Support surface useful life monitoring
AssigneeHill-Rom Services, Inc.
InventorsNeal Wiggermann, Charles A. Lachenbruch, Timothy J. Receveur, Joshua A. Williams, Rachel L. Williamson, David L. Bedel
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A patient support apparatus includes a frame, a support surface, and a sensor. The frame and the support surface cooperate to support a patient. The sensor is coupled to one of the frame and the support surface and is configured to provide an input signal indicative of usage of the support surface by the patient.
Claims17
A patient support apparatus comprising
- a frame and a support surface cooperating to support a patient,
- a sensor coupled to one of the frame and the support surface, the sensor configured to provide an input signal indicative of usage of the support surface by the patient, and
- a controller coupled to the sensor and including a processor and memory, the controller configured to receive the input signal and determine whether the support surface should be replaced based on the input signal,
- wherein the input signal includes the actual weight supported on the support surface and the controller determines whether the support surface should be replaced by factoring the time of use by the actual weight to determine a usage value, and determines the support surface should be replaced if the usage value exceeds a predetermined threshold,
- wherein the usage value is further adjusted to compensate for a position of a head section of a deck of the frame relative to a seat section of the deck.
A patient support apparatus comprising
- a frame and a support surface cooperating to support a patient, the support surface having a predetermined useful life,
- a sensor coupled to one of the frame and the support surface, the sensor configured to provide an input signal indicative of usage of the support surface by the patient, and
- a controller coupled to the sensor and including a processor and memory, the controller configured to receive the input signal, determine a duty cycle of usage of the support surface that has occurred over a predetermined time period based on the input signal, predict usage of the support surface over the predetermined useful life based on the duty cycle of usage determined over the predetermined time period, and determine whether the support surface should be replaced based on the predicted usage,
- wherein the duty cycle of usage over time is adjusted by a factor related to a patient's actual weight,
- wherein the controller is configured to determine usage of the support surface over the predetermined time period based a position of a head section of a deck of the frame relative to a seat section of the deck.
A method of operating a patient support apparatus including a frame, a support surface, and a sensor configured to provide an input signal indicative of usage of the support surface by a patient, the method comprising
- receiving the input signal, and
- determining whether the support surface should be replaced, at least in part, based on the usage indicated by the input signal, wherein the usage includes a time of usage that is factored by the actual weight applied to the support surface by patients supported on the support surface,
- determining whether the support surface should be replaced based, at least in part, based on a position of a head section of a deck of the frame relative to a seat section of the deck.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.