Interactive patient forums

Abstract

In a medical communication method, two or more persons are identified as having a selected medical condition or characteristic. At the residence of each identified person, a video conference-enabling unit ( 56 ) is operatively connected with a consumer electronics device ( 50, 52 ) disposed in the identified person's residence. A video conference is conducted between at least two of the two or more identified persons using their respective consumer electronics devices ( 50, 52 ) and video conference-enabling units ( 56 ).

Having thus described the preferred embodiments, the invention is now claimed to be: 
     
         1 . A medical communication system comprising:
 audio/video interfaces disposed in residences of subjects, each audio/video interface including a consumer electronics device providing audio/video playback capability and a camera providing audio/video recording capability; and   a distributed medical server including a processor disposed in each residence and operatively coupled with the audio/video interface of that residence, the distributed medical server being configured to perform video conferencing in conjunction with selected processors and the network in which selected subjects view the video conference using the playback capability of the consumer electronics device disposed in the subject's residence and participate in the video conference by being recorded using the camera disposed in the subject's residence;   wherein the distributed medical server includes a current speaker disambiguation engine configured to determine which participant of the video conference is currently displayed based on relative audio signal strength integrated over a time window.   
     
     
         2 . The medical communication system of  claim 1  wherein the distributed medical server is further configured to play selected portions of pre-recorded audio/video content on the audio/video interfaces of selected residences in accordance with care plan schedules for subjects residing in those residences. 
     
     
         3 . The medical communication system of  claim 1  wherein the distributed medical server supports a plurality of ongoing unmoderated medically related video conferences that subjects join and exit in an ad hoc manner. 
     
     
         4 . The medical communication system of  claim 1  wherein the consumer electronics device providing audio/video playback capability comprises a television. 
     
     
         5 . The medical communication system of  claim 1  wherein the camera includes a video recording lens and an automatic lens cover arranged to physically block the video recording lens except during recording of audio/video content. 
     
     
         6 . The medical communication method of  claim 5 , wherein the camera further includes a microphone configured to physically retract from view except when the audio/video recording device is recording audio/video content. 
     
     
         7 . A medical communication method comprising:
 conducting a video conference on a medically related topic between at least two persons sharing a selected medical condition or characteristic using audio/video recording devices disposed in the persons' respective residences; and   during the conducting of the video conference, physically blocking video recording lenses of the respective audio/video recording devices except when the audio/video recording device is recording audio/video content.   
     
     
         8 . The medical communication method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 during the conducting of the video conference, physically retracting from view microphones of the respective audio/video recording devices except when the audio/video recording device is recording audio/video content.   
     
     
         9 . The medical communication method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 determining which participant of the video conference is currently displayed based on relative audio signal strength integrated over a time window.   
     
     
         10 . A medical communication system comprising:
 audio/video interfaces disposed in residences of subjects, each audio/video interface including a television and a set-top box including a camera providing audio/video recording capability; and   a server connected with the set-top boxes of the audio/video interfaces via the Internet, the server configured to perform video conferencing via the Internet in conjunction with selected audio/video interfaces in which selected subjects view the video conference on the television of the audio/video interface disposed in the subject's residence and participate in the video conference by being recorded using the camera of the set-top box of the audio/video interface disposed in the subject's residence.   
     
     
         11 . The medical communication system of  claim 10  further comprising:
 a current speaker disambiguation engine configured to determine a current speaker during the video conferencing based on relative audio signal strength integrated over a time window, the audio/video interfaces being configured to display the current speaker during the video conferencing. 
 
     
     
         12 . The medical communication system of  claim 11  wherein the set-top box of each audio/video interface further includes an automatic lens cover arranged to physically block the video recording lens of the camera of the audio/video interface except when the subject in whose residence the audio/video interface is disposed is the current speaker. 
     
     
         13 . The medical communication system of  claim 10  wherein the camera includes a video recording lens and an automatic lens cover arranged to physically block the video recording lens except during recording of audio/video content. 
     
     
         14 . The medical communication system of  claim 13 , wherein the camera further includes a microphone configured to physically retract from view except during recording of audio/video content. 
     
     
         15 . The medical communication system of  claim 10  wherein each audio/video interface further includes:
 a blood pressure measurement device configured to acquire a blood pressure reading of the subject; and 
 a handheld remote controller configured to enable the subject to input the blood pressure reading to the server.