# US 11,309,084 B1 · Intelligent location estimation for assets in clinical environments

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- Number: US 11,309,084 B1
- Document ID: US11309084B1
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B1
- Application number: 17/006,099
- Filed: 2020-08-28
- Granted: 2022-04-19
- Earliest claimed: 2019-08-30
- Assignees: Hill-Rom Services, Inc.
- Applicants: Hill-Rom Services, Inc.
- Inventors: Eugene G. Urrutia; Kenzi L. Mudge; Britten J. Pipher; Brandon M. Ayers; Frederick Collin Davidson; Stephen R. Embree
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11309084B1

## CPC

- G16H 40/67: for remote operation
- G16H 40/20: for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms
- H04L 67/12: specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
- H04W 4/021: Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
- H04W 4/023: {using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds}
- H04W 4/027: {using movement velocity, acceleration information}
- H04W 4/029: Location-based management or tracking services
- H04W 4/33: for indoor environments, e.g. buildings
- H04W 4/80: Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
- G16H: HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS, i.e. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR THE HANDLING OR PROCESSING OF MEDICAL OR HEALTHCARE DATA
- H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M)
- H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72)

## Abstract

A system can identify a first position of a tag in a clinical environment based on first times at which first receivers received a first wireless signal from the tag. The system can estimate a second position of the tag in the clinical environment based on second times at which second receivers received a second wireless signal from the tag. The system determines that a boundary is located between the first position and the second position, defines a path range around the first position of the tag based on an expected movement of the tag during a time interval between the first and second wireless signals, determines that the boundary lacks a door within the path range, adjusts the second position of the tag based on the boundary map, and transmits a message indicating that the tag is located at the adjusted position at the second time.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A location system, comprising:
at least one transceiver;
at least one processor; and
memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
identifying a first position of a tag in a clinical environment based on a first wireless signal received by first receivers from the tag, the first wireless signal being transmitted by the tag at a first transmission time;
determining an estimated second position of the tag in the clinical environment based on a second wireless signal received by second receivers from the tag, the second wireless signal being transmitted by the tag at a second transmission time;
determining, using a boundary map of the clinical environment, that a boundary is located between the first position and the estimated second position;
defining a path range substantially surrounding the first position of the tag based on an estimated movement of the tag, from the first position to the estimated second position, during a time interval between the first transmission time and the second transmission time;
determining, using the boundary map of the clinical environment, that the boundary lacks a door within the path range;
estimating a corrected second position of the tag in the clinical environment based on the estimated second position of the tag and the boundary map; and
transmitting, to a reporting system using the at least one transceiver, a message indicating that the tag is located at the corrected second position at the second transmission time.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The location system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:
receiving, by the at least one transceiver from a first primary receiver among the first receivers, first timing data indicating first reception times at which the first receivers received the first wireless signal from the tag; and
receiving, by the at least one transceiver from a second primary receiver among the second receivers, second timing data indicating second reception times at which the second receivers received the second wireless signal from the tag,
wherein determining the first position of the tag is based on the first reception times and third positions at which the first receivers receive the first wireless signal in the clinical environment, and
wherein determining the estimated second position of the tag is based on the second reception times at fourth positions at which the second receivers receive the second wireless signal in the clinical environment.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The location system of claim 1, wherein the boundary map is stored in the memory and indicates locations of boundaries including the boundary and locations of doors including the door in the clinical environment, the boundaries including at least one of a wall, a fence, or a window.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The location system of claim 1, wherein defining the path range comprises:
determining a walking speed of a user associated with the tag based on previous movements of the user in the clinical environment;
generating a walking distance based on a product of the walking speed and the time interval;
generating a path radius based on a sum of the walking distance and a predetermined error of the location system; and
defining the path range as a circle surrounding the first position, a radius of the circle being the path radius.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The location system of claim 1, wherein estimating the corrected second position comprises:
identifying a line segment between the first position and the estimated second position;
determining an intersection point at which the line segment intersects the boundary; and
defining the corrected second position at the intersection point.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The location system of claim 1, wherein the corrected second position is located between the first position and the boundary.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The location system of claim 1, wherein the tag is associated with a user, the location system further comprising:
a reporting system configured to determine that a patient is located within a predetermined distance of the corrected second position and to transmit an alert to an electronic device associated with the user upon determining that the patient is located within the predetermined distance of the corrected second position.

### Claim 8

A method, comprising:
determining a first position of a tag in a clinical environment based on first receivers receiving a first wireless signal from the tag, the first wireless signal being transmitted by the tag at a first transmission time;
determining an estimated second position of the tag in the clinical environment based on second receiving a second wireless signal from the tag, the second wireless signal being transmitted by the tag at a second transmission time;
determining, using a boundary map of the clinical environment, that a boundary is located between the first position and the estimated second position;
defining a path range substantially surrounding the first position of the tag based on an estimated movement of the tag, from the first position to the estimated second position, during a time interval between the first transmission time and the second transmission time;
determining, using the boundary map of the clinical environment, that the boundary comprises a door within the path range; and
transmitting, to a reporting system using the at least one transceiver, a message indicating that the tag is located at the estimated second position at the second transmission time.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8, further comprising:
receiving, by the at least one transceiver from a first primary receiver among the first receivers, first timing data indicating first reception times at which the first receivers received the first wireless signal from the tag; and
receiving, by the at least one transceiver from a second primary receiver among the second receivers, second timing data indicating second reception times at which the second receivers received the second wireless signal from the tag,
wherein determining the first position of the tag is based on the first reception times and third positions of the first receivers in the clinical environment, and
wherein determining the estimated second position of the tag is based on the second reception times at fourth positions of the second receivers in the clinical environment.

### Claim 10 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8, wherein the boundary map indicates locations of boundaries including the boundary and locations of doors including the door in the clinical environment, the boundaries including at least one of a wall, a fence, or a window.

### Claim 11 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8, wherein defining the path range comprises:
determining a walking speed of a user associated with the tag based on previous movements of the user in the clinical environment;
generating a walking distance based on a product of the walking speed by the time interval;
generating a path radius based on a sum of the walking distance and a predetermined error of the location system; and
defining the path range as a circle surrounding the first position of the tag, a radius of the circle being the path radius.

### Claim 12 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8, wherein the tag is associated with a user, the method further comprising:
determining that the estimated second position is within a predetermined distance of a patient; and
transmitting an alert to an electronic device associated with the user upon determining that the patient is located within the predetermined distance of the corrected second position.

### Claim 13

A location system, comprising:
a receiver;
at least one processor; and
memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
identifying an original time at which the receiver receives a wireless signal transmitted from a tag in a clinical environment;
determining that a user associated with the tag was located between the tag and the receiver as the wireless signal was transmitted from the tag to the receiver;
generating an adjusted time by modifying the original time; and
identifying the location of the tag based on the adjusted time.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The location system of claim 13, wherein the receiver is a primary receiver, and identifying the original time comprises:
receiving, from secondary receivers, a timing report indicating multiple other times at which the secondary receivers in the clinical environment received the wireless signal;
generating, by the primary receiver, timing data indicating the original time and the multiple other times; and
identifying the location of the tag based on the adjusted time and the multiple other times.

### Claim 15 (depends on 13)

The location system of claim 13, wherein determining that the user was located between the tag and the receiver comprises:
identifying a waveform of an amplitude of the wireless signal received by the receiver over time;
determining, based on the shape of the waveform, that the user was located between the tag and the receiver.

### Claim 16 (depends on 13)

The location system of claim 13, wherein determining that the user was located between the tag and the receiver comprises:
identifying a predetermined position of the receiver;
determining an estimated position of the tag based on the original time;
determining a relative position of the tag with respect to the user; and
determining, based on the predetermined position of the receiver, the estimated position of the tag, and the relative position of the tag, that the user associated with the tag was located between the tag and the receiver.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The location system of claim 16, wherein determining the relative position of the tag with respect to the user comprises:
identifying that the tag is positioned on a front side of the user;
determining a direction in which the user is moving; and
determining that the tag is positioned a predetermined distance from the user in the direction in which the user is moving.

### Claim 18 (depends on 13)

The location system of claim 13, wherein generating the adjusted time comprises:
identifying an estimated delay of the wireless signal associated with traveling through the user; and
generating the adjusted time by subtracting the estimated delay from the original time.

### Claim 19 (depends on 13)

The location system of claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise:
transmitting, to a reporting system, a message indicating that the tag is at the location.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The location system of claim 19, further comprising:
the reporting system configured to determine that a patient is within a predetermined distance of the location and to transmit an alert to an electronic device associated with the user upon determining that the patient is located within the predetermined distance of the location.