Home Phototherapy System with Remote Dose Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current phototherapy treatments for skin conditions like psoriasis, vitiligo, and eczema are hindered by the need for frequent clinic visits, low adherence due to inconvenience, and the challenge of monitoring and adjusting UV doses effectively, especially in home-based treatments.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising a hand-held phototherapy device with a LED light source emitting UVB wavelengths, paired with a patient computing device and server, allowing for conditional prescription parameters to be set and adjusted remotely, enabling patients to administer treatments at home while ensuring dose control and monitoring through image analysis and adherence tracking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If patients undergo frequent clinic visits for phototherapy treatments, then treatment efficacy is maintained, but patient convenience and adherence deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The phototherapy device is extracted from the clinic setting and made portable for home use. The system removes the requirement for frequent clinic visits by enabling patients to receive treatments in their own homes, thereby maintaining treatment efficacy while dramatically improving patient convenience and adherence.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback mechanisms where the phototherapy device communicates treatment status and UV dose information to both the patient and healthcare provider. This feedback loop enables remote monitoring and adjustment of treatment parameters, ensuring treatment efficacy is maintained without requiring frequent in-person visits.
2Ease of operation
If home-based phototherapy is implemented, then patient convenience improves, but dose control and monitoring difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The phototherapy device incorporates feedback mechanisms that continuously monitor UV dose delivery and communicate this information to both the patient and healthcare provider. This real-time feedback enables accurate dose control and monitoring in the home setting, eliminating the previous disadvantage of poor dose monitoring.
Solution Approach 2:
A mobile application serves as an intermediary between the phototherapy device, patient, and healthcare provider. The app facilitates remote communication, tracks treatment parameters, and enables dose adjustment without requiring direct clinical presence, thus solving the monitoring difficulty while maintaining home-based convenience.
3Adaptability or versatility
If conditional prescription parameters are used, then treatment personalization improves, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system allows healthcare providers to pre-configure conditional prescription parameters and treatment protocols before the patient uses the device at home. These pre-set parameters automatically adjust based on treatment response and patient characteristics, enabling personalized treatment without requiring complex real-time decision-making or overwhelming system complexity during actual use.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This system allows for convenient and effective home-based phototherapy with remote monitoring and dose adjustment, improving adherence and treatment efficacy by enabling personalized and targeted UV exposure, reducing unnecessary exposure to unaffected skin, and enhancing patient compliance.
Implementation Method 1
The phototherapy device comprises a hand-held phototherapy device. In some embodiments, the phototherapy light source is configured to emit a light comprising a UVB wavelength in the range of 300-320 nm. In some embodiments, the phototherapy light source comprises a light emitting diode (LED).
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to systems, methods, and uses of systems for treating a skin condition with phototherapy. A system comprises (a) a phototherapy device comprising a phototherapy light source; (b) a patient computing device comprising a processor and a memory, the patient computing device configured to: transmit a first signal to the phototherapy device enabling operation of the phototherapy device according to one or more conditional prescription parameters, activate the phototherapy light source, and transmit a second signal reporting operation of the phototherapy device; and (c) a server configured to communicate with the patient computing device and receive the second signal. Also disclosed are systems, methods and compositions for controlling phototherapy treatments of the skin comprising (a) incorporating sun exposure into a prescribed phototherapy treatment; (b) quantitative measurement of erythema using digital image processing; (c) computer aided guidance for administration of targeted phototherapy; (d) treatment recommendations from outcome based analytics of a population of connected phototherapy devices; (e) an emollient with UV fading dye to visibly identify treated areas in the administration of targeted phototherapy.