Assessing patient out-of-bed and out-of-chair activities using embedded infrared thermal cameras

A patient monitoring method, comprising:

• determining, by a processing unit in communication with a camera, a safe zone around the patient based at least in part on an analysis of one or more initial images received from the camera;
• determining, by the processing unit, whether the patient has exited the safe zone based at least in part on an analysis of one or more subsequent images received from the camera;
• and
• triggering, by the processing unit, an alarm in response to determining that the patient has exited the safe zone.

A patient monitoring system, comprising:

• a thermal camera;
• and
• a processing unit in communication with the thermal camera, wherein the processing unit is configured to:
• determine, based at least in part on an analysis of one or more initial thermal images received from the thermal camera, a safe zone around the patient,
• determine, based at least in part on an analysis of one or more subsequent thermal images received from the thermal camera, whether the patient has exited the safe zone, and
• trigger an alarm in response to determining that the patient has exited the safe zone.