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EP-3769320-B1 - A SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING ALLERGENS WHICH MAY PRESENT A RISK OF A RESPIRATORY ATTACK TO A USER OF THE SYSTEM

EP3769320B1EP 3769320 B1EP3769320 B1EP 3769320B1EP-3769320-B1

Inventors

  • SU, JING
  • KONG, TAO

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20190319

Claims (13)

  1. A system for determining allergens which may present a risk of a respiratory attack to a user of the system, comprising: a processor (12); a first input (18) to the processor for receiving an indication that a respiratory attack has taken place; a location indicator (14); and a second input (20) to the processor for receiving historical data for a time period which precedes the respiratory attack, wherein the historical data relates to locations of the user during the time period, including at least environmental factors (24) which comprise at least plant types known to be present in the vicinity of the locations, wherein the processor (12) is adapted to process the historical data thereby to: determine the location at which a respiratory attack is most likely to have been triggered by assigning weights to the environmental factors; identify a set (30) of most likely plant types by applying weightings to each plant type relating at least to the amount of the plant type present at the determined location; and output said set (30) of plant types as those which may present a risk of a respiratory attack to the user of the system.
  2. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the historical data further comprises contact factors (26) which comprise animals known to be present at the locations and optionally also people known to be present at the locations, and wherein weights are also assigned to the contact factors.
  3. A system as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the environmental factors (24) further comprise weather conditions at the locations and pollen count information at the locations, and optionally also indoor conditions comprising indoor humidity and/or room ventilation rate and/or temperature.
  4. A system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the weather conditions of the environmental factors comprise one or more of: outdoor humidity; wind speed; wind direction; temperature.
  5. A system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the weightings for each plant type further relate to the environmental factors and a pollen allergenicity level.
  6. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the processor (12) is adapted to identify a set of most likely plant types by combining the sets of most likely plant types from multiple preceding respiratory attacks.
  7. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the time period has a duration of between 6 hours and 36 hours.
  8. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the processor (12) is adapted to provide recommendations (31) for locations for the user to avoid a respiratory attack.
  9. A method for determining allergens which may present a risk level of a respiratory attack to a user of the system, comprising: (32) tracking the location of the user; (33) receiving an input indicating a respiratory attack; (34) receiving historical data for a time period which precedes a respiratory attack, wherein the historical data relates to locations of the user during the time period, including at least environmental factors which comprise plant types known to be present at the locations; (36) processing the historical data thereby to: (36a) determine the location at which a respiratory attack is most likely to have been triggered by assigning weights to the environmental factors; and (36b) identify a set of most likely plant types by applying weightings to each plant type relating at least to the amount of the plant type present at the determined location; and output said set of plant types as those which may present a risk of a respiratory attack to the user of the system.
  10. A method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the environmental factors further comprise weather conditions at the locations and pollen count information at the locations, and optionally also indoor conditions comprising indoor humidity and/or room ventilation rate and/or indoor temperature and the weather conditions of the environmental factors comprise one or more of outdoor humidity, wind speed, wind direction and temperature.
  11. A method as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 10, comprising identifying a set of most likely plant types by combining the sets of most likely plant types from multiple preceding respiratory attacks.
  12. A method as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein the historical data further comprises contact factors which comprise animals known to be present at the locations and optionally also people known to be present at the locations.
  13. A computer program comprising computer program code which is adapted, when said program is run on a computer, to implement the method of any one of claims 9 to 12.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a system and method for determining allergens that may present a risk to a user. Such allergens may include plant pollen, animal dander, dust and mold. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The spread of respiratory allergies (allergic rhinitis) is increasing. Around one third of adults in the US has respiratory allergies and up to 40% of children in the US are allergic to respiratory allergens. Pollen, dust mites, mold and pet dander are allergen sources for respiratory allergies. There are many different types of pollen as well as many different examples of the other types of allergen which can cause allergies. Without visiting a clinician, allergy suffers are unlikely to know which types of airborne allergen they are allergic to. People who have allergic rhinitis generally visit a clinician for allergen screening. This normally involves a skin prick test or immunoglobulin E (IgE) blood test. This process is time-consuming and not pleasant, especially for children. Even if a subject does know which types of specific allergen they react to, it is still a problem to avoid allergic reactions effectively, for a number of reasons. First, there are many different types of airborne allergens. Only pollen concentration is widely reported and forecast. However, a pollen forecast (in the newspapers, on a smartphone app or on TV) is very generic and often does not give sufficient information to particular individuals to know if the pollen presents a danger to them. For example, a high pollen count does not necessarily mean that any particular individual will be affected, because there are many different types of pollen, from different kinds of trees, from grass and from a variety of weeds. A high overall pollen count does not necessarily indicate a strong concentration of a specific pollen to which an individual will react. Conversely, a low pollen count does not mean there is a low concentration of a particular allergen of concern to a particular individual. For airborne allergens other than pollen, no objective data is available. Second, it is not clear when and where an individual is likely to be exposed to a particular allergen. There are many opportunities for subjects to inhale airborne allergens, like inhaling outdoor pollen, contacting dust mites carried by colleagues or classmates, inhaling indoor mold, etc. However, people seldom know when and where they are at risk to inhaling allergens, as the visible allergic reaction typically occurs at some point in the 24 hour period after inhaling the allergen. US2014213925A1 discloses devices, systems, kits and methods for measuring peak expiratory or inspiratory flow-rate and dynamically predicting respiratory episodes. Additionally, systems for analyzing and processing the measurement in a communication networked environment are also provided. An aspect of the disclosure is directed to a respiratory device, In some configurations the respiratory device comprises a housing adaptable and configurable to communicate with an electronic device, a mouth piece having a proximal end and a distal end configurable to engage a mouth of a patient and transmit an air flow, one or more diaphragm sensors configured to detect a breath vibration from the air flow in the mouth piece, and a processor adaptable and configurable to analyze the breath vibration detected by the one or more diaphragm sensors. US20160256097A1 discloses information from a sensor that is local to a user is received. The information may indicate that the user has experienced a physiological event. The information is analyzed to determine whether the physiological event should be classified as an allergic reaction. If the physiological event should be classified as an allergic reaction, an action is taken such as particles currently present in the environment local to the user are collected. There is therefore a need for a system and method which is better able to determine when and where people are likely to be exposed to allergens which affect them, and to be able to identify those allergens. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention is defined by the claims. According to examples in accordance with an aspect of the invention, there is provided a system for determining allergens which may present a risk of a respiratory attack to a user of the system, comprising: a processor;a first input to the processor for receiving an indication that a respiratory attack has taken place;a location indicator; anda second input to the processor for receiving historical data for a time period which precedes the respiratory attack, wherein the historical data relates to locations of the user during the time period, including at least environmental factors which comprise plant types known to be present in the vicinity of the locations,wherein the processor is adapted to process the historical data thereby to: determine the location at which a respiratory attack is most likely to have been