machine learning models and classification, methods based on decision trees (DT), k-nearest neighbors (k-NN), support vector machines (SVM) and neural networks (NN) can be used. In addition, since CSI provides time series data, architectures based on recursive neural networks (RNNs) can be used, including but not limited to long short-term memory (LSTM) and gated recursive units (GRUs). In another embodiment, in addition to the mean, other statistical features are used for classification, including but not limited to median, standard deviation, variance, minimum, maximum, skewness, kurtosis and histograms.

[0034] In another embodiment, computer vision-based methods can be used for classification. For example, S from a statistically significant population diff The values ​​are fed through an encoder network, such as ResNet50 or VGG16, and the representation of the final layer is fed to a fully connected layer with two classes (fluid accumulation or not) for classification. This may help determine fluid accumulation in any organ as well as other diseases such as cystic fibrosis, pneumonia, congestive heart failure, kidney failure, or cirrhosis.

[0035] Figure 4A Wi-Fi fine-time measurements of determined fluid accumulation using a dry sponge are shown. Figure 4BWi-Fi fine time measurements for determining fluid accumulation using a wet sponge are shown. As shown, the data for FTM using a dry sponge may be below a certain value. However, for FTM using a wet sponge, the data shows greater volatility and variability, with a higher average FTM distance measurement (13 meters versus 7.5 meters). Therefore, using FTM can determine when fluid accumulates in human organs (e.g., lungs, liver, etc.) because the FTM data transmitted between the transmitter and receiver may appear more variable with a higher average FTM distance measurement.

[0036] Figure 5A Wi-Fi channel status information for determining liquid accumulation using a dry sponge is shown. Figure 5B Wi-Fi channel state information for determining fluid accumulation using a wet sponge is shown. As shown, the data for the channel state information using a dry sponge may be more consistent and stable in terms of CSI amplitude values. Therefore, the threshold can be associated with the consistency of the data or value. However, for the channel state information using the wet sponge, the CSI amplitude has higher and lower values, where the higher variation across different subcarriers indicates more fluctuations. Therefore, using the channel state information, it can be determined when fluid accumulates in a human organ (e.g., lungs, liver, etc.) because the CSI data transmitted between the transmitter and the receiver may appear more variable across subcarriers with higher and lower amplitude values.

[0037] Although exemplary embodiments are described above, these embodiments are not intended to describe all possible forms included in the claims. The words used in the specification are descriptive words, not restrictive words, and it should be understood that various changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. As mentioned above, the features of various embodiments can be combined to form other embodiments of the present invention that may not be explicitly described or shown. Although various embodiments have been described as providing advantages or superiority over other embodiments or prior art implementations with respect to one or more desired characteristics, it is recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art that one or more features or characteristics can be compromised to achieve the desired overall system properties, depending on the specific application and implementation. These properties may include, but are not limited to, cost, strength, durability, life cycle cost, marketability, appearance, packaging, size, maintainability, weight, manufacturability, ease of assembly, etc. Therefore, to the extent that any embodiment is described as not as desirable as other embodiments or prior art implementations with respect to one or more features, these embodiments are not outside the scope of the present disclosure and are desirable for specific applications.

Claims

1. A system comprising: first and second transceivers configured to transmit and receive wireless signals; and a controller in communication with the first and second transceivers, the controller being configured to: sending instructions to the transceiver during the health state of the user to initiate a fine time measurement (FTM) to a body part associated with the user over a wireless channel; storing FTM measurements associated with the user's health status; sending instructions to the transceiver to initiate FTM on the wireless channel during the infected state of the user; Storing FTM measurements associated with the user's infection status; comparing the FTM measurement associated with the user's health status to the FTM measurement associated with the user's infection status; and In response to the comparison exceeding a threshold, a notification is output.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein: The controller is further configured to perform channel hopping and send an FTM request for each Wi-Fi channel or a group of Wi-Fi channels through channel hopping.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein: The notification includes a report indicating fluid accumulation.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein: The threshold is variable in response to an attribute associated with the user.

5. The system according to claim 1, wherein: The notification includes emitting a sound associated with a system speaker.

6. A system comprising: A first transceiver configured to send a wireless signal; a second transceiver configured to receive a wireless signal; A controller in communication with the first transceiver and the second transceiver, the controller being configured to: sending instructions to the first transceiver to initiate a fine time measurement (FTM) to a body part associated with the user over a wireless channel during a health state of the user; storing FTM measurements associated with the user's health status; sending an instruction to the first transceiver to initiate FTM on the wireless channel during the infected state of the user; Storing FTM measurements associated with the user's infection status; comparing the FTM measurement associated with the user's health status to the FTM measurement associated with the user's infection status; and In response to the comparison exceeding a threshold, a notification is output.

7. The system according to claim 6, wherein: The controller is further configured to perform channel hopping and send an FTM request for each Wi-Fi channel or a group of Wi-Fi channels through channel hopping.

8. The system according to claim 6, wherein: The notification includes a report indicating fluid accumulation.

9. The system according to claim 6, wherein: The threshold is variable in response to an attribute associated with the user.

10. The system according to claim 6, wherein: The notification includes emitting a sound associated with a system speaker.

11. A system comprising: a transmitter configured to emit a wireless signal; a receiver configured to receive a wireless signal and extract CSI data associated with the received signal; A controller in communication with the transmitter and the receiver, the controller being configured to: sending instructions to a transmitter to send a first set of data packets to a body part associated with the user over a wireless channel during a health state of the user; storing health CSI measurements associated with a user's health status; sending instructions to the transceiver to initiate transmission of a second set of data packets on the wireless channel during the infected state of the user; storing an infection CSI measurement associated with the user's infection status; comparing a healthy CSI measure associated with the user's health state and an infectious CSI measure associated with the user's infection state; and In response to the comparison exceeding a threshold, a notification is output.

12. The system according to claim 11, wherein: The notification includes a report indicating fluid accumulation.

13. The system according to claim 11, wherein: The threshold is variable in response to an attribute associated with the user.

14. The system according to claim 11, wherein: The notification includes emitting a sound associated with a system speaker.

15. The system according to claim 11, wherein: A wireless signal having a CSI indicates signal propagation from a transmitter to a receiver.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein: The CSI measurement includes the CSI magnitude.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein: CSI measurement includes CSI phase.

18. The system of claim 11, wherein: The plurality of data packets includes more than 10,000 data packets.

19. The system of claim 11, wherein: The comparing includes comparing amplitude values ​​of subcarriers associated with the CSI data.

20. The system of claim 11, wherein: The threshold is associated with the consistency of the CSI data.

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