Mobile Mask Sizing Using Facial Image Reference Measurement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing patient interfaces for respiratory therapies, such as CPAP, are often uncomfortable, difficult to use, and require labor-intensive sizing by trained professionals, leading to low patient compliance and inconvenience.
Innovation Solution
A mobile application that uses image analysis to automatically measure facial features and recommend a patient interface size based on a two-dimensional image, allowing patients to select a suitable mask size without professional assistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If manual sizing by trained professionals is used, then sizing accuracy is improved, but device complexity and time consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical measurement processes with an automated image processing system. The mobile application captures facial images and uses algorithms to automatically measure facial features, eliminating the need for manual measurement tools and trained professionals while maintaining sizing accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables patients to perform self-sizing at home using their own mobile devices. The automated image analysis allows users to independently determine their mask size without requiring visits to healthcare facilities or assistance from trained personnel, significantly reducing time consumption.
2Measurement precision
If manual sizing by trained professionals is used, then sizing accuracy is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex manual measurement procedures with a simple mobile application that automatically processes facial images. This substitution maintains measurement precision while dramatically simplifying the user experience, allowing patients to complete sizing in minutes without specialized training.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses image copying and digital processing to replicate the measurement process. Instead of direct physical measurement, the system captures a visual copy of the patient's face and performs measurements on the digital image, making the process easier to perform and more accessible to non-experts.
3Ease of operation
If automated image analysis is used, then ease of operation is improved, but measurement precision may deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent substitutes manual measurement with automated image analysis algorithms that objectively calculate facial dimensions. These algorithms process pixel data to determine mask size, eliminating human error while maintaining ease of operation through automatic processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback mechanisms to ensure measurement quality. The mobile application provides real-time guidance during image capture and validates measurements against established criteria, automatically adjusting or requesting re-capture if precision thresholds are not met, thereby maintaining accuracy while keeping the process simple for users.
Data Source
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AI summary
Apparatus and methods automate selection of patient interface(s) according to their size, such as with processing in a processor(s) or in a server(s). Image data captured by an image sensor may be received. The captured image data may contain facial feature(s) of an intended user of the patient interface. The facial features may be captured in association with a predetermined reference feature of known dimension(s). The user's facial feature(s) and the reference feature may be detected in the captured image data. Image pixel data of the image may be processed to measure an aspect of the detected facial feature(s) based on the reference feature. A patient interface size may be detected from standard patient interface sizes based on a comparison between the measured aspect of the facial feature(s) and a data record relating sizing information of the standard patient interface sizes and the measured aspect of the facial feature(s).