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US 11,364,155 B2Granted
Incontinence detection pad validation apparatus and method
AssigneeHill-Rom Services, Inc.
InventorsBryan Weidman, Gavin M. Monson, John D. Christie, James Voll
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Abstract
An incontinence detection pad has an RFID tag in which an authentication code, such as an electronic product code (EPC), is stored. A reader in wireless communication with the RFID tag of the incontinence detection pad verifies that the incontinence detection pad is an authorized detection pad. Thus, unauthorized incontinence detection pads that do not have the proper authentication code are not able to be used in an incontinence detection system.
Claims20
An incontinence detection system comprising:
- an incontinence detection pad for placement beneath a person to be monitored, the incontinence detection pad having a pad radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, a reader, and
- an antenna coupled to the reader, wherein the reader is configured to transmit via the antenna a select broadcast containing a pad-specific authentication code to a plurality of receiving devices within a reception range of the reader and capable of radio frequency (RF) communication within the reception range of the reader, at least some of the receiving devices including communication circuitry having a select function and that do not have the pad-specific authentication code stored therein such that the receiving devices not having the pad-specific authentication code will not, thereafter, respond to any requests from the reader for a predetermined amount of time, wherein only authorized incontinence detection pads with the pad-specific authentication code stored therein will respond to subsequent requests from the reader for the predetermined amount of time, wherein the antenna comprises a plurality of antennae and the reader includes a bistatic radio frequency (RF) switch matrix which is operable to establish a first antenna of the plurality of antennae as a transmit antenna that is used to wirelessly energize the RFID tag and to establish a second antennae of the plurality of antennae as a receive antenna that is used to read backscattered data emitted from the RFID tag.
An incontinence detection system comprising:
- an incontinence detection pad for placement beneath a person to be monitored, the incontinence detection pad having a pad radio frequency identification (RFID) tag,
- a reader,
- an antenna coupled to the reader, wherein the reader is configured to transmit via the antenna a select broadcast containing a pad-specific authentication code to a plurality of receiving devices within a reception range of the reader and capable of radio frequency (RF) communication within the reception range of the reader, at least some of the receiving devices including communication circuitry having a select function and that do not have the pad-specific authentication code stored therein such that the receiving devices not having the pad-specific authentication code will not, thereafter, respond to any requests from the reader for a predetermined amount of time, wherein only authorized incontinence detection pads with the pad-specific authentication code stored therein will respond to subsequent requests from the reader for the predetermined amount of time, wherein the antenna comprises a plurality of antennae, the reader is operable to send a request to the RFID tag via at least one antenna of the plurality of antennae and to read via at least one other antenna of the plurality of antennae data emitted from the RFID tag in response to the request, the reader is configured to confirm that the incontinence detection pad is an authorized incontinence detection pad by determining that the data received from the RFID tag includes the authentication code, wherein the reader is configured to transmit a message indicating that the authorized incontinence detection pad is wet if the data received from the RFID tag indicates that the incontinence detection pad is wet, and wherein the reader does not transmit the message if the data does not include the authentication code, and
- a patient bed having a frame and a mattress support deck carried by the frame, the reader being coupled to the frame, the plurality of antennae being coupled to the mattress support deck so as to be closer to a first side of the mattress support deck than an opposite second side of the mattress support deck.
1 more element
An incontinence detection system comprising:
- an incontinence detection pad for placement beneath a person to be monitored, the incontinence detection pad having a pad radio frequency identification (RFID) tag,
- a reader, and
- an antenna coupled to the reader, wherein the reader is configured to transmit via the antenna a select broadcast containing a pad-specific authentication code to a plurality of receiving devices within a reception range of the reader and capable of radio frequency (RF) communication within the reception range of the reader, at least some of the receiving devices including communication circuitry having a select function and that do not have the pad-specific authentication code stored therein such that the receiving devices not having the pad-specific authentication code will not, thereafter, respond to any requests from the reader for a predetermined amount of time, wherein only authorized incontinence detection pads with the pad-specific authentication code stored therein will respond to subsequent requests from the reader for the predetermined amount of time, wherein the antenna comprises a ½ wave ceramic patch antenna.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.