TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a miniature flexible thermometer for continuous measurement of human body temperature with wireless transmission, which is optimized by its design for rapid temperature response, comfortable body wear and good signal.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Human body temperature is an important biological indicator of human health and its measurement is used to quickly identify whether the body is in a normal state or is undergoing some pathological process (e.g. inflammation, infectious disease). In the case of patients with, for example, immunodeficiency, or children, it is often necessary to monitor the temperature continuously and, if necessary, to inform the nursing staff or parents immediately of any adverse temperature development. For this reason, a number of flat electronic thermometers have been recently developed which can be adhered to the body (as a patch) and contain, in addition to a temperature sensor and the necessary microelectronics, means for wireless communication with a remote electronic device (computer, tablet, smartphone), most often based on Bluetooth technology.

However, marketed thermometers of this type have a number of unresolved problems and drawbacks. One of them is the inaccurate temperature determination (whether due to improper placement of the thermometer on the human body, due to the placement of the temperature sensor in the thermometer body or due to mathematical approximation of temperature improper for the situation). Another frequent drawback is the lack of comfort for the user - either the thermometer is not flexible or it is flexible but its size is too large, or even in the case of a small size of the thermometer itself, the adhesive pad that attaches the thermometer to the body is too large. Large size in combination with an airtight pad is often a cause of excessive skin irritation during prolonged application (a day to several days) of the thermometer. The transmission of the Bluetooth signal, when placing the thermometer in axilla, is also often problematic.

For example, patent application US 2018/0028069 discloses a flexible electronic thermometer in the form of patch with wireless signal transmission, and solves some of the above problems by a breathable pad and further by placing a temperature sensor in a metal cup whose bottom is in contact with the skin, which in combination with the internal design should minimize heat losses in heat transfer between the skin and the sensor, and thus provide accurate temperature data.

Another example is patent application US 2018/0172520, which discloses a flexible electronic thermometer with wireless signal transmission comprising a base with an adhesive layer and a temperature sensor, which is covered by a cover layer with an opening into which a removable module with the appropriate electronics is placed, the module being connected via the connecting terminal to the temperature sensor.

The present invention represents a different approach to overcome some of the above- mentioned drawbacks, inter alia, it improves measurement accuracy and signal transmission due to its design and significantly improves user comfort due to its small overall size, and especially small adhesive area.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The subject of the present invention is particularly a flexible thermometer for continuous measurement of the human body temperature with wireless transmission optimized for rapid temperature response, comfortable wear on the body and a good signal, wherein the thermometer is attached to the human body by an extremely small adhesive surface.

The thermometer according to the invention comprises a casing in which a printed circuit board with electronic components is placed. The casing has in general flat shape where a thin neck protrudes from a relatively wide body of the thermometer, the temperature sensor being positioned inside the casing at the distant (i.e. distant from the thermometer body) end of the neck in order to minimalize the influence of the temperature of the thermometer body itself. The thermometer body may be for example approximately circular, rectangular, or oval in shape. In a preferred embodiment, the entire casing which includes the neck an the body has flat“bottle” shape.

The casing may be comprised of upper and lower parts which are joined by gluing. The entire casing of the thermometer, including the neck, is made of a flexible material (such as medical silicone) so that the device does not push or obstruct in various positions when the user moves or sleeps. In another embodiment, the casing may be formed, for example, as a single corpus, wherein the internal components are directly encapsulated by the mass of the casing. The sensor for temperature measurement (hereinafter also referred to as the temperature sensor) is in direct contact with the lower part of the neck (i.e. the skin-facing part), which is as thin as possible at this position. This ensures rapid response of the temperature sensor. The position of the temperature sensor in the flexible casing is secured by a protrusion in the upper part of the casing that faces the inside of the casing and is located at the distant end of the neck, i.e. in a position corresponding to the location of the temperature sensor. The protrusion pushes the temperature sensor to the bottom of the casing, which includes at the distal end of the neck a cup-like ending with a very thin bottom for ensuring rapid heat transfer. In addition, the protrusion defines an air heat-insulating cavity in the vicinity of the temperature sensor so that it is affected by the temperature of the upper neck portion as little as possible. In addition, the temperature sensor is thermally insulated from other parts of the thermometer by one or preferably by a plurality of air cavities over the entire length of the neck. These air cavities ensure maximum thermal insulation of the temperature sensor and at the same time they provide sufficient protection of the flexible printed circuit board from bending damage. The heat insulating air cavities may optionally be replaced or filled with other insulating material, in particular in a single corpus design.

All electronic components (including temperature sensor) are located on a flexible printed circuit board. The basic components are, in addition to the temperature sensor, a microcontroller (MCU) and a transmitter with an antenna. The transmitter is a digital transmitter, i.e. a data transmission transmitter such as WiFi, Z-Wave, XBee ZigBee, LoRa, SigFox and others, preferably a Bluetooth Low Energy transmitter. In a preferred embodiment, the transmitter may be integrated in the MCU. A precision digital or analog temperature sensor is used as a temperature sensor. The data measured by the temperature sensor are fed into the MCU, which is programmed to receive data from the temperature sensor and to deliver the data to the transmitter. The antenna is located at the opposite end of the thermometer body distant from the neck, as far as possible from the temperature sensor. This arrangement achieves maximum transmission range because the antenna protrudes from the grip between the chest and arm during temperature measurement in many positions of the human body. The antenna is tuned to achieve the best properties when placing the thermometer on the body.

A battery holder is also placed on the printed circuit board. In one embodiment, this holder can, among other things, reinforce the thermometer body so that the thermometer's flexibility (since it consists of a flexible casing and a flexible printed circuit) is not excessive and thus does not damage the thermometer hardware.

In addition, in one embodiment the thermometer structure can be reinforced by a stiffening board, i.e. stiffener. Stiffener is a slice of a rather firm plastic (PET film) carved in the shape corresponding to the part of the thermometer casing to be reinforced. In this part, the thermometer can only be bent into a slight arc. The stiffener is located between the lower part of the thermometer casing and the printed circuit board.

On the underside of the casing or on the underside of the lower casing part, only in the area of the thermometer body, is defined an adhesive surface which is extremely small (as compared to prior art thermometers) and it is located approximately at the centre of the length of the thermometer body. The adhesive surface area is less than 500 mm , preferably less than 400 mm . In a preferred exemplary embodiment, it is approximately 317 mm . A strong double sided adhesive patch is placed on this surface. The shape of the thermometer together with a small adhesive surface allows the thermometer to rotate slightly when the axilla position changes in different arm and shoulder positions relative to the body, so that the thermometer adhered to very elastic underarm skin causes minimal "pulling" and discomfort on the skin. In most of the arm positions with respect to the body the thermometer rotation assures pointing the thermometer neck just into the axilla and thus the position of the neck tip with a temperature sensor to measure the temperature directly in the axilla. The thermometer is placed on the chest slightly obliquely (the end of the thermometer with the antenna points down from the horizontal line of a standing person in an angle approx. 30°), thanks to which the temperature sensor is in the right place in the axilla and at the same time it does not push. The thermometer may also include other electronic sensors, for example an accelerometer. The accelerometer is primarily used to determine patient activity and body position, for example, to indicate a fall, or to indicate a change in posture or restless sleep in a recumbent patient.

In another embodiment, the thermometer may comprise an additional temperature sensor. This secondary temperature sensor can be used, for example, to detect whether the thermometer is positioned in the correct position on the body and whether the body temperature is measured correctly.

The thermometer communicates via an antenna with an external electronic device, such as a computer, tablet, or smartphone.

The aforementioned electronic device, preferably a smartphone, comprises standard hardware and software components known to those skilled in the art, and allows reception of a wireless (preferably Bluetooth Low Energy) signal from the thermometer according to the invention. The temperature data transmitted from the thermometer may be stored in the MCU memory and/or preferably in the memory of the electronic device, and by means of a computer programme (application) implemented in the electronic device, the data may be processed, evaluated and presented to the user, medical staff or caregiving person. This software, in turn, can be used to control temperature monitoring with a thermometer according to the invention.

The present invention further relates to a method for determining the correct temperature, that is, the body temperature measured by the above-described thermometer according to the invention under the correct conditions. The methods used so far for non-continuous thermometers were based on waiting for thermal equilibrium and heating curve prediction. Neither of these methods can be used in continuous measurement, as both methods depend on monitoring the heating of a temperature sensor of a given thermal capacity and with a given thermal conductivity (especially for prediction) and they need sufficient thermal gradient at the beginning of the measurement for proper function. However, in a continuous measurement, the thermometer heats up from a starting temperature with sufficient thermal gradient only at the beginning of the measurement. Consequently, not all values measured during continuous measurement are correct. For example, the correct measurement in the axilla is dependent on the covering of both the axilla and the body part by the arm, since only then does the axilla reach the temperatures that correlate with the core body temperature. At the same time, the right conditions must last long enough for the tissues around the axilla to warm up. Therefore, to avoid the many risks associated with incorrectly measured temperatures during continuous measurement, it is necessary to introduce new methods of measuring and evaluating the measured data, which will prevent misinterpretation of the data by the user or inform the user that the measurement is not correct and the measured temperature is not in appropriate relation to core body temperature.

Preferably, the aforementioned method according to the invention is a computer implementation method, which may, in the form of a computing module, be part of a software implemented in the MCU or preferably part of the programme (application) implemented in a communicating electronic device (e.g. smartphone).

The method of determining the correct temperature according to the invention evaluates the data received from the thermometer and decides when the measurement was "correct", i.e. when the user used the thermometer in proper way during the measurement. Measurements where the temperature rises in a defined manner or maintains a stable value or decreases naturally (not a sharp drop) are considered to be correct.

The temperature is measured at a frequency of 1 reading/measurement in 1 to 120 seconds, preferably 10 to 40 seconds, most preferably 1 reading/measurement in 15 seconds.

The method of determining the correct temperature c comprises the following steps.

For each measured temperature t in the continuous measuring interval, evaluate from the oldest to the latest temperatures:

1. if, since the start of the measurement, the time T(l) of the last temperature drop by more than x ° C m yl seconds has occurred later than the time T(c) of the last correct temperature c (i.e. no temperature drop preceded), or one of these two times is unknown, then :

(a) if the evaluated temperature t at time T(t) is greater than or equal to the last correct temperature c at time T(c), then the evaluated temperature t is also the correct temperature and hence it is the new correct temperature c; b) if the standard deviation of all temperatures in the last y2 seconds before time T(t) is less than or equal to z (i.e. the temperature is stable), then the evaluated temperature t at time T(t) is also the correct temperature and hence it is the new correct temperature c; c) if the correct temperature c does not exist in continuous data before time T(t), then the evaluated temperature t at time T(t) is also the correct temperature and hence it is the new correct temperature c;

2. if, from the start of the measurement, the time T(l) of the last temperature decrease by A °C in yl seconds has occurred simultaneously or later than the time T(c) of the last correct temperature c, then:

(a) if the evaluated temperature t is greater than the last correct temperature c, then the evaluated temperature t at time T(t) is also the correct temperature and hence it is the new correct temperature c; b) if all recorded temperatures in the last v2 seconds before time T(t) do not decrease in time and simultaneously the temperature s, where for time T(s) of temperature s holds T(s) = T(t) - y2, is by more than A °C higher than the temperature r in time T(r), where T(r) = T(s) - yl (i.e. the thermometer was covered for a long time after a rapid rise and the temperature continued to rise), then the evaluated temperature t in time T(t) is also the correct temperature and hence it is the new correct temperature c; c) if the temperature t at time T(t) is more than A °C higher than the temperature t at time T(r) = T(t) - yl and simultaneously the time 77 c) of the last correct temperature c occurred more than y3 hours before time T(t), then the evaluated temperature t at time T(t) is also the correct temperature and hence it is the new correct temperature c;

3. in all other cases, the measured temperature t is not considered to be the correct temperature c in terms of the correct use of the thermometer, i.e. the correct placement and heating of the thermometer without external influences such as the user's raised hand and the like.

The values of the temperature difference A °C may be in the range of 0.05 to 0.5 °C, preferably 0.15 °C. The values of the time interval yl seconds can be in the range of 30 to 160 seconds, preferably 48 seconds. The values of the time interval y2 seconds can range from 60 to 600 seconds, preferably 180 seconds. The values of the time interval y3 may be in the range 0.5 to 2 hours, preferably 1 hour. The standard deviation z may be in the range of 0.03 to 0.2 °C, preferably 0.0625 °C.

In an embodiment of the thermometer with two temperature sensors, where the main sensor is located at the distant end of the neck as described above, and the second, secondary sensor is located approximately halfway through the neck, and is optionally partially thermally separated from the underside of the neck, the difference in the rate of temperature rise or fall between the main and secondary sensors to determine the magnitude of the temperature influence detected by the main sensor by the temperature of the rest of the thermometer body, and thus to more accurately determine whether the correct temperature (in the meaning as described above) was measured.

Consequently, the present invention relates to the miniature flexible thermometer for continuous measurement of the human body temperature as described above and as defined in the appended claims.

The present invention also relates to the method of measuring the body temperature by the above-described thermometer of the invention and determining the correct temperature as described above and as defined in the appended claims.

The present invention further relates to the computer-implemented method of determining the correct value of a human body temperature in a continuous measurement as described above and defined in the appended claims.

The present invention will now be described and explained in detail by way of examples of a preferred embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1: Schematic representation of the thermometer viewed from the top (left figure) and viewed from the bottom (right figure). FIG. 2: A schematic view of the arrangement of electronic components (temperature sensors, microcontroller, accelerometer, antenna and battery holder) on the printed circuit board.

FIG. 3: Spatial expansion diagram of an embodiment of the thermometer with stiffener, where the location of the stiffener between the flexible printed circuit board and the lower part of the housing is demonstrated.

FIG. 4: A view of the inside of the top part of the casing, demonstrating a protrusion for pressing the temperature sensor against the bottom of the casing and insulating air cavities.

FIG. 5: Upper panel shows a schematic representation of the correct positioning of the thermometer in axilla, lower panel is a photograph of the real situation.

FIG. 6: Graph of the time-course of temperature measurement with indication of correctly measured temperature. The temperature was measured with a frequency of 15 s for approximately 10 hours. Values marked · were detected as correct, x-marked values were detected as incorrect. Some data points are omitted in the graph for better readability.

EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION EXAMPLE 1

Design of flexible thermometer for continuous measurement of human body temperature

The thermometer according to the present invention, shown schematically in FIG. 1 and then in more detail in FIGS. 2 to 4, comprises a casing 1 in which a printed circuit board 4 with electronic components is placed. The casing 1 has a flat bottle shape where a thin neck 3 protrudes from a relatively wide oval body 2 of the thermometer, wherein the temperature sensor 5 being located inside the casing l_ at the end of the neck 3 distant from the thermometer body 2. Casing 1 size is 76.9 mm x 21.7 mm x 5.7 mm (length, including neck x width x thickness).

The casing 1 comprises an upper part l_J_ and a lower part E2. The entire thermometer casing 1, including the neck 3, is made of a flexible material - medical silicone. The upper part l_J_ and the lower part E2 are pieced together by gluing with a silicone adhesive. The temperature sensor 5 (see FIG. 3) is in direct contact with the lower part T2 of the distant end of the neck 3, which is shaped into a cup-like ending U2 in this part and has the smallest possible thickness, specifically 0.65 mm, where it adjoins to the temperature sensor 5. The position of the temperature sensor 5 is secured by a protrusion 3J_ in the upper casing part l_J_ at the distant end of the neck 3, where the protrusion 3J_ points to the interior of the casing 1 and is positioned at a position corresponding to the location of the temperature sensor 5. The protrusion 3J_ presses the temperature sensor 5 at the distant end of the neck 3 to the bottom of the cup-shaped ending U2 of the neck 3 and at the same time it defines a thermal insulation cavity 6J_ (see FIG. 4) above the temperature sensor 5 to prevent thermal influence of the temperature sensor 5 from the top of the housing l_J_. In addition, the temperature sensor 5 is thermally insulated from the other parts of the thermometer by a plurality of air cavities 6.2 between the upper part l_J_ and the lower part T2 of the casing l_ over the entire length of the neck 3.

All electronic components (incl. temperature sensor 5) are placed on a flexible printed circuit board 4 (a polyimide film with a copper layer, varnish and a surface finish of the wiring). The basic components are, in addition to said temperature sensor 5, a microcontroller (MCU) 7, a transmitter 8 and an antenna 9.

A microcontroller 7 with an integrated transmitter 8 is used. Antenna 9 is a type of planar inverted F (PIFA) antenna of a small size adapted for a given substrate and location on the human body.

An accurate digital temperature sensor is used as a temperature sensor 5, which itself converts the measured signal corresponding to the temperature into digital form. The signal measured by the temperature sensor 5 is fed into the MCU 7, where it is processed and optionally stored in a memory, and then inside the MCU 7, the signal is fed into the transmitting part (transmitter 8). The antenna 9 is located at the end of the thermometer body 2 distant from the neck 3, as far as possible from the temperature sensor 5.

In this particular embodiment, a second temperature sensor 5J_ is located in the middle section of the neck 3.

Further, in this particular embodiment, an accelerometer 1Ό is added to the thermometer electronics. A battery holder 1T is also placed on the printed circuit board 4. A battery CR1620 (3.0 V) is used.

In addition, in this embodiment, the thermometer structure is further reinforced by a stiffener 12 cut from PET film in the form of a corresponding portion of the thermometer casing l_ to be reinforced. The stiffener 12 is located between the lower part E2 of the thermometer casing and the printed circuit board 4.

Further, standard electronic components (pushbutton, LED, capacitors, resistors, antenna circuit, etc.) are used on the printed circuit board 4 which are known to those skilled in the art and all components (including temperature sensor 5, MCET 7 with transmitter 8 and antenna 9) are connected in a substantially standard manner known to those skilled in the art.

At the underside of the lower part E2 of the casing 1, an adhesive surface 13 is defined by a contoured edge. The adhesive surface 13 is small (approximately 317 mm ) and is located approximately at the centre of the length of the thermometer casing E A strong double- sided adhesive patch is attached to this surface 13.

The thermometer communicates (bi-directionally) via the antenna 9 with an external electronic device, computer, tablet or smartphone, where software (application) for receiving, recording and processing the measured data is installed.

EXAMPLE 2

Method of determining the correct temperature

The thermometer is placed on the chest slightly obliquely (the end of the thermometer casing 1 with the antenna 9 points approximately 30° down from the horizontal line of a standing person) so that the distant end of the neck 3 with the temperature sensor 5 lies in the axilla (see FIG. 5) .

The term correct temperature c means the temperature measured by the thermometer under the right conditions when the user used the thermometer in the correct way. The temperature was measured continuously (see FIG. 6) over time, with a frequency of 15 s, the temperature measurements t were considered to be correct when the temperature t rose in a defined manner or maintained a stable value or decreased naturally (not a sharp drop occurred).

An exemplary method of determining the correct temperature c measured by the thermometer of Example 1 involved the following steps.

For each measured temperature t at time T(t) within the continuous measuring interval evaluate:

1. if the time T(l) of the last temperature drop by more than 0,15 °C in 48 seconds occurred later than the time T(c) of the last correct temperature c, or one of these times is unknown, then: a) if the evaluated temperature t at time T(t) is greater than or equal to the last correct temperature c at time T(c), then the evaluated temperature t at time T(t) is the new correct temperature c; b) if the standard deviation of the temperatures over the last 180 seconds before time T(t) is less than or equal to 0,0625 °C, then the evaluated temperature t at time T(t) is the new correct temperature c; c) if the correct temperature c does not exist in the continuous data, then the evaluated temperature t at time T(t) is the new correct temperature c;

2. if the time T(l) of the last drop of temperature by at least 0,15 °C in 48 seconds occurred simultaneously or later than time T(c) of the last correct temperature c, then: a) if the temperature t is greater than the last correct temperature c, then the evaluated temperature t at time T(t) is the new correct temperature c; b) if all temperatures in the last 180 seconds before time T(t) have not decreased and simultaneously the temperature increased by more than 0,15 °C within 48 second interval before 180 seconds before time T(t), then the evaluated temperature t at time T(t) is the new correct temperature c; c) if the temperature t increased by more than 0,15 °C in the last 48 seconds and simultaneously the time T(c) of the last correct temperature c is older than 1 hour before time T(t), then the evaluated temperature l at time T(t) is the new correct temperature c;

3. in all other cases the measured value t is not considered to be the correct temperature c.