The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 02, 2014
Filed:
Aug. 16, 2013
Rock West Solutions, Inc., San Diego, CA (US);
Thomas Eugene Old, Santa Barbara, CA (US);
John Christopher Baker, Santa Barbara, CA (US);
Neal J. Carron, Goleta, CA (US);
Donald Gordon Pritchett, Santa Barbara, CA (US);
Rock West Solutions, Inc., San Diego, CA (US);
Abstract
Systems and methods described herein use near field communications to locate a radiating transponder, such as a pill swallowed by a patient. The system can be triggered to turn on and transmit an amplitude shift keyed waveform (or other type of waveform) to a set of antennas attached to, coupled with, or near the patient at roughly known locations. The magnetic field emitted by the transponder can be measured by the receiving antennas, for example, using principles of mutual inductance. The differential phase and/or time shifts between the antennas can contain sufficient information to find the location of the transponder and optionally its orientation relative to body coordinates. The system can display the location and/or orientation of the transponder and may optionally provide other information about the movement, flow, or other characteristics of pill to assist clinicians with diagnosis.