BLOOD GLUCOSE MONITORING SYSTEM
Technical Field
The present invention relates, in general, to a blood glucose monitoring system and, more particularly, to a blood glucose monitoring system, which can monitor the variation of blood glucose of a patient in real time and prevent the patient from going into shock due to insufficient or excessive blood glucose by automatically giving a warning if a blood glucose level of the patient is out of a stable range, and which can automatically transmit blood glucose information measured for a predetermined period of time to a computer of a doctor in charge, thus enabling the doctor in charge to examine the current blood glucose state and entire health condition of the patient even though the patient does not personally visit the doctor.
Background Art
Generally, the level of glucose in blood is very important to a diabetic patient. That is, if the level of glucose in blood is greater than a certain upper limit or less than a certain lower limit, the diabetic patient goes into shock, so it is very important for the diabetic patient to maintain his or her blood glucose level within a stable range.
However, in the prior art, a device for easily measuring blood glucose of a diabetic patient is not provided. Therefore, in order for the diabetic patient to measure his or her blood glucose, the diabetic patient must personally and periodically visit a hospital. Alternatively, the user must personally check blood glucose by periodically collecting his or her own blood using a portable blood glucose tester so as to measure the blood glucose. Accordingly, this method is problematic in that it is very inconvenient, and moreover, blood collection must be carried out whenever blood glucose is measured, thus exposing the patient to risk of infection. Further, there are problems in that the diabetic patient cannot be aware of a risk due to excessive or insufficient blood glucose, and, even if the diabetic patient can be aware of the risk by subjective symptoms, a doctor in charge cannot accurately examine the condition of the patient until the patient informs the doctor of the risk, thereby preventing the doctor from promptly coping with the risk to the patient.
Disclosure of the Invention
Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a blood glucose monitoring system, which is comprised of a blood glucose measuring means that is formed to be wearable on the wrist of a patient to measure blood glucose by passing ultrasonic waves through the artery of the patient, and give a warning and simultaneously transmit a measured blood glucose level to a computer of a doctor in charge through a base station if the measured blood glucose level is out of a stable range, and a computer that is formed to output blood glucose information measured by the blood glucose measuring means to the doctor in charge to enable the doctor to check a current health condition of the patient, so the blood glucose monitoring system can monitor the variation of blood glucose of the patient in real time and prevent the patient from going into shock due to insufficient or excessive blood glucose by automatically giving a warning if a blood glucose level is out of a stable range, and the blood glucose monitoring system can automatically transmit blood glucose information measured for a predetermined period of time to a computer of a doctor in charge, thus enabling the doctor in charge to examine the current blood glucose state and entire health condition of the patient even though the patient does not personally visit the doctor.
Brief Description of the Drawings
Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a blood glucose monitoring system according to the present invention; Fig. 2 is a block diagram of a blood glucose measuring means applied to the present invention;
Fig. 3 is a view showing the operation of the blood glucose measuring means applied to the present invention; Fig. 4 is a view showing an example in which blood glucose information measured by the blood glucose measuring means is displayed on a computer of a doctor; and
Fig. 5 is a flowchart of a control process of the present invention.
Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention
Figs. 1 to 5 illustrate a blood glucose monitoring system according to the present invention to accomplish the above object. The preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to these drawings below .
The blood glucose monitoring system of the present invention comprises: a blood measuring means 1 formed to be wearable on the wrist of a user to measure blood glucose by passing ultrasonic waves through the artery of the user at each key input or each set period, and output a warning and simultaneously transmit a measured blood glucose level to a doctor in charge in a wireless manner if the measured blood glucose level is out of a stable range; a base station 2 to receive measured blood glucose information, transmitted in a wireless manner from the blood glucose measuring means 1, and provide the measured blood glucose information to a managing server 3; the managing server 3 to transmit the measured blood glucose information provided from the base station 2 to a computer 4 of the doctor in charge, connected to the Internet; and the computer 4 to output the measured blood glucose information of the patient, provided from the managing server 3, to the doctor to enable the doctor to check a health condition of the patient. The blood glucose measuring means 1 comprises: a key unit 14 to input a blood glucose measuring command, a measurement period and the like; a blood glucose measuring unit 12 to pass ultrasonic waves through the artery of the wrist of the patient under the control of a control unit 20 at each key input or each set period, and measure the blood glucose level of the patient by measuring the speed of a blood flow, the viscosity of blood, the amount of glucose and the like through ultrasonic waves returned from the artery; a comparing unit 13 to determine whether the blood glucose level measured by the blood glucose measuring unit 12 is within a stable range by comparing the measured blood glucose level with preset upper and lower limits, and output a warning signal to the control unit 20 if it is determined that the measured blood glucose level is out of a stable range; a memory 16 to store the blood glucose level measured by the blood glucose measuring unit 12; a timer 15 to count a preset period of time in real time; a display unit 17 to display the blood glucose level measured by the blood glucose measuring unit 12 to enable the patient to monitor the measured blood glucose; a warning unit 18 to output a warning tone; the control unit 20 to control an entire operation of the blood glucose measuring means 1, operate the warning unit 18 to output a warning tone if a warning signal is inputted from the comparing unit 13, and control the blood glucose information measured by the blood glucose measuring unit 12 to be transmitted to the computer 4 of the doctor in charge; and a wireless transmitting unit 19 to transmit the blood glucose information to the base station 2 under the control of the control unit 20.
As shown in Fig. 1, the external shape of the blood glucose measuring means 1 is formed by a separate casing 11. Belts are formed at both ends of the casing 11 to allow the casing 11 to be worn on the wrist of the patient, and the blood glucose measuring unit 12 is mounted on the bottom of the casing 11. The blood glucose measuring unit 12 passes ultrasonic waves through the artery within the wrist, measures the speed of a blood flow, the viscosity of blood, the density of blood, the amount of glucose and the like through ultrasonic waves returned from the artery, and measures the blood glucose level using the measured information. Generally, as the blood glucose level increases, the viscosity of blood also increases, the amount of glucose increases, the speed of a blood flow decreases, and the density of blood increases, so the blood glucose measuring unit 12 measures the blood glucose level of the patient using this information.
The operation of the present invention having the above construction is described. First, a user sets a period for blood glucose measurement using various functional keys provided in the key unit 14. The measurement period can be set by the minute or hour depending on the condition of the patient, and the timer 15 counts a time for the measurement period set in this way.
The blood glucose measuring unit 12 of the blood glucose measuring means 1 is operated to measure blood glucose every set time counted by the timer 15 or when the user inputs a specific key of the key unit 14.
That is, when the user inputs the specific key or when a value counted by the timer 15 reaches the set time, the control unit 20 operates the blood glucose measuring unit 12, so the blood glucose measuring unit 12 is operated under the control of the control unit 20 to measure the blood glucose by passing ultrasonic waves through the artery.
The blood glucose level measured by the blood glucose measuring unit 12 is provided to the comparing unit 13. The comparing unit 13 compares the blood glucose level measured by the blood glucose measuring unit 12 with preset upper and lower limits.
If the measured blood glucose level exists between the preset upper and lower limits on the basis of the compared result, the comparing unit 13 determines that the blood glucose level of the patient is within a stable range and does not transmit any signal to the controller 20. If the measured blood glucose level is out of the stable range, the comparing unit 13 determines that the condition of the patient is in a risk state, and outputs a warning signal to the control unit 20.
When the warning signal is inputted from the comparing unit 13, the control unit 20 outputs the measured blood glucose level through the display unit 17 to allow the patient to visually ascertain his or her blood glucose level, and simultaneously operates the warning unit 18 to output a warning tone.
Further, the control unit 20 transmits the currently measured blood glucose level to the base station 2 through the wireless transmitting unit 19. The base station 2 transmits the blood glucose level received from the wireless transmitting unit 19 to the managing server 3. The managing server 3 stores the received blood glucose level therein, and simultaneously transmits the blood glucose level to the computer 4 of the doctor in charge, connected to the managing server 3 through the Internet.
Accordingly, the computer 4 outputs a predetermined warning tone while outputting the blood glucose level of the patient provided from the managing server 3 on a monitor, thus enabling the doctor in charge to recognize the risk state of the patient.
The doctor in charge, recognizing the risk state of the patient, makes contact with the patient through a mobile phone of the patient, etc. to inform the patient of emergency treatment, thereby enabling the patient to escape from the risk state.
Meanwhile, the control unit 20 of the blood glucose measuring means 1 operates the blood glucose measuring unit 12 every period (which is preset by the user by the minute or hour) counted by the timer 15 to measure the blood glucose level of the patient, and stores the measured information in the memory 16.
After repeatedly performing these operations for a predetermined period of time, the control unit 20 transmits information stored in the memory 16, that is, measured blood glucose levels, to the base station 2 through the wireless transmitting unit 19. The base station 2 transmits the received blood glucose levels to the computer 4 of the doctor in charge through the managing server 3.
The computer 4 databases and stores the measured blood glucose levels of the patient, received through the managing server 3, so the doctor checks the stored information to accurately examine a current health condition of the patient.
Fig. 4 illustrates a screen on which measured blood glucose levels of the patient, provided to the doctor in charge through the computer 4, are outputted. On the screen, blood glucose levels measured by the blood glucose measuring means 1, measurement times thereof, etc. are indicated to allow the doctor to examine the patient's health condition through the information.
Meanwhile, when the wireless transmitting unit 19 transmits data to the base station 2 under the control of the control unit 20, a unique identification (ID) of the patient, a system number, etc. are included in the data. Accordingly, when the managing server 3 or computer 4 receives the data (measured blood glucose information) transmitted from the blood glucose measuring means 1, the managing server 3 or the computer 4 can store the data while matching the ID or system number with the name of a patient, a client number or the like, corresponding to the blood glucose information.
That is, when the managing server 3 or computer 4 receives the data transmitted from the blood glucose measuring means 1, the managing server 3 or the computer 4 searches for the name of a patient, a client number, or the like using the ID or system number included in the data, and constructs a database by storing received blood glucose information to correspond to the searched patient.
According to the present invention operated as described above, the blood glucose monitoring system measures a blood glucose level of a patient every period and transmits accumulated blood glucose information to a computer of a doctor in charge, thus enabling the doctor to accurately examine a patient's health condition even though the doctor does not directly examine the patient. Further, when a measured blood glucose level is out of a stable range at the time of measuring a blood glucose level, the blood glucose monitoring system gives a warning to a patient and simultaneously informs the doctor in charge of this emergency situation, thus preventing the patient from going into shock due to excessive or insufficient blood glucose. Industrial Applicability
As described above, the present invention provides a blood glucose monitoring system, which is comprised of a blood glucose measuring means that is formed to be wearable on the wrist of a patient to measure blood glucose by passing ultrasonic waves through the artery of the patient, and give a warning and simultaneously transmit a measured blood glucose level to a computer of a doctor in charge through a base station if the measured blood glucose level is out of a stable range, and a computer that is formed to output blood glucose information measured by the blood glucose measuring means to the doctor in charge to enable the doctor to check a current health condition of the patient, so the blood glucose monitoring system can monitor the variation of blood glucose of the patient in real time and prevent the patient from going into shock due to insufficient or excessive blood glucose by automatically giving a warning if a blood glucose level is out of a stable range, and the blood glucose monitoring system can automatically transmit blood glucose information measured for a predetermined period of time to a computer of a doctor in charge, thus enabling the doctor in charge to examine the current blood glucose state and entire health condition of the patient even though the patient does not personally visit the doctor.