Infusion pump system and related operating method
By automatically retrieving the drug database using short confirmation codes in the infusion pump system, the programming process in the prior art is solved, and an efficient and low-error workflow is achieved.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202411838522.9
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Priority Date
- 2023-12-14
- Filing Date
- 2024-12-13
- Publication Date
- 2025-06-17
AI Technical Summary
Existing infusion pump systems require manual selection of medication from the drug database when programming, which is time-consuming and error-prone, and requires complex hardware modifications and integrated barcode scanners.
Design an infusion pump system, which uses a short confirmation code (SVC) to automatically retrieve drugs in the drug database, enter a short confirmation code on the infusion pump through the input element, retrieve relevant drug data items from the drug database and activate the corresponding settings or pump function.
It realizes automated drug database retrieval without complex hardware modification, reduces the occurrence of programming errors, and improves the reliability and efficiency of workflows.
Smart Images
Figure CN120154774A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The present invention relates to an infusion pump system and an associated operating method. Background Art
[0002] The drug library (drug database) of infusion pumps used in clinical settings enables the configuration of medication-specific boundary conditions (which pump types are allowed for which drugs? Limit values for flow rates, predefined dosage rates depending on the patient profile...), improves safety during continuous operation (the drug name is visible on the pump display, with a suitable color label if necessary), and is a prerequisite for the corresponding archiving of infusion therapies in the system of the electronic medical record (Electronic Medical Record or simply EMR).
[0003] When manually programming the pump, the correct medication must be selected from the drug database present on the pump via the pump's user interface. Even when filtering and selection functions or preconfigured presets can be used here, this selection process is associated with a certain amount of effort and is also somewhat error-prone.
[0004] An improvement (although associated with additional hardware costs - and thus cost expenditures) provides for the local integration of a barcode scanner, which in this case is mostly directly controlled by the pump or directly interacts with the pump. A barcode scanner is usually a handheld device for detecting barcodes (1D) or matrix codes (2D), or an intelligent device with a camera and corresponding image evaluation. In combination with a corresponding machine-readable label on the medicinal container (usually a syringe or infusion bag), the scanner can easily detect the medication name (and optionally variants) and trigger an automatic search in the pump's drug database, thus eliminating the manual selection process.
[0005] Especially associated with this are the following disadvantages:
[0006] · The barcode scanner or the corresponding intelligent device connected to the corresponding rack system must be available and ready to operate at each bed. The rack system is a plug-in system for multiple pumps; it can be assembled into a tower structure and may provide additional communication interfaces. Alternatively, the scanner or the intelligent device must be carried by the nursing staff and physically connected to the corresponding rack system each time, or wirelessly coupled, or must be temporarily associated with the rack system (for example, when connecting to the backend).
[0007] · In the rack system, there are often connection options available for such scanners, while the connection to an infusion pump used separately and wirelessly networked with the EMR system is possible or practical in the rarest of cases. Summary of the Invention
[0008] The object on which the present invention is based is to describe an infusion pump system which, even without complex modifications or integration of a barcode scanner or the like, can reliably and with few errors retrieve drugs from a drug database automatically and program the infusion pump accordingly to achieve a reliable and low-error workflow. In addition, a corresponding method for operating the infusion pump system should be described.
[0009] According to the present invention, the object mentioned is solved by an infusion pump system having the features of claim 1 and by a related method according to claim 10.
[0010] For this purpose, an infusion pump system is provided, which has
[0011] · A certain number, in particular a plurality, of infusion pumps,
[0012] · A central, higher-level data processing device (backend),
[0013] · A certain number, in particular a plurality, of pharmaceutical containers,
[0014] wherein
[0015] · The respective infusion pump communicates with the data processing device and has a connection or receiving part for one of the pharmaceutical containers,
[0016] · The data processing device includes a drug database having a plurality of drug data entries,
[0017] · A short confirmation code is associated with the respective drug data entry,
[0018] · The respective pharmaceutical container is associated with one of the drug data entries and is identified or marked with the corresponding short confirmation code, i.e., has such an identification,
[0019] · The respective infusion pump is associated with an input element for inputting one of the short confirmation codes, and
[0020] · The respective infusion pump has a configuration unit or communicates with such a configuration unit, which retrieves the relevant drug data entry from the drug database or its local copy based on the short confirmation code input at the input element, and activates the drug-specific settings or pump functions configured therein.
[0021] In a preferred design, the short confirmation code is an alphanumeric code, in particular a two-digit, three-digit or four-digit code, wherein each of the digits can be one of the uppercase Latin letters from A to Z or the digits from 0 to 9. To avoid confusion, the letter "O" and (if necessary) also "I" can be omitted from the available character set. Alternatively or additionally, lowercase letters can be used. Such a code can be read well by human users and can be retained in short-term memory, but still provides a relatively large number of unique or single-valued combinations.
[0022] Advantageously, the identification comprises an imprint on the pharmaceutical container or on a sticker applied thereto or on a label placed thereon. However, other design options for the identification or marking are also conceivable, for example by embossing, punching, etc.
[0023] Advantageously, an additional short code manager is implemented in the drug database manager implemented in the data processing device, which generates short confirmation codes and associates them with the drug data items. Duplications and incorrect associations are avoided by the automatic generation.
[0024] In another suitable design, the corresponding infusion pump comprises a program library with a plurality of infusion programs, which can be selected individually or in a suitable combination, in particular in an automated manner by means of an integrated configuration unit. In conceivable alternatives, the infusion pump can download the required programs from the program library of the data processing device.
[0025] In a preferred refinement, the input element is designed for inputting additional data elements, which are included in the identification of the corresponding pharmaceutical container, wherein the configuration unit has a verification routine, which checks the correct input of the short confirmation code given on the pharmaceutical container on the basis of the additional data elements. Thereby, two-factor verification is achieved in a simple manner, and incorrect associations are more reliably avoided.
[0026] Finally, the input element is advantageously integrated into the infusion pump, in particular implemented as a screen keyboard in the graphical user surface. Alternatively, a physical keyboard can be used. Input via the keyboard or screen keyboard of the associated and coupled smart device (mobile phone, tablet, etc.) is also conceivable.
[0027] What has been said about the device can be transferred to the method in a meaningful way and vice versa.
[0028] In summary, the system concept / workflow of the "Code-based Medication Lookup" (CML) described here solves the problem mentioned at the beginning with the help of an alphanumeric short confirmation code (Short Verification Code, short verification code or simply SVC), which can be easily detected by a human user without technical aids and can be input, for example, at the pump in the context of programming via a dedicated soft keyboard.
[0029] Two-digit alphanumeric codes already provide approximately 1,200 characteristic values (Auspraegung), which should be sufficient for most drug databases. For the unlikely case where two-digit SVCs are not sufficient, three-digit codes can be used, which corresponds to arbitrary scalability given that there are approximately 42,000 code variants in this case.
[0030] Preferably, the short confirmation code is at least two digits or at least three digits or at least four digits. Preferably, the short confirmation code is at most ten digits or at most eight digits or at most five digits. These two criteria can be combined with each other arbitrarily. For example, the length of the short confirmation code can be between three and eight digits (the final values three and eight are included as feasible options) or between two and five digits, etc. In an alternative formulation, the short confirmation code can be two digits or more, or three digits or more, or four digits or more.
[0031] The medication-specific single-value code should preferably be recorded in the drug database and additionally included on the label of the medicinal container.
[0032] To avoid errors or duplications, the generation and creation of code variants should be a function in the Drug Library Manager (DLM), which is typically a software component or a computer-implemented algorithm running in a data processing device.
[0033] Optionally, additional security can be generated via a two-factor lookup in such a way that accidental incorrect inputs are identified with a high probability and thus effectively excluded. For this purpose, in a preferred implementation, after the input of the SVC and before the display of the lookup result, the infusion pump requires the user to additionally enter another data element (such as the first letter of the drug name, an additional control number, or also the corresponding subsequent letter or subsequent digit, etc.) to be read from the label of the medicinal container. In this way, incorrect inputs of the SVC can be reliably identified without significantly impairing usability (mainly because this mechanism can be reserved for critical drugs).
[0034] Although it should be noted that this check is anyway provided by additionally printing the drug name in plain text on the medication label, through the two-factor lookup it is forced into the workflow and also archived.
[0035] The general prerequisites belonging to the CML concept are:
[0036] · The infusion pump system includes a drug database accessible on the infusion pump.
[0037] · It should be ensured that this database (especially the instance on the infusion pump) is up-to-date and consistent in content with the database used for printing the labels of the medicinal containers.
[0038] The innovations and requirements caused by CML in the infusion pump system can be characterized as follows:
[0039] · The data model of the drug database within the infusion pump system must be supplemented with SVC.
[0040] · If the drug database is available both in the data processing device and locally on the pump, the SVCs for each drug must be available in all instances.
[0041] · Preferably, a software component should be provided that generates single-valued SVCs and associates them with the drugs in a 1:1 relationship. Advantageously, this component is integrated into the central drug database manager arranged in the data processing device.
[0042] · The infusion pump must be able to find the relevant drug from the drug database available locally or in the data processing device via the input SVC.
[0043] · For the optional "two-factor lookup", the pump must additionally be able to query another data point (such as the first letter of the name, drug class, etc.) of the corresponding drug data entry and use it for comparing search results.
[0044] The advantages of the CML system concept are in particular:
[0045] · For programming the infusion pump in the case of using the drug database, neither manually finding data entries from the database nor a scanning process is required, which would in turn require the corresponding hardware and further work steps. Instead, in the preferred version, the caregiver only has to enter a two- or three-digit alphanumeric code at the pump.
[0046] · The implementation can be significantly easier and faster by eliminating the additional hardware. The maintenance effort and the number of possible error sources are also reduced.
[0047] · Optionally, database lookups can be additionally protected by using two-factor authentication.
[0048] · From the perspective of a hospital or other treatment center, by consistently using the drug database, the number and severity of medication errors in infusion therapy can be significantly reduced. The CML concept can achieve this purpose with little additional cost for medical hardware or IT infrastructure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0049] The embodiments of the present invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings below.
[0050] Among them, the only figure, namely Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of an infusion pump system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0051] Figure 1The infusion pump system 2 schematically shown in FIG. includes a plurality of medical infusion pumps 4, which communicate with an electronic data processing device 8, for example, in a wired connection and / or wireless manner. The data processing device 8 includes a drug database 10 (Drug Library) having a plurality of drug data items 12, which correspond to drugs provided in a medical container 14 (for example, in the form of a syringe or an infusion bag). The corresponding infusion pump 4 includes a program library having an infusion program or routine for programming the infusion pump 4. In addition, the data processing device 8 may include a parameter library 16 having boundary conditions or parameters 18 applied in the programming or configuration of the corresponding infusion pump 4. These parameters 18 may be a component of the drug data item 12, and the parameter library 16 may be a component of the drug database 10. For example, the parameter 18 may be a drug-specific infusion rate limit value or an allowable additional rate of the infusion solution during infusion (i.e., a manually activatable addition to the planned volume, for example). This means that there is a correspondence, preferably stored in the data processing device 8, between the drug data item 12 and the infusion-related parameter 18.
[0052] The medical container 14 is brought by a medical staff to a corresponding set infusion location and connected to the infusion pump 4 there. After informing the infusion pump 4 of the drug to be used and activating an appropriate program on the infusion pump 4, the infusion is performed on the patient. To avoid incorrect associations (wrong drug, wrong program), a series of measures are provided, which are described in more detail below.
[0053] To this end, the data processing device 8 includes a drug database manager 22 (Drug Library Manager or simply DLM) implemented in software, which generates and associates a short verification code 24 (Short Verification Code or simply SVC) (unique identifier) in a preferably single-valued manner for each drug data item 12 in the sense of single-valued identification. Here, it is preferably an alphanumeric code of two, three, or at most four digits. With two alphanumeric characters (appropriately including capital Latin letters A to Z without O and digits 0 to 9), such a code or encoding already provides approximately 1,200 different characteristic values; in the case of three characters, there are approximately 42,000 characteristic values. In Figure 1 FIG., two cases of AB1 and E5Z are shown as examples. The short verification code 24 is preferably a component of the corresponding drug data item 12.
[0054] The medicinal container 14 associated with the drug data item 12 is accordingly identified in a human-readable manner with a short confirmation code 24, for example by direct printing, embossing, engraving, etc., or by fixedly attaching or placing a labeled sticker, note, label, etc. Accordingly. In addition, the identification 26 can include, for example, the drug name in plain text, an additional control number, etc. as additional identification components. The identification 26 can be implemented automatically by an identification system 34 (such as a printing device), which accesses the latest database of the drug database 10.
[0055] After a member of the medical staff transports the corresponding medicinal container 14 to a preset infusion site and connects it to the connection part or receiving part 28 of the associated infusion pump 4, he / she activates the programming of the infusion pump 4. To this end, he / she reads the short confirmation code 24 from the medicinal container 14 and, if necessary, additional data elements derived from the additional identification 26 (such as the initials of the drug name or the control number) and inputs them via the input element 30 associated with the infusion pump 4. The input element 30 is preferably a keyboard or keypad integrated into the infusion pump 4, in particular a virtual keyboard (soft keyboard) provided on a graphical user interface (Graphical User Interface, GUI for short) for operating the infusion pump 4.
[0056] The infusion pump 4 now retrieves (looks up) the relevant drug data item 12 from the drug database 10 based on the short confirmation code 24 with the help of a built-in or associated configuration unit 32, and downloads the relevant parameters 18 from the parameter library 16 of the data processing device 8 if necessary, which are applied to the infusion program stored in the infusion pump 4. Then the infusion process can be started or started automatically.
[0057] If another data area is used in the sense of a two-factor lookup or checksum, the short confirmation code 24 precedes the retrieval of the drug data item 12 based on the check or verification of the other data area, where an error message is output in case of inconsistency and further processes are at least temporarily blocked.
[0058] The corresponding infusion pump 4 preferably has a local copy of the drug database 10 according to the standard, which is kept up to date, for example, by periodic or event-controlled synchronization with the main database in the data processing device 8. Then the retrieval of the drug data item 12 based on the input short confirmation code 24 (with a two-factor verification beforehand if necessary) can be performed locally inside the infusion pump 4 through a suitable routine.
[0059] In summary, a low-error and efficient workflow is created by a code- or encoding-based retrieval or lookup of medications in the medication database 10, which can be implemented in an existing system without significant hardware expansion, especially without integrating additional scanners or barcode readers, by using components that are usually present anyway, such as a graphical user interface. Instead, the necessary expansion is mainly of a software nature and can therefore be implemented relatively easily.
[0060] List of reference numerals:
[0061] 2 Infusion pump system
[0062] 4 Infusion pump
[0063] 8 Data processing device
[0064] 10 Medication database
[0065] 12 Medication data item
[0066] 14 Medicinal container
[0067] 16 Parameter library
[0068] 18 Parameter
[0069] 22 Medication database manager
[0070] 24 Short confirmation code
[0071] 26 Identification
[0072] 28 Receiving part
[0073] 30 Input element
[0074] 32 Configuration unit
[0075] 34 Identification system
Claims
1. An infusion pump system (2) having a certain number, in particular a plurality of infusion pumps (4), Central data processing unit (8), a number, in particular a plurality, of pharmaceutical containers (14), in, a respective infusion pump (4) communicating with the data processing device (8) and having a connection or a receiving portion (28) for one of the medicinal containers (14), The data processing device (8) comprises a drug database (10) having a plurality of drug data items (12), The corresponding drug data item (12) is associated with a short confirmation code (24), a corresponding pharmaceutical container (14) associated with one of the pharmaceutical data items (12) and identified or marked with a corresponding short identification code (24), the respective infusion pump (4) is associated with an input element (30) for inputting one of the short confirmation codes (24), and The respective infusion pump (24) has a configuration unit (32) or communicates with such a configuration unit, which, depending on the short confirmation code (24) entered at the input element (30), retrieves the relevant medication data item (12) from the medication database (10) or a local copy thereof and activates the medication-specific settings or pump functions configured therein.
2. The infusion pump system (2) according to claim 1, wherein: The short confirmation code (24) is an alphanumeric code.
3. The infusion pump system (2) according to claim 2, wherein: The short confirmation code (24) is two, three or four digits.
4. An infusion pump system (2) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: The marking (26) or indicia with the short identification code (24) comprises an imprint on the medicinal container (14) or on a sticker applied thereto or on a label placed thereon.
5. An infusion pump system (2) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: A medication database manager (22) is implemented in the data processing device (8) which generates the short confirmation codes (24) and associates them with the medication data items (12).
6. An infusion pump system (2) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: The corresponding infusion pump (4) comprises a program library with a plurality of selectable infusion programs.
7. An infusion pump system (2) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: The input element (30) is designed for inputting a further data element contained in the identification (26) of the corresponding medicinal container (14), and the configuration unit (32) has a verification routine which checks the correct input of the short confirmation code (24) based on the further data element.
8. An infusion pump system (2) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: The input element (30) is integrated into the infusion pump (24).
9. An infusion pump system (2) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: The input element (30) is implemented as a screen keyboard in a graphical user surface.
10. A method for operating an infusion pump system (2), the infusion pump system having a certain number, in particular a plurality of infusion pumps (4), Central data processing unit (8), a number, in particular a plurality, of pharmaceutical containers (14), in, the respective infusion pump (4) is in communication with the data processing device (8) and has a connection or a receiving portion (28) for one of the medicinal containers (14), The data processing device (8) comprises a drug database (10) having a plurality of drug data items (12), the corresponding infusion pump (4) is associated with an input element (30) for inputting a short confirmation code (24), With the following steps: Associating the corresponding medication data item (12) with a short confirmation code (24), associating a corresponding medicinal container (14) with one of said medicine data items (12) and identifying it with a corresponding said short confirmation code (24), The respective infusion pump (4) retrieves the relevant medication data item (12) from the medication database (10) or a local copy thereof according to the short confirmation code (24) entered at the input element (30) and activates the medication-specific settings or pump functions configured therein.