Patient support apparatus operation and use

A method of operating a patient support apparatus, the method comprising:

• receiving measurements of at least one physiological variable of a patient resting on a patient support surface without contacting the patient;
• determining an optimal state of at least one of the patient support surface and articulable sections of a deck that supports the patient support surface, the optimal state determined by artificial intelligence analyzing the measurements of the at least one physiological variable, a positioning of the articulable sections of the deck, and pressures inside bladders of the patient support surface;
• and
• generating a controllable function that causes the at least one of the deck and the patient support surface to have the optimal state.

A controller for a patient support apparatus, the controller comprising:

• at least one processing device;
• and
• at least one memory device storing software instructions that, when executed by the at least one processing device, cause the at least one processing device to:
• receive measurements of at least one physiological variable of a patient resting on a patient support surface without contacting the patient;
• determine an optimal state of at least one of the patient support surface and articulable sections of a deck that supports the patient support surface, the optimal state determined by artificial intelligence analyzing the measurements of the at least one physiological variable, a positioning of the articulable sections of the deck, and pressures inside bladders of the patient support surface;
• and
• generate a controllable function that causes the at least one of the deck and the patient support surface to have the optimal state.