Toothbrush system

Abstract

A toothbrush apparatus and system and associated method. The apparatus includes a sensing module that performs at least one of the following: detect at least one time period associated with use of the toothbrush apparatus, detect one or more movements of the toothbrush apparatus, and any combination thereof. The apparatus's one or more processors communicatively coupled to the sensing module determine one or more measurements based on at least one of: the detected time periods, the detected movements, and any combination thereof, and store the determined measurements in one or more memory locations communicatively coupled to the processors. The apparatus also includes one or more feedback modules that receive the stored measurements and encode the measurements into corresponding feedback signals. One or more data transfer modules transmit the feedback signals.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of assessing toothbrushing, the method comprising:
 receiving a signal indicative of brushing movements detected by an accelerometer supported on a toothbrush apparatus;   receiving time stamps associated with the brushing movements, and each one of the time stamps including a date, a start time of day for using the toothbrush apparatus on the date, and an end time of day for using the toothbrush apparatus on the date;   determining one or more brushing measurements based on the brushing movements and the time stamps; and   transmitting the one or more brushing measurements to a computing device.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the time stamps are received from a clock supported on the toothbrush apparatus. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the one or more brushing measurements includes comparing one or both the signal indicative of the brushing movements or the time stamps to one or more predetermined usage values. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more brushing measurements include at least one of the following: a brushing intensity, a brushing pressure, one or more parameters associated with brushing movements, a location of the toothbrush apparatus in a mouth of a user during brushing, a coverage of brushing, and any combination thereof. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more brushing measurements are transmitted based on a mode of operation of the toothbrush apparatus. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the mode of operation of the toothbrush apparatus includes at least one of the following: a low mode, a high mode, a soft mode, a whitening mode, a gentle mode, a firm mode, a communications mode, and any combination thereof. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein transmitting the one or more brushing measurements include transmitting the one or more brushing measurements automatically, at predetermined period of time, after each use of the toothbrush apparatus, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein transmitting the one or more brushing measurements includes encoding the one or more brushing measurements. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein transmitting the one or more brushing measurements includes wirelessly communicating the one or more brushing measurements. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising storing the one or more brushing measurements using a predetermined resolution in a compressed format. 
     
     
         11 . A computer program product including a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium in electrical communication with one or more processors via a system bus, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to carry out operations comprising:
 receiving a signal indicative of brushing movements detected by an accelerometer supported on a toothbrush apparatus;   receiving time stamps associated with the brushing movements, and each one of the time stamps including a date, a start time of day for using the toothbrush apparatus on the date, and an end time of day for using the toothbrush apparatus on the date;   determining one or more brushing measurements based on the brushing movements and the time stamps; and   transmitting the one or more brushing measurements to a computing device in wireless communication with the one or more processors.   
     
     
         12 . The computer program product of  claim 11 , the time stamps measured by a clock supported on the toothbrush apparatus. 
     
     
         13 . The computer program product of  claim 11 , wherein the one or more brushing measurements include at least one of the following: a brushing intensity, a brushing pressure, one or more parameters associated with brushing movements, a location of the toothbrush apparatus in a mouth of a user during brushing, a coverage of brushing, and any combination thereof. 
     
     
         14 . The computer program product of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions for causing the one or more processors to transmit the one or more measurements include instructions to cause the one or more processors to transmit the one or more measurements automatically, at predetermined period of time, after each use of the toothbrush apparatus, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         15 . The computer program product of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions for causing the one or more processors to transmit the one or more measurements include instructions to cause the one or more processors to transmit the one or more measurements based on a mode of operation of the toothbrush apparatus. 
     
     
         16 . The computer program product of  claim 15 , wherein the mode of operation includes at least one of the following: a low mode, a high mode, a soft mode, a whitening mode, a gentle mode, a firm mode, a communications mode, and any combination thereof.