GB2617534A - Method of factoring the fixed context of an encounter into determination of disease infection risk - Google Patents

Abstract

Collecting first and second information for an application which calculates a risk of a person contracting an infectious disease. First information comprises first and second data collected from a mobile device carried by a first person who has entered a particular physical location 502. First data indicates a distance between the first person and one or more people who have entered the location carrying a mobile device. Second data indicates proximity between the first person and a hub at the location 500. Second information indicates a specific context of the location collected from hub 500. The information is provided to the application which calculates a risk of a person contracting an infectious disease, wherein first and second information is used by the application in modifying the risk 507 associated with a given proximity. Optionally, hub 500 may be a Bluetooth or ultrawide band receiver and / or transmitter. Context information may include type of venue, whether it is indoors or outside, transmission mitigations such as protective screens or social distancing and venue factors that might interfere with clean propagation of Bluetooth signals.

Description

METHOD OF FACTORING THE FIXED CONTEXT OF AN ENCOUNTER INTO DETERMINATION OF DISEASE INFECTION RISK

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to providing a technical solution to assist in reducing the transmission of an infectious disease from one person to another or from an object or place to a person, and more specifically to a method of technically tracking the risk of transmission of an infectious disease to an individual enabling preventative measures to be taken.

Background of the Invention

Infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, can rapidly spread from one person to another, as we have seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. Being in close contact with an infected person or spending a significant amount of time in a poorly ventilated room where an infected person has been, or poor cleanliness and hygiene of a physical location are the key means of transmission of infectious disease that can be address via the invention.

In response to the pandemic various authorities have at times introduced policies or preventative measures aimed at reducing the spread of infection. A problem with general policies is that they may not accurately reflect the underlying risk. This can enable more risky activity to be permitted and over time lead to decreased compliance as users perceive a disconnect between measures and actual risk.

A goal of the present invention is to provide an improved technical measure to reduce the risk of onward transmission of an infectious disease by tracking the risk of transmission during an interaction between two people, or infections occurring at a common location in the case of poor cleanliness or hygiene. This can lead to improved scientific modelling and decision making. Outputs can include improved data models, improved correlation detection and improved direction to mitigate risk.

A technical issue that must be solved for such a system to work effectively is for smart, body borne devices (wearables or phones) to understand the fixed context in which an encounter with another user took place. There are several fixed aspects of an encounter that are relevant. In particular, the following aspects of the fixed context in which an encounter took place should preferably be addressed: 1. If the transmission is related to poor hygiene enabling transmission by fomites (e.g. contaminated surfaces) or by food hygiene (diarrhoea) diseases) then it is important to know when infected people have visited a common location, determined by their proximity to that location.

2. If the transmission is via human-to-human (e.g. communicable) transmission then it is important to understand the type of venue where the encounter took place. An encounter indoors carries more risk than the same encounter outdoors. And certain indoor environments carry more risk, for example gyms, than other locations, such as libraries.

3. The presence of other interventions for example protective measures (Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) or plastic/acrylic screens) also effects the risk of transmission from human-to-human and so a system designed to track the risk of transmission needs to also understand this context.

4. The propagation characteristics of Bluetooth radio signals. The apparent strength of a Bluetooth signal between two devices will be significantly stronger is some environments than others. Without correction, a system would judge the distance between devices inaccurately. The Bluetooth signal can appear much better in unobstructed open space for example, than inside the metal box of a bus with lots of metal seats, where there is a lot of multi-path noise. Knowing how to correct for this factor is important to enable accurate calculation of risk.

A further set of adjustments that the system could factor into risk calculations relates to the individual carrying the device. Characteristics of the individual will alter their level of infectiousness or infectious, and their susceptibility of catching the virus if they meet someone infectious. These factors could include whether or not they are vaccinated, the type and date of vaccination, their age, and possibility other personal characteristics.

Summary of the Invention

The present invention provides a method of collecting information for providing to a risk calculation application which calculates the risk of a person contracting an infectious disease, comprising the steps of: collecting first information from a mobile device which has been carried by a first person who has entered a particular physical location, the information including: (a) first proximity data indicating a distance between the first person and at least one other person who has also entered the particular physical location and carried a mobile device; (b) second proximity data indicating a distance between the first person and a hub located at the particular physical location; collecting second information from the hub, said second information indicating a specific context of the particular physical location; and providing the collected first and second information to the risk calculation application which performs the further step of calculating a risk of a person contracting an infectious disease, wherein the first and second information is used by the risk calculation application in modifying the risk associated with a given proximity.

By the use of the present invention, a risk calculation application can be provided with technical information which allows the application to provide a much more accurate calculation of the risk of a person contracting an infectious disease, as compared to the risk calculation application using only the proximity of mobile devices to each other.

This technical information relates to the fixed context of an encounter, where a user carrying a mobile phone or wearing a smart wearble, enters a location where the location is one in which other such users are currently present, or have been present recently. By taking this fixed context information into account, the risk calculation performed by the risk calculation application provides much more accuracy and can be based on much more factual information about the location where the encounter takes place.

Preferably, the hub is a Bluetooth receiver/transmitter.

Preferably, the mobile device is a mobile phone or smart phone.

Preferably, the mobile device is a smart watch or wearable computer.

Preferably, the first information also includes information specific to the first person.

This allows the risk calculation to be improved further, based on specifics of the first person.

Preferably, the information specific to the first person includes a vaccination status of the first person, an age of the first person or historical data regarding the first person's infection with the infectious disease.

This further allows the risk calculation to be improved, based on the further specifics of the first person.

Prefereably, the specific context of the particular physical location is an indication of a type of venue of the particular physical location.

Different types of venues have different risks of infection, so this feature allows better calculation of the risk of infection by taking into account the specifics of the type of location (for example, a gym/fitness centre may have a higher risk than a library).

Preferably, the specific context of the particular physical location is an indication of whether a physical protective device is present at the particular physical location.

This also helps to increase the accuracy of the risk calculation, because the presence of such a protective device helps reduce the risk, and if the risk calculation application is made aware of such presence, the presence of the same can be taken into account.

Preferably, the physical protective device is a screen for separating people at the particular physical location.

Preferably, the method further comprising the step of the mobile device providing information to the application regarding protective measures the person carrying the mobile device has in place while visiting the particular physical location.

This further helps to increase the accuracy of the risk calculation because, for example, if the person is wearing protective clothing, the person's risk reduces significantly, and the application would not know this unless such information was provided thereto.

Preferably, the second information also includes proximity data indicating the distance between the first person and the hub, and wherein an average is taken of: a) the proximity data included in the first information, indicating the distance between the first person and the hub, and b) the proximity data included in the second information, indicating the distance between the first person and the hub.

This calculation of an average helps to increase the accuracy of the proximity data determination, thus helping to increase the overall accuracy of the risk calculation assessment.

Preferably, the hub registers its particular physical location with the application.

This enables the application to make its risk assessment based on the specific location in which the hub is located.

Preferably, ultra wide band, UWB, radio signals are used to determine the first and second proximity data.

UWB signals have been found by the Applicant to provide for an increased accuracy in the proximity data determination.

Preferably, the hub uses ultra wide band, UWB, radio signals to determine the proximity data indicating the distance between the first person and the hub.

Preferably, a plurality of hubs are present at the particular physical location, and the plurality of hubs are used as a communications relay to communicate with the application.

This allows the plurality of hubs to work together to relay information, in a mesh configuration, thus compensating, for example, for a temporary loss of internet connectivity by one of the plurality of hubs.

Preferably, the hub transmits a rotating temporary identifier.

This helps to improve the privacy/security of the information.

Preferably, the hub records a signal strength of the mobile device.

This helps to solve the problem of Bluetooth signals being noisy and thus can sometimes be found to have lower accuracy in determining proximity data. Having the hub record the signal strength, increases such accuracy.

Preferably, the risk calculation application provides a data model of interactions and associated risk associated with an individual or a group of individuals.

The invention also provides a system comprising means adapted for carrying out all the steps of the method according to the above described method.

The invention also provides a computer program comprising instructions for carrying out all the steps of the method according to the above described method, when said computer program is executed on a computer system.

Brief Description of the Figures

Figure 1 is a block diagram of the overall system, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, specifically, the overall technical components required to modify transmission risk according to the fixed context of an encounter, or to identify repeated infection results from poor cleanliness or hygiene at the location; Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the details of a hub device, according to a preferred embodiment; and Figure 3 is a flow chart showing the steps carried out by the process, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments

Figure 1. Overall system Figure 1 is a block diagram of the overall system which is used to obtain information regarding the context of an encounter between two people or between one person and a particular location, and to feed that information regarding such context into an application for assessing the risk of infection of a disease.

100. Hub Device. This is a device (such as a Bluetooth hub) present at a specific location that contains a unique reference number for that location. The purpose of this hub is to be visible to moving devices 200/300 (e.g. smartphones or smartwatches) carried by people visiting the location (who are carrying compatible software on a mobile/smart phone or a wearable device such as a smartwatch).

The hub 100 preferably transmits a rotating temporary identifier. The purpose of the rotation of the temporary identifier is to avoid privacy intrusion from a malicious actor who might otherwise record a fixed identifier and examine logs in the device carried by the user to determine the places they had visited.

The moving devices (200, 300) carried by users measure their proximity to the hub 100. The purpose of this proximity measurement is that it enables the hub 100 to indicate the presence of some contextual information, such as, for example, a protective screen that is present at a retail point of sale (cash register or till). The hub 100 would be located at the cash register with such a protective screen, in this example. The fixed screen only protects encounters for those people who are physically located at the screen. To calculate risk, both proximity to the hub 100 and the use of the hub 100 to indicate the contextual information, such as a screen, are used. The hub 100 may also receive information from the movable devices carried by users, such as, for example, that a particular user is wearing protective clothing.

In particularly large and complex locations, more than one hub 100 may be placed. The purpose of this is to create a mesh, such as a Bluetooth mesh, in the location. This mesh can then be used to more accurately determine the proximity between people than would be possible without the mesh, using, for example, standard Bluetooth mesh micro navigation technologies.

The hub or hubs 100 at a location are registered in an application (400) where all relevant data about the fixed context is held. That data includes, where applicable, the information about the location and context, such as: -the means to associate the rotating identifier seen by mobile phones and/or wearables with the actual data record for that unique hub 100; - the actual location (preferably only accessed if the application reveals that infections are occurring in the same place). The purpose of this is to identify the location acting as the source of infection; - the type of location (restaurant, gym, office, shop, outdoors, outdoors but covered, etc). The purpose of this is to apply different risk allocation to encounters depending on the differing risks according to the type of location - other mitigations in place at the location (e.g the presence of a protective screen or use of PPE, the presence of social distancing measures if in place, etc). The purpose this is to modify the risk allocated to an encounter according to the presence of other mitigations -factors that might interfere with the clean propagation of Bluetooth radio signals (size of space, type of walls, density and type of furniture, etc) - data about the Bluetooth mesh if present (the relative location of the various hubs at the location). 25 200. Mobile Phones. The mobile phones 200 carry an app that enables them to detect and record information about other phones 200, wearable devices 300 and the hubs 100 that the user encounters. The purpose of this is to gather the proximity and context data necessary for the application (400) to accurately calculate the risk that disease transmission may have taken place. It also enables the application to determine when infections are occurring at a common location (infection with norovirus -food poisoning, for example). This enables public health authorities to rapidly locate the source of a public health issue.

The app on the phones 200 draws on the open source software technology created in the Linux Foundation Public Health Herald project. The purpose of that project is to develop code that ensures reliable communication between two mobile phones no matter what operating systems are used and no matter what model of phones are in use. The mobile phones 200 preferably record the rotating identifiers of the hubs 100 that have been seen and this data is sent to the application 400 when necessary (e.g. when the user of the device is thought to carry an infection, or continuously if the operator of the system requires the data to monitor social mixing and hence risk levels of outbreaks should an infection occur).

300. Wearables. Wearables 300 are, for example, smart watches or badges, and the above description for mobile phones 200 also apply to such wearables 300.

400. Application. The purpose of the application 400 is to translate the data collected by the system into risk calculations, indicating the risk or probability of a person being infected by an infectious disease. Specifically, the application 400 provides the information necessary to allow the operator of the system to take steps to prevent outbreaks based on the risks that are calculated.

There are several examples of such risk calculation applications which currently exist that are designed to perform this function, and any of these can preferably be used. The preferred embodiment of the invention provides the application 400 with data concerning a fixed location where an encounter takes place, such data enabling the application 400 to make more accurate risk calculations. The application 400, once configured, also provides the means to register hubs 100 and the relevant data about those hubs.

Figure 2. Hubs.

Figure 2 shows the details regarding the hub 100 described above. Hub, or hub, 100 includes the following components.

101. Bluetooth Receiver/Transmitter. This element 101 enables the hub 100 to receive information from mobile phones 200 and/or wearables 300 and to transmit information thereto. The purpose of receiving information is in circumstances where the hub 100 can assist the mobile phone 200 or wearable 300 to determining proximity. Bluetooth signals are very noisy and so using their strength to determine proximity is inherently inaccurate. Hub 101 can be used to record the signal strength of devices carried by users, as well as the more normal process of carried devices recording signal strength. This then creates the opportunity to process the two signals in the application to determine a more accurate measurement of proximity.

In some applications the hub would just act as a beacon (e.g transmit only). This may be where only the hub identifier is relevant (for example where the only relevant fixed context is to indicate an outdoor venue).

102. Memory. In circumstances where the hub/hub 101 is receiving information, memory storage is provided. The memory must be sufficient to hold the data that is being logged and must be of a type that can be repeatedly read and written to without degradation. The memory may also hold the firmware to operate the hub.

103. Processing. The purpose of the processing module (or processor) of the hub 101 is to control features such as rotating the transmitted identifier according to normal privacy standards, providing signals back to the application to demonstrate the continued normal function of the hub, and managing firmware and software upgrades.

104. Internet connection. An internet connection enables communication with the application. Whilst a continuous internet connection is not necessary for the normal function of the hub, it is advantageous for monitoring the continued functioning of the system and for automating firmware and software updates.

105. Mesh connection. Where a mesh is in place (e.g. multiple hubs) then the hub maintains a connection with the nearest hubs in the mesh. The hubs can then be used as a communications relays if necessary to enable communication with the application for hubs which otherwise would not have internet connectivity.

106. Power. The hub preferably transmits (and potential receives) continuously. A power source is therefore used to supply power to the hub. The preferable source is a fixed power source. Alternatively, the hub can be battery powered where batteries are changed or recharged periodically.

The hub (hub 101), with the fixed power source as just described, would enable the hub to also use Ultra Wide Band radio signals (UWB) which are better for determining proximity. Where a mobile phone or wearable also has UWB and sees that a hub is broadcasting, the phone or wearable can then briefly also use UWB to determine a more precise measure of proximity to the hub.

Figure 3 is a flow chart of operation of the process according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

The process flow starts at step 500, where the hub 100 is installed in the specific location (for example in a specific supermarket), power is connected to the hub 100 and an internet connection established (if possible). The device is now preferably transmitting a rotating identifier that will be visible to any carried devices that visit the location.

At step 501, the person who installed the hub 100 registers it using the application (400).

During the registration process: - the actual location (for example, the location of a specific supermarket, or gym) is recorded in the application; 20 - the hub 100's unique identification number is recorded; - details about the location are entered (what type of venue, supermarket, gym, hospital etc) -details about any existing mitigations are also entered, including if the specific purpose of this hub 100 is to record the presence of a protective screen At step 502, a person visits the location carrying a mobile phone 200 or wearable 300 that is part of the system (has the functions as described above). The person then spends a period of time in the venue/location, mixing with other people who are also carrying phones or wearables 300. These devices record their proximity to each other, and this provides the basis of calculating the risk of cross-infection.

At step 503, the devices (200 or 300) carried by people at the location also record their proximity to the hub (100).

At step 504, In some circumstances the hub assists the devices 200 or 300 carried, either because there is more than one hub and a Bluetooth mesh in place, or by the hub also estimating the proximity of the carried device, enabling an average of the two measurements to be taken, thus increasing the accuracy of the proximity data indicating the distance between the carried device and the hub (hub).

At step 505, the mobile phones 200 and/or wearables 300 that have visited the specific location then send the proximity data (of other carried devices 200/300 and/or of the hub 100) to the application 400. This can be near continuously for some applications (protecting a specific facility from outbreaks) where the operators wish to take preventative action by identifying and removing unnecessary transmission pathways. Or for other applications it could be just if the carrier of the device develops the disease (typically a population scale public health system). The mobile phones 200 and/or wearables 300 may also send other information to the application 400, such as any protective measures the person carrying the mobile phone or wearable has in place, such as the person is wearing PPE, or information describing the particular person who is using the mobile phone 200 or wearable 300, such as, the age of the person, the person's vaccination status, date of any vaccinations for that person, or history of that person's infection with the particular disease.

At step 506, the application 400 then uses the information registered (at step 501) about the hub and the proximity to the device (step 503) and the proximity data received by the application at step 505, to modify the risk that would have been recorded due to the proximity between devices carried by the people visiting the space. For example, if the hub is recorded as a gym, the risk will be modified upwards, but if the record of the hub indicates that PPE is used in the space then the risk will be modified downwards. As another example, the application 400 can adjust the risk upwards or downwards depending on the location data, to take into account the relative strength of the Bluetooth signal in the particular type of location, as was described above. As a further example, the application 400 can adjust the risk upwards or downwards depending upon the information describing the particular person who is using the device 200 or 300 (the risk can be adjusted upwards for an older person who has not been vaccinated at all, for example).

The risk calculation application provides a data model of interactions and associated risk associated with an individual or a group of individuals.

Claims (20)

1. Claims 1. A method of collecting information for providing to a risk calculation application which calculates the risk of a person contracting an infectious disease, comprising the steps of: collecting first information from a mobile device which has been carried by a first person who has entered a particular physical location, the information including: (c) first proximity data indicating a distance between the first person and at least one other person who has also entered the particular physical location and carried a mobile device; (d) second proximity data indicating a distance between the first person and a hub located at the particular physical location; collecting second information from the hub, said second information indicating a specific context of the particular physical location; and providing the collected first and second information to the risk calculation application which performs the further step of calculating a risk of a person contracting an infectious disease, wherein the first and second information is used by the risk calculation application in modifying the risk associated with a given proximity.
2. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the hub is a Bluetooth receiver/transmitter.
3. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device is a mobile phone or smart phone.
4. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device is a smart watch or wearable computer.
5. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first information also includes information specific to the first person.
6. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the information specific to the first person includes a vaccination status of the first person, an age of the first person or historical data regarding the first person's infection with the infectious disease.
7. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the specific context of the particular physical location is an indication of a type of venue of the particular physical location.
8. 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the specific context of the particular physical location is an indication of whether a physical protective device is present at the particular physical location.
9. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the physical protective device is a screen for separating people at the particular physical location.
10. 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of the mobile device providing information to the application regarding protective measures the person carrying the mobile device has in place while visiting the particular physical location.
11. 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the second information also includes proximity data indicating the distance between the first person and the hub, and wherein an average is taken of: c) the proximity data included in the first information, indicating the distance between the first person and the hub, and d) the proximity data included in the second information, indicating the distance between the first person and the hub.
12. 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the hub registers its particular physical location with the application.
13. 13. The method of claim 1, wherein ultra wide band, UWB, radio signals are used to determine the first and second proximity data.
14. 14. The method of claim 11, wherein the hub uses ultra wide band, UWB, radio signals to determine the proximity data indicating the distance between the first person and the hub.
15. 15. The method of claim 1, wherein a plurality of hubs are present at the particular physical location, and the plurality of hubs are used as a communications relay to communicate with the application.
16. 16. The method of claim 1, wherein the hub transmits a rotating temporary identifier.
17. 17. The method of claim 1, wherein the hub records a signal strength of the mobile device.
18. 18. The method of claim 1, wherein the risk calculation application provides a data model of interactions and associated risk associated with an individual or a group of individuals.
19. 19. A system comprising means adapted for carrying out all the steps of the method according to any preceding method claim.
20. 20.A computer program comprising instructions for carrying out all the steps of the method according to any preceding method claim, when said computer program is executed on a computer system.