WO2021245645A1

WO2021245645A1 - Hand washing and sanitizing verification

Info

Publication number: WO2021245645A1
Application number: PCT/IL2021/050587
Authority: WO
Inventors: Maxim SIMONOVSKY
Original assignee: Soapy Care Ltd.
Priority date: 2020-06-02
Filing date: 2021-05-20
Publication date: 2021-12-09

Abstract

Methods and systems are provided for verifying hygienic hand cleaning including receiving at a thermal imager, mounted in proximity to a cleaning facility, a sequence of thermal images of hands of a user during hand cleaning; identifying areas of the user's hands indicated in the thermal images as having a changed temperature due to hand rubbing; and responsively determining a hand cleaning status.

Description

HAND WASHING AND SANITIZING VERIFICATION

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The invention generally relates to methods and apparatus for disinfecting or sterilizing, and in particular for cleaning hands.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Good hand hygiene is essential for maintaining one's own health as well as the health of others. A person with improper hand hygiene may contaminate people or objects with which he comes into contact. This is especially critical in certain environments, especially health-related areas of employment, such as hospitals, food production factories, pharmaceutical factories, and restaurants, hand hygiene by employees is critical. Infections and contaminations in such premises can have devastating and at times life-threatening effects.

[0003] Health authorities typically issue recommendations and guidelines for hand washing and for hand sanitizing practices in such environments. However, it is difficult to confirm that an employee has cleaned his hands in the proper manner. There is thus a need in the industry for a system that can control and monitor hand hygiene practices of an individual.

SUMMARY

[0004] Embodiments of the present invention provide an apparatus, a system and methods for controlling and monitoring hand cleaning (i.e., hand washing or hand sanitizing) by an individual. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a system and methods for controlling and monitoring hand cleaning by confirming an extent of hand cleaning by thermal detection. [0005] There is therefore provided by embodiments of the present invention a system including: a thermal imager, mounted in proximity to a cleaning facility, to record a sequence of thermal images of hands of a user during hand cleaning and a processor and associated memory having instructions that when executed by the processor implement steps of identifying one or more areas of the user's hands indicated in the thermal images as having an increased a changed temperature due to hand rubbing; and responsively determining a hand cleaning status.

[0006] In some embodiments, determining the hand cleaning status includes determining a percent of total hand area having a changed temperature due to hand rubbing, and comparing the percent with a preset area threshold. In some embodiments, the preset area threshold may be set to be a function of allergies and sensitivities of known traits of the user, or set to be a function of regulatory requirements. One or more parameters of the preset area threshold, or a temperature threshold or a temperature change threshold may be determined by a machine learning system, trained to correlate between one or more of the parameters and a level of hand cleanliness.

[0007] Identifying areas of the user's hands having the changed temperature may include comparing the temperature of the identified areas to a preset temperature or temperature change threshold. Alternatively or additionally, identifying areas of the user's hands having the changed temperature may include aggregating areas recorded in multiple images.

[0008] In some embodiments, the thermal imager and hand washing cleaning facility are part of an integrated hand cleaning facility.

[0009] The system may also include an audio and/or visual signal indicator. Determining the hand cleaning status may include issuing a notification of hand washing cleaning completion as a visual or audible alert on the signal indicator. [0010] The system may include a display screen. The processor may display on the display screen an instruction to continue cleaning until the hand cleaning status indicates that cleaning is complete. The processor may also display on the display screen a notification of hand cleaning completion, when the hand cleaning status is that cleaning is complete. The system may include a visual signal indicator that provides a first light indication while the user's hands are being cleaned and a second light indication to indicate the hand cleaning status when the status is that the hand cleaning is completed.

[0011] The system may also include a presence detector and a faucet, and the presence detector may be configured to turn on the faucet when a user or a user's hands are detected. [0012] In some embodiments, the processor may be configured, upon determining that the hand cleaning is complete, to stop the flow of water from the faucet.

[0013] The system may also include an identification (ID) reader and the processor may be configured to receive and store a user ID and the hand washing/cleaning status. The ID reader may be a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag, a Near Field Communication (NFC) tag, a magnetic card, a card with a smart chip, or a card with a visual barcode or QR symbol. The ID reader may be a biometric module including one or more of: a camera with a face recognition system, Time-of-Flight (ToF) cameras, a voice recognition system, a touch or touchless fingerprint or hand sensor, or an iris identification sensor. The system may also include a communications link, and the processor may transmit to a remote server the user ID together with the hand cleaning status. The processor may also transmit the thermal images over the communications link to the remote server, which may process the thermal images to determine the hand cleaning status.

[0014] The system may include a cleaning reagent dispensing unit, which may be controlled by the processor. The dispensing unit may include one of soap, foam, a chemical sanitizer, a biological sanitizer, or an air-dried disinfectant, such as an alcohol gel disinfectant, or a

B protein-based reagent, or a glycol-based reagent, such as 1,2-Hexanediol, or any combination thereof.

[0015] There is further provided, by embodiments of the present invention, a method for verifying hygienic hand cleaning including receiving at a thermal imager, mounted in proximity to a cleaning facility, a sequence of thermal images of hands of a user during hand cleaning; identifying areas of the user's hands indicated in the thermal images as having a changed temperature due to hand rubbing; and responsively determining a hand cleaning status.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0016] For a better understanding of various embodiments of the invention and to show how the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings. Structural details of the invention are shown to provide a fundamental understanding of the invention, the description, taken with the drawings, making apparent to those skilled in the art how the several forms of the invention may be embodied in practice. In the accompanying drawings:

[0017] Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system for verification of hygienic hand cleaning, according to some embodiments of the present invention;

[0018] Fig. 2 is a block diagram of elements of the system for verifying hygienic hand cleaning, according to some embodiments of the present invention

[0019] Figs. 3A-3C are illustrations of thermal images of hands acquired to verify hygienic hand cleaning, according to some embodiments of the present invention; and [0020] Fig. 4 is a flow diagram of a process for enhanced verification of hygienic hand cleaning, according to some embodiments of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] It is to be understood that the invention and its application are not limited to the methods and systems described below or to the arrangement of the components set forth or illustrated in the drawings, but are applicable to other embodiments that may be practiced or carried out in various ways.

[0022] Embodiments of the present invention provide a system and methods for controlling and monitoring how an individual washes or sanitizes his or her hands, in order to verify that cleaning conforms with regulations and/or with medical recommendations for proper hygiene. The present invention typically includes a thermal imager, which acquires images of a user's hands while the hands are being cleaned, either by being washed or sanitized. Based on the thermal effect of hand rubbing during the cleaning process, an extent of hand cleaning is then determined. When the extent of hand cleaning meets one or more pre-determined criteria, such as a percent of hand area cleaned or an average temperature change, a determination is made that the hands are sufficiently clean, i.e., the hand cleaning is complete. Typically, the system provides a notification to a user to indicate that the hand cleaning is complete, such as providing an audio and/or visual signal.

[0023] Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system 20 providing verification of hygienic hand cleaning, according to some embodiments of the present invention. The system 20 may be an integrated cleaning facility 22 as indicated in the figure, or it may be a cleaning facility in which the elements of the system are positioned in close proximity with each other but not necessarily in an integrated unit. The system 20 may be a washing facility, by which users wash their hands using soap and water, or a sanitizing facility, by which users apply to their hands a sanitizing liquid that is air dried. [0024] In some embodiments, the system 20 may include a water basin or sink 24, into which water or other rinsing liquid flows from a manual or automated faucet 28. (A rinsing liquid may include, for example, an antiseptic.)

[0025] In embodiments of the present invention, system 20 may include a facility controller. The facility controller, which is not indicated in Fig. 1, may be internal to a frame of facility 22, or in proximity to the other elements, or located remotely. The facility controller may include a processor that is configured to receive signals from sensors of the system and to control devices of the system. Sensors of the system 20 may include one or more proximity or presence detectors 34 that detect the presence of the user or of the user's hands, the detection of which may initiate the flow of water by actuating the faucet 28. Additionally or alternatively, system 20 may include a manual faucet having a handle to control the water flow and the water temperature (e.g., the proportion of hot vs. cold water). [0026] Alternatively or additionally, system 20 may include a soap or sanitizing liquid dispenser 36. For hand washing, that is for a washing process that includes rinsing with water, the dispenser may provide a soap or detergent, which may be any appropriate cleaning reagent, e.g., any soap, foam, chemical sanitizer, biological sanitizer, or any combination thereof. For water-less hand sanitizing, the dispenser may dispense an air-dried disinfectant, such as an alcohol gel disinfectant, or a protein-based reagent, or a glycol-based reagent, such as 1,2-Hexanediol.

[0027] In further embodiments, system 20 includes one or more thermal imagers 40, such as a thermal imaging camera, which may acquire thermal images of the hands while the hands are being washed. Multiple thermal imagers may be included in system 20 and may be positioned from different angles around the or in proximity to the cleaning facility 22, in order to improve acquisition of multiple views of the hands during cleaning. In some embodiments, the thermal imager 40 may also serve as the presence detector 34 of the system.

[0028] The facility controller may be configured to perform thermal image processing, in order to identify temperatures associated with areas of a user's hands recorded in thermal images. Alternatively or additionally, the facility controller 30 may transmit thermal images to a remote processor for performing the processing. Thermal image processing may determine, from one or more of the thermal images, a total coverage of hand rubbing applied by a user during hand cleaning, as the process of hand rubbing changes the temperature of the area of skin that is rubbed. The thermal image processing may then determine, based on the extent of hand rubbing over the total hand area, when the user has completed the necessary amount of hand cleaning, as described further hereinbelow. (In some embodiments, processing of the thermal images may also determine a temperature of the water during hand washing. Alternatively or additionally, water temperature may be determined by a temperature gauge. The ambient air temperature may also be determined from the thermal images or from an additional temperature gauge.)

[0029] Once it is determined that the necessary amount of hand cleaning has been completed, the processor may provide feedback to the user indicating that the hands are sufficiently washed. The feedback may be provided at a signal indicator 42, which may be one or both of a speaker for issuing an audio notification or a light or display screen for issuing visible notification. For example, the processor may send a signal, such as a beep, to a speaker, or a spoken word or sentence, such as an audio notice, "hands are clean." The processor may also turn on a light, such as a green LED, to indicate cleaning completion, or switch a light from one color to another, such as switching a red light to a green light, or by switching a light in one state, such as flashing (indicating, "in progress"), to a different state, such as a constant light. Alternatively or additionally, the signal indicator 42 may be an LED screen that may display status words, or instructions, such as "Continue Cleaning," while hand cleaning proceeds, and "Cleaning Done" when the hand cleaning is determined to be complete (i.e., when the hands are clean). In conjunction or in lieu of issuing a notification, the processor may also turn off the water faucet valve when the hand cleaning is determined to be complete.

[0030] The facility controller may also include a communications link, such as a network controller, to communicate data to a remote server, as described further hereinbelow.

[0031] Water flowing from the faucet 28 flows from the sink through a drain. Temperature sensors may be positioned by the drain or outlet pipe.

[0032] The system 20 may also include an identification (ID) reader 50 for identifying the ID of a user. When the user is identified, the processor may then record data regarding the user's hand cleaning completion, as well as additional data, such as the time and date and location, in order to maintain a record of employee hygiene and compliance with health regulations. The recorded data may, for example, be transmitted to a remote server that maintains such records.

[0033] The ID reader 50 may be, for example, a tag reader configured to read an identification (ID) of a personal tag of the user. The personal tag may be a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag, a Near Field Communication (NFC) tag, a magnetic card, a card with a smart chip, or a card with a visual barcode or QR symbol. Alternatively or additionally, the ID reader 50 may be a biometric module configured to determine a user ID, such as a camera with a face recognition system, a Time-of-Flight (ToF) camera, a voice recognition system, a touch or touchless fingerprint or hand sensor, or an iris identification sensor.

[0034] Fig. 2 is a block diagram of the system 20 for verification of hygienic hand cleaning, according to some embodiments of the present invention. Components of the system 20 may provide signals to or receive signals from the processor of the facility controller 30. The sensors transmitting signals to the facility controller may include the presence detector 34 and the thermal imager 40. As described above, may be a single device, as images provided by the thermal imager can also serve to detect presence or absence of the user's hands. An additional sensor may be the ID reader 50, which may be implemented by any one of multiple technologies known in the art to acquire a user's ID. In some embodiments, the ID reader may also serve as the presence detector, that is, the presence of a user may be detected by the user's activation of the ID reader.

[0035] By processing the acquired signals, the facility controller 30 may control one or more of the faucets 28, the signal indicator 42 providing user feedback, and a soap or sanitizer dispenser 50.

[0036] In addition, the facility controller may communicate over a network driver 202 with a remote server 204, which may store in a database the user ID and cleaning status, maintaining a log of when a user washed and the status of that cleaning (i.e., completed or not completed). Typically, a large organization may have multiple cleaning areas configured incorporating system 20 (e.g., bathrooms with multiple sinks, and multiple floors or buildings with respective bathrooms). The remote server 204 provides a centralized repository of cleaning records and user IDs. The remote server may also maintain "cleaning profiles," which may be transmitted to the facility controller to modify cleaning parameters, such as required thermal change and coverage percent (i.e., the area of a user's hands that has been rubbed during cleaning).

[0037] The cleaning profiles may include customized cleaning parameters for different users. For example, a cleaning profile for a user with sensitive skin may set parameters such that the cleaning process requires less hand rubbing, that is, the parameters may define a smaller threshold of temperature change required from rubbing or a smaller percent of total area rubbed. More generally, parameters of the cleaning profiles may be a function of a particular user's allergies or sensitivities. Similarly, the parameters may be a function of regulatory requirements, which may change from time to time. Alternatively or additionally, the cleaning profiles may include customized cleaning parameters for different locations of a site (and for whether the cleaning is by washing or sanitizing). For example, a cleaning profile for a public bathroom of a facility may be set with different parameters than a sink accessible only to employees.

[0038] In further embodiments, cleaning profiles may be determined by collecting data over the course of multiple hand cleanings and analyzing a correlation between one or more of the parameters (e.g., temperature, or temperature change, and area of coverage) and a level of hand cleanliness that may be measured, by methods known in the art, such as micobioligical swab tests or spectroscopy technologies for measuring liquid or surface contamination. Such a correlation may be performed by applying a machine learning system, trained to correlate between one or more of the parameters described above and a level of hand cleanliness.

[0039] Figs. 3A-2C are illustrations of thermal images of hands acquired during hand cleaning, according to some embodiments of the present invention. The shading shows increasing extent of hand area having an increased temperature. The increased temperature, due to hand rubbing during cleaning, may be defined as a temperature change above a preset temperature change threshold, such as half a degree, or as an absolute temperature, which may be set after calibrating an initial hand temperature. The thermal image processing may generate internally a 3-D representation of the hands based on multiple views of the hands during cleaning, and then determine an area of coverage of the increased temperature. In some embodiments, the temperature change is aggregated over multiple images, to create a representation indicating all hand areas that at any time during the cleaning showed a brief temperature change (from hand rubbing). Typically the thermal image processing is also configured to filter out of the images any temperature changes that are attributable to the temperature of the water, air, environment, etc.

[0040] Fig. 4 is a flow diagram of a process 400 for verification of hygienic hand cleaning, according to some embodiments of the present invention. At an initial step 402, the cleaning process may be triggered by the facility controller by detection of a user, which may be implemented by a dedicated presence detector or by activation of the ID reader. Once the cleaning process is activated, the facility controller may load parameters of a cleaning profile, which may be stored locally (e.g., in memory of the facility controller) or received from a remote server, and which may be customized for a given location or user.

[0041] At a step 404, the facility controller may detect a user's hands, either by receiving a signal from a dedicated presence detector or by processing images of the thermal imager focused on the region of the wash basin in which a user would place his or her hands. Upon detection of hands, the facility controller may actuate the faucet valve and may also trigger a calibration step 406, of determining a hand temperature indicated in one or more initial thermal images. Also, at calibration step 406, the facility controller, or a remote processor accessible to the facility controller, may generate a model of the user’s hands.

[0042] After creating such a model, the facility controller may begin, at a step 408, the process of acquiring and processing multiple subsequent thermal images of the hands, in order to measure temperature changes of different areas of the hands. Typically the change in temperature that can be attributed to hand rubbing (i.e., after the affect of water temperature is cancelled) is compared with a preset temperature change threshold. Areas of the hand that meet the temperature change threshold are recorded. Alternatively or additionally, the threshold may be based on an absolute temperature setting. [0043] As different areas of the hands are determined to have been rubbed, the total area of rubbing may be mapped until the total cumulative area, as a percent of a user's total hand area, is compared with a preset area threshold at a step 410. The preset area threshold may be set at less than 100%, for example if it is determined that a lower percent, such as 98%, is sufficient. Such a determination may be made by analyzing a correlation of hand cleanliness with hand rubbing area during a training period, as described above.

[0044] Once a determination has been made that the hand cleaning is complete, a notification may be provided to the user at a step 412, as described above. Alternatively or additionally, upon determining that the hand cleaning is complete the facility controller may close a valve of the faucet 28 to stop the flow of water (or of the alternative rinsing fluid). [0045] At a step 414, a test is made as to whether the user ID was determined before or during the hand cleaning. If the user ID was determined, then at a step 416 the user ID, together with the cleaning status (e.g., the washing or the sanitizing is complete, or not complete, or a measure of a percent of the cleaning that is complete, etc.) may be stored in a log file, and may also be transmitted to a central database or repository of a remote server as described above. The log file or database may also record the time of the hand cleaning. The log record of hand cleaning may be used subsequently by an organization to track compliance, or, for example, to provide an alert to administrators that a worker has or has not completed a necessary hand cleaning process.

[0046] Once the process of recording the user is complete, the system is ready to receive a new user for a subsequent hand cleaning. It is to be noted that the process of hand cleaning may also be performed on users who are not identified, i.e., anonymous users, who simply receive a notification as to whether or not the process is complete without a user ID being recorded. In further embodiments, a log of anonymous hand cleaning may also be recorded. [0047] Computational aspects of process 400 and of system 20 may be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or in computer hardware, embedded firmware, software, or in combinations thereof. All or part of the process may be implemented as a computer program product, tangibly embodied in an information carrier, such as a machine-readable storage device or in a propagated signal, for execution by, or to control the operation of, data processing apparatus, such as a programmable processor, computer, or deployed to be executed on multiple computers at one site, or distributed across multiple sites, including cloud configurations. Memory storage may also include multiple distributed memory units, including one or more types of storage media. A computing system configured to implement the system may have one or more processors and one or more network interface modules. Processors may be configured as a multi-processing or distributed processing system. Network interface modules may control the sending and receiving of data packets over networks.

[0048] It is to be understood that the scope of the present invention includes variations and modifications thereof which would occur to persons skilled in the art upon reading the foregoing description and which are not disclosed in the prior art.

IB

Claims

1. A hand cleaning system, comprising: a thermal imager, mounted in proximity to a cleaning facility, to record a sequence of thermal images of hands of a user during hand cleaning; a processor and associated memory having instructions that when executed by the processor implement: identifying one or more areas of the user's hands indicated in the thermal images as having a changed temperature due to hand rubbing; and responsively determining a hand cleaning status.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein determining the hand cleaning status comprises determining a percent of total hand area having a changed temperature due to hand rubbing, and comparing the percent with a preset area threshold.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the preset area threshold is set to be a function of allergies and sensitivities of known traits of the user.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the preset area threshold is set to be a function of regulatory requirements.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein one or more parameters of the preset area threshold, or of a temperature threshold or a temperature change threshold, are determined by a machine learning system, trained to correlate between one or more of the parameters and a level of hand cleanliness.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein identifying areas of the user's hands having the changed temperature comprises comparing the changed temperature of the identified areas to a preset temperature or temperature change threshold.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein identifying areas of the user's hands having the changed temperature comprises aggregating areas recorded in multiple images.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the thermal imager and cleaning facility are part of an integrated cleaning facility.

9. The system of claim 1, further comprising an audio or visual signal indicator and wherein determining the hand cleaning status comprises issuing a notification of hand cleaning completion as a visual or audible alert on the signal indicator.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising a display screen, wherein the processor is configured to display on the display screen an instruction to continue cleaning until the hand cleaning status is that cleaning is complete.

11. The system of claim 1, further comprising a display screen, wherein the processor is configured to display on the display screen a notification of hand cleaning completion, when the hand cleaning status is that cleaning is complete.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising an automated faucet, and wherein the processor, upon determining that the hand cleaning status is that the cleaning is complete, closes the automated faucet.

13. The system of claim 1, further comprising a visual signal indicator, wherein the signal indicator provides a first light indication while the user's hands are being cleaned and a second light indication to indicate the hand cleaning status when the status is of hand cleaning completion.

14. The system of claim 1, further comprising a presence detector and a faucet, wherein the presence detector is configured to turn on the faucet when a user or a user's hands are detected.

15. The system of claim 1, further comprising an identification (ID) reader and wherein the processor is configured to receive and store a user ID and the hand cleaning status.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the ID reader is a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag, a Near Field Communication (NFC) tag, a magnetic card, a card with a smart chip, or a card with a visual barcode or QR symbol.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the ID reader is a biometric module comprising one or more of: a camera with a face recognition system, Time-of-Flight (ToF) cameras, a voice recognition system, a touch or touchless fingerprint or hand sensor, or an iris identification sensor.

18. The system of claim 15, further comprising a communications link and a remote server, and wherein the processor is further configured to transmit to the remote server the user ID together with the hand cleaning status.

19. The system of claim 1, further comprising a communications link and a remote server, wherein identifying areas of the user's hands indicated in the thermal images comprises transmitting the thermal images over the communications link to the remote server, processing the thermal images at the remote server to determine the hand cleaning status.

20. The system of claim 1, further comprising a cleaning reagent dispensing unit controlled by the processor.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein a cleaning reagent of the cleaning reagent dispensing unit comprises one of soap, foam, a chemical sanitizer, a biological sanitizer, or an air-dried disinfectant, such as an alcohol gel disinfectant, or a protein-based reagent, or a glycol-based reagent, such as 1,2-Hexanediol, or any combination thereof.

22. A method for verifying hygienic hand cleaning comprising: receiving at a thermal imager, mounted in proximity to a cleaning facility, a sequence of thermal images of hands of a user during hand cleaning; identifying areas of the user's hands indicated in the thermal images as having a changed temperature due to hand rubbing; and responsively determining a hand cleaning status.