Thermal Imaging Incontinence Detection System
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Solution Overview
Problem
Patients with incontinence issues face challenges due to the inability to control bladder functions or bowel movements, leading to involuntary wetting or soiling, which can result in injuries or infections if not addressed promptly, and caregivers often struggle to monitor these issues due to limited availability and time constraints.
Innovation Solution
A patient monitoring system utilizing a thermographic camera and artificial intelligence to detect temperature differences in a region of interest relative to the surrounding area, issuing alerts when a threshold is exceeded, allowing for early detection of incontinence events without physical contact.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If caregivers manually check patient coverings for wetting or soiling, then detection accuracy is improved, but labor requirements and time consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical manual checking system with a thermal imaging system. The thermal camera captures infrared radiation to detect temperature changes in patient coverings, and the processing system automatically analyzes these changes to detect incontinence events, eliminating the need for physical manual inspection while maintaining detection accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces thermal energy as an intermediary medium to detect incontinence events. Instead of direct physical contact, the system uses thermal imaging to capture temperature variations caused by wetting or soiling, serving as an indirect but accurate detection method that bridges the gap between patient condition and caregiver awareness.
2Reliability
If continuous monitoring is implemented to prevent injuries or infections, then patient safety is improved, but labor costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables continuous self-monitoring of patient coverings through automated thermal imaging. The thermal camera continuously captures temperature data, and the processing system automatically detects incontinence events without requiring constant caregiver presence, allowing the monitoring system to serve itself continuously while reducing labor requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements continuous monitoring through automated thermal imaging that operates without interruption. The thermal camera continuously captures temperature variations, and the system continuously processes this data to detect incontinence events, ensuring uninterrupted patient safety monitoring unlike periodic manual checks.
3Reliability
If manual checking of coverings is performed frequently, then detection reliability is improved, but time consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces time-consuming manual inspection with automated thermal imaging. The thermal camera rapidly captures temperature distributions, and the processing system instantly analyzes these images to detect incontinence events, providing reliable detection without the time consumption of repeated manual checks.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary continuous thermal monitoring to detect temperature changes before they become clinically significant. By continuously capturing and analyzing thermal data, the system can early detect incontinence events, allowing for timely intervention without requiring frequent manual inspections.
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
The system enables timely and non-invasive detection of incontinence events, reducing the risk of injuries and infections by alerting caregivers promptly, thus improving patient care and reducing labor costs associated with continuous monitoring.
Implementation Method 1
receive, from a thermographic camera, at least one image corresponding to a temperature of a region of interest and a surrounding area
Data Source
AI summary
A patient monitoring system includes a computing device that having a processor and a memory, the memory comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the system to receive, from a thermographic camera, at least one image corresponding to a temperature of a region of interest and a surrounding area that surrounds the region of interest; use an artificial intelligence model to analyze the at least one image; detect a difference in temperature of the region of interest relative to the surrounding area; and issue an alert related to an incontinence event when the difference in temperature exceeds a threshold value.