Accurate eye hot compress method suitable for postoperative patient

Abstract

The invention belongs to the technical field of medical instruments and clinical nursing, and particularly relates to a precise eye hot compress method suitable for postoperative patients. The invention discloses a precise eye hot compress method suitable for a postoperative patient, and aims to solve the problems of low temperature control precision, non-uniform spatial distribution, lack of individualized adaptation and insufficient safety protection in the existing hot compress technology. The method is based on an integrated wearable hot compress device, and the integrated wearable hot compress device comprises a flexible substrate matched in anatomical form, a distributed micro-area heating array, a multi-point temperature sensing network and a central cooperative controller. Through multi-mode physiological perception, dynamic thermal field regulation and control and a closed-loop safety intervention mechanism, eyelid partition targeted heating in space and self-adaptive adjustment in time according to postoperative stages are achieved, and triple overheating protection is achieved. The system supports individual parameter input, self-adaptive calibration and remote monitoring, ensures that the hot compress temperature is stabilized in a target interval of 38-42 DEG C, and remarkably improves the safety, effectiveness and individual suitability of postoperative eye hot compress.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of medical device and clinical nursing technology, and specifically relates to a precise method for applying warm compresses to the eyes for postoperative patients. Background Technology

[0002] In the fields of clinical medicine and rehabilitation nursing, postoperative warm compresses to the eyes, as a non-invasive adjunctive treatment, have long been widely used in the recovery phase after ophthalmic surgery, especially after procedures such as meibomian gland dysfunction, dry eye, styes, and cataracts. Through multiple physiological effects, including promoting local blood circulation, relieving tissue edema, accelerating the clearance of metabolic products, and improving tear film stability, warm compresses have significant value in improving patient comfort and accelerating functional recovery. With the popularization of modern minimally invasive ophthalmic surgical techniques and the increasing demands of patients for postoperative experience, warm compress therapy has gradually evolved from traditional empirical nursing measures towards precise and individualized medical interventions. Its technical content is no longer limited to simple heat supply, but rather places systematic requirements on temperature control precision, specificity of the treatment area, reasonable duration, and safety assurance mechanisms.

[0003] Traditional methods of applying heat to the eyes primarily rely on simple devices such as hot water bottles, hot towels, or disposable self-heating eye masks. These methods typically employ a constant heat source or a rough temperature control strategy, with the core design logic being to provide a generally suitable warm environment to achieve a basic soothing effect. Specifically, hot water bottles release heat slowly through the heat capacity of water, hot towels rely on external heating to maintain temperature briefly, and chemical self-heating materials release heat through oxidation. These methods were widely accepted in early clinical practice due to their ease of use and low cost, and to some extent met the needs of basic postoperative care at the time. However, their technical architecture inherently lacks the ability to be tailored to the highly sensitive and structurally delicate organ of the eye, representing more of a universal, low-feedback heat therapy modality.

[0004] However, with the continuous development of related technologies and the increasingly stringent performance requirements of application scenarios, some inherent characteristics of the aforementioned technical solutions at the principle level have gradually revealed their limitations in addressing new challenges. Fundamentally, this stems from the inability of traditional hot compress methods to effectively reconcile the inherent contradiction between "therapeutic effectiveness" and "tissue safety." Eye tissues, especially the cornea, conjunctiva, and eyelid skin, are extremely sensitive to temperature changes, with a narrow tolerance threshold. It is generally believed that a safe and effective hot compress temperature should be strictly controlled between 38°C and 42°C; below this range, it is difficult to activate physiological responses, while above this range, it may cause protein denaturation, corneal epithelial damage, or even irreversible thermal burns. Existing simple hot compress devices generally suffer from rapid temperature decay, uneven spatial distribution, and lack of real-time feedback adjustment. For example, the surface temperature of a hot towel drops rapidly to an ineffective range within minutes of contact with the eye, while self-heating eye masks, although able to maintain heat release for a longer period, have an uncontrollable initial heating rate, easily exceeding local hot spots, and cannot dynamically adjust output parameters based on individual differences (such as eyelid thickness, local blood flow status, and postoperative inflammation severity). Furthermore, postoperative patients often experience incomplete eyelid closure, decreased corneal sensation, or use of local anesthetics, significantly reducing their ability to perceive and avoid abnormally high temperatures. This makes the traditional "one-size-fits-all" approach to heat therapy pose significant safety risks in certain high-risk groups. Consequently, this static, open-loop heat therapy not only fails to achieve precise physiological regulation but may also interfere with wound healing due to uneven thermal stress or overheating, potentially even inducing secondary complications.

[0005] Building upon this, although some intelligent heat therapy devices have attempted to incorporate temperature sensors and simple feedback loops in recent years, they have largely focused on stabilizing the overall average temperature, neglecting the non-uniformity of the ocular anatomy—the thermal conductivity characteristics differ significantly between the central eyelid and the outer canthus region, meaning a single temperature measurement point cannot accurately reflect the actual heating state of key tissues. Furthermore, current technologies have failed to couple heat therapy parameters with the dynamic needs of the postoperative recovery phase. For example, gentle heat therapy is needed during the peak of inflammation to avoid excessive vasodilation, while the temperature can be moderately increased during the fibrosis phase to promote collagen remodeling. This technological bottleneck, lacking precise temporal and spatial control capabilities, means that current heat therapy solutions remain at the level of "experience-based adaptation" rather than "mechanism-driven."

[0006] Therefore, how to construct a precise eye heat therapy method that can accurately target the temperature field in space, intelligently adapt it in time, and achieve closed-loop regulation within a safe boundary based on the individual physiological characteristics and dynamic needs of postoperative patients at different recovery stages has become a key challenge and an urgent technical problem for those skilled in the art. Summary of the Invention

[0007] This invention provides a precise eye warming method suitable for postoperative patients, aiming to solve technical problems in existing technologies such as insufficient precision in temperature control, uneven spatial distribution, lack of individualized adaptation capabilities, and absence of safety boundary protection mechanisms. To achieve the above-mentioned objectives, this invention constructs a precise eye warming system architecture based on multimodal physiological perception, dynamic thermal field regulation, and closed-loop safety intervention. Through specific hardware configuration, data processing logic, and timing control strategies, it ensures that the warming process achieves anatomically specific targeting in the spatial dimension, matches the dynamic needs of the postoperative recovery stage in the temporal dimension, and establishes multiple redundant protection mechanisms in the safety dimension.

[0008] The precise eye heat therapy method is implemented using an integrated wearable heat therapy device, which includes a flexible heat therapy substrate, a distributed micro-area heating array, a multi-point embedded temperature sensing network, a physiological state analysis engine, a central collaborative controller, and a wireless communication module. The flexible heating base is made of medical-grade silicone composite material, and its inner surface contour strictly matches the anatomical shape of an adult eyelid, including three functional areas: the upper eyelid curvature area, the lower eyelid support area, and the outer canthus transition area. The distributed micro-area heating array consists of sixteen independently controllable thin-film heating units, each embedded in the flexible heating base in a four-by-four matrix. The power density of the four heating units located in the central area of ​​the upper eyelid is set as the baseline value, while the power density of the remaining twelve heating units located in the outer canthus and lower eyelid edge areas is reduced according to a preset ratio to compensate for the differences in tissue thickness and thermal conductivity in different areas. The multi-point embedded temperature sensing network consists of eight high-precision digital temperature sensors, respectively arranged in the central area of ​​the upper eyelid, the outer side of the upper eyelid, the central area of ​​the lower eyelid, the inner side of the lower eyelid, the outer canthus, the inner canthus, below the brow bone, and above the cheekbone. Each sensor is connected to the analog signal input port of the central coordinating controller through an independent shielded wire.

[0009] The physiological state analysis engine is integrated into the central collaborative controller. It runs a deterministic state recognition algorithm to analyze the raw data stream from the temperature sensor network in real time and generate the current heat therapy control instruction set by combining it with pre-stored patient individual characteristic parameters. The patient individual characteristic parameters are entered through the matching mobile terminal before the first use, including postoperative days, surgical type code, eyelid closure integrity rating, corneal perception test results, and basal body temperature correction value. The state recognition algorithm first performs sliding window filtering on the readings of the eight temperature sensors to remove instantaneous interference noise. Then it calculates the local temperature rise gradient and overall thermal balance index of each anatomical region. When the temperature rise rate of any region exceeds 0.3 degrees Celsius per second or the local temperature deviates from the target range by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, the regional power redistribution subroutine is immediately triggered. The regional power redistribution subroutine dynamically adjusts the duty cycle output of the corresponding heating unit according to the preset heat conduction compensation model, so that the actual temperature of all key tissue points is stably converged within the target range of 38°C to 42°C.

[0010] The central collaborative controller adopts a dual-core heterogeneous architecture. The main core is responsible for executing the hot compress strategy scheduling and user interaction logic, while the co-core is dedicated to running safety monitoring tasks. The safety monitoring task polls the highest reading values ​​of eight temperature sensors at fixed intervals and simultaneously monitors the status signals of two independent overheat fuses installed inside the flexible hot compress substrate. When any temperature sensor reading reaches the 43°C threshold or any overheat fuse physically breaks, the co-core immediately cuts off the power supply to all heating units and sends an emergency shutdown interruption request to the main core. After receiving the interruption request, the main core activates the audible and visual alarm module and pushes an abnormal event notification to the bound mobile terminal through the wireless communication module. At the same time, it records all sensor data and operation logs at the time of the fault for subsequent analysis.

[0011] The wireless communication module is implemented using a low-power Bluetooth 5.0 protocol stack. It establishes an encrypted pairing connection with the accompanying mobile terminal to receive initial parameter configuration commands, upload real-time heat application status data, and receive remote control commands. The accompanying mobile terminal runs a dedicated application program with a built-in postoperative recovery stage mapping table. Based on the number of days after surgery entered by the user, it automatically matches the corresponding heat application intensity level and duration limit. The heat application intensity level is divided into three levels, corresponding to the three clinical stages of inflammation, repair, and remodeling. Each level has a different default target temperature curve and maximum allowable temperature rise slope. Users can manually switch the intensity level through the mobile terminal interface, but must not modify parameters beyond the safety parameter boundaries allowed for the current postoperative stage.

[0012] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the inner surface of the flexible heat-compressing substrate is provided with a micro humidity sensor array for monitoring changes in the evaporation rate of the eyelid skin surface; the humidity sensor array consists of four capacitive humidity sensing elements, located in the center of the upper eyelid, the center of the lower eyelid, the outer canthus, and the inner canthus, respectively; the central coordinating controller determines the tear film stability state based on the humidity change trend, and when the average humidity decrease rate exceeds 2% relative humidity per minute within five consecutive minutes, it automatically extends the current heat-compressing cycle by five minutes and simultaneously increases the output power of the heating unit in the lower eyelid area by 5% to enhance the meibomian gland lipid secretion promotion effect.

[0013] Furthermore, each thin-film heating unit in the distributed micro-area heating array uses a graphene composite heating film as the core heating material, with a thickness not exceeding 80 micrometers and a surface resistance uniformity error of less than ±3%. A serpentine conductive path is formed through laser etching to optimize the uniformity of heat distribution. Each heating unit is connected to the power drive interface of the central coordinating controller through a flexible printed circuit board. The power drive interface includes sixteen independent MOSFET switching circuits, each equipped with a current sampling resistor and an overcurrent protection diode to ensure that a failure of a single heating unit will not affect the normal operation of other units.

[0014] Furthermore, the central coordinating controller stores a standard eyelid thermal response database, which contains typical temperature response curves of different age groups, genders, and ethnicities under the same thermal stimulation. At the beginning of each heat application, the system performs a two-minute adaptive calibration process, which obtains the actual thermal response characteristics of the current user through a small-step temperature increase test, and corrects the target temperature setting value for subsequent stages accordingly. The adaptive calibration process limits the temperature increase to no more than 2°C and is only completed if the user confirms that there is no discomfort.

[0015] The operation procedure of the precise eye heat therapy method is as follows: First, the flexible heat therapy base is fitted onto the surface of the patient's closed eyelid, and the device power is turned on; the central collaborative controller reads the pre-stored individual characteristic parameters and establishes a communication connection; an adaptive calibration process is executed to obtain the initial thermal response characteristics; the default heat therapy intensity level is matched according to the number of days after surgery and the corresponding target temperature curve is loaded; the distributed micro-area heating array is started, and the multi-point temperature sensing network and safety monitoring tasks are activated simultaneously; during the heat therapy process, the physiological state analysis engine continuously analyzes the temperature data stream and dynamically adjusts the output power of each heating unit to maintain the spatial temperature field balance; if abnormal high temperature or equipment failure is detected, the heating power is immediately cut off and an alarm mechanism is triggered; after the heat therapy cycle ends, the device automatically enters standby mode and saves the operation record.

[0016] This invention achieves precise, multi-dimensional control of the postoperative ocular warming process through the aforementioned technical means. Spatially, it overcomes the uneven temperature distribution problem caused by traditional single heat sources by utilizing a flexible substrate matched to anatomical structures and a zoned, controllable micro-heating array. Temporally, it relies on a postoperative stage mapping table and an adaptive calibration mechanism to enable the warming parameters to dynamically respond to changes in the tissue repair process. In terms of safety, it constructs a triple protection system consisting of software algorithms, hardware fuses, and an independent monitoring core, fundamentally eliminating the risk of overheating damage. The entire system can complete a closed-loop operation from individual feature recognition and dynamic thermal field construction to safety boundary protection without human intervention, thereby significantly improving the effectiveness, safety, and individual adaptability of postoperative ocular warming. Attached Figure Description

[0017] The invention will now be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0018] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the integrated wearable heat therapy device upon which the present invention provides a precise eye heat therapy method suitable for postoperative patients relies. Detailed Implementation

[0019] This invention provides a precise eye warming method suitable for postoperative patients, which is achieved through a highly integrated wearable warming device. Structurally, this device consists of a flexible warming substrate, a distributed micro-area heating array, a multi-point embedded temperature sensor network, a physiological state analysis engine, a central coordinating controller, and a wireless communication module. These components work collaboratively to achieve precise warming control of the postoperative eye area in three dimensions: space, time, and safety.

[0020] The flexible heat-contact base is molded from medical-grade silicone composite material. Its inner surface contour is strictly designed according to the anatomical shape of adult eyelids, including three functional areas: the upper eyelid curvature area, the lower eyelid support area, and the lateral canthus transition area. The upper eyelid curvature area is dome-shaped, adapting to the curvature of the upper eyelid when naturally closed; the lower eyelid support area is a shallow concave platform structure, used to stably adhere to the lower eyelid skin; the lateral canthus transition area is a smooth slope, connecting the outer edges of the upper and lower eyelids, ensuring no local pressure or lifting during overall wear. The base thickness is between 1.2 mm and 1.8 mm, with a Shore A hardness of 30A, ensuring sufficient flexibility to adapt to individual facial contour differences, while also possessing the necessary structural support to maintain the spatial positioning accuracy of internal components.

[0021] The distributed micro-area heating array is embedded within the flexible heat-application substrate and consists of sixteen independently controllable thin-film heating units arranged in a 4x4 matrix. Each heating unit uses a graphene composite heating film as the core heating material, with a thickness not exceeding 80 micrometers and a surface resistivity uniformity error of less than ±3%. Each heating unit forms a serpentine conductive path through laser etching, with a path width of 150 micrometers and a line spacing of 200 micrometers to optimize heat distribution uniformity and reduce the risk of local hot spots. The four heating units located in the central region of the upper eyelid (i.e., rows 2 through 3) are set as the baseline power density. The remaining twelve heating units are configured with differentiated power according to their anatomical locations: the four units in the outer canthus region (rows 1 through 4), (rows 2 through 4), (rows 3 through 4), and (rows 4 through 4) have a power density of 75% of the baseline value; the eight units in the lower eyelid margin region (rows 4 through 3) and (rows 1 through 3) have a power density of 65% of the baseline value. This configuration is designed to compensate for physiological differences in the thickness and thermal conductivity of eyelid tissue in different areas, so that the heat output matches the tissue's absorption capacity.

[0022] Each thin-film heating unit is connected to the power drive interface of the central co-controller via a flexible printed circuit board. The power drive interface contains sixteen independent MOSFET switching circuits. Each switching circuit is connected in series with a 0.1-ohm current sampling resistor and in parallel with a Schottky diode with a reverse recovery time of less than 50 nanoseconds as an overcurrent protection element. When a heating unit experiences a short circuit or abnormally high current, the voltage drop across the sampling resistor triggers the comparator threshold, and the co-controller immediately shuts down the corresponding MOSFET gate drive signal, cutting off the power supply to that unit, and simultaneously recording the fault channel number. This design ensures that the failure of a single heating unit will not cause the entire system to shut down, nor will it cause overload of adjacent units.

[0023] The multi-point embedded temperature sensing network consists of eight high-precision digital temperature sensors, model DS18B20, with a temperature resolution of 0.0625℃ and an accuracy of ±0.5℃ (within the range of 0℃ to 50℃). The eight sensors are fixed to specific anatomical sites on the inner surface of the flexible heating substrate: the center of the upper eyelid (5 mm above the pupil center), the lateral side of the upper eyelid (3 mm from the outer canthus), the center of the lower eyelid (5 mm below the pupil center), the medial side of the lower eyelid (3 mm from the inner canthus), the outer canthus (close to the skin fold at the outer corner of the eye), the medial canthus (close to the lateral side of the lacrimal caruncle), below the brow bone (2 mm below the midpoint of the supraorbital margin), and above the zygomatic bone (4 mm lateral to the infraorbital margin). Each sensor is connected to the analog signal input port of the central coordinating controller via an independent shielded twisted-pair cable. The cable length is impedance-matched to suppress the influence of electromagnetic interference on weak temperature signals. The sensor encapsulation uses biocompatible epoxy resin with an outer diameter not exceeding 1.5 mm to ensure wearing comfort and prevent localized pressure points.

[0024] The central co-controller adopts a dual-core heterogeneous architecture. The main core is an ARM Cortex-M7 with a clock speed of 480MHz, responsible for executing heat therapy strategy scheduling, user interaction logic, data storage, and wireless communication protocol stack. The co-core is an ARM Cortex-M0+ with a clock speed of 32MHz, dedicated to running safety monitoring tasks. The two cores achieve low-latency communication through shared memory and hardware interrupt mechanisms. The co-core polls the highest reading values ​​of eight temperature sensors at a fixed period of 10 milliseconds and simultaneously monitors the status signals of two independent overheat fuses installed inside the flexible heat therapy substrate. The overheat fuses are one-time thermal fuses with an operating temperature of 44℃±1℃, physically connected in series in the main power circuit. When any temperature sensor reading reaches the 43℃ threshold, or when any overheat fuse physically trips due to local overheating, the co-core immediately pulls down the gate enable signals of all MOSFet, cuts off the power supply to all heating units, and sends an emergency stop request to the main core through a dedicated interrupt line. After the main core responds to the interruption, it activates the built-in buzzer and LED indicator to issue an audible and visual alarm, and pushes an abnormal event notification package containing a timestamp, fault type, instantaneous readings of each sensor and operation log to the bound mobile terminal through the wireless communication module.

[0025] The physiological state analysis engine is integrated into the central coordinating controller core as firmware, implementing a deterministic state recognition algorithm. This algorithm first performs sliding window filtering on the raw data stream from eight temperature sensors, with a window width of 500 milliseconds and a step size of 100 milliseconds, to remove transient noise caused by environmental disturbances or poor contact. Subsequently, the algorithm calculates the local temperature rise gradient in four key anatomical regions: the upper eyelid region (based on sensors at the center and lateral aspect of the upper eyelid), the lower eyelid region (based on sensors at the center and medial aspect of the lower eyelid), the lateral canthus region (based on sensors at the lateral corner and lateral aspect of the upper eyelid), and the medial canthus region (based on sensors at the medial corner and medial aspect of the lower eyelid). The temperature rise gradient is defined as the difference between the current temperature and the temperature of the previous sampling period divided by the sampling interval, in °C / s. Simultaneously, the algorithm calculates the overall thermal balance index. Its expression is:

[0026]

[0027] Where =8 represents the total number of sensors. For the first Filtered readings from each sensor Set the target temperature for the current stage. When any local temperature rise gradient exceeds 0.3℃ / s, or When the temperature exceeds 1.5℃, the algorithm immediately calls the regional power redistribution subroutine.

[0028] The regional power redistribution subroutine dynamically adjusts the duty cycle output of each heating unit based on a preset heat conduction compensation model. This model, obtained through finite element simulation, characterizes the steady-state temperature rise response of different eyelid regions under unit power input. Specifically, for the first... Each heating unit has a target duty cycle. Calculate using the following formula:

[0029]

[0030] in The baseline duty cycle (determined by the current heat intensity level). The target temperature assigned to this unit (weighted according to the anatomical region it is located in). This is the weighted average measured temperature of the sensors near this unit. The proportional gain coefficient is 0.15 / ℃. The duty cycle output is modulated by PWM to drive the corresponding MOSFET, achieving closed-loop temperature control. All duty cycle values ​​are limited to between 0% and 95% to avoid the risk of runaway in full-on operation.

[0031] Patient-specific parameters are entered via a companion mobile terminal before first use. The mobile terminal runs a dedicated application where the user must input the postoperative days, surgery type code (e.g., C01 for phacoemulsification, G02 for trabeculectomy, K03 for corneal transplantation), eyelid closure integrity rating (graded to complete closure, mild incomplete closure, and moderate incomplete closure), corneal sensation test results (based on the response to a light touch of the cornea with a cotton thread, categorized as normal, sluggish, or absent), and basal body temperature correction value (usually the offset obtained by subtracting 37°C from the oral or axillary basal body temperature). These parameters are encrypted using AES-128 and transmitted to the central co-controller via Bluetooth Low Energy 5.0 protocol, and stored in non-volatile memory.

[0032] The accompanying mobile terminal includes a built-in postoperative recovery stage mapping table, which divides the postoperative days into three clinical stages: inflammation phase (days 1–3 post-surgery), repair phase (days 4–10 post-surgery), and remodeling phase (days 11 and above post-surgery). Each stage corresponds to a different default heat application intensity level: Level 1 for the inflammation phase, with a target temperature range of 38℃–39.5℃ and a maximum allowable temperature rise rate of 0.2℃ / s; Level 2 for the repair phase, with a target temperature range of 39.5℃–41℃ and a maximum allowable temperature rise rate of 0.25℃ / s; and Level 3 for the remodeling phase, with a target temperature range of 41℃–42℃ and a maximum allowable temperature rise rate of 0.3℃ / s. Users can manually switch the intensity level on the mobile terminal interface, but the system will check whether the selected level exceeds the safety boundary of the current postoperative stage. For example, if the user is on day 2 post-surgery (inflammation phase), they cannot select level 3 intensity; even if manually selected, the controller will forcibly downgrade to level 1 and display the message "Only low-intensity heat application is supported in this stage."

[0033] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a miniature humidity sensor array is added to the inner surface of the flexible heat-conducting substrate to monitor changes in the evaporation rate of the eyelid skin surface. This array consists of four capacitive humidity sensing elements, located at the center of the upper eyelid, the center of the lower eyelid, the outer canthus, and the inner canthus, respectively. The element type is HDC2080, and the relative humidity measurement range is 0%–100%RH with an accuracy of ±2%RH. A central co-controller collects readings from each humidity sensor every 30 seconds and calculates the average humidity change rate within a five-minute sliding window. :

[0034]

[0035] in For the first Average relative humidity over minutes. When the rate is <−2% / min and continues for five minutes, the system determines that tear film stability has decreased, automatically extends the current heat application cycle by five minutes, and simultaneously increases the output power of the four heating units in the lower eyelid area (row 4, columns 1–4) by 5%. This adjustment aims to enhance meibomian gland lipid secretion and improve the quality of the tear film lipid layer, thereby indirectly supporting corneal epithelial repair.

[0036] Furthermore, the central coordinating controller internally stores a standard eyelid thermal response database, which contains typical temperature response curves of different age groups (18–35 years, 36–55 years, and over 56 years), genders (male and female), and ethnicities (East Asian, Caucasian, and African) under the same thermal stimulation. Each curve records the temperature change over time at eight sensor locations as the temperature increases from room temperature (25°C) to 40°C at a slope of 0.5°C / min. At the beginning of each heat application, the system performs a two-minute adaptive calibration process: first, all heating units are set to 20% of the baseline duty cycle for 30 seconds; then, the duty cycle is increased stepwise to 40%, then 60%, each for 30 seconds; finally, it is maintained at 60% for 60 seconds. During this process, the system records the actual temperature rise curve of each sensor and matches it with the closest reference curve in the database using the Pearson correlation coefficient. If the correlation coefficient between the measured curve and the reference curve is lower than 0.85, the user's thermal response characteristics are determined to deviate significantly from the standard, and the system corrects the target temperature setting value for subsequent stages accordingly. Calculated according to the following rules:

[0037]

[0038] in The average steady-state temperature of the reference curve at a 60% duty cycle. The average steady-state temperature is the measured value. The learning rate is set to 0.6. The corrected target temperature. However, the temperature is limited to the range of 38℃–42℃. The adaptive calibration process can only be completed after the user confirms "no discomfort" via their mobile terminal; otherwise, the system terminates the calibration and maintains the default parameters.

[0039] The operation procedure of the precise eye heat therapy method is as follows: The user wears the flexible heat therapy base on the closed eyelid surface, ensuring that each functional area is aligned with the anatomical structure; presses the power button on the side of the device to start the system; the central co-controller reads the pre-stored individual characteristic parameters from the non-volatile memory and attempts to establish a low-power Bluetooth connection with the paired mobile terminal; if the connection is successful, the latest postoperative days and intensity level settings are synchronized; then an adaptive calibration process is executed to obtain the current user's actual thermal response characteristics; the default heat therapy intensity level is matched according to the postoperative days, and the corresponding target temperature curve is loaded; the distributed micro-area heating array is activated, and multi-point temperature sensors are turned on simultaneously. Network and nuclear security monitoring tasks; During the heat therapy process, the physiological state analysis engine analyzes the temperature data stream at a 100-millisecond cycle and dynamically adjusts the output power of each heating unit to maintain the spatial temperature field balance; If any sensor temperature is detected to be ≥43℃ or the overheat fuse is blown, the heating power is immediately cut off, triggering an audible and visual alarm and pushing an abnormal notification; After the heat therapy cycle ends (the default duration is set according to the intensity level: Level 1 10 minutes, Level 2 12 minutes, Level 3 15 minutes), the device automatically enters a low-power standby mode and writes the operation record (including timestamp, full data of each sensor, power adjustment log, and abnormal event marker) to the internal flash memory.

[0040] To verify the technical effects of the present invention, the following embodiments and comparative experiments were conducted.

[0041] In one specific embodiment, a 52-year-old female patient was selected and used the device of this invention on the 5th day after phacoemulsification cataract surgery. The patient's individual characteristics were recorded as follows: postoperative day = 5, surgery type code = C01, eyelid closure integrity rating = complete closure, corneal sensation test result = normal, basal body temperature correction value = +0.3℃. The system automatically matched to the repair phase (level 2 intensity), with a target temperature range of 39.5℃–41℃. The adaptive calibration process measured that the thermal response in the lower eyelid region was approximately 0.8℃ slower than the standard curve, and the system accordingly increased the target temperature in the lower eyelid region by 0.5℃. During the heat application, the sensor at the center of the upper eyelid remained stable at 40.2℃, the center of the lower eyelid at 40.7℃, the outer canthus at 39.8℃, and the inner canthus at 40.1℃, with the overall thermal balance index maintained within 0.4℃. The humidity sensor detected an acceleration in tear film evaporation rate starting from the 8th minute, and the system automatically extended the heat application by 2 minutes and increased the power of the lower eyelid by 5%. There were no high temperature alarms throughout the process, and patients reported feeling "warm and comfortable, without any burning or dryness."

[0042] In the comparative study, a traditional commercially available eye mask (single constant-temperature heating element, nominal temperature 40℃±3℃) was used on the same patient on the 6th postoperative day. This eye mask lacked zoned temperature control; after wearing it, the measured temperature in the center of the upper eyelid reached 43.1℃, while the lower eyelid margin was only 36.8℃, a temperature difference of 6.3℃. The patient reported "upper eyelid stinging" at the 7th minute, and use was immediately discontinued. Infrared thermal imaging showed severely uneven heat distribution, with a significant cold zone in the outer canthus area.

[0043] The table below summarizes the key performance indicators of the embodiments and comparative examples:

[0044] project Example (of the present invention) Comparative example (traditional heated eye mask) Temperature control accuracy (percentage of time within the target range) 98.7% 62.3% Maximum regional temperature difference (°C) 1.1 6.3 Number of abnormal high temperature events 0 1 User comfort rating (0–10 points) 9.2 4.5 Tear film stability maintenance effect (humidity decrease rate, % / min) -1.3 -3.8

[0045] The above data demonstrates that this invention significantly outperforms traditional solutions in terms of temperature uniformity, control precision, safety, and user experience. Its core advantages stem from the synergistic effect of an anatomically matched flexible substrate, a micro-area heating array with independent zone control, a multimodal physiological sensing feedback mechanism, and a triple-redundant safety protection system.

[0046] Furthermore, this invention supports multi-treatment data tracking. After each heat application, the operation record is uploaded to a cloud server via a wireless communication module. The server then constructs an individual thermal response evolution model based on historical data. For example, if the target temperature for the lower eyelid area needs to be increased in three consecutive heat applications, the system automatically preloads a higher initial setting value in subsequent treatments, reducing dynamic adjustments and improving heat application efficiency. This function relies on a two-way data synchronization mechanism between the central coordinating controller and the mobile terminal. All transmitted data is end-to-end encrypted, complying with medical data privacy protection standards.

[0047] In summary, the precise eye heat therapy method described in this invention achieves refined management of the postoperative eye heat therapy process through hardware structure innovation, control algorithm optimization, and enhanced safety mechanisms. Its technical solution is fully disclosed, and those skilled in the art can reproduce all functions based on the above description without any creative effort.

Claims

1. A precise method for applying warm compresses to the eyes suitable for postoperative patients, characterized in that, The method is implemented using an integrated wearable heating device, which includes a flexible heating substrate, a distributed micro-area heating array, a multi-point embedded temperature sensing network, and a central coordinating controller. The inner surface contour of the flexible heating substrate matches the anatomical shape of an adult eyelid, dividing it into an upper eyelid curvature area, a lower eyelid support area, and a lateral canthus transition area. The distributed micro-area heating array consists of sixteen independently controllable thin-film heating units embedded in a four-by-four matrix within the flexible heating substrate. Four heating units located in the central region of the upper eyelid are set as the baseline power density, while the remaining twelve heating units are set to 65% or 75% of the baseline value according to their anatomical positions. The multi-point embedded temperature sensing network includes eight high-precision digital temperature sensors, respectively located at the center of the upper eyelid, the lateral side of the upper eyelid, the center of the lower eyelid, the medial side of the lower eyelid, the lateral canthus, the medial canthus, below the brow bone, and above the cheekbone. The central coordinating controller dynamically adjusts the output power of each heating unit based on the patient's individual characteristic parameters and real-time temperature data, ensuring that the actual temperature of all key tissue points is stably maintained within the target range of 38°C to 42°C.

2. The precise eye heat compress method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The central coordinating controller runs a physiological state analysis engine, which performs sliding window filtering on the readings of eight temperature sensors and calculates the local temperature rise gradient and the overall thermal balance index. When any local temperature rise gradient exceeds 0.3℃ / s or the overall thermal balance index exceeds 1.5℃, the regional power redistribution subroutine is triggered, which dynamically adjusts the duty cycle output of the corresponding heating unit according to the preset heat conduction compensation model.

3. The precise eye heat therapy method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The central collaborative controller adopts a dual-core heterogeneous architecture. The main core executes the hot compress strategy scheduling, while the co-core is dedicated to safety monitoring tasks. The co-core polls the highest reading value of the temperature sensor at a fixed period and monitors the status of two independent overheat fuses. When the reading of any temperature sensor reaches 43°C or any overheat fuse is physically disconnected, the co-core immediately cuts off the power supply to all heating units and sends an emergency shutdown interruption request to the main core.

4. The precise eye heat compress method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The patient's individual characteristics parameters include postoperative days, surgical type code, eyelid closure integrity rating, corneal sensation test results, and basal body temperature correction value. These parameters are entered and encrypted and transmitted to the central collaborative controller via a matching mobile terminal. The matching mobile terminal has a built-in postoperative recovery stage mapping table, which automatically matches the heat application intensity level according to the postoperative days. The heat application intensity level is divided into three levels, corresponding to the inflammation period, repair period, and remodeling period, respectively. Each level is set with different target temperature ranges and maximum allowable temperature rise slopes.

5. The precise eye heat therapy method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The inner surface of the flexible heat-compressing base is equipped with a miniature humidity sensor array, which consists of four capacitive humidity sensing elements located in the center of the upper eyelid, the center of the lower eyelid, the outer canthus, and the inner canthus, respectively. The central coordinating controller determines the tear film stability state based on whether the average humidity decrease rate within five consecutive minutes exceeds 2% relative humidity per minute. When a decrease is determined, the current heat-compressing cycle is automatically extended by five minutes, while the output power of the heating unit in the lower eyelid area is increased by 5%.

6. The precise eye heat compress method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Each thin-film heating unit in the distributed micro-area heating array uses a graphene composite heating film as the core heating material, with a thickness of no more than 80 micrometers and a surface resistance uniformity error of less than ±3%. A serpentine conductive path is formed through laser etching. Each heating unit is connected to the power drive interface of the central coordinating controller through a flexible printed circuit board. The power drive interface includes sixteen independent MOSFET switching circuits, each equipped with a current sampling resistor and an overcurrent protection diode.

7. The precise eye heat compress method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The central coordinating controller stores a standard eyelid thermal response database, which contains typical temperature response curves of different age groups, genders and ethnicities under the same thermal stimulation. At the beginning of each heat application, the system performs a two-minute adaptive calibration process, obtains the user's actual thermal response characteristics through a step-by-step temperature increase test, and corrects the target temperature setting value for subsequent stages accordingly. The corrected target temperature is limited to the range of 38°C to 42°C.

8. The precise eye heat compress method according to claim 7, characterized in that, The adaptive calibration process includes sequentially setting all heating units to 20%, 40%, and 60% of the reference duty cycle, maintaining each position for 30 seconds, and finally maintaining the duty cycle at 60% for 60 seconds. The system records the temperature rise curves of each sensor and performs Pearson correlation coefficient matching with the closest reference curve in the database. If the correlation coefficient is lower than 0.85, the correction amount is calculated. ,in It is 0.

6. The average steady-state temperature is used as the reference curve. This represents the average measured steady-state temperature.

9. The precise eye heat compress method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The eight high-precision digital temperature sensors are model DS18B20, with a temperature resolution of 0.0625℃ and an accuracy of ±0.5℃. They are connected to the analog signal input port of the central coordinating controller via independent shielded twisted-pair cables. The sensor encapsulation uses biocompatible epoxy resin, with an outer diameter not exceeding 1.5 mm.

10. The precise eye heat therapy method according to claim 1, characterized in that, After the heat therapy cycle ends, the device automatically enters standby mode and writes the operation record to the internal flash memory. The operation record includes timestamps, full data from each sensor, power adjustment logs, and abnormal event markers, and is uploaded to the cloud server via a wireless communication module to build an individual thermal response evolution model to optimize subsequent treatment parameters.

Images