Vitalis
Wireless Biometric Sensor
Patent Liability Analysis
ECE 477 - Spring 2013
TEAM 13
Presenter: Aakash Lamba
Team Members:
Aakash Lamba
Di Mo
Shantanu Joshi
Yi Shen
Project Abstract
• Prototype of a portable wireless biometric sensor
• Battery-powered device with fuel gauge
• Mounted on the wrist
• Monitor vital signs such as pulse rate, SpO2 and skin temperature
• Transmit the information via Wi-Fi for remote web access
• NFC chip allows immediate access
• Accelerometer on the shoulder for fall detection
• Manual and automatic alarm system.
Our Design
Accelerometer
Wi-Fi chip
Alarm button
OLED
Battery
Sp02 sensor
Existing patents
Liability analysis (6,102,856)
• The device in the patent is portable, however unlike our product
which is wrist mounted, this device is worn around the chest and all
sensors are in contact with skin(claim 11).
• Alarm system detects anomalous conditions on device, contacts
attendant who based on the condition requests help for the patient.
All the communication here happens over cell phone network (claim
14). Our device however operates over wi-fi (since it’s meant for
operation in a hospital setting) and produces alarms automatically
i.e. no attendant required
• Anomalous data is identified on the device itself which sends
message through phone call(claim 1), while our alarms are
generated on device and are sent to web server, which subsequently
sends alerts through software via either email or VOIP (to primary
care provider). Alert is also sent of device itself (i.e. display flashes).
Liability analysis (6,314,058 B1)
• Our design infringes the form factor under the
doctrine of equivalents since the device like ours
is a wrist mounted health monitor(claim1).
• However, our packaging is very different. The
pulse sensors in the patented product are
underneath the rubber strap by which the device is
mounted. Our pulse sensor is located on the users
finger.
• Also, the patented device uses sound to measure
beats. We utilize an optical sensor to gauge
changes in Spo2 to measure pulse.
Similar products
ViSi Mobile health monitor
-
Worn around the wrist; supported by a band
Touch screen UI
Small and discrete.
Only respiration rate sensor is placed on user’s chest
Aesthetically pleasing
There patents for this product are still pending
The company that makes the ViSi health
monitor, Sotera Wireless Inc. has issued the
following patent applications related to their
health monitor:
Body-worn vital sign monitor (#1)
Alarm system that processes both motion and
vital signs using specific heuristic rules and
thresholds (#2)
Liability analysis
• Abstract: A body-worn vital sign monitor that measures a patient’s vital
signs while simultaneously characterizing their activity state.
• Our device does infringe on the form factor of the ViSi mobile health
monitor (under the doctrine of equivalents). That being said the idea of
mounting of a device on one’s wrist, like a wrist watch is not a novel one.
• The ViSi monitor transmits wirelessly using P2P communication and over
802.11 network protocols which is basically wifi. We also plan to use wifi
to wirelessy send data to an online server.
• However, the difference lies in the fact that the ViSi operates completely
within the hospital network (locally), while our server is hosted on the web
which means that patient records can be accessed even when a patient’s
caretaker is far away. The only commonality in the two design is wifi
which is something that Sotera cannot patent.
Liability analysis
• Sensor locations:
Sensor
ViSi
Our device
Accelerometer
3 different sensors for One accelerometer
x,y and z mounted on for fall detection on
device, on arm and
shoulder
cable
Temperature
Chest
Wrist (under device)
Sp02
Thumb
Index finger
• Also, the user generated alarm is through the touchscreen UI, while
we use a physical button on our device
• Since Sotera’s patents are still pending, technically, we are not
infringing intellectual property.