Discovering events related to the health of a living body through analysis of movements while situated on a pressure-mitigation device

Abstract

Introduced here are pressure-mitigation systems able to mitigate the pressure applied to a human body by the surface of an object. A system can include a pressure-mitigation device with chambers whose pressure can be varied by a controller that regulates the flow of fluid produced by a pump. The controller may be deployed as part of a closed loop system that autonomously infers information related to the health of a patient based on data related to the pressure of these chambers. For example, the data may be examined to determine whether the values indicate the patient is properly situated. A notification may be presented responsive to determining that the patient is not situated on the pressure-mitigation device, the patient has been improperly situated on the pressure-mitigation device for a certain amount of time, etc. Thus, real-time feedback may be provided to those responsible for monitoring the patient.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A non-transitory medium with instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
 Initiating a connection with a controller that is responsible for controllably inflating chambers of a pressure-mitigation device that is disposed between a human body and a surface;   obtaining, via the connection in real time, data that indicates pressure of each of the chambers over a period of time;   examining the data so as to establish that at least some of the chambers experienced high-frequency changes in pressure over the period of time;   determining that the human body is experiencing a seizure based on the high-frequency changes in pressure; and   causing display of a notification that specifies the human body is experiencing the seizure.   
     
     
         2 . The non-transitory medium of  claim 1 , wherein the high-frequency changes are determined to be representative of a seizure in response to a determination that the high-frequency changes match a predefined pattern. 
     
     
         3 . The non-transitory medium of  claim 2 , wherein the predefined pattern is one of multiple predefined patterns against which the high-frequency changes are compared. 
     
     
         4 . The non-transitory medium of  claim 3 , wherein each of the multiple predefined patterns is associated with a different type of medical event. 
     
     
         5 . The non-transitory medium of  claim 1 , wherein said determining includes applying, to the data, a model that is trained to detect patterns of high-frequency changes that are representative of seizures. 
     
     
         6 . The non-transitory medium of  claim 1 , wherein said determining includes establishing that the high-frequency changes exceed a predetermined magnitude and occur over an interval of time no longer than ten seconds. 
     
     
         7 . A method performed by a controller that has a durable housing in which a processor resides, the method comprising:
 receiving input indicating that a pressure-mitigation device is fluidically coupled to a fluid interface that is accessible along a surface of the durable housing,
 wherein the pressure-mitigation device includes a plurality of chambers that are intertwined to collectively have a geometric form; 
   causing the plurality of chambers to be inflated to varying degrees in accordance with a programmed pattern, so as to shift force that is applied to a human body by an underlying surface;   obtaining data that is indicative of pressure of each of the plurality of chambers over time;   examining the data so as to establish that at least some of the chambers experienced high-frequency changes in pressure over an interval of time not exceeding a predetermined length;   determining that the human body is experiencing a seizure based on the high-frequency changes in pressure; and   causing presentation of a notification that specifies the human body is experiencing the seizure.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the predetermined length is no longer than 5 seconds. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the predetermined length is no longer than 3 seconds. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein said determining includes applying, to the data, a model that is trained to detect patterns of high-frequency changes that are representative of seizures. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein said causing is performed in response to a determination that the pressure-mitigation device is disposed between the human body and the underlying surface. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the determination is based on input provided by an operator through an interaction with the controller. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 transmitting at least some of the data to a destination external to the controller for further analysis.   
     
     
         14 . A controller for managing fluid flow into a pressure-mitigation device that has a plurality of chambers intertwined in a geometric shape, the controller comprising:
 a structural body that includes a fluid interface to which the pressure-mitigation device is fluidly couplable via multi-channel tubing;   a processor; and   a memory that includes instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the controller to:
 cause the plurality of chambers to be independently inflated to varying degrees in accordance with a programmed pattern, in response to a determination that the pressure-mitigation device is disposed between a human body in a supine position and a surface; 
 obtain data that is indicative of pressure of each of the plurality of chambers over time; 
 examine the data so as to establish whether a criterion has been met relating to movement of the human body; 
 infer a health state of the human body in response to identifying a pattern of values in the data that indicate the criterion has been met; and 
 cause presentation of a notification that specifies the health state. 
   
     
     
         15 . The controller of  claim 14 , wherein each channel of the multi-channel tubing corresponds to a different one of the plurality of chambers of the pressure-mitigation device. 
     
     
         16 . The controller of  claim 14 , wherein to examine the data, the controller determines, based on an analysis of the data, whether there has been no movement of the human body for a predetermined interval of time. 
     
     
         17 . The controller of  claim 14 , wherein to examine the data, the controller determines, based on an analysis of the data, whether the human body has been improperly positioned on the pressure-mitigation device. 
     
     
         18 . The controller of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 a display on which information is visually presentable;   wherein the notification is presented via the display.   
     
     
         19 . The controller of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 an audio output unit through which information is audibly presentable;   wherein the notification is presented via the audio output unit.   
     
     
         20 . The controller of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 a communication module that is configured to establish a wireless communication channel with a destination external to the controller;   wherein the said causing includes transmitting, via the communication module, the notification to the destination for presentation.