Medical assistant

Abstract

A wearable device can present virtual content to the wearer for many applications in a healthcare setting. The wearer may be a patient or a healthcare provider (HCP). Such applications can include, but are not limited to, access, display, and modification of patient medical records and sharing patient medical records among authorized HCPs.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A wearable system for managing medical information, the wearable system comprising:
 a head-mounted display (HMD) comprising a display configured to present virtual content to a user;   one or more environmental sensors configured to obtain data associated with the user's environment;   a hardware processor in communication with the display and the one or more environmental sensors, and programmed to:   monitor the user's environment via the one or more environmental sensors;   detect an initiation condition based at least partly on first data acquired by the one or more environmental sensors;   document at least a portion of an interaction with a patient via an environmental sensor in response to the detection of the initiation condition, wherein the portion of the interaction comprises second data acquired by the environmental sensor;   analyze the second data to extract relevant medical information related to the interaction with the patient based on contextual information; and   initiate storage of the relevant medical information to a healthcare database system.   
     
     
         2 . The wearable system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more environmental sensors comprise at least an outward-facing camera or a microphone. 
     
     
         3 . The wearable system of  claim 1 , wherein to analyze the second data to extract relevant medical information, the hardware processor is programmed to:
 determine an audio stream spoken by the patient or the user of the wearable system;   convert the audio stream to a text; and   parse the text to identify phrases describing the patient's medical condition or history.   
     
     
         4 . The wearable system of  claim 1 , wherein to initiate storage of the relevant medical information, the hardware processor is programmed to:
 verify the patient's identity based at least partly on the data acquired by the one or more environmental sensor; and   update a medical record stored in the healthcare database with the relevant medical information captured from the interaction between the patient and the user.   
     
     
         5 . The wearable system of  claim 1 , wherein the hardware processor is further programmed to:
 detect a triggering event for sharing healthcare information with a second wearable system;   determine an access privilege associated with the second wearable system; and   cause at least a portion of the healthcare information to be communicated to the second wearable system in response to a determination that the second wearable system has the access privilege.   
     
     
         6 . The wearable system of  claim 5 , the hardware processor is programmed to provide an indication to the second wearable system in response to a determination that the second wearable system has insufficient access privilege. 
     
     
         7 . The wearable system of  claim 5 , wherein the access privilege associated with the second wearable system is configured by the patient. 
     
     
         8 . The wearable system of  claim 5 , wherein the healthcare information comprises at least a portion of a field of view (FOV) of the user as captured by an outward-facing camera. 
     
     
         9 . The wearable system of  claim 5 , wherein the hardware processor is programmed to share the healthcare information and an annotation associated with the healthcare information with the second wearable system. 
     
     
         10 . The wearable system of  claim 1 , wherein the contextual information comprises at least one of a location of the user, a pose of the user, a level of access privilege of the user, a symptom or a condition of the patient in the FOV of the user, or an identity of the patient in the FOV of the user. 
     
     
         11 . The wearable system of  claim 1 , wherein the hardware processor is further programmed to cause the head-mounted display to present virtual content to the user related to the interaction with the patient. 
     
     
         12 . The wearable system of  claim 11 , wherein the virtual content comprises at least one of a portion of a patient medical record or information related to the patient's physiological parameters received from a medical device. 
     
     
         13 . The wearable system of  claim 11 , wherein the contextual information comprises information about medical instruments used during a medical procedure on a patient, and the virtual content comprises information relating to location of the medical instruments. 
     
     
         14 . The wearable system of  claim 13 , wherein the virtual content comprises an alert that a medical instrument in the FOV of the user is inappropriate or unrequested for a medical procedure. 
     
     
         15 . A method for managing medical information, the method comprising:
 under control of a hardware processor:   monitoring a user's environment based on data acquired by a wearable device comprising an environmental sensor;   detecting an initiation condition based at least partly on first data acquired by the wearable device;   documenting an interaction between a patient and a healthcare provider (HCP) via the environmental sensor of the wearable device in response to the detection of the initiation condition, wherein the interaction comprises second data acquired by the environmental sensor;   analyzing the second data to extract relevant medical information related to the interaction with the patient based on contextual information; and   initiating storage of the relevant medical information to a healthcare database system.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the environmental sensor comprises a microphone, and analyzing the second data to extract relevant medical information comprises:
 acquiring, via the microphone, an audio stream spoken by the patient or the HCP;   converting the audio stream to a text; and   parsing the text to identify phrases describing the patient's medical condition or history.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein initiating storage of the relevant medical information comprises:
 verifying the patient's identity based at least partly on the data acquired by the wearable device; and   updating a medical record stored in the healthcare database with the relevant medical information captured from the interaction between the patient and the HCP.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 detecting a triggering event for sharing healthcare information with a second wearable device;   determining an access privilege associated with the second wearable device; and   causing at least a portion of the healthcare information to be communicated to the second wearable device in response to a determination that the second wearable device has the access privilege.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the access privilege associated with the second wearable device is configured by the patient. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the healthcare information comprises at least a portion of a field of view (FOV) of the user as captured by an outward-facing imaging system. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , further comprising sharing the healthcare information and an annotation associated with the healthcare information with the second wearable system. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the contextual information comprises at least one of a location of the user, a pose of the user, a level of access privilege of the user, a symptom or a condition of the patient in the FOV of the user, or an identity of the patient in the FOV of the user. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising causing the wearable device to display, via a head-mounted display, virtual content comprising at least one of a portion of a patient medical record or information related to the patient's physiological parameters received from a medical device. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the virtual content comprises an alert that a medical instrument in the FOV of the user is inappropriate or unrequested for a medical procedure. 
     
     
         25 . A first wearable device for managing medical information, the first wearable device comprising:
 an outward-facing imaging system configured image an environment of a user;   a head-mounted display configured to present virtual content to the user; and   a hardware processor programmed to:   monitor objects in a user's environment via data received from the outward-facing imaging system;   determine objects in the user's field of view as perceived through the head-mounted display;   detect a triggering event for a sharing session with a second wearable device, wherein the sharing session comprises sharing at least first information associated with a first physical object in the user's field of view with a second wearable device, wherein the first information is outside of a field of view of the second wearable device;   communicate the first information to the second wearable device;   receive virtual content from the second wearable device wherein the virtual content comprises second information associated with a second physical object which is outside of the user's field of view; and   present the virtual content received from the second wearable device to the user via the head-mounted display.   
     
     
         26 . The first wearable device of  claim 25 , wherein the hardware processor is further programmed to:
 receive an annotation associated with the first physical object in the user's field of view via the first wearable device, and wherein to communicate the first information to the second wearable device, the hardware processor is programmed to communicate the annotation and an image of the first object to the second wearable device.   
     
     
         27 . The first wearable device of  claim 26 , wherein the annotation comprises one or more virtual flags placed on a portion of a patient's body part, wherein the one or more virtual flags indicate an orientation of the portion of the patient's body part. 
     
     
         28 . The first wearable device of  claim 26 , wherein the sharing session is part of an interaction between the user and a patient, and the hardware processor is further programmed to:
 document at least a portion of the interaction between the user and the patient using at least one of the outward-facing imaging system or a microphone;   identify relevant medical information from the interaction; and   update a medical record of the patient with the relevant medical information.   
     
     
         29 . A method for managing medical information, the method comprising:
 under control of a first wearable device comprising an outward-facing imaging system, a hardware processor, and a head-mounted display:   monitoring objects in a user's environment via the outward-facing imaging system;   determining objects in the user's field of view as perceived through the head-mounted display;   detecting a triggering event for a sharing session with a second wearable device, wherein the sharing session comprises sharing at least first information associated with a first physical object in the user's field of view with a second wearable device, wherein the first information is outside of a field of view of the second wearable device;   communicating the first information to the second wearable device;   receiving virtual content from the second wearable device wherein the virtual content comprises second information associated with a second physical object which is outside of the user's field of view; and   presenting the virtual content received from the second wearable device to the user via the head-mounted display.   
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29 , further comprising: receiving an annotation associated with the first physical object in the user's field of view via the first wearable device, and wherein communicating the first information to the second wearable device comprises communicating the annotation and an image of the first object to the second wearable device. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein the annotation comprises one or more virtual flags placed on a portion of a patient's body part, wherein the one or more virtual flags indicate an orientation of the portion of the patient's body part, an orientation of a camera that captured the image, or contextual information associated with the image or the portion of the patient's body part. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the sharing session is part of an interaction between the user and a patient and the method further comprises:
 documenting the interaction between the user and the patient using at least one of the outward-facing imaging system or a microphone;   identifying relevant medical information from the interaction; and   updating a medical record of the patient with the relevant medical information.   
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 29 , further comprising:
 verifying an access privilege of the second wearable device; and   sharing at least a portion of the first information to which the access privilege of the second wearable device is sufficient.   
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 33 , wherein the access privilege is managed by a patient whose medical information is being shared between the first wearable device and the second wearable device. 
     
     
         35 . A wearable device comprising:
 an outward-facing camera configured to image a field of regard (FOR) of a user, the FOR comprising a portion of the environment around the user that is capable of being perceived by the user via the wearable device;   a head-mounted display configured to present virtual content to the user, wherein at least a portion of the display is transparent such that the transparent portion transmits light from a portion of the environment in front of the wearer to the wearer's eye to provide a view of the portion of the environment in front of the wearer;   a hardware processor in communication with the display and the environmental sensor, the hardware processor programmed to:   determine a sterile region in the FOR, wherein the sterile region comprises an area that is disinfected prior to a medical procedure;   analyze data acquired by the outward-facing camera to identify a physical object entered into the sterile region;   access information associated with the physical object;   track a position of the physical object in the sterile region via the data acquired by the outward-facing camera; and   cause the head-mounted display to present virtual content associated with the medical procedure.   
     
     
         36 . The wearable device of  claim 35 , wherein the sterile region comprises at least a portion of the patient's body. 
     
     
         37 . The wearable device of  claim 35 , wherein a boundary of the sterile region is delineated by a user of the wearable device via hand gestures. 
     
     
         38 . The wearable device of  claim 35 , wherein the information associated with the physical object comprises at least one of a function of the physical object or a type of the medical procedure. 
     
     
         39 . The wearable device of  claim 35 , wherein the hardware processor is further programmed to detect an anomaly associated with the physical object in the sterile region based at least partly on the information associated with the physical object. 
     
     
         40 . The wearable device of  claim 39 , wherein the detected anomaly comprises a determination that the physical object is unrequested or inappropriate for the medical procedure, and wherein the hardware processor is programmed to present an alert to the wearer based at least partly upon the detected anomaly. 
     
     
         41 . The wearable device of  claim 35 , wherein the hardware processor is further programmed to determine whether the physical object has left the sterile region. 
     
     
         42 . The wearable device of  claim 35 , wherein the virtual content associated with the medical procedure comprises a list of medical instructions for the medical procedure. 
     
     
         43 . The wearable device of  claim 35 , wherein the virtual content further comprises a focus indicator indicating one or more medical instructions that are in the sterile region based at least partly on the tracking of the physical object. 
     
     
         44 . A method comprising:
 under control of a hardware processor:   determining a sterile region in a field of regard (FOR) of a user of a wearable device, wherein the FOR comprising a portion of the environment around the user that is capable of being perceived by the user via the wearable device;   analyzing data acquired by an outward-facing camera of the wearable device to identify a physical object entered into the sterile region;   accessing information associated with the physical object;   tracking a position of the physical object in the sterile region based on the data acquired by the outward-facing camera; and   causing a visual indication to be provided by a head-mounted display of the wearable device, where the visual indication is associated with the position of the physical object.   
     
     
         45 . The method of  claim 44 , wherein the sterile region comprises at least a portion of the patient's body. 
     
     
         46 . The method of  claim 44 , wherein the information associated with the physical object comprises at least one of a function of the physical object or a type of the medical procedure. 
     
     
         47 . The method of  claim 44 , further comprising detecting an anomaly associated with the physical object in the sterile region based at least partly on the information associated with the physical object. 
     
     
         48 . The method of  claim 44 , wherein the detected anomaly comprises a determination that the physical object is unrequested or inappropriate for the medical procedure, and the method further comprises presenting an alert to the wearer based at least partly upon the detected anomaly. 
     
     
         49 . The method of  claim 44 , further comprising:
 determining whether the physical object has left the sterile region; and   in response to a determination that the physical object has left the sterile region, decrease a count associated with the physical object, wherein the count represents a number of the physical object that is in the sterile region.   
     
     
         50 . The method of  claim 44 , wherein the virtual indication comprises a list of physical objects in the sterile region.