Patent Document ID: 9615547
Application ID: 14156526
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A system for monitoring vital signs of a pet animal, comprising: a collar comprising an annular band, the annular band having a working surface configured to wrap around a neck of a pet animal; a sensor array comprising at least two sensor elements situated along a circumference of the band, the at least two sensor elements including an accelerometer and at least one non-accelerometer sensor, the accelerometer configured to measure at least one accelerometer-measured bioparameter of the pet animal from among: resting patterns, activity patterns, movement patterns, position patterns, lameness and scratching, and the at least one non-accelerometer sensor configured to measure the following non-accelerometer-measured bioparameters of the pet animal: (a) temperature and (b) at least one of (i) pulse rate and (ii) respiration rate, wherein the at least one of pulse rate and respiration is measured by at least one acoustic sensor; at least one acoustic balancer projecting from a rear surface of the band at one or more regions along the circumference of the band; at least two acoustic concentrators along the circumference of the band and integrally formed with the band, the at least two acoustic concentrators projecting radially inward from the working surface and having a dimension along an axis that projects radially inward from the working surface, the at least two acoustic concentrators configured in shape to penetrate a fur of the neck of the pet animal and reduce relative movement between the collar and the pet animal when a head of the pet animal moves so as to, together with the at least one acoustic balancer, reduce noise, capture a low frequency sound, conduct a readable signal from the neck to the at least one acoustic sensor, and improve accuracy of position outputs by the accelerometer; one or more remote or local processors configured to receive (a) sensor output data from the sensor array concerning the measured bioparameters and (b) reference data concerning the measured bioparameters of the pet animal or of a population of the pet animal, the one or more remote or local processors configured to determine whether a specific medical condition is suspected by at least one of the following: (i) scoring at least two bioparameters relative to the reference data and comparing a cumulative score of all the scored bioparameters to a threshold cumulative score or to a threshold cumulative range; or (ii) identifying an abnormal pattern in the at least one bioparameter from among the accelerometer-measured bioparameters and the non-accelerometer-measured bioparameters, the one or more remote or local processors configured to perform a quality assurance test on said sensor input data for the at least one accelerometer-measured bioparameter and to apply results of said quality assurance test to said sensor output data that is considered a necessary component fir detecting the at least one specific medical condition such that: (i) if said sensor output data passes the quality assurance test said sensor output data is deemed a sufficient condition for detecting the at least one specified medical condition and the one or more remote or local processors are configured to send an alert, whereas (ii) if said sensor output data fails the quality assurance test, sensor output data from the non-accelerometer-measured bioparameters of the pet animal is processed, wherein the collar is configured to monitor the vital signs such that the signal to noise ratio is sufficiently high, and outputs of the accelerometer are sufficiently accurate, for the monitoring of the vital signs to be sufficiently accurate to assist in diagnosing the health condition of the pet animal.