Physiological monitoring methods

Abstract

A method of monitoring a subject includes detecting subject head motion via a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) sensor associated with a device worn by the subject, such as a device worn on a region of the head or a headset attached to an ear. The head motion information from the MEMS sensor is processed to determine subject head displacement relative to an origin and/or to identify footstep information, and the processed head motion information is transmitted to a remote device. Processing the head motion information from the MEMS sensor may be performed via at least one processor associated with the device worn by the subject and/or via a second device in telemetric communication with the MEMS sensor. The method may include processing head motion information from the MEMS sensor to determine if the subject has fallen down and/or is not moving.

That which is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of monitoring a subject, the method comprising:
 detecting subject head motion via a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) sensor associated with a device worn by the subject;   processing head motion information from the MEMS sensor to determine subject head displacement relative to an origin and/or to identify footstep information; and   transmitting processed head motion information from the MEMS sensor to a remote device.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein processing head motion information from the MEMS sensor comprises processing the head motion information from the MEMS sensor via at least one processor associated with the device worn by the subject. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein processing head motion information from the MEMS sensor comprises processing the head motion information from the MEMS sensor via a second device in telemetric communication with the MEMS sensor, and wherein transmitting processed head motion information comprises transmitting processed head motion information from the second device to the remote device. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising processing head motion information from the MEMS sensor to determine if the subject has fallen down and/or is not moving. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the device worn by the subject is configured to be worn on a region of the head of the subject. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the device worn by the subject comprises a headset configured to be attached to an ear of the subject. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the remote device comprises a database and/or a portable telecommunication device. 
     
     
         8 . A method of monitoring a subject, the method comprising:
 sensing subject head motion and/or subject footstep motion via at least one motion sensor worn by the subject;   sensing physiological information from the subject via at least one physiological sensor worn by the subject; and   processing the subject motion information and subject physiological information to reduce motion artifacts from subject head motion and/or subject footstep motion that may be present in the sensed physiological information.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the at least one motion sensor and at least one physiological sensor are associated with a device worn by the subject, and wherein the processing comprises processing the subject motion information and subject physiological information to reduce motion artifacts from subject head motion and/or subject footstep motion via at least one algorithm stored in at least one memory associated with the device. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein processing the subject motion information and subject physiological information to reduce motion artifacts from subject head motion and/or subject footstep motion comprises ignoring physiological information from the at least one physiological sensor at one or more times when subject motion is detected. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein processing the subject motion information and subject physiological information to reduce motion artifacts from subject head motion and/or subject footstep motion that may be present in the sensed physiological information is performed in substantially real time. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the at least one motion sensor comprises at least one acoustic sensor and/or at least one microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) sensor. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein processing the subject motion information and subject physiological information to reduce motion artifacts from subject head motion and/or subject footstep motion comprises reviewing historical physiological information for the subject, and using the historical physiological information to identify one or more corruptions in the subject physiological information. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the device worn by the subject is configured to be worn on a region of the head of the subject. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the device worn by the subject comprises a headset configured to be attached to an ear of the subject. 
     
     
         16 . A method of generating an assessment of a subject, the method comprising:
 sensing physiological and/or motion information from the subject via at least one head-worn device;   sensing physiological and/or motion information from the subject via at least one portable telecommunication device; and   processing information sensed by the at least one head-worn device and information sensed by the at least one portable telecommunication device to generate at least one assessment of the subject.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the assessment is a physiological assessment of the subject. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein processing information sensed by the at least one head-worn device and information sensed by the at least one portable telecommunication device is performed via at least one algorithm stored in at least one memory associated with the at least one head-worn device and/or the at least one portable telecommunication device. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein processing information sensed by the at least one head-worn device and information sensed by the at least one portable telecommunication device is performed via at least one algorithm stored in at least one memory associated with the at least one head-worn device. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein physiological and/or motion information sensed via the at least one head-worn device is transmitted wirelessly to the at least one portable telecommunication device, and wherein processing information sensed by the at least one head-worn device and information sensed by the at least one portable telecommunication device is performed via at least one algorithm stored in at least one memory associated with the at least one portable telecommunication device.