Patent Publication Number: US-2023148237-A1

Title: Device for measuring nutritional intake

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     [1] The application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/277,240, filed on Nov. 9, 2021, and entitled “DEVICE FOR MEASURING NUTRITIONAL INTAKE,” the complete disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure is directed to a measurement device. More specifically, this disclosure describes a measurement device for collecting and calculating the nutritional intake of consumed food and drink. 
     BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     Accurately measuring the nutritional content of food and liquid intake is important for health-conscious individuals. Elderly and handicapped populations, as well as those under the care of others in nursing homes, hospitals, at home, etc., often require a delicate balance of nutrients to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Ensuring adequate nutrient intake is a challenging task when a meal or serving is not fully finished. In place of estimating consumption, the present disclosure relates to a system for measuring the weight of food and drink before and after consumption to determine a person&#39;s actual nutritional intake more accurately. The measurement device uses intake cells to measure the weight of RFID tagged tableware throughout a meal or snack. Collected nutritional data is stored on a controller and displayed on a user interface. 
     The statements mentioned above are intended to facilitate understanding of the present disclosure. The statements to be read in this light should not be construed as admissions of the prior art. 
     SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     According to the present disclosure, a device for measuring nutritional intake comprises a housing, an intake cell, and a controller. The housing has a support surface. The intake cell has a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader and a load sensor. The controller is configured to receive data from the RFID reader and the load sensor to associate a weight of a container with an RFID tag of the container. The RFID reader is supported by the housing to detect the RFID tag of the container positioned on the support surface. The load sensor is supported by the housing to measure weight associated with the container. 
     According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for measuring nutritional intake is provided. The method includes the steps of identifying a container with a RFID tag by an RFID reader, measuring a first weight of a content in the container, measuring a second weight of the content in the container, calculating a weight difference between the first weight and the second weight, calculating a nutritional intake based on the weight difference of the content, and displaying the nutritional intake on a user interface. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a top view of a measurement device according to the present disclosure showing six intake cells with the components of each intake cell shown in phantom, 
         FIG.  2    is a cross-sectional view of the measurement device taken along line  2 - 2  of  FIG.  1    showing three intake cells connected in tandem with a cup placed above one intake cell and a bowl placed above another intake cell. 
         FIG.  3    is an enlarged view of a portion of  FIG.  2   . 
         FIG.  4    is a diagrammatic view of the electronic components of the measurement device. 
         FIG.  5    is a flow diagram of a nutritional intake data collection process. 
     
    
    
     For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principals of the disclosure, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings, which are described below. The embodiments disclosed below are not intended to be exhaustive or limit the disclosure to the precise form disclosed in the following detailed description. Rather, the embodiments are chosen and described so that others skilled in the art may utilize their teachings. Unless otherwise indicated or apparent, the components shown in the figures are proportional to each other. It will be understood that no limitation of the scope of the disclosure is thereby intended. The disclosure includes any alterations and further modifications in the illustrative devices and described methods and further applications of the principles of the disclosure, which would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the disclosure relates. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     As depicted in  FIGS.  1 - 4   , a nutritional intake measurement device  10  is provided for measuring nutritional intake. Measurement device  10  measures the intake of nutrients, such as food, water, etc., by a patient or other person from an RFID tagged tableware item  28 . Based on the measurement, a care provider, system, etc., can monitor the nutritional intake of the person and adjust or maintain the nutritional intake of the person. 
     Measurement device  10  includes a housing  12 , a support surface  14  such as a platform, tray, table, etc., and one or more intake cells  16  positioned below support surface  14 . Intake cells  16  may connect in tandem or operate independently. Intake cells  16  include an RFID reader  18  and a load sensor  20 . When intake cells  16  are used in tandem, as shown in  FIGS.  1  and  2   , intake cells  16  are separated by interference shielding material  22 . Vertical interference shielding material  22 ′ and horizontal interference shielding material  22 ″ reduce interference between adjacent RFID readers  18 . Interference shielding material  22  absorbs or deflects RFID signals thereby preventing RFID readers  18  from detecting RFID tagged tableware items  28  placed on adjacent intake cells  16 . In some embodiments, interference shielding material  22  is made of aluminum, an aluminum alloy, another metal, or other shielding materials. 
     According to one embodiment, in a grid  15  of intake cells  16 , activation, of one RFID reader  18  deactivates adjacent RFID readers  18  in adjacent intake cells  16 . Vertical interference shielding material  22 ′ and horizontal interference shielding material  22 ″ reduce the likelihood of RFID signals crossing into adjacent intake cells. Such crossing may result in inaccurate weight measurements and nutrition calculations. 
     To use measurement device  10 , RFID tagged tableware item  28  that includes an RFID tag  30  can be placed on support surface  14  above intake cells  16  at the start of a meal or snack. Intake cells  16  then measure the identity and initial weight of RFID tagged tableware item  28 . As the meal progresses, a user repeatedly picks up and sets down RFID tagged tableware item  28 . Data is collected throughout the meal or snack and stored on a local memory  34  of a controller  26 . A real time clock  32  controls the timing function of measurement device  10 . 
     Controller  26  uses the change in weight measurements of RFID tagged tableware item  28  to calculate the nutritional intake of the liquid or food consumed. The nutritional intake of consumed liquid or food is displayed on a user interface  38 . User interface  38  is connected to controller  26  with a hardwire or wireless interface  36 . Measurement device  10  is powered by a power source  24  such as a battery, DC power supply, etc. 
     According to one embodiment of measurement device  10 , a variety of RFID tagged tableware items  28  such as cups, bowls, plates, etc., may be used simultaneously. For example, as shown in  FIG.  1   , one of RFID tagged tableware items  28  may be a cup  28 ′ containing water and another RFID tagged tableware item  28  may be a bowl  28 ″ containing soup. In this embodiment, the user may pick up cup  28 ′, drink, and replace cup  28 ′ on any intake cell  16  of measurement device  10 . RFID reader  18  of each intake cell  16  is capable of identifying cup  28 ′, and load sensor  20  of each intake cell  16  is capable of measuring the weight of cup  28 ′. Similarly, the user may pick up bowl  28 ″, eat, and replace bowl  28 ″ on any intake cell  16  of measurement device  10 . As such, the nutritional intake of cup  28 ′ and bowl  28 ″ can be measured simultaneously throughout a meal. Measurements may be observed on user interface  38 . 
       FIG.  5    shows diagrammatically a nutritional intake data acquisition operation method of one embodiment of measurement device  10 , as also described herein. Method  40  begins with tagging step  42 . At tagging step  42 , RFID tag  30  is added to a tableware item After tagging step  42 , placement step  44  occurs wherein RFID tagged tableware item  28  is placed on support surface  14 . 
     At identification step  46 , RFID reader  18  identifies RFID tagged tableware item  28 . After identification step  46 , method  40  proceeds to measurement step  48  during which load sensor  20  measures the weight of RFID tagged tableware item  28 . After measurement step  48 , ingestion step  50  occurs. At ingestion step  50 , the user picks up RFID tagged tableware item  28  and ingests food or liquid from RFID tagged tableware item  28 . In a subsequent replacement step  52 , the user replaces RFID tagged tableware item  28  on support surface  14 . After replacement step  52 , a reidentification step  54  occurs wherein RFID reader  18  identifies replaced RFID tagged tableware item  28 . In a subsequent remeasuring step  56 , load sensor  20  measures the weight of replaced RFID tagged tableware item  28 . 
     After remeasuring step  56 , a weight calculation step  58  occurs. At weight calculation step  58 , controller  26  calculates the difference between the initial weight and final weight of RFID tagged tableware item  28 . In a subsequent nutritional intake calculation step  60 , controller calculates the nutritional intake of food or drink ingested by the user based on the differences calculated in step  58 . Lastly, a displaying step  62  occurs at which the nutritional intake of the food or liquid ingested by the user is displayed on user interface  38 . The nutritional intake may be indicated by a weight, volume (based on a known density of the nutrient), calories (based on a known caloric value of a nutrient), etc.