Patent Application
20200015031
The present disclosure generally relates to methods for operating medical devices. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a method for operating a mobile medical device, such as a mobile ECG device, that utilizes the determined location of the medical device within a care facility to modify the operation of the medical device.
In the field of medicine, medical devices are often designed to be mobile such that they can be moved throughout a hospital or other healthcare facility such that a single medical device can be used in multiple locations with multiple different patients. Often, such medical devices are used in vastly different environments with vastly different patients, such as with infant patients, in emergency rooms, during surgery or in an intensive care unit. The medical device typically includes different modes of operation such that the operation of the medical device can be modified for use in the different units/wards within a hospital. When the medical device is going to be used with a specific patient, one of the selections made by a clinician is the mode of operation, which allows the operation of the medical device to be adjusted for use with the patient and the specific unit within the hospital. The setup process for the medical device is yet another operational step/procedure that the clinician must make prior to using the medical device with the patient.
This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in limiting the scope of the claimed subject matter.
One embodiment of the present disclosure includes a method of operating a mobile medical device that is located within a care facility, such as a hospital. The method initially identifies the physical location of the medical device within the care facility. The determination of the physical location of the medical device can be done utilizing different location techniques, such as Wi-Fi triangulation or RFID sensing. Once the location of the medical device is known within the care facility, the determined location of the medical device is correlated with a map of the care facility. The physical location of the medical device can be shown and displayed on a map of the facility on a display at a central control unit or on a display of the mobile medical device. Once correlated with the map of the facility, the type of department of the determined location can be determined. As an example, the department type can be one of multiple different units within the facility or hospital, such as the emergency room, intensive care unit, pediatric wing, or other relevant locations where the medical device may be used. The map of the facility is created and stored within the medical device or at a central location that includes identifications of the different departments of the care facility such that the method can identify the category of department unit where the medical device is located.
Once the department is determined for the location of the medical device, one of a plurality of operating modes is selected for the medical device based upon the identified department category. The different operating modes are predetermined and include preferred operating parameters for each of the departments where the medical device may be located. Once the mode has been selected, the mobile medical device is operated using this selected mode such that the operation of the medical device is tailored to the department of the facility. The method further includes a mapping module that is able to access a map of the care facility and the system is able to display both the map of the care facility and the location of the medical device on a display of the medical device.
Another embodiment of the method of the present disclosure includes receiving an indication of a desired support function or peripheral device that may be needed by the clinician and is entered into the medical device by a clinician. The desired support function can include a need for charging, a need for printing or a need for a network interface. Once this need for a desired support function is received from the medical device, the method locates a peripheral device/support location that is capable of carrying out the desired support function based upon the determined physical location of the mobile medical device and the map of the care facility. Once the location of the peripheral device or support location is determined, this location is indicated on the display of the mobile medical device. The clinician can then move the mobile medical device to the shown location as needed.
Various other features, objects and advantages of the invention will be made apparent from the following description taken together with the drawings.
The drawings illustrate the best mode presently contemplated of carrying out the disclosure. In the drawings:
The central control unit 12 includes one or more processors 16 that control the operation of the system as will be described in greater detail below. The processor 16 communicates with a storage database 18 that can store received patient information and patient records. In the embodiment illustrated, the control unit 12 further includes a mapping module 20 that includes a detailed electronic map of the entire care facility 14 (as depicted, for example in
In the embodiment shown in
The patient monitoring system 10 shown in
The mobile medical device 22 shown in
The communication module 28 shown in
As can be understood in
Referring now to
In the embodiment shown in
In addition to the user interface module 46, the mobile medical device 22 also includes an operating mode module 48. The operating mode module 48 includes a series of stored commands and operating parameters that adjust the operation of the mobile medical device 22 based upon either manual selections made by the clinician or automatically based upon the known location of the mobile medical device within the care facility in accordance with the present disclosure.
As an illustrative example, the operating mode module 48 may include multiple different modes of operating the mobile medical device based upon the category of the department within the care facility where the mobile medical device 22 is located. In a first illustrative example, the operating modes may include an Emergency Room Mode, a Pediatric Mode, a Surgery Mode, and a Stress Testing Mode. Each of these individual operating modes, when selected, causes the processor 30 to operate in a slightly different manner and may use a different graphical user interface retrieved from the user interface module.
In one illustrative example, when the ECG monitoring device is in the Emergency Room Mode, the processor 30 will retrieve the most recent ECG for the patient and show the most recent ECG on the display 32. The display of the most recent ECG on the display 32 allows the clinician to immediately assess the recent history of the patient without having to utilize the graphical user interface to retrieve such information. In addition, in the Emergency Room Mode, the graphical user interface of the display 32 is changed to be greatly simplified to aid in use in what may be a hectic emergency room environment. As an example, the patient date of birth, patient ID and order number could be removed from the graphical user interface in the Emergency Room Mode to reduce clutter on the display.
As a further illustrative example, if the ECG device is changed to the Pediatric Mode, alarm limits and normal measurement parameters are adjusted since an infant patient will have different results as compared to an adult patient. Other parameters, such as alarm limits for heartrate, can also be automatically set in the Pediatric Mode since a normal infant heartrate is much different from an adult heartrate.
In a Stress Test Mode, an ECG monitoring device will also adjust the heartrate and normal ECG alarms and parameters since the patient is being tested and the information obtained by the sensors 44 will be different from normal resting conditions.
Other operating modes are certainly contemplated as being within the scope of the present disclosure. Further, when the mobile medical device 22 is a medical device other than an ECG monitor, the operating modes will be specific to the type of mobile medical device. However, the operating modes stored in the operating mode module 48 are typically based upon either the type of patient or the type of care area or department within the care facility.
As discussed previously, the central control unit 12 shown in
As described previously, through Wi-Fi triangulation or other wireless communication location techniques, the central control unit 12 is able to determine the location of the mobile medical device 22 as the mobile medical device 22 moves throughout the care facility. Once the central control unit determines the location of the mobile medical device, the central control unit is able to provide a visual indicator 68 of the device on the map 50. In the embodiment shown in
When the map and location of the mobile medical device are shown on the display 32 of the mobile medical device 22, the operator is more easily able to determine the location within the care facility and is able to identify the location of relevant peripheral devices or support functions, such as the location of a charging station or printer. In the embodiment shown in
In step 100, the central control unit of the care facility obtains a map of the facility. The step of obtaining the map can be done by either mapping the facility utilizing a Wi-Fi transceiver and moving throughout the facility to obtain Wi-Fi signatures from the various nodes distributed throughout the different departments within the care facility or by obtaining such a representation of the care facility from an outside provider. Typically, the map of the facility will include not only the visual representation of the facility and the various departments, but also representative Wi-Fi signatures for locations throughout the facility. The map of the facility obtained in step 100 is stored within the mapping module 20 of the central control unit 12, as illustrated in
Once the map of the facility has been obtained and stored in the mapping module, the central control unit 12 operates the communication module 24 and various nodes 26 to receive wireless communication signals from the mobile medical device, as illustrated in step 102. The signals from the mobile medical device received in step 102 can either be commands from the mobile medical device, information obtained from the sensors associated with the mobile medical device or regular communication messages sent at defined intervals. Since the mobile medical device is movable throughout the care facility, the received signals from the medical device, whether the signals include measurement data or are regular test signals, allow the central control unit to determine the location of the mobile medical device at each communication.
After receiving a signal from the mobile medical device, the processor of the central control unit correlates the signal received from the medical device to a location within the care facility using the map stored in the mapping module 20, as set forth in step 104. As discussed previously, the central control unit includes a mapping module that includes a full map of the care facility along with a table or database of Wi-Fi triangulation results, which allows the system to correlate the signal received from the mobile medical device to a location within the care facility.
After the location of the mobile medical device is correlated to the map of the care facility, the system identifies the department of the care facility where the mobile medical device is located, as indicated in step 106. The departments of the care facility fall into common categories, such as surgery, pediatric ward, adult care unit, emergency room or any other category of the different departments located within the care facility. Once the category of the department within the facility is identified, the system proceeds to step 108 in which this information is sent to the mobile medical device.
When this information is received by the mobile medical device, the processor 30 contained within the mobile medical device 22 determines whether the current operating mode of the mobile medical device matches the identified department. As an example, if the current operating mode is the Emergency Room Mode and the system determines that the mobile medical device is located in the emergency room department 60, the mobile medical device continues to operate in the current mode, as indicated by the combination of steps 108 and 110. However, if the processor 30 of the mobile medical device 22 determines that the current operating mode does not match the department category, the processor 30 accesses the proper operating mode from the operating mode module 48. As an example, if the identified department category for the mobile medical device indicates that the mobile medical device is in the pediatric ward but the mode of operation is the Emergency Room Mode, the system adjusts the operating mode to the Pediatric Mode in step 112. In this manner, the processor 30 is able to select the correct operating mode based upon the identified location of the mobile medical device within the healthcare facility. This selection of the proper operating mode is done automatically and does not require any input from an operator. Once the correct operating mode is selected, the medical device is operated using the selected operating mode, as indicated in step 110. Although the operating mode is initially selected automatically based on the location of the medical device, this selection could be manually overridden by an operator using the user interface on the medical device.
Once the proper operating mode is selected, the method moves to step 114 where the processor determines whether the current user interface is proper for the department category. As with the operating mode, the processor 30 determines whether the selected user interface matches the department category. As an example, if the current user interface is one for the emergency room and the location of the mobile medical device is the pediatric unit, the system proceeds to step 116 where the user interface is adjusted. The user interface is adjusted in step 116 by having the processor 30 access the user interface module 46 and select the proper user interface for the department category. In step 118, the medical device is then operated using the selected user interface or, if the current user interface was proper, the medical device continues to operate using this user interface.
As can be understood by the steps in
Referring now to
If the operator did not request any support function or peripheral device, the system moves to step 126 where only the map and medical device location are shown on the display of the medical device. In this manner, the operator of the mobile medical device can learn the location within the hospital floor and identify a direction of movement required to move between different departments within the care facility. Once the device displays the location and map, the system returns to step 102 and receives the next signal from the medical device such that the system continues to monitor the location of the device within the facility.
This written description uses examples to disclose the invention, including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the invention. The patentable scope of the invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they have structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal languages of the claims.
