# US 2012/0161979 A1 · System and Methods for Monitoring Caregiver Performance

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- Number: US 2012/0161979 A1
- Document ID: US20120161979A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 13/411,972
- Filed: 2012-03-05
- Published: 2012-06-28
- Earliest claimed: 2005-05-19
- Assignees: ProactiCare LLC
- Inventors: Barton Dring; John Ross
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20120161979A1

## CPC

- A61B 5/1115: {Monitoring leaving of a patient support, e.g. a bed or a wheelchair}
- A61B 5/002: {Monitoring the patient using a local or closed circuit, e.g. in a room or building (A61B5/0017 takes precedence)}
- A61B 5/1118: {Determining activity level}
- A61B 5/1126: {using a particular sensing technique}
- A61B 5/447: {specially adapted for aiding the prevention of ulcer or pressure sore development, i.e. before the ulcer or sore has developed}
- G16H 40/20: for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms
- A61B 5/0022: {Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet}
- A61B 5/6892: {Mats}
- A61B 2562/043: in a linear array
- A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D)
- G16H: HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS, i.e. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR THE HANDLING OR PROCESSING OF MEDICAL OR HEALTHCARE DATA

## Abstract

Systems and methods for monitoring the performance of a caregiver are disclosed. The systems may be configured to monitor the movement of each subject in a network of subjects. One such system includes a plurality of strips adhered in spaced-apart relation on a mattress pad, upon which a subject is positioned. One or more transmitter is provided coupled to the plurality of strips. A processor is connected to the one or more transmitter. The processor is provided with operating software to record and report caregiver activity or both caregiver activity and subject activity.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A system for monitoring a subject comprising:
a plurality of beds;
an active capacitance sensor associated with each bed of the plurality of beds;
a data collection transmitter associated with each bed of the plurality of beds, wherein the active capacitance sensor communicates sensor status data to the data collection transmitter;
a central processor wirelessly connected to each data collection transmitter associated with each bed of the plurality of beds;
a program, wherein the program instructs the central processor to receive the sensor status data from each data collection transmitter associated with each bed of the plurality of beds, the sensor status data communicated using a predefined protocol;
a database, wherein the database receives the sensor status data from the central processor and stores the sensor status data to further interpret the sensor status data and generate a report.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The system for monitoring a subject according to claim 1, wherein the central processor communicates with each data collection transmitter associated with each bed of the plurality of beds by using a program thread according to the predefined protocol.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The system for monitoring a subject according to claim 2, wherein a log interval timer is set up when the program thread is created.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The system for monitoring a subject according to claim 3, wherein a message is sent to the data collection transmitter requesting a current status of the active capacitance sensor when a log interval timer event occurs.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The system for monitoring a subject according to claim 1, wherein the data collection transmitter performs a general status check to determine if any problems have occurred with the active capacitance sensor.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The system for monitoring a subject according to claim 1, wherein the predefined protocol is one selected from the group comprising of: RS232, multi-drop RS485, Ethernet, Bluetooth, ZigBee, 802.15.4 and WiFi.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The system for monitoring a subject according to claim 1, wherein the predefined protocol uses an 8-bit address and a 16-bit Cyclic Redundancy Check.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The system for monitoring a subject according to claim 1, wherein the program instructs the central processor to receive the sensor status data from each data collection transmitter associated with each bed of the plurality of beds in a sequential order.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The system for monitoring a subject according to claim 1, wherein the program includes a timer that periodically checks the database to determine if one or more new data collection transmitters needs to be added to the database.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The system for monitoring a subject according to claim 1, wherein the database is a standard SQL relational database.