Abstract:
A patient support apparatus, such as a bed, cot, stretcher, or the like, uses the ability to communicate with a device via near field communication to determine that the device is physically proximate the support apparatus. The support apparatus uses this determination to associate itself with the device. In some instances, the associated device is a mattress positioned on the support apparatus; a footboard on the support apparatus; a medical device used with a patient supported on the support device; a nearby piece of furniture; another patient support apparatus; or an ID tag worn by a caregiver or patient, or attached to a piece of equipment. After the support apparatus and device are associated, they communicate information between each other using far field communication, which supports higher data transfer rates. Flux concentrators are added in some embodiments to extend and/or shape the range of near the field communication.
Abstract:
A patient support apparatus for supporting a patient wirelessly communicates with one or more tags using one or more RF transceivers. A controller onboard the patient support apparatus determines a position of the tag. The controller also receives an identifier from the tag and uses it to determine if the tag is attached to a patient or a device. If attached to a patient, the controller may allow a caregiver to activate a patient movement monitoring function. The movement monitoring function may monitor whether the patient exits the patient support apparatus, whether the patient has been turned, whether the patient is at risk of developing bed sores, and/or other aspects. If the tag is attached to a device, the controller automatically determines whether to associate the device with the patient support apparatus. The controller may also determine the location of the patient support apparatus from the RF transceivers.
Abstract:
A thermal control system for controlling a patient's temperature includes a thermal control unit and an off-board computing device. The thermal control unit includes a fluid inlet, a fluid outlet, a pump, a heat exchanger, a display, one or more sensors, a transceiver, and a controller. The thermal control system employs one or more machine learning techniques to perform one or more of the following: automatically implement one or more user-preferred settings, automatically predict the occurrence of one or more events based on analyses of prior events, and/or automatically improve one or more algorithms based on analyses of additional sensor data. The machine learning techniques may be implemented onboard the thermal control unit and/or may be implemented at a remote computing device (e.g. a server) that collates and analyzes data from multiple thermal control units, and then sends the results of the analyses back to the thermal control units.
Abstract:
A patient support apparatus, such as a bed, stretcher, cot, or the like, includes a frame, a support surface, a control, a controller, and a transceiver. The patient support apparatus employs one or more machine learning techniques to perform one or more of the following: automatically implement one or more user-preferred settings, automatically predict the occurrence of one or more events based on analyses of prior events, and/or automatically improve one or more algorithms based on analyses of additional sensor data. The machine learning techniques may be implemented onboard the patient support apparatus and/or may be implemented at a remote computer device (e.g. a server) that collates and analyzes data from multiple patient support apparatuses, and then sends the results of the analyses back to the patient support apparatuses.
Abstract:
A person support apparatus includes a first transceiver adapted to wirelessly communicate with a second transceiver of a headwall interface that is positioned off of the person support apparatus. A communication link is automatically established between the first and second transceivers without requiring a user of the person support apparatus to activate a designated control and without requiring the user to identify the headwall interface. The first transceiver includes a unique identifier assigned to the headwall interface in its messages to the headwall interface. The first transceiver may also automatically transmit a disconnect signal to the headwall interface indicating the termination of the communication link is not accidental. The disconnect signal is sent based on one or more of the following: (1) a brake being off, (2) an A/C power cord being unplugged; and/or (3) a signal strength between the transceivers decreasing.
Abstract:
A patient support apparatus for supporting a patient communicates wirelessly with one or more devices and determines the relative position of the device(s) with respect to the patient support apparatus. A control system onboard the patient support apparatus receives identification data from the device(s) and uses the identification data to perform an authentication analysis of the device. Based on the authentication analysis, the control system determines an authorization level for the device and transmits different types of data to the device based on the authorization level. A plurality of locator nodes may be included on the patient support apparatus that are linked together by an embedded network. Synchronization messages are passed between the locator nodes over the embedded network to ensure the locator nodes have synchronized time. The authentication analysis and/or the use of encrypted communications may be based on the identity of the device and/or its location.
Abstract:
A portable configuration tool for configuring a headwall unit that is adapted to be electrically coupled to an outlet on a headwall communicates with a room device positioned within a common room with the headwall unit. The tool includes a housing, a transceiver for communicating with a portable computer, IR and RF transceivers for communicating with the headwall unit, and a controller adapted to receive a command from the portable computer that instructs the controller to transmit an initial message to the headwall unit using the infrared transceiver, receive an identifier from the headwall unit via the infrared transceiver that uniquely identifies the headwall unit, establish a communication link between the RF transceiver and the headwall unit, receive a configuration setting from the portable computer via the transceiver, and transmit the configuration setting to the headwall unit via at least one of the infrared or RF transceivers.
Abstract:
A medical device, such as a patient support apparatus or a thermal control unit, includes a plurality of mechanical components and a plurality of nodes adapted to communicate with each other over a local network onboard the medical device, and a gateway in communication with an off-board network. The gateway translates messages between the onboard and off-board networks, manages subscriptions to content of the local network, controls bidirectional communication, and otherwise oversees communications between the local and remote networks. The gateway utilizes a configuration file for managing the communications between the off-board and onboard networks, and the gateway is configured to switch to using new or modified configuration files without requiring a reboot or power cycle of the gateway. Updates to the communications between the onboard and off-board networks can therefore be implemented without any downtime and/or without requiring updates to software executables.
Abstract:
A patient support apparatus includes a frame, a patient support surface, and a nurse call cable interface adapted to communicatively couple to a wall-mounted nurse call outlet having a plurality of pins to thereby allow the patient to communicate with a remotely positioned nurse. One or more sensors are included that detect when the cable is plugged into the nurse call outlet and/or when the bed is communicatively coupled to the nurse call system. The controller may activate an indicator when the sensor detects that the bed is not coupled to the nurse call system outlet, automatically select whether to communicate with the nurse call system via a wireless transceiver or via the nurse call cable interface based on the sensor output, and/or inform the caregiver when a headwall module spaced from the bed is not communicatively coupled to the nurse call system outlet.
Abstract:
Patient care devices, such as person support apparatuses and thermal control units, include one or more internal high speed networks, such as an Ethernet, for transmitting data between internal nodes or modules. A lower speed network may also be included with the Ethernet for redundantly transmitting some, but not all, types of data. Devices external to the patient care device can be granted limited access to the internal high speed network. Such devices may connect to the high speed network to utilize one or more user interfaces of the patient care device and/or to piggyback onto the patient care device's connection to an external local area network (e.g. a hospital LAN), or the patient care device's connection to yet another device. Some nodes may include web servers for serving up web pages of diagnostic information relevant to that node. The web servers are accessible via an external web browser.