Patent ID: 7542586
Filing Date: 2009-06-02
Classification: A47K,G06K,G07C,G08B

Abstract:
1. A system for monitoring hand washing or spreading a disinfectant on a user's hands comprising a soap, detergent or disinfectant dispenser for applying soap, detergent or disinfectant to a user's hands, an input device in front of which a user places his or her hands after the dispenser has applied soap, detergent or disinfectant while the user goes through a set of motions of washing or spreading the disinfectant over his or her hands, said input device recording one or more images of the user's hands while he or she is going through said set of motions, a device for digitizing the images into digitized images, a computer having an input for the digitized images and an output for a report, a set of reference images taken of the user or of another person going through a set of motions for effective hand washing or spreading of a disinfectant, said reference images digitized into a set of reference digitized images and present in the computer, a pattern recognition algorithm executed in the computer that compares the digitized images of the user's hands with the reference set of digitized images to determine whether the user's images match the reference images to a predetermined level that indicates effective hand washing or disinfectant spreading, and creates a compliance report sent through the output, said system further comprising a touchless hand recognition system for identifying the user before applying soap, detergent or disinfectant wherein he or she places at least one of his or her hands in front of the input device, said input device recording one or more images of the user's hand or hands, said device for digitizing selected ones of the images into digitized images inputting them into the computer, said computer having an image processing algorithm executed in the computer that extracts said user's hand images from said digitized images, and a mathematical algorithm executed in the computer for identifying the user based on data extracted from said digitized images.