Networked Ionic Foot Bath Control Unit for Remote Updates
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ionic foot bath systems face challenges in maintenance and updates, as well as high upfront costs for practitioners, making it difficult for third parties to provide remote monitoring and updates, and for users to access additional therapeutic sessions without shipping the device, leading to inconvenience and expense.
Innovation Solution
A control unit connected to a network that allows remote monitoring and updates, enabling pay-per-use functionality through public/private encryption key pairs for user-selectable features, allowing users to purchase operational time in increments and facilitating maintenance and session updates without physical shipment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the foot bath system is purchased by a practitioner, then the practitioner can provide therapeutic sessions to patients, but the upfront cost is high and requires multiple sessions to be sold before seeing a return on investment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the business model into two distinct parts: (1) leasing the physical foot bath system hardware, and (2) purchasing operational time in increments. This allows practitioners to access the system with minimal upfront investment by leasing rather than purchasing, and to control operational costs by buying time in smaller increments rather than requiring a large initial investment to cover multiple therapeutic sessions.
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit acts as an intermediary between the practitioner and the system owner. It manages the leasing agreement and operational time purchases through encrypted key pairs, enabling the practitioner to operate the system without directly owning it, thereby reducing upfront costs while maintaining full operational capability.
2Reliability
If the foot bath system requires maintenance or updates, then the system can be serviced, but the user must ship the system to a third party which is costly and inconvenient
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit is designed to perform self-service through remote monitoring and updates. The system automatically communicates with the third party via network connection, allowing the third party to monitor system status and install updates remotely without requiring the user to physically ship the device. This eliminates the inconvenience and cost of shipping while ensuring reliable maintenance.
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit implements continuous feedback by monitoring system status and automatically communicating with the third party. This allows the third party to detect when maintenance is needed and to push updates to the system remotely, creating a responsive maintenance system that doesn't require user intervention or physical device shipping.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the foot bath system includes pre-loaded therapeutic sessions, then users can select from multiple sessions, but upgrading to include more sessions requires returning the system to the seller
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit transforms the static set of pre-loaded therapeutic sessions into a dynamic, expandable library. Through network connection and remote update capability, the system can continuously receive new therapeutic sessions from the third party without requiring physical return of the device. This makes the session variety adaptable and easily upgradable, allowing users to access more therapeutic options as needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit serves multiple functions: it manages the existing pre-loaded therapeutic sessions, handles network communication for remote updates, and provides a unified interface for users to access and select sessions. This multi-functional design allows the system to maintain its pre-loaded sessions while also enabling easy expansion through remote updates, eliminating the need to return the device for upgrades.
4Ease of operation
If the control unit allows remote monitoring and updates, then maintenance and updates can be performed without shipping, but the system requires network connectivity and encryption key management
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit uses encrypted key pairs as an intermediary mechanism to manage remote access securely. The public key allows the third party to communicate and update the system remotely, while the private key remains secure in the control unit. This intermediary encryption system enables remote monitoring and updates without requiring complex authentication protocols or reducing security, balancing convenience with security.
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
Enables remote monitoring and maintenance, reduces costs for practitioners by allowing pay-per-use operational time purchases, and simplifies the process of accessing additional therapeutic sessions, enhancing user convenience and reducing the burden of upfront system purchases.
Implementation Method 1
Electrolysis involves ionizing water by passing an electrical current through water. When water is ionized, the individual water molecules are split into their constituent elements, namely hydrogen ions (H+) and hydroxy ions (OH−).
Implementation Method 2
The control unit may include an I/O port associated with a network connection and configured to communicate with a network to receive an indication of a user-selectable feature to be operated by the ionic foot bath system
Data Source
AI summary
One particular implementation of the present invention may involve a control unit of an ionic foot bath or other health product. The control unit may be connected to a network or the Internet such that the control unit may be monitored or controlled by a third party, such that the third party may provide programming updates, adjust the programming of the control unit to conform to the user's preferences and provide flexibility to a practitioner with several foot bath systems. The control unit may also provide the functionality of a pay-per-use method for use of the ionic foot bath. The method may allow a user or an operator of the product to purchase operational time that is desired to use the product. Once the operating time is purchased, the product may be operated for the purchased amount of time, at which point, more usage time may be purchased.