Networked health care and monitoring system

Claims

We claim:

1. A passive vital information monitoring system comprising:

a data communication medium arranged in a building;

first measuring means, connected to a household appliance used in routine physiological activities of individuals in said building, for detecting at least one physical characteristic of an individual in response to the use of said household appliance by said individual and for deriving a first data for recognizing said individual;

second measuring means connected to said household appliance for detecting at least one physiological characteristic of said individual in response to the use of said household appliance by said individual and deriving a second data indicative of the health condition of said individual;

a first communications interface unit connecting said first and second measuring means with said data communication medium for transmitting said first and second data from said first and second measuring means onto said data communication medium;

data controller means having a data storage memory; and,

a second communications interface unit connecting said data controller means with said data communication medium for transmitting to said data controller means said first and second data transmitted from said first communications interface unit onto said data communication medium;

said first and second measuring means deriving, respectively, said first and second data passively in response to the use of said household appliance by said individual to cause said first and second data to be transmitted onto said data communication medium;

said memory of said data controller means structured for preliminarily storing said first data with respect to each of a plurality of predetermined individuals;

said data controller means recognizing a particular individual based on said first data transmitted onto said data communication medium and causing said second data transmitted onto said data communication medium to be stored in said memory in relation to said particular individual.

2. A passive vital information monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein said household appliance comprises a water closet system and wherein said second measuring means operates for ferforming urinalysis in connection with the use by said individual of said water closet system to derive said second data.

3. A passive vital information monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein said household appliance comprises a water closet system and wherein said second measuring means is designed to perform electrocardiography in connection with the use by said individual of said water closet system to derive said second data.

4. A passive vital information monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein said household appliance comprises a water closet system and wherein said second measuring means operates for detecting the body fat content of said individual in connection with the use by said individual of said water closet system to derive said second data.

5. A passive vital information monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein said household appliance comprises a water closet system and wherein said first measuring means operates for detecting the body weight of said individual in connection with the use by said individual of said water closet system to derive said first data.

6. A passive vital information monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein said household appliance comprises a bed system and wherein said second measuring means operates for detecting the body temperature of said individual in connection with the use by said individual of said bed system to derive said second data.

7. A passive vital information monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein said household appliance comprises a bed system and wherein said first measuring means operates for detecting the temperature distribution on said bed system in connection with the use by said individual of said bed system to derive said first data representing the stature of said individual.

8. A passive vital information monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein said household appliance comprises a bath system and wherein said second measuring means operates for detecting the R--R interval of electrocardiogram in connection with the use by said individual of said bath system to derive said second data.

9. A passive vital information monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein said household appliance comprises a bath system and wherein said first measuring means operates for detecting the volumetric displacement of said individual in connection with the use by said individual of said bath system to derive said first data.

10. A passive vital information monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein said household appliance comprises an indoor exercise device usable for health maintenance of said individual and wherein said second measuring means operates for detecting the amount of exercise in connection with the use by said individual of said device to derive said second data.

11. A passive vital information system according to claim 1, wherein said household appliance comprises an easy chair and wherein said second measuring means operates for performing electrocardiography in connection with the use by said individual of said easy chair to derive said second data.

12. A passive vital information monitoring system according to claim 1, further comprising a video monitor connected to said data communication medium for processing said second data stored in said memory and displaying processed data.

13. A passive vital information monitoring system comprising:

a data communication medium disposed in a building;

first measuring means, connected to a household appliance used in routine physiological activities of individuals in said building, for detecting at least one physical characteristic of an individual in response to the use of said household appliance by said individual and deriving a first data for recognizing said individual;

second measuring means connected to said household appliance for detecting at least one physiological characteristic of said individual in response to the use of said household appliance by said individual;

a first communications interface unit connecting said first and second measuring means with said data communication medium to permit data communication between said first and second measuring means and said data communication medium;

data controller means having a data storage memory; and,

a second communications interface unit connecting said data controller means with said data communication medium to permit data communication between said data controller means and said data communication medium;

said memory of said data controller means being preliminarily installed with said first data and a second data representing another physical characteristic of individual with respect to each of a plurality of predetermined individuals;

said first measuring means operating for deriving said first data passively in response to the use of said household appliance by said individual and for causing said first data to be transmitted onto said data communication medium;

said data controller means recognizing a particular individual using said household appliance based on said first data transmitted onto said data communication medium and causing said second data of said particular individual as installed in said memory to be transmitted onto said data communication medium;

said second measuring means operating for detecting said at least one physiological characteristic of said particular individual passively in response to said use of said household appliance and for deriving a third data indicative of the health condition of said particular individual by making use of said second data on said particular individual transmitted onto said data communication medium.

14. A passive vital information monitoring system according to claim 13, wherein said household appliance comprises a water closet system, said first measuring means being associated with said water closet system for passively detecting the body weight of said particular individual in response to the use by said individual of said water closet system to cause said first data as representing the detected body weight to be transmitted onto said data communication medium, said second data including at least one of the stature and the sexuality of said predetermined individuals, said data controller means operating for recognizing said particular individual based on said body weight data transmitted onto said data communication medium and for causing said second data on said particular individual to be transmitted onto said data communication medium, said second measuring means comprising means for passively detecting the body fat content of said individual in response to the use of said water closet system, said means for detecting the body fat content deriving said third data as representing the body fat content of said particular individual by making use of said second data including at least one of the stature and the sexuality.

15. A passive vital information monitoring system according to claim 13, wherein said second measuring means further operates for causing said third data to be transmitted onto said medium and wherein said data controller means further operates for causing said third data transmitted onto said medium to be stored in said memory in connection with said particular individual.

16. A passive system for monitoring vital information on individuals comprising:

a data communication medium arranged in a building;

detection means, connected to a household appliance usable in routine physiological activities of the individuals in said building, for detecting at least one physical characteristic and at least one physiological characteristic of an individual in response to the use of said household appliance by said individual for deriving a first data useful in recognizing said individual and a second data representing the health condition of said individual;

a first communications interface unit connecting said detection means with said data communication medium for transmitting said first and second data from said detection means onto said data communication medium;

data controller means having a data storage memory; and

a second communications interface unit connecting said data controller means with said data communication medium for transmitting to said data controller means said first and second data transmitted from said first communications interface unit onto said data communication medium;

said detection means deriving said first and second data passively in response to the use of said household appliance by said individual and causing said first and second data to be transmitted onto said data communication medium;

said memory of said data controller means structured for preliminarily storing said first data with respect to each of a plurality of predetermined individuals;

said data controller means recognizing a particular individual using said household appliance based on said first data transmitted onto said data communication medium and causing said second data transmitted onto said data communication medium to be stored in said memory in connection with said particular individual.

17. A passive system according to claim 16, wherein said household appliance comprises a bed system and wherein said detection means operates for detecting the temperature distribution on said bed system in connection with the use by said individual of said bed system to derive said first data representing the stature of said individual and said second data representing the body temperature of said individual.

18. A networked health care and monitoring system comprising:

a data communication medium arranged in a building;

a first household appliance disposed in said building for use in routine physiological activities of individuals;

measuring means connected to said first household appliance for detecting at least one physiological characteristic of an individual in response to the use by said individual of said first household appliance for deriving data indicative of the health condition of said individual;

a first communications interface unit connecting said measuring means with said data communication medium for transmitting said data onto said data communication medium;

a second household appliance disposed in said building for use in health maintenance activities of individuals;

control means for controlling said second household appliance;

a second communications interface unit connecting said control means with said data communication medium for controlling data communication between said control means and said data communication medium;

data controller means having a data storage memory; and

a third communications interface unit connecting said data controller means with said data communication medium for controlling data communication between said data controller means and said data communication medium;

said measuring means deriving said data indicative of the health condition of said individual passively in response to the use by said individual of said first household appliance to cause said data to be transmitted onto said data communication medium;

said data controller means storing in said memory said data transmitted from said measuring means onto said data communication medium and transmitting said data onto said data communication medium in response to the use by said individual of said second household appliance;

said control means controlling said second household appliance based on said data transmitted from said data controller means onto said data communication medium.

19. A networked health care and monitoring system according to claim 18, wherein said second household appliance is a bath system provided with a massaging function and wherein said control means controls the degree of massaging effect of said second household appliance based on said data indicative of the health condition of said individual.

20. A networked health care and monitoring system according to claim 18, wherein said second household appliance is a bath system having a bath temperature control function and wherein said control means controls the bath temperature based on said data indicative of the health condition of said individual.

21. A networked health care and monitoring system according to claim 18, wherein said second household appliance is an indoor exercise device usable for health maintenance of said individual and wherein said control means controls the condition of exercise with said device based on said data indicative of the health condition of said individual.

22. A networked health care and monitoring system according to claim 18, wherein said second household appliance is an easy chair providing with a massaging function and wherein said control means controls the degree of massaging effect of said second household appliance based on said data indicative of the health condition of said individual.

23. A networked health care and monitoring system according to claim 18, wherein said second household appliance comprises data processing means for presenting alimentary menu based on said data indicative of the health condition of said individual.

24. A networked health care and monitoring system according to claim 18, wherein said first household appliance is a water closet system and wherein said measuring means performs urinalysis in response to the use by said individual of said water closet system to derive said data indicative of the health condition of said individual.

25. A networked health care and monitoring system according to claim 18, wherein said first household appliance is a water closet system and wherein said measuring means performs electrocardiography in response to the use by said individual of said water closet system to derive said data indicative of the health condition of said individual.

26. A networked health care and monitoring system according to claim 18, wherein said first household appliance is a water closet system and wherein said measuring means detects the body fat content of said individual in response to the use by said individual of said water closet system to derive said data.

27. A networked health care and monitoring system according to claim 18, wherein said first household appliance is a bed system and wherein said measuring means detects the body temperature of said individual in response to the use by said individual of said bed system to derive said data.

28. A networked health care and monitoring system comprising:

a data communication medium arranged in a building;

a first household appliance disposed in said building for use in routine physiological activities of individuals;

first measuring means connected to said first household appliance for detecting at least one physical characteristic of an individual in response to the use by said individual of said first household appliance for deriving a first data useful in recognizing said individual;

second measuring means connected to said first household appliance for detecting at least one physiological characteristic of said individual in response to the use by said individual of said first household appliance for deriving a second data indicative of the health condition of said individual;

a first communications interface unit connecting said first and second measuring means with said data communication medium for transmitting said first and second data from said first and second measuring means onto said data communication medium;

a second household appliance disposed in said building for use in health maintenance activities of individuals;

third measuring means connected to said second household appliance for detecting at least one physical characteristic of an individual in response to the use by said individual of said second household appliance for deriving a third data useful in recognizing said individual;

control means for controlling said second household appliance;

a second communications interface unit connecting said third measuring means and said control means with said data communication medium for controlling data communication between said third measuring means and control means, in the first place, and said data communication medium, in the second place;

data controller means having a data storage memory; and

a third communications interface unit connecting said data controller means with said data communication medium for controlling data communication between said data controller means and said data communication medium;

said first and second measuring means operating, respectively, for deriving said first and second data passively in response to the use by an individual of said first household appliance for causing said first and second data to be transmitted onto said data communication medium;

said data controller means recognizing a particular individual using said first household appliance based on said first data transmitted onto said data communication medium and storing in said memory said second data in connection with said particular individual;

said third measuring means deriving said third data in response to the use by an individual of said second household appliance for causing said third data to be transmitted onto said data communication medium;

said data controller means being responsive to said third data as transmitted from said third measuring means onto said data communication medium for recognizing a particular individual using said second household appliance and for causing said second data representing the health condition of said particular individual using said second household appliance to be retrieved from said memory and transmitted onto said data communication medium;

said control means of said second household appliance controlling said second household appliance based on said second data transmitted from said data controller means onto said data communication medium.

29. A networked health care system comprising:

a data communication medium arranged in a building;

a household appliance disposed in said building for use in health care and maintenance activities of individuals;

measuring means connected to said household appliance for detecting at least one physical characteristic of an individual in response to the use by said individual of said household appliance for deriving a first data useful in recognizing said individual;

control means for controlling said household appliance;

a first communications interface unit connecting said measuring means and said control means with said data communication medium for controlling data communication between said measuring and control means and said data communication medium;

data controller means having a data storage memory wherein said first data and a second data representing the health condition of an individual are stored for each of a plurality of predetermined individuals; and,

a second communications interface unit connecting said data controller means with said data communication medium for controlling data communication between said data controller means and said data communication medium;

said measuring means passively deriving said first data in response to the use by an individual of said household appliance for causing said first data to be transmitted onto said data communication medium;

said data controller means being responsive to transmission of said first data onto said data communication medium for recognizing a particular individual corresponding to said first data and for causing said second data representing the health condition of said particular individual to be transmitted onto said data communication medium;

said control means controlling said household appliance based on said second data transmitted onto said data communication medium.

30. A networked health care and monitoring system comprising:

a data communication medium arranged in a building;

a first household appliance disposed in said building for use in routine physiological activities of individuals;

measuring means, including a data storage memory, connected to said first household appliance for detecting at least one physiological characteristic of an individual in response to the use by said individual of said first household appliance to derive data indicative of the health condition of said individual;

a first communications interface unit connecting said measuring means with said data communication medium for transmitting said data onto said data communication medium;

a second household appliance disposed in said building for use in health maintenance activities of individuals;

control means for controlling said second household appliance; and,

a second communications interface unit connecting said control means with said data communication medium for controlling data communication between said control means and said data communication medium;

said measuring means deriving said data indicative of the health condition of said individual in response to the use by said individual of said first household appliance to cause said data to be stored in said memory;

said control means causing said measuring means to transmit onto said data communication medium said data stored in said memory thereof in response to the use by said individual of said second household appliance;

said control means controlling said second household appliance based on said data transmitted onto said data communication medium.

31. A networked health care and monitoring system according to claim 30, wherein said measuring means operates for passively deriving said data indicative of the health condition of said individual in response to the use by said individual of said first household appliance.

32. A networked health care and monitoring system according to claim 30, wherein said first household appliance comprises a water closet system and wherein said measuring means operates for performing urinalysis in connection with the use by said individual of said water closet system to derive said data indicative of the health condition of said individual.

33. A networked health care and monitoring system according to claim 30, wherein said first household appliance comprises a water closet system and wherein said measuring means operates for performing electrocardiography in connection with the use by said individual of said water closet system to derive said data indicative of the health condition of said individual.

34. A networked health care and monitoring system according to claim 30, wherein said first household appliance comprises a water closet system and wherein said measuring means operates for detecting the body fat content of said individual in connection with the use by said individual of said water closet system to derive said data indicative of the health condition of said individual.

35. A networked health care and monitoring system according to claim 30, wherein said first household appliance comprises a water closet system and wherein said measuring means operates for detecting the artery blood pressure of said individual in connection with the use by said individual of said water closet system to derive said data indicative of the health condition of said individual.

36. A networked health care and monitoring system according to claim 30, wherein said first household appliance comprises a bed system and wherein said measuring means operates for detecting the body temperature of said individual in connection with the use by said individual of said bed system to derive said data indicative of the health condition of said individual.

37. A networked health care and monitoring system according to claim 30, wherein said first household appliance comprises a bath system and wherein said measuring means operates for detecting the R--R interval of electrocardiogram of said individual in connection with the use by said individual of said bath system to derive said data indicative of the health condition of said individual.

38. A networked health care and monitoring system according to claim 30, wherein said first household appliance comprises an easy chair and wherein said measuring means operates for performing electrocardiography in connection with the use by said individual of said easy chair to derive said data indicate of the health condition of said individual.

39. A networked health care and monitoring system according to claim 30, wherein said second household appliance comprises a bath system provided with a massaging function and wherein said control means operates for controlling the degree of massaging effect of said second household appliance based on said data indicative of the health condition of said individual.

40. A networked health care and monitoring system according to claim 30, wherein said second household appliance comprises a bath system provided with a bath temperature control function and wherein said control means operates for controlling the bath temperature based on said data indicative of the health condition of said individual.

41. A networked health care and monitoring system according to claim 30, wherein said second household appliance comprises an indoor exercise device usable for health maintenance of said individual and wherein said control means operates for controlling the condition of exercise with said device based on said data indicative of the health condition of said individual.

42. A networked health care and monitoring system according to claim 30, wherein said second household appliance comprises an easy chair provided with a massaging function and wherein said control means operates for controlling the degree of massaging effect of said second household appliance based on said data indicative of the health condition of said individual.

43. A networked health care and monitoring system according to claim 30, wherein said second household appliance comprises data processing means for presenting alimentary menu based on said data indicative of the health condition of said individual.

44. A networked health care and monitoring system of the distributed network configuration comprising:

a data communication medium arranged in a building;

a first household appliance disposed in said building for use in routine physiological activities of individuals;

first measuring means connected to said first household appliance for detecting at least one physical characteristic of an individual in response to the use by said individual of said first household appliance for deriving a first data useful in recognizing said individual;

second measuring means, including a data storage memory, connected to said first household appliance for detecting at least one physiological characteristic of said individual in response to the use by said individual of said first household appliance for deriving a second data indicative of the health condition of said individual;

a first communications interface unit connecting said first and second measuring means with said data communication medium for permitting data communication between said first and second measuring means and said data communication medium;

a second household appliance disposed in said building for use in health maintenance activities of individuals;

third measuring means connected to said second household appliance for detecting at least one physical characteristic of an individual in response to the use by said individual of said second household appliance for deriving a third data useful in recognizing said individual;

control means for controlling said second household appliance; and,

a second communications interface unit connecting said third measuring means and said second control means with said data communication medium for permitting data communication between said third measuring means and said control means, in the first place, and said data communication medium, in the second place;

said first and second measuring means deriving said first and second data, respectively, passively each time said first household appliance is used by an individual for causing said second data to be stored in said data storage memory thereby to provide a storage of said second data for a plurality of individuals;

said third measuring means deriving said third data in response to the use by an individual of said second household appliance for causing said third data to be transmitted onto said data communication medium;

said second measuring means being responsive to said third data as transmitted from said third measuring means onto said data communication medium for recognizing a particular individual using said second household appliance and for causing said second data representing the health condition of said particular individual using said second household appliance to be retrieved from said storage memory and transmitted onto said data communication medium;

said control means of said second household appliance controlling said second household appliance based on said second data transmitted from said second measuring means onto said data communication medium.

45. A networked health care and monitoring system of the distributed network configuration comprising:

a data communication medium arranged in a building;

a first household appliance disposed in said building for use in routine physiological activities of individuals;

first measuring means, including a data storage memory, connected to said first household appliance for detecting at least one physical characteristic and at least one physiological characteristic of an individual in response to the use by said individual of said first household appliance for deriving a first data useful in recognizing said individual and a second data indicative of the health condition of said individual;

a first communications interface unit connecting said first measuring means with said data communication medium for permitting data communication between said first measuring means and said data communication medium;

a second household appliance disposed in said building for use in health maintenance activities of individuals;

second measuring means connected to said second household appliance for detecting at least one physical characteristic of an individual in response to the use by said individual of said second household appliance for deriving third data useful in recognizing said individual;

control means for controlling said second household appliance; and,

a second communications interface unit connecting said second measuring means and said control means with said data communication medium for permitting data communication of said second measuring means and said control means with said data communication medium;

said first measuring means deriving said first and second data passively each time said first household appliance is used by an individual to cause said second data to be stored in said data storage memory thereby to provide a storage of said second data for a plurality of individuals;

said second measuring means deriving said third data in response to the use by an individual of said second household appliance for causing said third data to be transmitted onto said data communication medium;

said first measuring means being responsive to said third data as transmitted from said second measuring means onto said data communication medium for recognizing a particular individual using said second household appliance and for causing said second data representing the health condition of said particular individual using said second household appliance to be retrieved from said storage memory and transmitted onto said data communication medium;

said control means of said second household appliance controlling said second household appliance based on said second data transmitted from said first measuring means onto said data communication medium.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a health care and monitoring system which is capable of detecting and monitoring vital signs and information of individuals during the course of routine living activities of individuals taking place in routine living environments such as homes and offices and wherein the vital information thus obtained is used in connection with routine health care and maintenance activities of individuals for the purposes of health care and maintenance, including prophylactic medicine, early detection of diseases and continuation of therapy.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Due to recent trends for longevity, the importance of self health care and maintenance has been receiving increasing attention irrespective of age of people. Today, many people, elderly or young, not only periodically consult professional medical institutions such as hospitals and clinics for diagnostic and various professional advices helpful in prevention and early detection of diseases, but also are constantly rendering considerable effort by themselves to maintain their health by making use of non-medical health maintenance facilities such as gymnastic or sport clubs. Also, a variety of home health care and monitoring instruments, such as home sphygmomanometer and home urinal assay assemblies, are available to enable people's home health check in support of professional medical monitoring as well as to assist in continuation of home care.

Primarily, the vital information useful in health care and maintenance of individuals is monitored at professional medical institutions such as hospitals wherein various medical testing and measuring instruments are provided. In certain occasions, the vital signs and information detected thereby are forwarded through a local area network or telemetry to a host computer or work station of the hospital for centralized storage and processing, as described, for example, in Japanese Patent Kokai Publication Nos. 2-140875(1990); 2-116351(1990); 2-164336(1990); 2-299632(1990); and European Patent Publication No. 269,907 A1.

The medical services for testing and vital information monitoring at such professional institutions are generally available whenever required to inpatients who are under hospital care. Therefore, the inpatients have the benefit of increased chance of testing and monitoring and may thus be subjected to a continuous and updated care.

Outpatients, home care patients and those individuals who desire a periodical health check, however, must visit the hospital from time to time in order to have their health condition monitored. This will involve considerable economical burden and time loss. In the case of home care patients, in particular, a visit to hospital may often involve substantial physical and mental exhaustion. As a result, there is a tendency that people are discouraged from visiting hospitals adequately frequently whereby the occasions of sampling and monitoring of the vital data are limited to the minimum. This results in the disadvantage that it is difficult to obtain and accumulate the latest vital information due to failure of updating.

Another important problem associated with vital data monitoring at the professional institutions is related to the possible insufficiency or lack of reliability of obtained data. It has been experienced by skilled medical professionals that, during electrocardiography and measurement of the artery blood pressure, for example, a patient who has realized measurement is apt to be overly excited and becomes hypertonic so that the resulting data often exhibits unusual value. Accordingly, repeated measurements are often necessary until a reliable data is resulted.

It is known in the art to arrange a testing and measuring instrument within the residence of a patient and to transmit the obtained vital information to a host computer of professional medical care institutions via public telecommunication line as disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Kokai Publication Nos. 2-54031(1990); 2-279056(1990); 2-121627(1990); U.S. Pat. No. 4,962,550; and European Patent Publication No. 292,311 A2. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,962,550 assigned to the assignee of the present invention describes a home health monitoring system associated with a toilet system incorporating a built-in apparatus for urinalysis which is adapted to transmit the obtained urinalysis data to a remote computer. Home health monitoring device is also described in International Patent Publication No. WO 91/05311. This publication proposes a medication delivery system adapted to support home care of patients wherein a terminal equipment having a physical measuring device such as sphygmomanometer is provided in the home of a patient. In response to instructions from a central station, the patient wears and operates the sphygmomanometer to permit measurement of the artery blood pressure, the resulting data being in turn forwarded to the central station for professional decision and instructions on medication.

Advantageously, these household testing and measuring systems ensures monitoring of the latest daily health information because measurement at home may be carried out readily and more frequently. Furthermore, measurements may be performed under adequately relaxed conditions. However, the problem encountered with these household systems is that a series of testing and measuring procedures must be performed by the individuals by themselves on their own judgement and manipulation. In contrast to health monitoring conducted at hospitals wherein testing and measuring instruments are operated by a physician or nurse skilled in their manipulation and procedures, a patient or user of the household measuring system must be positively engaged in electronic dialogue with a computer of the measuring system by manipulating a man-machine interface such as a computer keyboard in order to cause the measuring system to successfully perform a predetermined program of testing and measurement. To perform automated urinalysis, for example, it is necessary for the user to manipulate the keyboard to select the program menu, to input his or her name, date and time of measurement and so on, and then to depress a start button at a proper timing. Such electronic dialogue by way of the man-machine interface is cumbersome even for ordinary person and is especially difficult to perform for elderly individuals who are encountering loss of memory, degradation in eyesight and decreasing muscle response.

Manipulation of the man-machine interface is also necessary to operate those household appliances which are used in homes for the purposes of health care and maintenance of individuals and which require a certain vital information for their intended operation. For example, an indoor exercise apparatus such as a bicycle-simulated ergometer requires that various parameters including the stature, body weight, age, sexuality, body fat content and desired amount of exercise of the user be input through an input device. Similarly, for measurement of the body fat content, it is desirable to input a vital data on the stature, body weight, age, sexuality and the amount of daily exercise. A conventional computerized menu processor adapted to provide alimentary menu requires input of vital information on the body weight, the results of urinalysis, the amount of exercise, etc. As information input operation of all these data must be performed by the manipulation of the man-machine interface such as a keyboard device, it has been cumbersome to set up the health care and maintenance appliances.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a networked vital information monitoring system which is capable of detecting and monitoring vital signs passively in response to routine living activities of individuals thereby to provide updated latest vital information.

Another object of the invention is to provide a networked vital information monitoring system which is capable of detecting and measuring vital signs during the course of day-to-day living activities of individuals without causing the individuals to realize measurement, thereby to provide a reliable vital information.

A still another object of the invention is to provide a networked vital information monitoring system which is user-friendly even for those individuals such as elderly people who have difficulties in manipulating a man-machine interface and wherein vital information is detected and monitored passively in response to routine living activities of individuals without requiring positive intervention on the part of the individuals.

A further object of the invention is to provide a health monitoring system which is adapted to monitor vital signs of individuals in connection with their day-to-day physiological activities and which is capable of providing a compiled updated vital information which is reliable and is suitable to be brought to professional medical institutions for analysis by medical professionals.

Another object of the invention is to provide a networked health care and monitoring system which is adapted to monitor vital signs of individuals in their routine living environments such