FIELD OF INVENTION

Embodiments of the present application illustrates a device to track pet posture, health, and communication with a pet, more particularly, a pet health and wellness system via a wearable harness over the pet to indicate location and body vitals of the pet and a bowl to indicate food intake habits of the pet.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Raising a pet is a popular way of life almost anywhere in the world. Most animals ranging from dogs, cats, and even some wilder breeds of animals are found to be friendly enough to be considered as pets. That being said, understanding the right posture of the pet and maintaining the health of the pet is a cumbersome task. Generally, a tracker is attached to the neck of the pet to locate the pet within the vicinity. When it comes to maintenance of health of the pet, a periodic arrangement is made where the pet is taken to a veterinary doctor and the health is verified. Furthermore, food consumption is also monitored using a chart or a telephonic app that provides periodic prompting to the user to check the condition of the pet.

However, the above-mentioned methods are not comprehensive enough to track the posture, weight, or the health of the pet. The trackers that are currently available in the market can only provide the location of the pet within a close vicinity of the house of the user and fails to provide details, such as weight of the pet, food consumption of the pet, relative healthy posture of the pet, and in effect an overall health of the pet. Periodic check of the pet with the doctors may help in understanding the condition of the pet over a period but any real time concern with the pet might not be properly detected and this may lead to harmful health conditions. The food consumption monitoring with a chart or app is also not helpful because there is a chance that the user might miss out on maintaining the pet health based on the chart or the app. Therefore, there is a need for a pet health and wellness system and method that addresses and resolves the above-mentioned issues. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The following presents a simplified summary of the subject matter in order to provide a basic understanding of some of the aspects of subject matter embodiments. This summary is not an extensive overview of the subject matter. It is not intended to identify key/critical elements of the embodiments or to delineate the scope of the subject matter. Its sole purpose to present some concepts of the subject matter in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

A pet health and wellness system comprise a pet harness that comprises an adjustable side strap configured to mount a padded front panel, a main body panel, and a mounting section. The padded front panel rests over a chest section of the pet and the main body panel comprises a zipped pocket that contains a printed circuit board (PCB). The PCB is a flexible elongate unit comprising a battery unit at one end and multiple sensors that are detachably attached at a distal end. The sensors comprise motion sensors to detect motion, an ambient sensor to measure ambient temperature, and a first acoustic sensor and a second acoustic sensor to measure the heart rate. The mounting section extends from the distal end, which is configured to detachably mount the second acoustic sensor to measure the heart rate and a thermal sensor to measure body temperature of the pet.

In an embodiment, the sensors are combined in a modular form within the flexible PCB that is stretched over contours of the body of the pet following an axillary region, for example, armpit region of the pet on one side. The sound from heart and lung area of the pet is sensed by the first and the second acoustic sensors. In an embodiment, the motion sensors evaluate one of the body motions patterns, body activity tracking, and posture pattern with a frame of reference of the pet. The motion sensors are spatial motion sensors that comprise a processing engine to measure change of position of the pet over time to yield physical parameters. In an embodiment, the thermal sensor comprises one of optical and semiconductor digital thermal sensors to calculate the body temperature of the pet, wherein the thermal sensor is positioned adjacent and in contact with the axillary region as the PCB is angularly positioned towards the axillary region. The axillary region is kept under laser focus of the optical sensor for thermal detection, and wherein the optical sensor is in contact with the skin of the pet on a specific area where fur is less, and raw skin of the pet is exposed. In an embodiment, the first and the second acoustic sensors comprise non-contact reflective acoustic units that are configured to cancel external noise while recording the heart rate and blood flow. The first and the second acoustic sensors monitor the recorded heart rate and the blood flow, wherein motion of blood with time shows accelerating and decelerating blood flow turbulence that is identified and captured as the sound, wherein sonic waves in association with the heart rate and the blood flow are subjected to an electronic acquisition system and a filtering circuitry to capture heart auscultations of the pet. In an embodiment, the battery unit comprises two replaceable batteries, wherein a primary battery is meant for low-power operation comprising sensor readings and Bluetooth data transmission. The PCB selects one of the two replaceable batteries source and multiplexes the two replaceable batteries to operate using one of the two replaceable batteries.

In an embodiment, the secondary battery is used in conjunction with a rechargeable circuit system that generates additional external power available towards operations of high-speed wireless data transmission and direct communication with cloud servers using a wireless fidelity-based network infrastructure. The secondary battery is selected and prioritized based on availability and storage sensing by processor. In an embodiment, the pet health and wellness system further comprise a dual mode radio communication module that is embedded onto the circuit board, where a low energy version of communication is used as a primary wireless communication mode for localized data transmission with devices of the end user. In an embodiment, the pet health and wellness system further a wireless fidelity based high speed radio module that is for direct data communication with remote cloud server, wherein wireless fidelity based high speed radio module and the primary battery are always synchronized and prioritized based on a hardware circuit level selection and sensing.

In an embodiment, the pet health and wellness system further a wirelessly connected bowl that consists of a load sensor to calculate the weight of food ingredients loaded on the bowl, and wherein a weight increment indicates loading of the food ingredients and reduction of weight indicates consumption of the food ingredients. In an embodiment, the pet health and wellness system further one or more pairs of infra-red (IR) sensors with transmitter and receiver suitably positioned to verify whether the food ingredient is one of solid, semi-solid, and liquid, wherein penetration of infrared electromagnetic radiation from the IR sensors is blocked when one of solid and semi solid food ingredients is introduced into the bowl, and when water is being poured into the bowl, the electromagnetic radiation is scattered.

In an embodiment, the IR sensors comprise an optoelectronics control circuitry for monitoring level and positioning of the load sensor and the IR sensors, in a horizontal and a vertical plane in the bowl. In an embodiment, if a pet tacking system that is positioned on the body of the pet approaches the bowl, the distance of separation of bowl with pet is determined by incremental change of the wireless signal between the pet tacking system and the IR sensors, wherein closest proximity of the pet with the bowl is detected based on highest signal strength received that is sensed by the IR sensors.

In another embodiment, a pet bed that is in wireless communication with the pet tacking system comprises a frame that is in wireless communication with a pet tacking system and a set of bed sensors that are positioned on the frame to calculate weight of a pet when the pet rests on the pet bed. Furthermore, if the pet approaches the pet bed wearing the pet harness of pet tacking system that is positioned on the body of the pet, separation of the pet bed with pet is determined by incremental change of the wireless signal between the pet harness and the bed sensors, where the closest proximity of the pet with the pet bed is detected based on highest signal strength received and sensed by the bed sensors.

This pet health and wellness system helps in monitoring the vital parameters of pets for better and objective clinical decision making. The parameters monitored are:

1. Motion/ Activity tracking

2. Position/Posture tracking

3. Heartbeat (HBR)

4. Body Temperature (BT)

5. Ambient Temperature (AT)

6. Food Intake

7. Water Intake

8. Weight measurement

The pet health and wellness system uses loT technology for collecting the data in a central location and used by different health specialists to alert the owners as well as ensure preventive treatments. The equipment has the following unique design elements that differentiates the system from others:

1. A specifically designed optical probe system to measure temperature

2. Special noise handling mechanism to get pure data for the HR.

3. Specially designed system enclosure and breathable material for correct and continuous recording of the vital parameters

4. Unique dual battery system to always ensure connectivity as well as ensuring longevity of the battery life.

5. Unique system to differentiate water from food in a bowl.

The electronics is modular comprising both flexible and fixed rigid printed circuit boards - stretched over the curvy contours of the pet-body following till the axillary region on one side while sensing the sound from the heart-lung area on other side. The design is balanced through the distribution of electronics spread across the vest keeping the product modular. The electronics components of the product are fully detachable from the vest and vest can be removed or attached via snaps/buttons.

A software included in the pet health and wellness system is also disclosed here that offers two different interfaces to the health specialists and the owners.

1. For the veterinarians it offers real time data about the pet on all the vital parameters and helps the vets to decide the course of action.

2. For the owners it offers the generic health of the pet and its activity with an alert system to enable the owners to recognize symptoms of sickness and to reach out to care providers.

It also offers a unique pet tracking mechanism for finding the general whereabouts of the pet as well as signalling if the pet crosses the home boundary.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

The following drawings are illustrative of particular examples for enabling systems and methods of the present disclosure, are descriptive of some of the methods and mechanism, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. The drawings are not to scale (unless so stated) and are intended for use in conjunction with the explanations in the following detailed description. Figures 1A and IB exemplarily illustrates side perspective views of a pet dog wearing the pet harness, which is a part of the pet health and wellness system, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figures 2A - 2C exemplarily illustrates perspective views the pet harness, which is a part of the pet health and wellness system, where Figure 2A is a top perspective view of the pet harness, and Figures 2B and 2C illustrate internal components of the pet harness, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figures 3A and 3B exemplarily illustrate top perspective views of the sensors, which form part of the pet health and wellness system, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figures 4A - 4D exemplarily illustrate a side view perspective view, a sectional view, a top view, and an isometric view, respectively of the bowl, as a first example embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figures 5A - 5D exemplarily illustrate a side view perspective view, a sectional view, a top view, and an isometric view, respectively of the bowl, as a second example embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figures 6A - 6D exemplarily illustrate a side view perspective view, a sectional view, a top view, and an isometric view, respectively of the bowl, as a third example embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figure 7 exemplarily illustrates a schematic view of the data acquisition devices associated with the pet health and wellness system, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figure 8 exemplarily illustrates a schematic view of posture tracking of the pet associated with the pet health and wellness system, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 9 exemplarily illustrates a schematic view of the smart bowl module associated with the bowl of the pet health and wellness system, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figure 10 exemplarily illustrates different sensor modules associated with the PCB of the pet health and wellness system, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figure 11A exemplarily illustrates the user’s usage of the pet health and wellness system, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figure 11B exemplarily illustrates the user’s usage of the pet health and wellness system along with the pet harness worn by the pet, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figure 11C exemplarily illustrates the detailed flow of usage of the bowl associated with the pet health and wellness system, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figures 12A and 12B exemplarily illustrate a top view and a side view, respectively of a frame of a bed used by the pet, as a first example embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figures 12C and 12D exemplarily illustrate an isometric view and a bottom view, respectively of the bed used by the pet, as an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figures 12E and 12F exemplarily illustrate an top internal view and an isometric internal view, respectively of the bed used by the pet, as an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figure 13A exemplarily illustrates a schematic view of the smart bed module associated with the pet health and wellness system, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figure 13B exemplarily illustrates the user’s usage of the smart bed module associated with the pet health and wellness system, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure. Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and may represent both hardware and software components of the system. Further, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figure may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbers are used to depict the same or similar elements, features, and structures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Exemplary embodiments now will be described. The disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey its scope to those skilled in the art. The terminology used in the detailed description of the particular exemplary embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings is not intended to be limiting. In the drawings, like numbers refer to like elements.

Figures 1A and IB exemplarily illustrates side perspective views of a pet dog wearing the pet harness 102, which is a part of the pet health and wellness system 100, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure. As further shown, Figures 2A and 2C exemplarily illustrates perspective views the pet harness 102, which is a part of the pet health and wellness system 100, where Figure 2A is a top perspective view of the pet harness 102, and Figures 2B and 2C illustrate internal components of the pet harness 102, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure. Figures 3A and 3B exemplarily illustrate top perspective views the sensors, which form part of the pet health and wellness system 100, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

Based on Figures 1A-3B, a pet health and wellness system 100 comprises a pet harness 102 that comprises an adjustable side strap 104 configured to mount a padded front panel 106, a main body panel 108, and a mounting section 110, as shown in Figures 3A and 3B. The padded front panel 106 rests over a chest section of the pet and the main body panel 108 comprises a zipped pocket 112 that contains a printed circuit board (PCB) 114 as shown in Figure 2C. As shown in Figures 3A and 3B, the PCB 114 is a flexible elongate unit comprising a battery unit 116 at one end and multiple sensors that are detachably attached at a distal end. As shown in FIG. 3B, the sensors comprise motion sensors 118 to detect motion, an ambient sensor 120 to measure ambient temperature, and a first acoustic sensor 122 and a second acoustic sensor 124 to measure the heart rate. The mounting section extends from the distal end, which is configured to detachably mount the second acoustic sensor 124 to measure the heart rate and a thermal sensor 126 to measure body temperature of the pet.

With reference to Figures 4A-6D, Figures 4A-4D exemplarily illustrate a side view perspective view, a sectional view, a top view, and an isometric view respectively of the bowl 200a, as a first example embodiment of the present disclosure. Figures 5A - 5D exemplarily illustrate a side view perspective view, a sectional view, a top view, and an isometric view respectively of the bowl 200b, as a second example embodiment of the present disclosure. Figures 6A - 6D exemplarily illustrate a side view perspective view, a sectional view, a top view, and an isometric view respectively of the bowl 200c, as a third example embodiment of the present disclosure. Bowl is hereinafter referred to with a common number ‘200’. As shown in Figures 4A-6D, the pet health and wellness system 100 further a wirelessly connected bowl 200 that consists of a load sensor 202 to calculate the weight of food ingredients loaded on the bowl 200.

A weight increment in the bowl 200 indicates loading of the food ingredients and reduction of weight in the bowl 200 indicates consumption of the food ingredients. The pet health and wellness system 100 also comprises infra-red (IR) sensors 204 with transmitter and receiver positioned within to verify whether the food ingredient is one of solid, semi-solid, and liquid, wherein penetration of infrared electromagnetic radiation from the IR sensors 204 is blocked when one of solid and semi solid food ingredients is introduced into the bowl 200, and when water is being poured into the bowl 200, the electromagnetic radiation is scattered. The blocked/reflected light, scattering light, the transmitted light via direct exposure of light as line of sight indicates presence of solid, liquid and air (empty vessel) respectively. The IR sensors 204 follow through an optoelectronics control circuitry 918 as shown in Figure 9, for monitoring the level as well due to positioning of sensors, in horizontal and vertical place in a circular vessel or the bowl 200. In conjugation with the load sensor 202, the optical sensing system using the IR sensors 204 result in identification of water or food along with consumption over time. Furthermore, if a pet tracker positioned on the pet harness 102 that is present on the pet body and approaches the bowl 200, the distance of separation of bowl 200 with pet is determined by incremental change of the wireless signal between the pet tracker and the IR sensors 204. The closest proximity of the pet with the bowl 200 would be found with highest signal strength received and sensed by the IR sensor 204 which happens with simultaneous reduction of food/water due to reduction measured by load sensor 202, it finally indicates the pet eating/drinking. Waterproof monolithic design vacuum shielding approach is followed while manufacturing the same.

The circular edgeless enclosure for the tracker or the PCB 114 would have 4 exposure areas for placement of sensors 118, 120, 122, 124, and 126. Two body thermal sensors 120 are placed diametrically opposite to each other clamped via slanted angle in oblique manner to ensure touching of temperature sensing probes to the closest proximity skin via fur. The mechanical approach to placement of the temperature probe or the ambient sensor 120 is kept inside a specially designed tubular rubbery soft custom-made material to have an elastically flexible probe without hurting skin or causing a pricky irritation due to sharp pointed shape. Hindrance of temperature probe 120 by fur gets balanced because of the flexible nature of the probe holder. Additional ambient temperature (and relative humidity) sensor 120 is positioned close to the wall for environmental sensing. The wall separates the ambient thermal sensor 120 and outside ambience is kept via a thin semi-metallic membrane built into the ambient thermal sensor 120 for accurate measurement of temperature and humidity.

The heart rate probe or the first and second acoustic sensors 122 and 124 are placed centrally with chest facing and bulged out a little to pick the sound from heart functionality. A sonographic diaphragm separates the sensing circuitry mic and outside fur. The bowl 200 is a container with a wall holding the optical sensing system and base having placement for wireless electronics, battery unit and battery. The battery is removable and replaceable by client via waterproof screw. The threaded screw has two round rubber shields for making it waterproof. The inner body of the battery unit is stainless steel with porcelain coated non- sticky material. The bowl 200, which is a steel-based container and it’s base is made up of plastic with underlying rubber to prevent its movement and stick to placement rather than slipping and it avoids spilling of food/water.

In an embodiment, the sensors 118, 120, 122, 124, and 126. are combined in a modular form within the flexible PCB 114 that is stretched over contours of the body of the pet following axillary region of the pet on one side, for example, armpit region of the pet. The sound from heart and lung area of the pet is sensed by the first and the second acoustic sensors 122 and 124. As disclosed herein, an animal body vital physiological parameter monitoring system or the pet health and wellness system 100 consists of a circular chest facing pet harness 102, a multi -axis precision motion sensor-based electronics board customized to evaluate one of the body motions patterns, body activity tracker, posture pattern with a frame of the reference pet. spatial motion sensor 118 has an inherent processing engine to precisely measure change of position over time yielding physical parameters like running, walking, sleeping, etc.

As shown in Figures 3A and 3B, multiple optical and semiconductor digital thermal sensors 126 are used to calculate pet body core temperature via specifically custom designed PCB 114 that is angularly positioned with an overall design covering multiple sensors 118, 120, 122, and 124, keeping axillary region area under optical laser focused thermal detection. The PCB 114 is designed to touch the skin of the pet on a specific location where fur is less with raw skin exposure, where the PCB 114 is positioned via a flexible body -worn wearable sensing system. In an example, additional on-board environmental sensors or ambient sensors 120 are also being used to calculate ambient temperature and humidity, to be considered to evaluate accuracy of body temperature of the pet. Impact of ambient temperature and humidity on the pet’s body temperature and behaviour is also a subject matter of study. The exposure of thermal sensing system is via specific cut-outs customized grommet placed over-the-top fitment passage directly into the vest.

As shown in Figures 3A and 3B, the first and the second acoustic sensors 122 and 124 comprise non-contact reflective acoustic units that cancel external noise while recording the heart rate and blood flow. The first and the second acoustic sensors 122 and 124 monitor the recorded heart rate and the blood flow, wherein motion of blood with time shows accelerating and decelerating blood flow turbulence that is identified and captured as the sound. The sonic waves in association with the heart rate and the blood flow are subjected to an electronic acquisition system (812, 908, 914, 1002, 1014, and 1016) and a filtering circuitry 716 to capture heart auscultations of the pet. The electronic acquisition system (812, 908, 914, 1002, 1014, and 1016) comprises data acquisition module 812, load acquisition sensor 908, light acquisition sensor 914, sound acquisition sensors 1002, IR acquisition sensors 1014, and relative humidity and ambient temperature acquisition sensor 1016 that are described in Figures 8-10.

In other words, other physiological parameters like heart rate are being evaluated based on non-contact reflective acoustics custom designed to cancel the noise while capturing pet physiological events of heart functioning and blood flow. Device monitors the recorded heart sounds created by cardiac activities of pulsating heart and moving blood. The speedy motion of blood over time means accelerating and decelerating blood flow turbulence generated ultimately results in the sound being captured by device. The sonic waves emanating from the pet internal cardiac physiological activity are subjected to electronic acquisition system (812, 908, 914, 1002, 1014, and 1016) and filtering circuitry 716, aimed to capture required signals to capture heart auscultations. The placement of the sound sensing mechanism is kept close to the chest area.

As further shown in Figures 3A and 3B, when taking power and charging of the pet health and wellness system 100 into consideration, there are two easily replaceable power sources to make the board operate and these are contained in the battery unit 116. The primary battery source 116a as shown in Figure 3B is meant for only low-power operation comprising all sensor reading and Bluetooth data transmission. The hardware board has circuitry to select the source and multiplexes the dual source of power to operate using any one of them required as per customized design. The embedded power level translators of power sources are intelligent towards measurement power sources as close-loop feedback analysis and alert generation. A secondary battery source 116b as shown in Figure 3B, is used in conjunction with a rechargeable circuit system 718 as shown in Figure 7, which makes more external power available explicitly towards operations of high-speed wireless data transmission and direct communication with cloud servers 720 using wireless fidelitybased network infrastructure or high-speed radio module 710, as shown in Figure 7. The secondary battery source 116b, is also selected, and prioritized based on its availability and storage sensing by processor. The removable secondary battery 116b is an add-on module to be attached or detached via special plug-play mechanisms.

Figures 7 exemplarily illustrate a schematic view of the data acquisition devices associated with the pet health and wellness system 100, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure. An advanced processing microcontroller 700 is being used to collect all the sensor data as input and processes their multiple voltage and current levels at circuitry level. The precision timing of measurement and interrupt control handlers are prioritized while taking the sensor readings. The sensor readings are captured using the wearable harness sensor module 702, a smart bowl module 704, and a smart bed module 714. The readings are transmitted via a common gateway module 706 and then stored in a pet data repository 708. An anomaly in any one sensor reading invokes the hardware circuitry from multiple sleep-modes to start monitoring the physiological events in a recursive manner. All the physical parameters sensed in the form of analog signals are digitized using on-board hardware and controller circuitry to the precision point and the digital data is represented in form of human understandable decimal or floating-point numbers. The continuous monitoring of certain parameters is meant for keeping processors in acquisition mode inorder to trace an event in the pet body. Event capture with a certain level of accuracy is because of the processing microcontroller’s 700 number crunching signal processing engine 700a embedded on board.

The pet harness 102 of the pet health and wellness system 100 also includes dual mode of radio communication modules embedded onto the circuit board. As described in Figure 7, a low energy version of Bluetooth radio is being used as primary wireless communication mechanism exclusively meant for localized data transmission with end users mobile or creating a peer-to-peer communication with family of same/ similar devices, for example, data transmission between the wearable harness sensor module 702, smart bowl module 704, and the pet data repository 708. A wireless fidelity based high speed radio module 710 positioned on board is meant for direct data communication with a remote cloud server 720. The wireless and battery unit 116 in primary mode are always synchronized and prioritized based on a hardware circuit level selection and sensing. The sensor raw data communication to a mobile phone or other wireless gateway 706 devices are meant for further data processing and facilitation at cloud server 720 level. A battery source voltage level measurement module 712 makes the radio selection via mix of hardware plus software defined algorithms. The pet harness 102 of the pet health and wellness system 100 also include 3 LEDs (multi-colour Red/Green/Blue) for indicating power/battery status, radio communication and alert status, to visually indicate to the end user.

With reference to Figures 8, 9, and 10, Figure 8 exemplarily illustrates a schematic view of posture tracking of the pet associated with the pet health and wellness system 100. Figure 9 exemplarily illustrates a schematic view of the smart bowl module 900 associated with the bowl of the pet health and wellness system 100. Figure 10 exemplarily illustrates different sensor modules associated with the PCB 114 of the pet health and wellness system 100, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in Figure 8, the pet harness 102 of the pet health and wellness system 100 tracks the health parameters of the pet at a personalized level as well as by using available generic reference data. The sensor acquisition devices, as shown in Figure 10, are configured to acquire pet medical data and monitor to see if the acquired medical data meets certain criteria that indicate that the acquired data is the requested data continuously or periodically. For a generic organ reading reference it can be a generic sound wave of a pet’s heart, and in this case, for example, the matching criteria is a sound wave with a unique structure and special characteristics such as pace, amplitude, volume, etc. A central system 800, as shown in Figure 8, comprises of pet’s individualized health tracking data in the pet data repository 802 as well as generic reference data present in the management module 804 that includes the personal attributes of the pet’s in which various other data relating to the pet is maintained. Such data includes, for example, for a pet dog: a pet identification number, pet’s name, pet’s age, breed, species, pet medical history (such as diseases, Neutered/spayed status) etc.

The central system 800 further comprises a medical information repository 806 in which data from the sensors positioned on the pet harness 102 as well as the bowl 200 is maintained. Such data includes, for example, daily medical data, daily activities data, daily food and water intake data captured using the devices, lungs or heart recorded sound, body temperature, etc. The central system 800 further comprises the management module 804, which establishes a connection between a pet owner and a trained-qualified veterinarian. There is a distributed approach in which data and calls are received by central system 800 from multiple pets and transferred to multiple trained and qualified veterinarians. The connection is a direct connection or a connection via a central system 800 and it is established, for example, via Internet. It is to be noted that other known connection alternatives are utilized, such as a cellular network, VPN, LAN, etc. In some cases, management module 804 also manages other processes such as, scheduling physical visits, planning scheduling and routing of calls to available trained and qualified veterinarians’ personnel, managing pets prescriptions, medical and diagnostic requirements, viewing and analysing and codifying medical examination repository by using standard or accepted general codification norms etc.

The central system 800 further comprises a pet owner location module 808 that represents pet owner location and a veterinarian module 818 that shows the location of the trained veterinarian, which in effect shows how far the veterinarian is located from the pet owner, or in other words, distance between the veterinarian and the pet owner. The pet owner location module 808 shows the pet owners home or any other location. The video streaming module 810 facilitates pet owner video streaming, wherein a camera that is attached to the mobile phone of the pet owner helps in streaming live videos of the pet’s condition for examination. The data acquisition module 812 is a repository for data acquisition devices comprising various sensors, measurement hardware, and controller with programmable software to acquire reference medical-data of the pet’s condition. The processor 814 is, for example, a digital signal processor (DSP), a microcontroller, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 814 receives instructions and controls the components and operations of all the devices associated with the pet health and wellness system 100. The memory unit 816 comprises, for example, ROM, hard disk, Flash memory etc.

The veterinarian module 818 shows the trained veterinarian location, which is, for example, a veterinarian’s clinic or any other location from which the veterinarian generally operates. The streaming module 820 comprises veterinarian video streaming devices, for example, mobile phones, desktop, laptop, or any other internet connected device, from which the veterinarian takes video calls from the video streaming module 810. The medical/data repository module 806 includes trained reference medical-data repository 822, wherein when the transmitted reference medical/data is received by the trained veterinarian, and the data is stored in trained personnel data repository. This includes the data, sound files, video files as well as general medical reference and image detection data.

As shown in Figure 9, which shows the smart bowl module 900, which consists of a stainless steel/plastic bowl including associated peripherals and data acquisition devices. The bowl 902 is made of food grade stainless steel/ plastic. The load detection module 904 is used to calculate the load in the bowl 902, which is the same bowl 200 in Figures 2A-2C, thereby assisting in detecting food and water intake. The load detection peripherals 906 include specifically constructed load cell legs 206 and load cell holder 208, as shown in Figures 4A-4B, made of polypropylene/plastic to enable deflection and measurement. The load acquisition sensor 908 comprises one or more of sensors or transducers that convert a load or force acting on it into an electronic signal, wherein these sensors and transducers comprise sensors positioned on the pet harness 102, the bowl 200, and the pet bed 1200. The electronic signal is, for example, a voltage change, current change, or frequency change. The diet module 910 is a module for food/water differentiation, where the diet module detects and differentiates between solid foods and water in the pet bowl 902. The light source peripherals 912 include a glass enclosure and a pathway, which assists in detecting and differentiating food and water. The light acquisition sensor 914 include IR sensors that are based on light source and reflection to detect and differentiate between food/water. The pet data repository 916 is a data storage system to store various data relating to the individual pets acquired out of the data acquisition sensors and various medical data acquired during medical examination.

As shown in Figure 10, sound-based sensors 1000 include one or more sound acquisition sensors 1002. Sound acquisition sensors 1002 are, for example, a microphone, or any other device capable of acquiring sound data. Sound acquisition sensors 1002 accommodate multiple sound frequencies that are adjusted to fit recording of specific organ sound (as, for example, heart sound frequencies are different than lung sound frequencies). Sound acquisition sensors 1002 further include various abilities to assist acquiring a quality sound such as noise cancellation filters, active noise cancellation mechanisms integrated with products. The sound-based sensors include one or more sound acquisition sensors 1002. Sound acquisition sensors 1002 are, for example, a microphone, or any other device capable of acquiring sound data. Sound acquisition sensors 1002 fits multiple sound frequencies that are adjusted to fit recording of specific organ sound as, for example, heart sound frequencies are different than lung sound frequencies. Sound acquisition sensors 1002 also include various abilities to assist acquiring a quality sound such as noise cancellation filters, etc. Sound based sensors 1000 further includes sound examination peripherals that include, inter alia, various components that enable easy fit, comfortable adjustment, and safe access. Such components are, for example, made of plastic, rubber, etc. and can be attached to the harness.

In general, the sound acquisition sensors 1002 are, for example, a microphone, or any other device capable of acquiring sound data. Sound acquisition sensors 1002 fits multiple sound frequencies that are adjusted to fit recording of specific organ sound, for example, heart sound frequencies that are different from lung sound frequencies. Sound acquisition sensors 1002 also include various abilities to assist acquiring a quality sound such as noise cancellation filters, etc. The sound examination peripherals 1004 include, inter alia, various components that enable easy attachment to the pet harness 102 and which gives access and exposure to areas such as pet’s chest and lungs measured by heart and lung module 1006. In an embodiment, the heart and lung module 1006 is a combination of the sound examination peripherals 1004 and sound acquisition sensors 1002 including usage of active noise filtration techniques and adaptive filtering, which transmits and stores sound recordings of heart and lungs of the pet.

The sound examination peripherals 1004, for example, are made of plastic, rubber, silicone, or stainless steel and can be attached to the acoustic housing. The sound examination peripherals 1004, for example, have a generic physical structure that fits although different breeds of pets have different body structure, and the sound examination peripherals 1004 are designed to fit substantially any chest shaped surface. Sound examination peripherals 1004 are attached to the pet harness 102 in a way that enables acquisition of sound based medical data, for example, allow minimizing of any external noise that interferes with the sound acquisition. In general, sound examination peripherals 1004 include for example, various components that enable easy fit, comfortable adjustment, and safe access. Such components are, for example, made of plastic, rubber, etc. and are attached to a harness.

A wearable harness sensor module 1008 acquires health and wellness data of the pet. The wearable harness sensor module 1008 is responsible for the operation of various sensors used for acquiring various health and wellness data of the pet. Such data is used, for example, for diagnostics by veterinarians as well as is used to guide the pet owners on the health condition of the pet. The heat-based sensor 1026 comprise IR temperature peripherals 1010 that include, inter alia, various components that enable easy fit, comfortable adjustment, and safe access. Such components are, for example, made of plastic, rubber, etc., and are attached to the harness. The IR acquisition sensors 1014 are, for example, a temperature detection sensor, or any other device capable of acquiring the body temperature at that specific part of the pet’s body. In an embodiment, the IR acquisition sensors 1014 are calibrated and modified to suit veterinary use. The relative humidity and ambient temperature peripherals 1012 include, inter alia, various components that enable easy fit, comfortable adjustment, and safe access. The relative humidity and ambient temperature peripherals 1012 are, for example, made of plastic, rubber, etc. and are attached to the pet harness 102.

The relative humidity and ambient temperature acquisition sensor 1016 includes, for example, a temperature detection sensor, or any other device capable of acquiring the environmental temperature as well as relative humidity in the location where the pet is present. The relative humidity and ambient temperature acquisition sensors 1016 are calibrated and modified to detect changes in the environmental temperature to develop a context in which the pet is in.

The body temperature module 1018 is a combination of the IR temperature peripherals 1010, IR temperature acquisition sensors 1014, relative humidity and ambient temperature peripherals 1012 and relative humidity and ambient temperature acquisition sensors 1016, which are calibrated to the specific pet and normalized to derive body temperature of the pet. The motion-based sensor 1020 performs, inter alia, detection of activity and position of the pet at any point of time. This includes sensors to detect movement, orientation and angular velocity and a device that measures magnetic field or magnetic dipole moment for reference and directional orientation. The activity, orientation, direction, and navigation module 1022 includes a system of sensors to detect movement, orientation and angular velocity and having a device that measures magnetic field or magnetic dipole moment for reference and direction orientation. The data acquired is further personalized for individual pets and meaningful information of activity status (playing, sleeping, active time), position and orientation, for example, pet is lying down on its left side, lying down on its right side, and direction and navigation orientation that pet is moving north, or south is transmitted. The pet data repository 1024 is a data storage system to store various data relating to the individual pets acquired from the data acquisition sensors and various medical data acquired during medical examination.

Figures 11A exemplarily illustrates the user’s usage of the pet health and wellness system 100, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure. The following steps in numerical progression comprise: 1. User registers 1102 on the app. 2. Registers 1104 the smart harness and the smart bowl in the app. 3. Connects 1106 the gateway and the devices through the app. 4. The devices start 1108 working and start populating the data. 5. The user then checks 1110 the pet’s daily activities through the app. 6. Alerts 1112 come through the app, if something is not normal or wrong or the parameters fluctuate. 7. The devices start recording 1114 the parameters continually. The frequency of the same is set by the user. 8. Two or three times a day, depending on the personalised model of the pet, heart and lung sounds are captured 1116 and analysed and a health score is provided. 9. The pet owner then connects 1118 over the app to a veterinary doctor. 10. The veterinary doctor observes 1120 the vitals as well as the parameters during the call and diagnose the pet better. 11. The doctor during virtual examination also listens 1122 to the live streaming of heart and lung auscultations, to replicate the actual physical examination. 12. Once the doctor ends the call, a prescription is sent 1124 through the app directly to the pet owner. 13. The entire medical history is also saved 1126 electronically.

Figures 11B exemplarily illustrates the usage of the pet health and wellness system 100 along with the pet harness worn by the pet, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure. 1. Once the harness is registered 1130, all the parameters start functioning. 2. Activity being active time, playing time, resting time as well as sleeping time and sleep patterns are recorded 1132. 3. Exercise recommendations 1134 depending on the breed of the pet as well as the activity data are made. 4. Goals are set 1136 for ensuring proper exercise of the pets. 5. Both the duration as well as the intensity and the type of exercise is captured 1138, and appropriate recommendations are given to the owner through the app. 6. Similarly, the temperature is recorded 1140 and alerts for high temperature as well as low temperature (hypothermia and hyperthermia) are given to the pet owners. 7. Twice a day, depending on the activity, heart and lung sounds are recorded 1142 and analysed and cardiology conditions and respiratory conditions are checked. 8. During virtual examination by the doctor, live streaming 1144 of the heart and lung sounds are streamed to the doctor.

9. A comprehensive health score report is generated 1146 at the end of every day and is sent to the pet parent.

Figures 11C exemplarily illustrates the detailed flow of usage of the bowl 200 associated with the pet health and wellness system 100, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure. The following steps in numerical progression comprise: 1. Once the bowl is registered 1150, the user whenever he puts the food, or water, the type (solid or liquid) is recorded, and the weight gets automatically recorded. 2. Further, as the pet drinks or eats, the reduction in weight also gets recorded 1152. 3. Alerts depending on environmental context, gets populated 1154, for example, it is a hot day today, the bowl is empty, please fill up water and similar alerts. 4. The type of food is recorded 1156 by the user. In case it is packaged food, the number of calories and other details gets automatically populated. 5. Also depending on the consumption pattern, the user sets 1158 the parameters to automatically record the food. 6. End of the day report of food and water consumption 1160 is shown to the user. 7. Depending on the weigh and activity of the pet, food quantity recommendations 1162 are given.

Figures 12A and 12B exemplarily illustrate a top view and a side view, respectively of a frame 1202 of a pet bed 1200 used by the pet, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure. Figures 12C and 12D exemplarily illustrate an isometric view and a bottom view, respectively of the pet bed 1200 used by the pet, as an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figures 12E and 12F exemplarily illustrate a top internal view and an isometric internal view, respectively of the pet bed 1200 used by the pet, as an embodiment of the present disclosure. The pet bed 1200 with the frame 1202 is in wireless communication with a pet tacking system 100 and comprises bed sensors 1204 to calculate weight of a pet when the pet rests its body on the pet bed 1200. Furthermore, if a pet approaches the pet bed 1200 wearing the pet harness 102 of pet tacking system 100 that is positioned on the body of the pet, the distance of separation of pet bed 1200 with pet is determined by incremental change of the wireless signal between the pet harness 102 and the bed sensors 1204, where the closest proximity of the pet with the pet bed 1200 is detected based on highest signal strength received that is sensed by the bed sensors 1204.

Figure 13A exemplarily illustrates a schematic view of the smart bed module 1300 associated with the pet health and wellness system 100, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 13B exemplarily illustrates the user’s usage of the smart bed module 1300 associated with the pet health and wellness system 100, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure. The smart bed module 1300 includes details of the pet bed 1200, the bed frame 1202. In general, the smart bed module 1300 comprises stainless steel/wood/plastic bed frame and a bed 1200 made of filing of polyster/polyfil stuffings blended jute, coir, memory foam including associated peripherals and data acquisition devices. The bed frame 1202 is made of either steel, plastic, breathable fabric, and foam and enclosed or stitched with cloth or water repellent fabric. The pet bed 1200 is made from either a polyester filling and/or foam padding, jute, coir and comprises a removable cushion cover and is placed inside the bed frame 1202.

The smart bed module 1300 further comprises a weight detection peripheral 1304 that prompts the bed sensors 1204 and the bed sensors 1204 or the weight acquisition sensors calculate the weight of the pet. The calculated data regarding weight of the pet is transferred to the pet data repository 708. In other words, the weight detection is a system for calculating the weight in the bed 1200, thereby assisting in detecting the weight of the pet and the weight detection peripherals 1304 include specifically constructed load cell legs 206 and load cell holder 208 made of polypropylene/plastic to enable deflection and measurement. The weight acquisition sensor or bed sensor 1204 comprises sensors or transducers that convert a load or force acting on it into an electronic signal. The electronic signal is a voltage change, current change or a frequency change. Based on Figure 3B, once the pet bed 1200 is registered 1402, the sensors 1204 start computing the weight of the pet. As a pet goes to sleep in the bed weight of the pet is recorded 1404. Alerts are generated 1406 based on the pets’ comforts, and any increasing objectivity or reduction in the weight of the pet indicates sickness. Depending on the food intake activity and health condition ideal weight is reported and actual weight is compared 1408 to general standards, and accordingly, a plan of action or recommendation is provided.

As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, the present disclosure may be embodied as a method and system. Accordingly, the present disclosure may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, a software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. It will be understood that the functions of any of the units as described above can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts performed by any of the units as described above.

Instructions may also be stored in a computer- readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function/act performed by any of the units as described above.

Instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus like a scanner/check scanner to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions/acts performed by any of the units as described above.

In the specification, there has been disclosed exemplary embodiments of the invention.

Although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation of the scope of the invention.