US-12622618-B2 - Wrist-worn impairment detection and methods for using such

US12622618B2US 12622618 B2US12622618 B2US 12622618B2US-12622618-B2

Abstract

Various embodiments provide systems and methods for identifying impairment using measurement devices.

Inventors

Duke Hanson
Joseph P. Newell
Dustin PETTIT
Evencio Fernandez
Ric Miller

Assignees

BI INCORPORATED

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20240205

Claims (20)

1 . A system for determining a likelihood of impairment, the system comprising: a user attached monitor device, wherein the user attached monitor device includes: a strap configured to secure the user attached monitor device to a monitored individual; a sensor; a processor; and a non-transitory computer readable medium communicably coupled to the processor and having stored therein instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to: receive a test setup request from a central monitoring station via wireless communication network, wherein the test setup request indicates a request to a user to initiate an impairment test available on the user attached monitor device; start the impairment test; generate an impairment value based at least in part on information from the sensor; and report the impairment value generated on the user attached monitor device to the central monitoring station.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the user attached monitor device further comprises: a display.
3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the instructions, which when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to: display a request, via the display, for the monitored individual to perform an action related to the impairment test.
4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to generate the impairment value based at least in part on information from the sensor comprise instructions to: generate a characteristic of the monitored individual based at least in part on data received from the sensor; and generate an impairment value based at least in part on the characteristic of the monitored individual.
5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the user attached monitor device further comprises a display, wherein the characteristic of the monitored individual is an eye movement characteristic, wherein the sensor is an image sensor, and wherein the instructions which, when executed by the processor to generate the characteristic of a monitored individual comprise instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to: display a video on the display; receive images of eyes of the monitored individual captured by the image sensor while the monitored individual watches the video; and use the received images to calculate the eye movement characteristic.
6 . The system of claim 5 , wherein the non-transitory instructions which, when executed by the processor to generate the impairment value include non-transitory instructions are executable by the processor to: compare the eye movement characteristic to a baseline eye movement threshold; and generate the impairment value based upon the comparison of the eye movement characteristic and the baseline eye movement threshold.
7 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the characteristic of the monitored individual is a balance characteristic, wherein the sensor is an accelerometer, and wherein the instructions which, when executed by the processor to generate the characteristic of a monitored individual comprise instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to: receive acceleration data from the accelerometer; and calculate the balance characteristic based upon the acceleration data.
8 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the non-transitory instructions which, when executed by the processor to generate the impairment value include non-transitory instructions are executable by the processor to: compare the balance characteristic to a baseline balance threshold; and generate the impairment value based upon the comparison of the balance characteristic and the baseline balance threshold.
9 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the characteristic of the monitored individual is a duration of time for an action taken by the monitored individual, wherein the instructions which, when executed by the processor to generate the characteristic of a monitored individual comprise instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to: display a game via a display on the user attached monitor device; and receive timer data from a timer on the user attached monitor device, wherein the timer data indicates the duration of time for an action taken by the monitored individual while playing the game.
10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the non-transitory instructions which, when executed by the processor to generate the impairment value include non-transitory instructions are executable by the processor to: compare the duration of time for the action taken by the monitored individual to a baseline reaction threshold; and generate the impairment value based upon the comparison of the duration of time for the action taken by the monitored individual and the baseline reaction threshold.
11 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer readable medium is a first computer readable medium, wherein the processor is a first processor, the system further comprising: the central monitoring station including a second computer readable medium and a second processor, the second computer readable medium including instructions executable by a second processor to: transmit the impairment test request to the user attached monitor device via the wireless communication network; and receive results from the user attached monitor device in response to the impairment test request, wherein the results include the impairment value generated by the user attached monitor device.
12 . A method for monitoring impairment, the method comprising: receiving, by a user attached monitor device, a test setup request, from a central monitoring station, wherein the test setup request indicates a request to a user to initiate an impairment test available on the user attached monitor device; wherein the user attached monitor device is attached to a monitored individual and comprises a sensor; starting the impairment test by enabling the sensor; sensing a characteristic of the monitored individual using the sensor; and generating an impairment value based at least in part on the characteristic of the monitored individual, wherein the impairment value indicates a likelihood that the monitored individual is impaired; and reporting the impairment value generated on the user attached monitor device to a central monitoring station.
13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein reporting the impairment value includes: transmitting the impairment value to the central monitoring station via a wireless communication network.
14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the characteristic of the monitored individual is an eye movement characteristic, wherein the sensor is an image sensor, and wherein the method further comprises: displaying a video on a display of the user attached monitor device; receiving images of eyes of the monitored individual captured by the image sensor while the monitored individual watches the video; and using the received images to calculate the eye movement characteristic.
15 . The method of claim 14 , the method further comprising: comparing the eye movement characteristic to a baseline eye movement threshold; and generating the impairment value based upon the comparison of the eye movement characteristic and the baseline eye movement threshold.
16 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the characteristic of the monitored individual is a balance characteristic, wherein the sensor is an accelerometer, the method further comprising: receiving acceleration data from the accelerometer; and calculating the balance characteristic based upon the acceleration data.
17 . The method of claim 16 , the method further comprising: comparing the balance characteristic to a baseline balance threshold; and generating the impairment value based upon the comparison of the balance characteristic and the baseline balance threshold.
18 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the characteristic of the monitored individual includes a duration of time for an action taken by the monitored individual, the method further comprising: displaying a game via a display on the user attached monitor device; and receiving timer data from the timer, wherein the timer data indicates the duration of time for an action taken by the monitored individual while playing the game.
19 . The method of claim 18 , the method further comprising: comparing the duration of time for the action taken by the monitored individual to a baseline reaction threshold; and generating the impairment value based upon the comparison of the duration of time for the action taken by the monitored individual and the baseline reaction threshold.
20 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the central monitoring station is communicably coupled to an impairment detection historical database comprising historical data of a user and the impairment test indicated by the test setup request is based on the historical data.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This Application is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 17/006,748 filed on Aug. 28, 2020. Application Ser. No. 17/006,748 is a Continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 16/820,942 filed on Mar. 17, 2020. Application Ser. No. 16/820,942 claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application 62/966,709 filed on Jan. 28, 2020. Application Ser. No. 16/820,942 claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application 62/939,588 filed on Nov. 23, 2019. Application Ser. No. 16/820,942 claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application 62/936,024 filed on Nov. 15, 2019. Application Ser. No. 16/820,942 claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application 62/851,127 filed on May 22, 2019. The entirety of each of the aforementioned references are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Various embodiments provide systems and methods for identifying impairment using an individual monitoring system. A number of different substances impair an individual's ability to safely operate an automobile or other machinery. Field detection of impairment due to alcohol usage has been done using field sobriety testing where, for example, a police officer personally administers one or more tests and based upon the officer's perception a determination of impairment is made. However, waiting for an intervention to detect impairment is problematic. Thus, for at least the aforementioned reasons, there exists a need in the art for more advanced approaches, devices and systems for detecting individual impairment. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Various embodiments provide systems and methods for detecting impairment using measurement devices. This summary provides only a general outline of some embodiments. Many other objects, features, advantages and other embodiments will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description, the appended claims and the accompanying drawings and figures. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRA WINGS A further understanding of the various embodiments may be realized by reference to the figures which are described in remaining portions of the specification. In the figures, similar reference numerals are used throughout several drawings to refer to similar components. In some instances, a sub-label consisting of a lower-case letter is associated with a reference numeral to denote one of multiple similar components. When reference is made to a reference numeral without specification to an existing sub-label, it is intended to refer to all such multiple similar components. FIG. 1a is a block diagram illustrating a hybrid monitoring system including a user attached monitor device in accordance with various embodiments; FIG. 1b is a block diagram of a user attached monitor in accordance with some embodiments; FIG. 1c shows a wrist-worn user attached monitor device with an attachment element for attaching the user attached monitor device to a wrist or other limb of an individual in accordance with some embodiments; FIGS. 2a-2b are flow diagrams showing a method in accordance with some embodiments for using a user attached monitor device to detect impairment of a monitored individual; FIG. 3 is a flow diagram showing a method in accordance with some embodiments for capturing an eye movement baseline for a monitored individual using a user attached monitor device; FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a user impairment detection system operated without relying on a user attached monitor device in accordance with some embodiments; FIG. 5 is a flow diagram showing a method in accordance with some embodiments for capturing an eye movement baseline for a licensed individual at, for example, a location where a driver's license is being issued; FIG. 6 is a flow diagram showing a method in accordance with some embodiments for using a field user eye movement system for detecting user impairment that relies on a previously established individual eye movement baseline; FIG. 7 is a flow diagram showing a method in accordance with some embodiments for using a field monitored individual eye movement system for detecting monitored individual impairment without using a previously established individual eye movement baseline; FIG. 8a is a flow diagram showing a method in accordance with some embodiments for capturing a monitored individual's reaction via a user attached monitor device; FIG. 8b shows an example of a monitored individual holding a user attached monitor device while the reaction measurement of the method of FIG. 8a is performed; FIGS. 8c-8d show different views of a reaction game displayed via the user attached monitor device of FIG. 8b; FIG. 9a shows another example of a monitored individual holding a user attached monitor device while the reaction measurement of the method of FIG. 8a is performed; FIGS. 9b-9c show different views of another reaction game displayed via the user attached monitor device of FIG. 9a; FIG. 10a is a flow diagram showing a m