Patent Application Titled “Apparatus, System And Method For Measurement Of A Patient Body And Portions Thereof” Published Online (USPTO 20210307647): Quantum Labs LLC
2021 OCT 22 (NewsRx) -- By a
The assignee for this patent application is
Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Hospitals and other facilities in the medical field currently lack a uniform system of measurement for a patient’s body and/or portions thereof. As used herein, a patient may refer to a human being and/or an animal. Although this disclosure uses a human being patient in examples, this disclosure can be equally applicable to an animal patient. The effects of lacking a uniform system of measurement are \vide-ranging, costly, and potentially dangerous. By way of example, high risk and expensive medications such as epinephrine (a life-support infusion), rituximab (an anti-cancer drug), liposomal daunorubicine/cytarabine (an anti-cancer drug), and vancomycin (an antibiotic used in the treatment of serious drug-resistant infections) are dosed partially based on a patient’s height. Miscalculations of a patient’s height can therefore have serious implications. If there is an overmeasurement of patient height, a dose may be too high, creating an increased risk of medication toxicity and waste due to medication overuse. If there is an undermeasurement of patient height, a dose may be too low, producing an increased likelihood of treatment failure, prolonged illness, and potential waste due to unnecessarily prolonged treatments.
“Patient height also factors into numerous additional clinical and treatment applications. By way of example, the National Kidney Foundation’s recommended calculation for kidney function (which is itself used in dosing decisions), involves a mathematical equation in which patient height is a variable. Further, it is also significant that chemotherapy drugs and immunotherapy courses are also dosed in part based on patient height. Separately, ventilator settings for mechanical ventilation are based on patient height. And hospital nutrition decisions are typically made based on body mass index, which is itself adjusted for patient height.
“In the Intensive Care Unit in particular, one of the standards of care is to provide mechanical ventilation through a ventilator, using an amount of air that is calibrated essentially to a value that is heavily dependent on patient height. In the event that an incorrect patient height is entered in the electronic medical record, that erroneous value may propagate throughout the patient’s entire hospital course and may result in a number of significant quality and safety issues.
“Despite these factors and other potential considerations, hospitals and other care providers do not have a standard, clinically valid, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-compliant system for patient height measurement that can be used for most or all patients. Indeed, smartphone apps used for patient height measurement are typically not HIPAA-compliant and may not be validated for clinical use. Additionally, handheld rulers or measuring tapes are not always accurate for bedbound patients. Standing measurement devices are also not practical for the significant population (if not majority) of hospitalized patients who cannot be mobilized without assistance. Practitioner estimates (e.g., visual estimation or asking a family member) and self-reports of height are also often inaccurate. Accordingly, there exists a need for a practical, precise, accurate, and uniform system of patient height measurement in the medical field.
“Prior art exists with respect to the measurement of a human body using a bedding article, see, e.g., Measuring Bedding Articles and Methods for Measuring Using Same,
“Prior art also exists in devices and methods designed to determine particular information relating to user physique for particular discrete purposes. See, e.g., Pillow Selection and Sleeper Appraisal,
“As discussed below, the present disclosure advances the art, by providing a uniform, precise means for measurement of portions of and/or the entirety of a patient body in the clinical environment, for use in diagnostic and other treatment applications.”
In addition to obtaining background information on this patent application, NewsRx editors also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent application: “Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a measuring apparatus for measurement of at least a portion of a patient body. The measuring apparatus comprises a measuring aid including a set of evenly spaced parallel lines. A distance between each pair of adjacent parallel lines is configured to tabulate a total length of the patient body or a portion thereof being measured. The set of evenly spaced parallel lines are divided at an intermediate parallel line into at least two sections in a direction perpendicular to the intermediate parallel line, the intermediate parallel line being a zero scale line of the set of evenly spaced parallel lines, and each of the at least two sections is provided with individual scales of corresponding measurement units ascending from the intermediate parallel line for separately measuring discretely particular portions of the patient body. The measuring apparatus further comprises a fixed medium having a first surface and a second surface opposing the first surface. The measuring aid is imprinted on at least one of the first surface and the second surface, the set of evenly spaced parallel lines are parallel in a transverse direction of the fixed medium, and the intermediate parallel line is approximately located at a middle point of the fixed medium in a longitudinal direction of the fixed medium.
“Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a measuring system for accurate, precise and uniform measurement of at least a portion of a patient body without moving the patient body. The measuring system comprises a fixed medium having a first surface and a second surface opposing the first surface, and a measuring aid imprinted on at least one of the first surface and the second surface. The measuring aid includes a set of evenly spaced parallel lines, a distance between each pair of adjacent parallel lines is configured to tabulate a total length of the portion of the patient body or a component thereof being measured. The set of evenly spaced parallel lines are divided at an intermediate parallel line into at least two sections in a direction perpendicular to the intermediate parallel line, the intermediate parallel line being a zero scale line of the set of evenly spaced parallel lines, each of the at least two sections is provided with individual scales of corresponding measurement unit for separately measuring discretely particular portions of the patient body, the set of evenly spaced parallel lines are parallel in a transverse direction of the fixed medium, and the at least two sections are configured to have approximately equal number of parallel lines on either side of the intermediate parallel line.
“Embodiments of the present disclosure provides a method of performing an accurate measurement of at least a portion of a patient body without moving the patient body. The method comprises: having the patient body laid over a measuring aid imprinted on a fixed medium, wherein the fixed medium is configured to have a first surface and a second surface opposing the first surface, the measuring aid is imprinted on at least one of the first surface and the second surface, the measuring aid includes a set of evenly spaced parallel lines, a distance between each pair of adjacent parallel lines is configured to tabulate a total length of the portion of the patient body or a component thereof being measured. The set of evenly spaced parallel lines are divided at an intermediate parallel line into at least two sections in a direction perpendicular to the intermediate parallel line, the intermediate parallel line being a zero scale line of the set of evenly spaced parallel lines, each of the at least two sections is provided with individual scales of corresponding measurement unit for separately measuring discretely particular portions of the patient body, the set of evenly spaced parallel lines are parallel in a transverse direction of the fixed medium, and the intermediate parallel line is approximately located at a middle point of the fixed medium in a longitudinal direction of the fixed medium; measuring a top half of the patient body by counting the number of parallel lines from the intermediate parallel line in a corresponding section of the at least two sections that is laid over by the top half of the patient body; multiplying the number of parallel lines laid over by the top half of the patient body with a first corresponding measurement unit to obtain a length of the top half of the patient body; measuring a lower half of the patient body by counting the number of parallel lines from the intermediate parallel line in another section of the at least two sections that is laid over by the lower half of the patient body; multiplying the number of parallel lines laid over by the lower half of the patient body with a second corresponding measurement unit to obtain a length of the lower half of the patient body; and summing the length of the lower half of the patient body and the length of the top half of the patient body to obtain a total length of the patient body.
“Further features of the disclosed apparatus, method and system, and the advantages offered thereby, are explained in greater detail hereinafter with reference to specific example embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings.”
The claims supplied by the inventors are:
“1. A measuring apparatus for measurement of at least a portion of a patient body, comprising: a measuring aid including a set of evenly spaced parallel lines, wherein a distance between each pair of adjacent parallel lines is configured to tabulate a length of the portion of the patient body or a component thereof being measured, the set of evenly spaced parallel lines are divided at an intermediate parallel line into at least two sections in a direction perpendicular to the intermediate parallel line, the intermediate parallel line is a zero scale line of the set of evenly spaced parallel lines, and each of the at least two sections is provided with individual scales of corresponding measurement units ascending from the intermediate parallel line for separately measuring particular portions of the patient body; and a fixed medium having a first surface and a second surface opposing the first surface, wherein the measuring aid is imprinted on at least one of the first surface and the second surface, the set of evenly spaced parallel lines are parallel in a transverse direction of the fixed medium, and the intermediate parallel line is approximately located at a middle point of the fixed medium in a longitudinal direction of the fixed medium.
“2. The measurement apparatus of claim 1, wherein the corresponding measurement unit is at least one of a metric measurement system unit and an English measurement system unit.
“3. The measurement apparatus of claim 1, wherein the evenly spaced parallel lines in at least one of the at least two sections are further divided into a subset of smaller scale evenly spaced parallel lines.
“4. The measurement apparatus of claim 1, wherein the fixed medium is a bedsheet.
“5. The measurement apparatus of claim 1, wherein the fixed medium is a backboard for use in emergency medicine situations.
“6. The measurement apparatus of claim 1, wherein the measuring aid is imprinted on the first surface of the fixed medium; and the second surface of the fixed medium is provided with at least one fastener.
“7. The measurement apparatus of claim 6, wherein the at least one fastener includes at least one of an adhesive patch and a hook-and-loop fastener.
“8. The measurement apparatus of claim 6, wherein the fixed medium is attached through the at least one fastener to a patient support apparatus, such that the fixed medium is secured to the patient support apparatus while the portion of the patient body is measured.
“9. The measurement apparatus of claim 6, wherein the fixed medium is attached through the at least one fastener to a backboard for use in emergency medicine situations, such that the fixed medium is secured to the backboard while the portion of the patient body is measured.
“10. The measurement apparatus of claim 6, wherein the fixed medium is attached through the at least one fastener to a stretcher for use in emergency medicine situations, such that the fixed medium is secured to the stretcher while the portion of the patient body is measured.
“11. The measurement apparatus of claim 1, wherein the measuring aid is imprinted on the first surface of the fixed medium; the fixed medium is made of flexible materials; and the fixed medium is adapted to spread over a medical examination table, the second surface of the fixed medium being in contact with a top surface of the medical examination table such that the portion of the patient body is measured using the measuring aid imprinted on the first surface of the fixed medium.
“12. The measurement apparatus of claim 1, wherein the set of evenly spaced parallel lines are configured to extend across the fixed medium in both the transverse direction and the longitudinal direction of the fixed medium, such that patient body extremities or medical conditions present on those extremities may be measured without moving the patient body.
“13. The measurement apparatus of claim 1, wherein the set of evenly spaced parallel lines are configured to extend across the fixed medium in both the transverse direction and the longitudinal direction of the fixed medium, such that medical devices being used to treat the patient body may be measured without moving the patient body.
“14. A measuring system for accurate, precise and uniform measurement of at least a portion of a patient body without moving the patient body, comprising: a fixed medium having a first surface and a second surface opposing the first surface, and a measuring aid imprinted on at least one of the first surface and the second surface, wherein the measuring aid includes a set of evenly spaced parallel lines, a distance between each pair of adjacent parallel lines is configured to tabulate a total length of the portion of the patient body or a component thereof being measured, the set of evenly spaced parallel lines are divided at an intermediate parallel line into at least two sections in a direction perpendicular to the intermediate parallel line, the intermediate parallel line is a zero scale line of the set of evenly spaced parallel lines, each of the at least two sections is provided with individual scales of corresponding measurement unit for separately measuring discretely particular portions of the patient body, the set of evenly spaced parallel lines are parallel in a transverse direction of the fixed medium, and the at least two sections are configured to have approximately equal number of parallel lines on either side of the intermediate parallel line.
“15. The measurement system of claim 14, wherein the measuring aid is a first measuring aid; and the measurement system further comprises a second measuring aid imprinted on the at least one of the first surface and the second surface on which the first measuring aid is imprinted, wherein the second measuring aid is configured to form an angle with respect to the first measuring aid, the second measuring aid includes a second set of evenly spaced parallel lines, a distance between each pair of adjacent parallel lines of the second set is configured to tabulate a total length of the portion of the patient body or a component thereof being measured, the second set of evenly spaced parallel lines are divided at a second intermediate parallel line into at least two sections in a direction perpendicular to the second intermediate parallel line, the second intermediate parallel line is a zero scale line of the second set of evenly spaced parallel lines, each of the at least two sections of the second measuring aid is provided with individual scales of corresponding measurement unit for separately measuring discretely particular portions of the patient body, the second set of evenly spaced parallel lines are parallel in a direction corresponding to the angle formed between the first measuring aid and the second measuring aid, and the at least two sections of the second measuring aid are configured to have approximately equal number of parallel lines on either side of the second intermediate parallel line.
“16. The measurement system of claim 14, wherein the fixed medium is a bedsheet for use in patient care facilities.
“17. The measurement system of claim 14, wherein the fixed medium is a backboard for use in emergency medicine situations.
“18. The measurement system of claim 14, wherein the fixed medium is made of flexible materials; and the measuring aid is repeatedly imprinted on the at least one of the first surface and the second surface of the fixed medium such that each measuring aid is approximately adapted to the dimension of a top surface of a medical examination table, wherein one of the first surface and the second surface is in contact with the top surface of the medical examination table such that the portion of the patient body is measured using a corresponding measuring aid imprinted on another of the first surface and the second surface of the fixed medium, thereby a section of the fixed medium used by a prior patient can be discarded and a new section of the fixed medium can be unrolled for a next patient.”
There are additional claims. Please visit full patent to read further.
For more information, see this patent application: FOGERTY, Robert; HIGGINS, Todd; KAHN, Peter. Apparatus, System And Method For Measurement Of A Patient Body And Portions Thereof. Filed
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