Haptic actuators and their methods of use

Abstract

Methods of operating a haptic actuator to apply physical and/or thermal sensations to a user to provide subjective symptom relief to a user are described. In some embodiments, a haptic actuator may be automatically activated when one or more detected user states are compared to one or more predetermined activation parameters to determine the user is experiencing an episode related to a condition of the user. In another embodiment, one or more operating parameters of a haptic actuator may be updated if the haptic actuator did not provided a desired amount of subjective symptom relief to a user during use. In yet another embodiment, a haptic actuator may create an event log based on activation events when the haptic actuator is used to provide symptom relief for a condition of the user.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of operating a haptic actuator for treating hot flashes of a user, the method comprising:
 activating the haptic actuator to provide cooling thermal sensations to the user to provide subjective symptom relief for the user during an episode of hot flashes; and   recording information relative to the activation of the haptic actuator to create an event log associated with the hot flashes, wherein the information includes at least one selected from a group of a timestamp of a cooling session, a duration of a cooling session, a selected intensity of a cooling session, and a number of cooling session in a day.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising presenting the information to the user. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising transmitting the information to a remotely located database that includes the event log associated with the hot flashes of the user. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein recording the information includes recording the information in a local memory of the haptic actuator. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising updating one or more operating parameters of the haptic actuator during symptom relief in response to input from the user to provide a desired subjective amount of symptom relief. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the information includes the updated one or more operating parameters of the haptic actuator. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the information includes the one or more operating parameters of the haptic actuator before being updated. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising confirming that the activation of the haptic actuator was associated with a presence of hot flashes, wherein if the activation of the haptic actuator was not associated with presence of hot flashes, the information is not recorded. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the information includes a subjective severity of the episode of hot flashes as input by the user. 
     
     
         10 . A method of operating a haptic actuator for treating hot flashes of a user, the method comprising:
 detecting a presence of a hot flash in the user, wherein detecting the presence of a hot flash in the user is based on at least one input from a sensor and one or more activation parameters, wherein the sensor is selected from a group of a temperature sensor, a skin conductance sensor, and a heart rate sensor; and   activating the haptic actuator to provide cooling thermal sensations to the user to provide subjective symptom relief, as perceived by the user, for hot flashes of the user.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the sensor is the skin conductance sensor and the at least one input is a skin conductance value, and wherein detecting the presence of a hot flash in the user includes detecting a skin conductance value that is greater than a threshold skin conductance for a threshold amount of time. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the skin conductance sensor is a sternal skin conductance sensor. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the sensor is the skin conductance sensor and the at least one input is a skin conductance value, and wherein detecting the presence of a hot flash in the user includes detecting a skin conductance value that is less than a threshold skin conductance for a threshold amount of time. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the skin conductance sensor is a sternal skin conductance sensor. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising recording information relative to the activation of the haptic actuator to create an event log associated with the hot flashes, wherein the information includes at least one selected from a group of a timestamp of a cooling session, a duration of a cooling session, a selected intensity of a cooling session, and a number of cooling session in a day. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising transmitting the information to a remotely located database that includes the event log associated with the hot flashes of the user. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the thermal sensations are applied to a chest or neck of the user. 
     
     
         18 . A method of operating a haptic actuator for treating hot flashes of a user, the method comprising:
 detecting one or more states of the user;   comparing the one or more states of the user to one or more activation parameters to determine if the user is experiencing an episode of hot flashes needing symptom relief associated with the hot flashes of the user;   requesting feedback from the user regarding accuracy of the detected episode; and   updating the one or more activation parameters based on the feedback from the user.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the one or more activation parameters are updated using a reinforcement learning protocol. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising presenting one or more suggested updates to the one or more activation parameters based on a condition of the user when it is determined that the haptic actuator did not activate for an episode of hot flashes. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein updating the one or more activation parameters is done manually when it is determined that the haptic actuator did not activate for an episode of hot flashes. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising recording information relative to the activation of the haptic actuator to create an event log associated with the hot flashes, wherein the information includes at least one selected from a group of a timestamp of a cooling session, a duration of a cooling session, a selected intensity of a cooling session, and a number of cooling session in a day.