Patent Application
20150054651
A hospital patient often has the need for multiple intravenous (IV) infusions via one or more electronic infusion devices. Upon the occurrence of multiple conditions, including alarm conditions like occlusion of an infusion line, the infusion devices may generate visual and/or audio signal to a bedside caregiver. The audible and visual notification to the caregiver is designed to signal to the user that some sort of action is required or that a condition of the device has changed. The audio signals naturally should be sufficiently loud to attract attention from the bedside caregiver.
While it is desirable for the audio signal to be sufficiently loud so as to attract attention from the appropriate person, an audio signal that is too loud can also be a nuisance to a patient or clinician. This can be especially true in environments such as a neonatal unit where loud sounds can be potentially harmful to a patient.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for medical infusion systems and methods that adjust audio signals based on the environment where the audio signal is being generated.
Disclosed herein are systems and methods for ensuring that the sound level of an audible signal, or audio alert, generated by a bedside medical device is appropriate to a hospital environment in which the device is operating. The disclosed systems and methods increase the likelihood that a device annunciates alerts at an audio level that is perceivable by a clinician while minimizing the nuisance to the patient. In an embodiment, the system utilizes a built-in microphone to determine the ambient sound pressure and references a care area specific audio gain value to determine the appropriate dynamic alert/alarm sound pressure. The audio level can escalate if the generated alarm receives no user response within a specified period of time.
In one aspect, there is disclosed A method for generating an audio signal for a medical device, comprising: detecting the presence of a condition related to the medical device that requires emission of an audio signal; generating an audio signal indicative of the condition, wherein a sound level of the audio signal is at least partially based on an ambient condition.
The details of one or more variations of the subject matter described herein are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features and advantages of the subject matter described herein will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.
Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.
Disclosed herein are systems and methods for ensuring that the sound level of an audible alert generated by a bedside medical device is appropriate to a hospital environment in which the device is operating. The disclosed systems and methods increase the likelihood that a device annunciates alerts at an audio level that is perceivable by a clinician while minimizing the nuisance to the patient. In an embodiment, the system utilizes a built-in microphone to determine the ambient sound pressure and references a care area specific audio gain value to determine the appropriate dynamic alert/alarm sound pressure. The audio level can escalate if the generated alarm receives no user response within a specified period of time.
The disclosed system can be used with any of a variety of patient medical device systems that are configured to generate an audio notification (also referred to as an audio signal), such as an infusion pump system. An example modular infusion pump system is shown with reference to
With reference to
It should be appreciated that the relative positions and orientation of the pumps relative to one another and to the programming module may vary.
With reference still to
A separate infusion pump 22, 24, 26, and 28 is used to infuse each of the fluids of the fluid supplies into the patient. The infusion pumps are flow control devices that will act on the respective fluid line to move the fluid from the fluid supply through the fluid line to the patient 48. Because individual pumps are used, each can be individually set to the pumping or operating parameters required for infusing the particular medical fluid from the respective fluid supply into the patient at the particular rate prescribed for that fluid by the physician. Such medical fluids may comprise drugs or nutrients or other.
Typically, medical fluid administration sets have more parts than are shown in
As mentioned, one or more of the infusion pumps includes at least one speaker for outputting an audio signal. In an embodiment, there is one main speaker that generates audio signals on behalf of all the pumps.
There is now described an exemplary method for generating an audio indication based upon the occurrence of a condition or action. As mentioned, an audio signal may be generated upon occurrence of a variety of conditions or actions, such as when a button is pressed or when an alarm condition is satisfied. The method is defined in the context of generating an audio signal when an alarm condition is satisfied. However, it should be appreciated that the method can apply to generation of any audio signal and is not limited to generation of audio signals associated with an alarm condition.
In a next step 310, the speaker emits an audio signal with a sound level of the audio signal at least partially based on ambient conditions. That is, the sound level of the audio signal is at least partially based on the environment in which the infusion pump and/or the patient are located. In an embodiment, the environmental conditions are determined and detected in real time. For example, the sound level of the audio signal may be based at least partially on a detected level of ambient sounds wherein the speaker generates a louder audio signal if the detected level of ambient sound is above a threshold. Or the speaker may generate a less loud audio signal if the detected level of ambient sound is below a threshold.
The microprocessor may have access to library data that at least partially governs a permissible or desired level of sound for the audio signal. For example, if the infusion pump is located in a neonatal environment, the library data may provide an upper limit on the level of sound (at least for an initial audio signal) that is configured to not disturb or incur a nuisance to patients. In a neonatal environment, the patients may be disturbed or even harmed by a level of sound that is too loud. The library data may also govern a minimum level of sound for an audio signal, wherein the minimum is the lowest level of sound that may be reasonably heard by a clinician. The library data may also include an audio gain that is specific to the type of environment where the infusion pump is located. The audio gain determines the appropriate audio signal to be emitted based on the detected ambient conditions.
In a next step 315, the system determines whether or not a clinician has responded to the audio signal. For example, the system may determine whether the clinician has corrected the condition that caused the audio signal or whether the clinician has turned off the audio signal. If the clinician has not responded to the audio signal (such as within a predetermined passage of time), then the process returns to step 310. As discussed above, at step 310 the system may then adjust the sound level of the audio signal such as to raise the sound level or to vary the sound pattern of the audio signal. If the clinician has sufficiently responded to the audio signal, then the process ends.
Referring now to
Other devices or modules, including another infusion pump, may be attached to the right side of the infusion pump 24, as shown in
With reference still to
The communications system may take the form of a radio frequency (“RF”) (radio frequency) system, an optical system such as infrared, a Blue Tooth system, or other wired or wireless system. The bar code scanner and communications system may alternatively be included integrally with the infusion pump 24, such as in cases where a programming module is not used, or in addition to one with the programming module. Further, information input devices need not be hard-wired to medical instruments, information may be transferred through a wireless connection as well.
Turning now to
The type of pumping mechanism may vary and may be for example, a multiple finger pumping mechanism. For example, the pumping mechanism may be of the “four finger” type and includes an upstream occluding finger 72, a primary pumping finger 74, a downstream occluding finger 76, and a secondary pumping finger 78. The “four finger” pumping mechanism and mechanisms used in other linear peristaltic pumps operate by sequentially pressing on a segment of the fluid conduit by means of the cam-following pumping fingers and valve fingers 72, 74, 76, and 78. The pressure is applied in sequential locations of the conduit, beginning at the upstream end of the pumping mechanism and working toward the downstream end. At least one finger is always pressing hard enough to occlude the conduit. As a practical matter, one finger does not retract from occluding the tubing until the next one in sequence has already occluded the tubing; thus at no time is there a direct fluid path from the fluid supply to the patient. The operation of peristaltic pumps including four finger pumps is well known to those skilled in the art and no further operational details are provided here.
In this particular embodiment,
With reference still to
One or more aspects or features of the subject matter described herein may be realized in digital electronic circuitry, integrated circuitry, specially designed ASICs (application specific integrated circuits), computer hardware, firmware, software, and/or combinations thereof. These various implementations may include implementation in one or more computer programs that are executable and/or interpretable on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor, which may be special or general purpose, coupled to receive data and instructions from, and to transmit data and instructions to, a storage system, at least one input device (e.g., mouse, touch screen, etc.), and at least one output device.
These computer programs, which can also be referred to programs, software, software applications, applications, components, or code, include machine instructions for a programmable processor, and can be implemented in a high-level procedural and/or object-oriented programming language, and/or in assembly/machine language. As used herein, the term “machine-readable medium” refers to any computer program product, apparatus and/or device, such as for example magnetic discs, optical disks, memory, and Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor, including a machine-readable medium that receives machine instructions as a machine-readable signal. The term “machine-readable signal” refers to any signal used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor. The machine-readable medium can store such machine instructions non-transitorily, such as for example as would a non-transient solid state memory or a magnetic hard drive or any equivalent storage medium. The machine-readable medium can alternatively or additionally store such machine instructions in a transient manner, such as for example as would a processor cache or other random access memory associated with one or more physical processor cores.
These computer programs, which can also be referred to programs, software, software applications, applications, components, or code, include machine instructions for a programmable processor, and can be implemented in a high-level procedural language, an object-oriented programming language, a functional programming language, a logical programming language, and/or in assembly/machine language. As used herein, the term “machine-readable medium” refers to any computer program product, apparatus and/or device, such as for example magnetic discs, optical disks, memory, and Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor, including a machine-readable medium that receives machine instructions as a machine-readable signal. The term “machine-readable signal” refers to any signal used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor. The machine-readable medium can store such machine instructions non-transitorily, such as for example as would a non-transient solid state memory or a magnetic hard drive or any equivalent storage medium. The machine-readable medium can alternatively or additionally store such machine instructions in a transient manner, such as for example as would a processor cache or other random access memory associated with one or more physical processor cores.
To provide for interaction with a user, the subject matter described herein can be implemented on a computer having a display device, such as for example a cathode ray tube (CRT) or a liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor for displaying information to the user and a keyboard and a pointing device, such as for example a mouse or a trackball, by which the user may provide input to the computer. Other kinds of devices can be used to provide for interaction with a user as well. For example, feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback, such as for example visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input from the user may be received in any form, including, but not limited to, acoustic, speech, or tactile input. Other possible input devices include, but are not limited to, touch screens or other touch-sensitive devices such as single or multi-point resistive or capacitive trackpads, voice recognition hardware and software, optical scanners, optical pointers, digital image capture devices and associated interpretation software, and the like.
The subject matter described herein can be embodied in systems, apparatus, methods, and/or articles depending on the desired configuration. The implementations set forth in the foregoing description do not represent all implementations consistent with the subject matter described herein. Instead, they are merely some examples consistent with aspects related to the described subject matter. Although a few variations have been described in detail above, other modifications or additions are possible. In particular, further features and/or variations can be provided in addition to those set forth herein. For example, the implementations described above can be directed to various combinations and subcombinations of the disclosed features and/or combinations and subcombinations of several further features disclosed above. In addition, the logic flow(s) when depicted in the accompanying figures and/or described herein do not necessarily require the particular order shown, or sequential order, to achieve desirable results. Other implementations may be within the scope of the following claims.
