Pneumonia screener

Abstract

A device for obtaining physiological information including plethysmographs of a medical patient and detecting a condition of pneumonia. The portable pneumonia screening device may include one or more sensors configured to obtain physiological information. The pneumonia screener may provide for methods of selecting and interfaces to assist selecting a patient's age group. The screener may match a selected age group from a set of programmed threshold level of oxygen saturation, respiratory, pulse rate, or other physiological parameters to assist pneumonia diagnosis. The pneumonia screener may provide one or more visual and/or audio stimuli, such as an animation, sound or music. The visual and/or audio stimuli may indicate initialization, diagnostic in progress, completion, or other events or progress of events. In some embodiments, the visual and/or auditory stimuli may be used to soothe or intrigue the patient such that patient agitation is reduced during the screening process.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An electronic system for determining an existence of pneumonia condition, the electronic system comprising:
 at least one optical sensor configured to attach to a patient and measure physiological parameters the patient;   a hardware processor configured to determine a physiological parameter of the patient from the measured physiological parameters; and   a display configured to present both visual stimuli including static images or animation, wherein the visual stimuli is configured to draw the attention of the patient, and display physiological information of the patient obtained from the at least one optical sensor.   
     
     
         2 . The electronic system according to  claim 1 , further comprising a user interface configured to receive age information associated with the patient. 
     
     
         3 . The electronic system according to  claim 2 , further comprising a memory configured to store associative information between a plurality of patient ages and normal physiological parameters for each corresponding patient age; 
     
     
         4 . The electronic system according to  claim 3 , wherein the hardware processor is configured to receive at least one patient information indicative of an age of the patient; 
     
     
         5 . The electronic system according to  claim 4 , wherein the hardware processor is configured to access the memory and acquire, based at least in part on the age of the patient, a normal physiological parameter for comparison with the determined physiological parameter of the patient; 
     
     
         6 . The electronic system according to  claim 5 , wherein the hardware processor is configured to compare the determined physiological parameter of the patient with the normal physiological parameter. 
     
     
         7 . The electronic system according to  claim 6 , wherein the hardware processor is configured to determine, based on a result of the comparison, a likelihood of the patient having a pneumonia condition. 
     
     
         8 . The electronic system according to  claim 7 , wherein the hardware processor is configured to generate a diagnostic report including the likelihood of the pneumonia condition. 
     
     
         9 . The electronic system according to  claim 8 , wherein the visual stimuli occupies a first portion of available space on the display for presentation of visual information. 
     
     
         10 . The electronic system according to  claim 9 , wherein the display presents, on a second portion of available space on the display for presentation of visual information, one or more physiological data related to the likelihood of the pneumonia condition. 
     
     
         11 . The electronic system according to  claim 10 , wherein the hardware processor is configured to update the one or more physiological data in real-time. 
     
     
         12 . The electronic system according to  claim 11 , wherein the physiological parameter is a respiratory rate.