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{ UPDATED April 7 } ​Suggestion for Covid-19 related product

marcrbarkerMarcrbarker wrote 04/03/2020 at 20:35 • 2 min read • Like

Body-worn temperature monitor. Very quick 'time to market'

Provides an ALERT if body temperature increases in a way consistent to a virus infection.  Small size.  Very low power, runs for weeks without charge. Doesn't need wireless connectivity. 

Often a person doesn't realise they're running a temperature, mistakenly thinking it's a warm day or something. The quicker realise this earlier the better, obviously.    

Another application for this idea is a body-worn Fertility Predictor device for couples who wish to increase chances of conception. Body temperature too increases during ovulation. Of course this variation of project could have SMS alert sending etc. 

Expected components (quick concept model)

These are the expected components utilising readily available parts: Door Alarm, Thermometer, a Microcontroller and a bit of Velcro.

Target Design. Build with bare components using custom packaging

Details

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Marcrbarker wrote 04/06/2020 at 18:41 point

This wearable monitor idea has become quite interesting now.  It's now spurned the birth of new Project: Bob Greenwade's  Fever Alarm https://hackaday.io/project/170785-fever-alarm   

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Marcrbarker wrote 04/06/2020 at 02:24 point

EDIT: I've given some more thought:

Lowest possible component count / energy consumption. Run off two LR44 alkaline button cells.  Microcontroller based whatever's easiest and familiar to use i.e. ESP32. Temperature sensor a bead thermistor or anything else tiny enough. Piezo electric transducer with series inductor. Dual color LED. A few Resistors. Reed switch sensor. Development model may have added uC programming interface.

Worn on body, quietly monitoring. Wristwatch style or adhesive patch. Touch magnet at any time (if curious) to reed sensor to interrogate temperature. LED signals out series of flashes. 

Operation: Circuit spends most time asleep drawing a few microamps running sleep timer.   Half hour timeout wakes uC from sleep.  Energises thermistor bias for whatever microseconds needed to read it, does some maths, then goes back to sleep for another 30 mins.  Maths includes an algorithim to analyse average temperature and to look out for increase in temperature.  An alarm is a beeping from sounder with a simultaneous flash. Red for over, Blue for under.  Alarm silenced (snoozed) by magnet touch to reed sensor. 

Holding magnet to reed sensor for 10 seconds turns unit off/on and resets alarm. On/off is confirmed by beeps/ flashes. 

Optional: LED could output a dump of recorded data as RS232 style serial on demand. Possible read non-contact with photodiode linked to a serial data USB module. Could omit the LEDs and just have code of beeps instead.

Software ideas: Clock speed expected < 100 kHz. Timer running during sleep rollover triggers wake up, i.e. through interrupt.  ADC switched off to save power during sleep and turned on to measure temp sensor. Use a digital IO set logic high to energise and supply temp sensor circuit. Some means of ADC compensated measurement required to cancel effect of battery voltage change. Digital IO directly drives piezo transducer via inductor to boost audio level. 

Get data requested by beeps/flashes 'three, six, three' to indicate 36.3. 

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bobgreenwade wrote 04/04/2020 at 23:59 point

I can see how this could be done with either a Feather or LilyPad type of system. Did you have one or the other in mind? (I think using Feather might be easier.)

One could just hook an IR/temperature sensor to a processor, and also include a sound output and maybe a display. A BLE connection could send the alert to the user's phone.

And I do think that this is a fantastic idea. I can see how it would be handy in home care for the infirm, monitoring adults with certain levels of autism, and other occasions.

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Marcrbarker wrote 04/06/2020 at 00:20 point

You tell US more!   

I haven't done any analysis or research, other than think of the idea then post it here.  

If you (or anyone) wants to pick this up and run with it I'll give all the support I can.

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bobgreenwade wrote 04/06/2020 at 13:27 point

OK, I'll start it as a Project, and add you as a contributor. (And anyone else who asks.)

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alexw wrote 04/04/2020 at 04:34 point

Heart rate typically increases before body temp increases, so it could be worth monitoring that instead. My oura ring noticed a spike in heart rate and a decrease in heart rate variability when I came down with a truly flooring flu back in February (pretty sure it wasn't covid). The following could be interesting in relation to COVID-19: https://ouraring.com/ucsf-tempredict-study

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Marcrbarker wrote 04/04/2020 at 13:55 point

Yes, great idea to monitor pulse too.  

Oura Ring? What's that?

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alexw wrote 04/09/2020 at 11:00 point

Oura Ring is just a sleep monitoring ring, with a pretty compact form-factor. More discreet than an apple watch and a bit more accurate when compared to EEG monitors.

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Marcrbarker wrote 04/09/2020 at 12:46 point

Could maybe one of these Oura Ring be used as the basis for this project (fever early warning) ??  Does the Oura Ring also measure temperature too? 

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