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AssigneeBed-Check Corporation
InventorsToby E. Smith, Craig L. Cooper, Trevor L. Taylor
Estimating the term…
There is provided herein an electronic patient monitor that includes indirect lighting of its control panel. Preferably, a splash guard is affixed to the monitor in a position proximate to one or more light sources, none of which directly illuminate the control panel. Light from the light sources is received by the splash guard and transmitted internally to the control panel, where the light that is emitted from the splash guard provides illumination for the user. In another variation, there is provided an electronic patient monitor with one or more light sources affixed thereto, which light sources are used to signal the operating characteristics of the monitor including its alarm volume setting, whether or not it is sounding an alarm, etc. In another variation, there is provided an electronic patient monitor that uses an environmental sensor to adapt its operating characteristics based on conditions proximate to the patient.
A device for monitoring a changing status of a patient, comprising:
A method of alerting a caregiver when a status of a patient has changed, wherein is provided a patient sensor positionable to be proximate to said patient, and a patient monitor in electronic communication with said patient sensor, wherein
A method of indicating a current alarm volume level of an electronic patient monitor to a user,
A method of modifying the operating characteristics of an electronic patient monitor in response to changes in the environment of the patient, wherein is provided a patient sensor positionable to be proximate to said patient, and a patient monitor in electronic communication with said patient sensor,
An electronic patient monitor for monitoring a changing status of a patient, comprising:
An electronic patient monitor for monitoring a changing status of a patient, wherein is provided a patient sensor positionable to be proximate to the patient, said patient sensor measuring the changing status of the patient when so positioned, comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
Backward citations are indexed for grants only.
Measuring devices for testing the shape, pattern, colour, size or movement of the body or parts thereof, for diagnostic purposes: measuring…
Determining posture transitions: fall detection
Mounted on external non-worn devices, e.g. non-medical devices: mats
Surgical drapes: specially adapted for instruments, e.g. microscopes
Term end not estimated
This invention relates generally to monitoring systems and more particularly concerns devices and systems used to monitor seated or lying patients in homes or in medical environments such as hospitals, institutions, and other care-giving environments.
It is well documented that the elderly and post-surgical patients are at a heightened risk of falling. These individuals are often afflicted by gait and balance disorders, weakness, dizziness, confusion, visual impairment, and postural hypotension (i.e., a sudden drop in blood pressure that causes dizziness and fainting), all of which are recognized as potential contributors to a fall. Additionally, cognitive and functional impairment, and sedating and psychoactive medications are also well recognized risk factors. In such instances, it is becoming increasingly common to use electronic means to monitor the afflicted patients, with the intent that a nearby (or remote) caregiver will be alerted by the electronics if the patient seeks to rise to his or her feet.
Generally speaking, electronic patient monitors work by first sensing an initial status of a patient, and then generating a signal when that status changes, e.g., he or she has sat up in bed, left the bed, risen from a chair, etc., any of which situations could pose a potential cause for concern in the case of an at-risk patient. Electronic bed and chair monitors typically use a pressure sensitive switch in combination with a separate electronic monitor which conventionally contains a microprocessor of some sort. In a common arrangement, a patient's weight resting on a pressure sensitive mat (i.e., a “sensing” mat) completes an electrical circuit, thereby signaling the presence of the patient to the microprocessor. When the weight is removed from the pressure sensitive switch, the electrical circuit is interrupted, which fact is similarly sensed by the microprocessor. The software logic that drives the monitor is typically programmed to respond to the now-opened circuit by triggering some sort of alarm—either electronically (e.g., to the nursing station via a conventional nurse call system) or audibly (via a built-in siren) or both. Additionally, many variations of this arrangement are possible and electronic monitoring devices that track changes in other patient variables (e.g., wetness/enuresis, patient activity/inactivity, etc.) are available for some applications.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings in which:
FIG. 1 illustrates the general environment of the instant invention, wherein an electronic patient monitor is connected to a bed mat.
FIG. 2 illustrates the general environment of the instant invention, wherein an electronic patient monitor is connect to a chair mat.
According to a preferred aspect of the instant invention, there is provided an electronic monitor for use with a patient sensor, wherein the monitor's control panel is indirectly illuminated through the use of light-conducting materials. In other embodiments, the light that illuminates the control panel is used for other purposes, such as to signal the alarm volume level and to indicate when the alarm is sounding.
By way of general background, in a typical arrangement, a typical pressure-sensing mat suitable for use with the electronic patient monitor discussed herein is a sealed “sandwich” composed of three layers: two outer layers and an inner (central) layer positioned between the two outer layers. The outer layers are usually made of some sort of plastic and are impermeable to fluids and electrically non-conductive on their outer faces, where “outer” is determined with respect to the middle layer. The inner surface of each of the outer layers—which inner surfaces are oriented to face each other from opposite sides of the central layer—is made to be electrically conductive, usually by printing a conductive (e.g., carbon-based) ink on that surface. The compressible middle “central spacer” is made of a non-conductive material and serves to help keep the two conductive faces apart when a patient is not present on the sensor. The central spacer is discontinuous, which makes it possible for the two conductive inner surfaces to be forced into contact through the one or more discontinuities when weight is applied to the switch. By attaching a separate electrical lead to each of the conductive inner faces, it can readily be determined via a simple continuity (or low voltage) check whether a weight is present on the sensor (e.g., a patient is seated thereon). Removal of the weight causes the central spacer to expand and press apart the two conducting faces, thereby breaking the electrical connection between them. Thus, a device that monitors the resistance across the two electrical leads may determine when a patient has moved from a seated or prone position.
That being said, the instant invention is suitable for use with a wide variety of patient sensors in addition to pressure sensing switches including, without limitation, temperature sensors, patient activity sensors, toilet seat sensors (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,945,914), wetness sensors (e.g., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/596,268), decubitus ulcer sensors (e.g., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/591,887), etc. Thus, in the text that follows “mat” or “patient sensor” should be interpreted in its broadest sense to apply to any sort of patient monitoring switch, whether the sensor is pressure sensitive or not.