Integrated health data capture and analysis system

Abstract

The present invention provides an integrated health care surveillance and monitoring system that provides real-time sampling, modeling, analysis, and recommended interventions. The system can be used to monitor infectious and chronic diseases. When faced with outbreak of an infectious disease agent, e.g., influenza virus, the system can identify active cases through pro-active sampling in high risk locations, such as schools or crowded commercial areas. The system can notify appropriate entities, e.g., local, regional and national governments, when an event is detected, thereby allowing for proactive management of a possible outbreak. The system also predicts the best response for deployment of scarce resources.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of operating a point of care device in communication with a remote system, the remote system being in data communication with a plurality of point of care devices and being further configured to model a disease within a population, the method comprising:
 receiving, from the remote system, a protocol for operating the point of care device;   generating a control instruction for controlling the point of care device based on the received protocol; and   transmitting the control instruction to the point of care device so as to control the point of care device in accordance with the protocol.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the protocol for operating the point of care device is a protocol for obtaining a measurement, assay data, a biomarker measurement, or a physiological parameter measurement for an individual of the population, the method further comprising:
 receiving the measurement, assay data, biomarker measurement or the physiological parameter measurement from the point of care device; and   transmit, to the remote system, the received measurement, assay data, biomarker measurement, or the physiological parameter measurement so as to allow the remote system to update data indicative of the disease within the population.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 receiving, from the remote system, a second protocol for operating the point of care device to obtain a measurement, assay data, a biomarker measurement or a physiological parameter measurement;   generating a second control instruction for controlling the point of care device based on the received protocol; and   transmitting the second control instruction to the point of care device so as to control the point of care device in accordance with the second protocol.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 receiving the measurement, assay data, the biomarker measurement or the physiological parameter measurement from the point of care device in accordance with the second protocol;   transmitting, to the remote system, the received measurement, assay data, biomarker measurement, or the physiological parameters resulting from the second protocol so as to allow the remote system to update the data indicative of the disease within the population.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the second protocol is for a different strain of the disease or a different disease than that of the protocol, and
 wherein the receiving of the second protocol depends on a geographic location of the point of care device.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the protocol comprises instructions for a controller of the point of care device to perform an assay of a sample from a bodily fluid. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the protocol is for monitoring:
 an analyte for an individual of the population;   glucose for an individual of the population; or   an analyte for an individual of the population, the analyte selected from at least one of: glucose, hemoglobin Ale, insulin, glucagon, glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), the insulin precursor peptide-C, leptin, adiponectin, cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and triglycerides.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the physiological parameter comprises one or more of body weight, temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, mobility, hydration, or ECG, or alcohol use. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving from the remote system an alert for an individual of the population to test a sample of bodily fluid. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the protocol is for an optimal treatment regimen, predicted by the remote system, for an individual of the population. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 receiving, from the remote system and after updating data indicative of the disease within the population, a third protocol for a predicted optimal treatment regimen for the individual of the population;   generating a third control instruction for controlling the point of care device based on the received third protocol; and   transmitting the third control instruction to the point of care device so as to control the point of care device in accordance with the third protocol.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the disease is diabetes and the optimal treatment regimen, predicted by the remote system, is for insulin. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the third protocol indicates at least one of a different drug dose or a different time for a drug does that than the protocol. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein updating the data indicative of the disease within the population is based on a measurement, assay data, a biomarker measurement or a physiological parameter measurement from a point of care device. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the remote system comprises:
 a static database component comprising static data related to the at least one of the disease or the population;   a dynamic database component comprising dynamic data about the population and individual subjects, the dynamic data comprising the measurement, assay data, biomarker measurement or physiological parameter measurement from the plurality of point of care devices; and   a computer modeling component that is configured to model the disease within the population using the static data in the static database component and the dynamic data in the dynamic database component.   
     
     
         16 . A point of care device, configured to receive an execute the control instruction of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         17 . A system comprising:
 a remote system that includes:
 a static database component comprising static data related to at least one of a disease or a population; 
 a dynamic database component comprising dynamic data about the population and individual subjects, the dynamic data comprising a measurement, assay data, biomarker measurement or physiological parameter measurement from a plurality of point of care devices; 
 a computer modeling component that is configured to model the disease within the population using the static data in the static database component and the dynamic data in the dynamic database component; 
 one or more processors configured to generate a control instruction for controlling a point of care device based on an assay protocol; 
 and a transceiver configured to transmit the generated control instruction to the point of care device; and 
   the point of care device, comprising:
 a transceiver configured to receive an assay instruction from the remote system and to transmit assay results to the remote system; and 
 one or more processors configured to carry out an assay according to the assay instruction, the assay instruction representing an assay protocol.