Voice control in medical institutions

Abstract

A system for voice control of medical devices in a medical institution is disclosed herein. These systems employ continuous speech processing software, speech recognition software, natural language processing software, and other software to allow speech control of medical devices. Also provided herein are systems for distinguishing which of a plurality of medical devices within a ward is a particular medical device to be controlled by voice input from a caregiver or patient.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to voice control of equipment, and more particularly to voice control of medical equipment, including hospital beds, in medical institutions. Background Art

[0002] In a ward at a healthcare facility, there are typically several pieces of complex medical equipment or devices. Such medical equipment typically includes a hospital bed. Other common medical devices found in wards include patient monitors such as vital signs monitors, intravenous (IV) pumps, and therapeutic devices such as respiratory therapy devices, ventilators, and compression therapy devices for preventing deep vein thrombosis (DVT), to name a few. Due to usability issues, the features on hospital beds and other medical devices are sometimes not used correctly or not used at all. That is, caregivers sometimes do not know how to use medical devices correctly because they may need to navigate through a large number of complex graphical screens with a hierarchy of screens to reach the operating screen required for any particular medical device function. For example, sometimes caregivers fail to zero the bed (e.g., set the tare weight) and weigh the patient in the correct manner. The fact that caregivers may need to operate many different medical devices by interacting with various different user interfaces of the medical devices adds to the problem of improper use.

[0003] Recently, voice control of devices, including medical devices, has become increasingly common. Increased computer processing speeds and the complexity of voice processing algorithms have allowed devices to be more successfully controlled through user-speaking voice input. Voice input that controls some or all of the functions of a medical device in a medical environment provides a more intuitive and natural user interface experience for caregivers, thereby increasing the likelihood that the caregiver will correctly implement medical device functions that were previously incorrectly implemented or not implemented at all. However, there is still a need for secure and intuitive voice control of medical devices. For example, there are typically multiple medical devices in any given room, so it is desirable that only authorized users (e.g., caregivers and / or patients) are allowed to control medical devices via voice, and it is desirable that only medical devices that are intended to be controlled by voice are actually controlled, while other medical devices that are not intended to be voice-controlled are not controlled by spoken voice commands. For example, in a semi-private room environment with two beds, two IV pumps, two vital signs monitors, etc., it is still necessary to ensure that only the intended medical devices are the medical devices controlled by each spoken voice command. Accordingly, there is still a need for improvement in the field of voice control of medical devices in medical institutions. Summary of the Invention

[0004] An apparatus, system or method may include one or more of the features recited in the appended claims and / or the features below that may comprise patentable subject matter, alone or in any combination.

[0005] According to the first aspect of the present application, a voice control system for a medical institution may be provided. The voice control system may include a hospital bed, which may have a weighing scale for weighing a patient who can be supported on the hospital bed, and may have a display screen that displays the patient's weight. The voice control system of the first aspect may further include a voice recorder and a server, the voice recorder may be configured to record a digital model of the voices of multiple caregivers, and the digital model may be transmitted to the server to determine the voice biometrics of each caregiver among the multiple caregivers. The hospital bed of the first aspect may be configured to receive a voice input from a first caregiver among the multiple caregivers, and the voice input may instruct the bed to weigh the patient. The bed may be configured to communicate with the server to confirm that the caregiver is authorized to control the bed through voice input based on voice biometrics. After confirming that the first caregiver is authorized to control the bed, the patient can be weighed by the weighing scale and the patient's weight can be displayed on the display screen.

[0006] In some embodiments of the first aspect, the voice recorder may be included in a computer. Alternatively or additionally, the voice recorder may be included in a mobile phone. Optionally, a caregiver identification (ID) may be transmitted to a server along with a digital model of each of the plurality of caregivers via the voice recorder of the first aspect. If desired, the hospital bed may be configured to receive a zero-scale voice input from the first caregiver, which zero-scale voice input may instruct the hospital bed to zero the weighing scale by measuring the tare weight using the weighing scale when the patient is not in bed. In this regard, the hospital bed may be configured to communicate with the server to confirm, based on voice biometrics, that the caregiver can be authorized to control the hospital bed via the zero-scale voice input. After confirming that the first caregiver is authorized to control the hospital bed of the first aspect, the hospital bed may zero the weighing scale.

[0007] The present disclosure contemplates that the hospital bed of the first aspect may be configured to display an accept button on a display screen for a first caregiver to select to accept the displayed patient weight for storage in one or both of the bed's memory and the patient's electronic medical record. If the displayed weight accepted by the first caregiver differs from a previously accepted patient weight by a threshold amount, the bed may display a message on the display screen instructing the first caregiver to check to determine whether the bed's weighing scale has been correctly zeroed. If the bed of the first aspect does not detect a problem, the bed may display a message on the display screen indicating that the patient's weight has been successfully stored in one or both of the bed's memory and the patient's electronic medical record.

[0008] In some embodiments, the voice control system of the first aspect may further include a real-time location system (RTLS) that can determine the location of multiple caregivers in the medical facility. The server can use information from the RTLS in addition to voice biometrics to confirm that the first caregiver is authorized to control the bed of the first aspect through voice input. Optionally, the bed of the first aspect can be configured to display a personal identification number (PIN) screen on a display screen for the first caregiver to enter the PIN, and the server can use the PIN in addition to voice biometrics to confirm that the first caregiver is authorized to control the bed through voice input. In addition to using voice biometrics and using the PIN to determine that the first caregiver is authorized, information from the RTLS can also be used in addition or instead. If desired, the bed of the first aspect can be configured to display a voice input button on the display screen, which can be selected by the first caregiver to enable the bed to receive voice input.

[0009] According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, a voice control system for a medical institution may include a medical device that can be used to care for a patient and a mobile device that may include a voice recorder, which may be configured to record a digital model of a caregiver's voice. The digital model can be transmitted from the mobile device to the medical device. The medical device may be configured to determine the caregiver's voice biometrics based on the digital model. The medical device may be configured to receive voice input from the caregiver, which voice input may instruct the medical device to perform a function. The medical device may be configured to confirm that the caregiver is authorized to control the medical device through voice input based on voice biometrics. After confirming that the caregiver is authorized to control the medical device, the function may be performed by the medical device.

[0010] In some embodiments of the voice control system of the second aspect, a caregiver's caregiver identification (ID) can be transmitted from the mobile device to the medical device along with a digital model of the caregiver's voice. If necessary, the medical device of the second aspect can be configured to display an accept button on the display screen for the caregiver to select to accept the displayed patient information for storage in one or both of the medical device's memory and the patient's electronic medical record. If the medical device does not detect a problem, the medical device can display a message on the display screen indicating that the patient information has been successfully stored in one or both of the medical device's memory and the patient's electronic medical record.

[0011] The present disclosure contemplates that the voice control system of the second aspect may further include a real-time locating system (RTLS) that can determine the location of the caregiver in the medical facility. The medical device may use information from the RTLS in addition to voice biometrics to confirm that the caregiver is authorized to control the medical device through voice input. Alternatively or additionally, the medical device may be configured to display a personal identification number (PIN) screen on a display screen for the caregiver to enter the PIN, and the medical device may use the PIN in addition to voice biometrics to confirm that the first caregiver is authorized to control the medical device through voice input. In addition to using voice biometrics and using the PIN to determine that the first caregiver is authorized, information from the RTLS may also be used in addition or instead. Optionally, the medical device may be configured to display a voice input button on a display screen that can be selected by the caregiver to enable the medical device to receive voice input.

[0012] According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, a voice control system for a medical institution may include a hospital bed, which may have a weighing scale for weighing a patient supported on the hospital bed, and may have a display screen that displays the patient's weight. A real-time location system (RTLS) may be provided to track the locations of multiple caregivers in the medical institution. The RTLS of the third aspect may be configured to send a message to the hospital bed, which may notify the hospital bed that a first caregiver may have entered the room where the hospital bed is located. The hospital bed of the third aspect may be configured to receive voice input from the first caregiver, which voice input may instruct the hospital bed to weigh the patient. In addition, the hospital bed may be configured to confirm that the first caregiver is authorized to control the hospital bed through voice input based on the voice biometrics of the first caregiver stored in the memory of the hospital bed. After confirming that the first caregiver is authorized to control the hospital bed, the patient can be weighed by the weighing scale and the patient's weight can be displayed on the display screen.

[0013] In some embodiments of the third aspect, the bed can be configured to play an audio message that can ask the first caregiver if they want to record the displayed patient weight for storage in the patient's electronic medical record. In response to the first caregiver audibly responding to the audio message in the affirmative, the bed can communicate with the RTLS to reconfirm that the first caregiver is authorized to record the patient weight for storage in the patient's electronic medical record. After the RTLS of the third aspect reconfirms that the first caregiver is authorized, the patient weight can be transmitted to the EMR system for storage in the patient's electronic medical record.

[0014] Optionally, the hospital bed of the third aspect can be configured to display a record button on the display screen for the first caregiver to select to record the displayed patient weight for storage in the patient's electronic medical record. In response to the first caregiver selecting the record button, the hospital bed of the third aspect can communicate with the RTLS to reconfirm that the first caregiver is authorized to record the patient weight for storage in the patient's electronic medical record. After the RTLS reconfirms that the first caregiver is authorized, the patient weight can be transmitted to the EMR system for storage in the patient's electronic medical record.

[0015] The present disclosure contemplates that, in response to the first caregiver audibly responding affirmatively to the audio message, the hospital bed of the third aspect may display a personal identification number (PIN) screen on a display screen for the first caregiver to enter a PIN, and the hospital bed may use the PIN to reconfirm that the first caregiver is authorized to record the patient's weight for storage in the patient's electronic medical record. After the hospital bed of the third aspect reconfirms that the first caregiver is authorized based on the PIN, the patient's weight may be transmitted to the EMR system for storage in the patient's electronic medical record.

[0016] Alternatively, in response to the first caregiver selecting the record button, the hospital bed of the third aspect displays a personal identification number (PIN) screen on the display screen for the first caregiver to enter a PIN, and the hospital bed can use the PIN to reconfirm that the first caregiver is authorized to record the patient's weight for storage in the patient's electronic medical record. In such an alternative embodiment of the third aspect, after the hospital bed reconfirms that the first caregiver is authorized based on the PIN, the patient's weight can be transmitted to the EMR system for storage in the patient's electronic medical record.

[0017] In a third aspect variation, a voice control system for a medical facility includes a hospital bed that may have a weighing scale for weighing a patient who may be supported on the bed, and may have a display screen that displays the patient's weight. A real-time location system (RTLS) may be provided to track the locations of multiple caregivers in the medical facility. The RTLS may be configured to send a message to the hospital bed that may notify the bed that a first caregiver may have entered the room where the bed is located. The hospital bed may be configured to receive voice input from the first caregiver that may instruct the bed to weigh the patient. The hospital bed may be configured to confirm that the first caregiver is authorized to control the bed. After confirming that the first caregiver is authorized to control the bed, the patient may be weighed by the weighing scale.

[0018] In some embodiments of the third aspect, the bed can be configured to confirm that the first caregiver is authorized to control the bed via voice input based on a biometric identification of the first caregiver's voice that can be stored in the bed's memory. Optionally, the bed of the third aspect can be configured to display the patient's weight on the display screen after weighing the patient.

[0019] According to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, a hospital bed may include a frame configured to support a patient and circuitry, which may be carried by the frame and may include a processor, memory, a speaker, a microphone, and a transmitter. The memory of the fourth aspect may store software configured to receive voice input via the microphone and output voice messages via the speaker. In response to receiving a first voice input detectable by the microphone of the fourth aspect, the first voice input may include a fall prevention check statement from a caregiver, the processor and software may collaborate to determine whether the bed is correctly configured according to a fall prevention protocol. If the bed of the fourth aspect is not correctly configured according to the fall prevention protocol, the circuitry may be configured to prompt the caregiver to correct one or more bed settings so that it is configured according to the fall prevention protocol. If the bed of the fourth aspect is correctly configured according to the fall prevention protocol, the circuitry may be configured to play a confirmation message via the speaker to confirm to the caregiver that the bed is correctly configured according to the fall prevention protocol. After playing the confirmation message, the circuitry may be configured to communicate a record query to the caregiver regarding whether fall prevention protocol compliance information should be recorded in the patient's electronic medical record. In response to receiving affirmative input from the caregiver in response to the record query of the fourth aspect, the circuitry may transmit the fall prevention protocol compliance information via the transmitter for storage in the patient's electronic medical record.

[0020] In some embodiments of the fourth aspect, the circuit may be configured to prompt a caregiver to correct one or more bed settings by playing an audio message containing information about the bed settings that need to be corrected via a speaker of the circuit. Alternatively or additionally, the circuit of the fourth aspect may further include a display screen, and the circuit may prompt the caregiver to correct the one or more bed settings by displaying a visual message containing information about the bed settings that need to be corrected on the display screen. For example, the visual message may include text or image information.

[0021] The present disclosure contemplates that the bed of the fourth aspect may further include a plurality of siderails that may be coupled to the frame, and each siderail may be movable between a raised position that prevents the patient from leaving the bed and a lowered position that unblocks the patient from leaving the bed. The bed of the fourth aspect may include a plurality of casters that may be coupled to the frame and a bed exit system that may be carried by the frame and coupled to the circuit. The frame of the fourth aspect may include a base frame and an upper frame supported above the base frame by a lifting system. In such embodiments, in order for the bed of the fourth aspect to be properly configured according to the fall prevention protocol, two or more siderails of the frame may need to be in their respective raised positions, at least one of the plurality of casters may need to be braked, the bed exit system may need to activate an alarm to monitor the patient's bed exit status, and the upper frame may need to be in a lower position relative to the base frame.

[0022] If desired, the circuitry of the fourth aspect can be configured to communicate the recording message to the caregiver by playing an audio recording message through a speaker of the circuitry, asking the caregiver whether or not the caregiver wishes to record the fall prevention compliance information in the patient's electronic medical record. In such a scenario, the affirmative input from the caregiver can be a spoken statement detected by a microphone. Alternatively or additionally, the circuitry of the fourth aspect can further include a display screen, and the circuitry can be configured to communicate the recording query to the caregiver by displaying the recording query on the display screen. In such a scenario, the affirmative input from the caregiver can be a selection of a button that can be displayed on the display screen.

[0023] In some embodiments of the hospital bed of the fourth aspect, after playing the confirmation message and before performing the record query, the circuit can be configured to communicate a nurse call pendant availability query to the caregiver, indicating whether the nurse call pendant is within reach of the patient. For example, the circuit can be configured to communicate the nurse call pendant availability query to the caregiver by playing an audio availability message via a speaker of the circuit. Alternatively or additionally, the circuit of the fourth aspect can further include a display screen, and the circuit can be configured to communicate the nurse call pendant availability query to the caregiver by displaying the nurse call pendant availability query on the display screen.

[0024] Optionally, if the caregiver answers the nurse call pendant availability query in the negative, the circuitry can be configured to prompt the caregiver to move the nurse call pendant within the patient's reach and confirm that the nurse call pendant has been moved within the patient's reach. For example, the circuitry of the fourth aspect can be configured to prompt the caregiver to move the nurse call pendant within the patient's reach by playing an audio message via a speaker of the circuitry. Alternatively or additionally, the circuitry of the fourth aspect can further include a display screen, and the circuitry can be configured to prompt the caregiver to move the nurse call pendant within the patient's reach by displaying a visual message on the display screen.

[0025] The present disclosure further contemplates that the circuitry of the fourth aspect may be configured to confirm that the nurse call pendant has been moved within reach of the patient in response to receiving a spoken confirmation message from the caregiver that can be detected by the microphone. Alternatively or additionally, the circuitry of the fourth aspect may further include a display screen, and the circuitry may be configured to confirm that the nurse call pendant has been moved within reach of the patient in response to the caregiver selecting a confirmation button displayed on the display screen.

[0026] In some embodiments of the hospital bed of the fourth aspect, after playing the confirmation message and before performing the record query, the circuitry can be configured to communicate a clear path query to the caregiver, inquiring whether a path around the bed is clear. For example, the circuitry of the fourth aspect can be configured to communicate the clear path query to the caregiver by playing an audio clear path message via a speaker of the circuitry. Alternatively or additionally, the circuitry of the fourth aspect further includes a display screen, and the circuitry can be configured to communicate the clear path query to the caregiver by displaying the clear path query on the display screen.

[0027] Optionally, if the caregiver answers the clear path query in the negative, the circuit can be configured to prompt the caregiver to clear the path around the bed and confirm that the path around the bed has been cleared. For example, the circuit of the fourth aspect can be configured to prompt the caregiver to clear the path around the bed by playing an audio message through a speaker of the circuit. Alternatively or additionally, the circuit of the fourth aspect can further include a display screen, and the circuit can be configured to prompt the caregiver to clear the path around the bed by displaying a visual message on the display screen.

[0028] The present disclosure further contemplates that the circuitry of the fourth aspect may be configured to confirm that the path around the bed is clear in response to receiving a spoken confirmation message from a caregiver that can be detected by the microphone. Alternatively or additionally, the circuitry of the fourth aspect may further include a display screen, and the circuitry may be configured to confirm that the path around the bed is clear in response to the caregiver selecting a confirmation button displayed on the display screen.

[0029] In a fourth aspect variation, a hospital bed may include a frame that may be configured to support a patient and circuitry that may be carried by the frame and may include a processor, a memory, a speaker, a microphone, and a transmitter. The memory may store software that may be configured to receive voice input via the microphone and output voice messages via the speaker. In response to receiving a first voice input that can be detected by the microphone, the first voice input may include a fall prevention check statement from a caregiver, the processor and the software may collaborate to determine whether the bed is correctly configured according to a fall prevention protocol. If the bed is not correctly configured according to the fall prevention protocol, the circuitry may be configured to allow correction of one or more bed settings so that it is configured according to the fall prevention protocol. If the bed is correctly configured according to the fall prevention protocol, the circuitry may be configured to play a confirmation message via the speaker to confirm to the caregiver that the bed is correctly configured according to the fall prevention protocol.

[0030] In some embodiments of variations of the fourth aspect, the circuitry can be configured to prompt a caregiver to adjust one or more bed settings to configure the bed in accordance with the fall prevention protocol. After playing the confirmation message, the circuitry of variations of the fourth aspect can be configured to communicate a record query to the caregiver regarding whether fall prevention protocol compliance information should be recorded in the patient's electronic medical record. In response to receiving an affirmative input from the caregiver in response to the record query, the circuitry can transmit the fall prevention protocol compliance information via the transmitter for storage in the patient's electronic medical record.

[0031] According to a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, a system for reducing risks to patients in a medical environment may be provided. The system of the fifth aspect may include a medical product that may have at least one function that may cause harm to a patient when operated. The circuit may be carried by the medical product and may include a processor and a memory for storing software. The system of the fifth aspect may also have a microphone array that may be configured to receive voice input from a person who may be near the medical product. The microphone array may communicate with the circuit, and the software may be configured to cooperate with the microphone array to use beamforming technology to infer the direction in which the person's eyes are pointing based on the voice input. The circuit may be configured to stop at least one function that may cause harm to the patient in response to the person saying a voice stop command when it is inferred that the person's eyes are pointing toward the medical product.

[0032] In some embodiments, the medical product of the fifth aspect may include a hospital bed, and the microphone array may be mounted to the bed. Optionally, the bed may include at least one sidebar movable between a raised position that prevents a patient from leaving the bed and a lowered position that releases the patient from leaving the bed. At least one microphone in the microphone array may be mounted to the at least one sidebar.

[0033] If desired, the medical product may optionally include a hospital bed, and the microphone array may be mounted to one or both of the walls or ceiling of the ward where the bed is located. For example, the microphone array may include a first microphone mounted to the medical product and a second microphone mounted to one of the walls or ceiling of the ward where the medical product is located. Further optionally, the medical product of the fifth aspect may include a patient lift, and the microphone array may be mounted to one or both of the walls and ceiling of the ward where the patient lift is located. If desired, the patient lift may include a mobile patient lift or a ceiling-mounted patient lift.

[0034] Optionally, the medical product of the fifth aspect may include a bed capable of supporting a mattress, and the at least one function may include one or more of the following: moving a mattress support section of a mattress support deck of the bed, moving an upper frame of the bed relative to a base frame of the bed, operating a percussion and vibration (P&V) therapy function of the bed's mattress, operating a rollover assist function of the bed's mattress, or operating a continuous lateral rotation therapy (CLRT) function of the bed's mattress. Further optionally, the medical product of the fifth aspect may include an operating table, and the at least one function may include moving a first operating table portion relative to a second operating table portion.

[0035] In some embodiments, the microphone array of the fifth aspect can communicate wirelessly with the circuit of the medical product. Alternatively or additionally, the microphone array can communicate with the circuit of the medical product by wire. If necessary, the system of the fifth aspect can further include a mobile phone that can be carried by a person. The mobile phone can be configured to receive voice commands from the person and transmit a command message corresponding to the voice command to the medical product to start the operation of at least one function. Alternatively or additionally, the system of the fifth aspect can further include at least one computer that can be remote from the medical product. At least one computer can have clinical speech recognition software. The microphone array can communicate the voice commands received from the person to the at least one computer. At least one computer can be configured to transmit a command message corresponding to the voice command to the medical product to start the operation of at least one function.

[0036] The present disclosure contemplates that the circuitry of the fifth aspect can be configured to, when the person's eyes are not inferred to be directed toward the medical product, not to stop at least one function that could cause harm to the patient in response to a spoken stop command from the person. If desired, the circuitry of the fifth aspect can be configured to be trained to recognize the patient's voice, and the circuitry can be configured to stop at least one function that could cause harm to the patient in response to a spoken stop command from the patient, regardless of the direction of the patient's eyes. In such embodiments, the medical product of the fifth aspect can include a bed that supports the patient.

[0037] According to a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, a system for associating a medical device with a location in a medical institution may be provided. The system of the sixth aspect may include a medical device, which may have a circuit that may include a processor, a memory, and a transmitter. The system of the sixth aspect may also have at least one microphone that can be communicatively coupled to the circuit. The memory may store software configured to receive voice input via at least one microphone. The system of the sixth aspect may also have a positioning system, which may include at least one positioning computer that can be configured to store the association of the device with the room. The circuit of the medical device may be configured to receive a voice input from a person indicating a location identification (ID) where the medical device may be located via at least one microphone. The circuit may be configured to store the location ID in the memory of the medical device and transmit the location ID together with the medical device ID to at least one positioning computer. The at least one positioning computer may be configured to establish an association between the first device and the room based on the medical device ID and the location ID that can be transmitted from the medical device.

[0038] In some embodiments, the at least one microphone of the sixth aspect can be carried by the medical device. Optionally, the at least one microphone of the sixth aspect can include a microphone array that can be carried by the medical device. Further optionally, the at least one microphone of the sixth aspect can be spaced apart from the medical device and mounted in place. For example, the at least one microphone of the sixth aspect can include a microphone array that can be spaced apart from the medical device and mounted in place. If desired, the at least one microphone of the sixth aspect can be configured to wirelessly communicate with circuitry of the medical device.

[0039] The present disclosure contemplates that the at least one microphone of the sixth aspect may include a first microphone that may be carried by the medical device and a second microphone that may be spaced apart from the medical device. In such embodiments of the sixth aspect, the second microphone may be configured to wirelessly communicate with circuitry of the medical device.

[0040] In some embodiments, the circuit of the medical device of the sixth aspect may further include a display screen that can display the location ID after the circuit receives the location ID via at least one microphone. Optionally, the circuit of the medical device of the sixth aspect can be configured to wirelessly transmit the location ID and the bed ID for reception by at least one positioning computer. Further optionally, at least one positioning computer can store the patient-location association and can establish the device-patient association after receiving the medical device ID and the location ID. In such embodiments, at least one positioning computer can be configured to transmit to the medical device a patient ID corresponding to the patient associated with the device-patient association. If desired, the circuit of the medical device of the sixth aspect can include a display screen, and the circuit can be configured to display the patient ID on the display screen.

[0041] The present disclosure further contemplates that if the voice input does not include a valid location ID, the circuitry of the medical device of the sixth aspect may be configured to generate a query to the person for additional information. For example, the circuitry of the medical device of the sixth aspect may further include at least one speaker, and the query may include an audible message played through the at least one speaker. Alternatively or additionally, the circuitry of the medical device of the sixth aspect may include a display screen, and the query may include a text message displayed on the display screen.

[0042] In some embodiments of the sixth aspect, the circuitry of the medical device may further include a display screen, and the circuitry may be configured to display a location menu of valid location IDs of the medical facility in response to a vocal request by a person. In this regard, the circuitry of the medical device may be configured to display a menu hierarchy associated with location options, and the circuitry may be configured to allow the person to audibly navigate through the menu hierarchy to reach the location menu.

[0043] Optionally, the circuitry of the medical device of the sixth aspect may further include at least one speaker, and the circuitry may be configured to play an audible confirmation message via the at least one speaker in response to the location ID included in the voice input being a valid location ID. Further optionally, the circuitry of the medical device of the sixth aspect may be configured to receive a disassociation input from a person via at least one microphone indicating that the first device should be disassociated from the room. The circuitry may be configured to transmit the disassociation input along with the medical device ID to at least one positioning computer. The at least one positioning computer may be configured to disassociate the first device from the room based on the medical device ID and the disassociation input transmitted from the medical device.

[0044] According to a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, a system for voice control of medical devices in a room may include a first medical device and a second medical device, the first medical device may have a first circuit that may include a first processor, a first memory and a first microphone, and the second medical device may have a second circuit that may include a second processor, a second memory and a second microphone. The first medical device and the second medical device of the seventh aspect may be close enough to each other so that the voice input spoken by a person can be received by both the first microphone and the second microphone. The first circuit of the first medical device may be configured to enable voice control in response to the voice input including a first code phrase, and the second circuit of the second medical device may be configured to enable voice control in response to the voice input including a second code phrase.

[0045] In some embodiments of the seventh aspect, the first code phrase and the second code phrase may each begin with a common code word. For example, the common code word may include the word "hey". Optionally, the first code phrase may include a first unique name that may correspond to the first medical device and may be spoken immediately after the common code word, and the second code phrase may include a second unique name that may correspond to the second medical device and may be spoken immediately after the common code word. In the case where the first medical device and the second medical device may have the same model name, the first unique name may be in the format of "Model Name A" and the second unique name may be in the format of "Model Name B". Alternatively or additionally, in the case where the first medical device and the second medical device may have the same model name, the first unique name may be in the format of "Model Name 1" and the second unique name may be in the format of "Model Name 2".

[0046] If desired, after each of the first and second medical devices of the seventh aspect is enabled for voice control, the corresponding first and second circuits can be enabled to receive voice commands to control functions of the corresponding first and second medical devices for a threshold time period. After the threshold time period has elapsed, if the corresponding first and second medical devices do not receive at least one voice command, the corresponding first and second medical devices can be disabled for voice control. The present disclosure contemplates that the threshold time period can be reset in response to receiving a valid voice command during the threshold time period.

[0047] According to an eighth aspect of the present disclosure, a system for enabling voice control of a medical device may include an identifier item that can be carried by a caregiver and configured to transmit a wireless identification (ID) signal. The system of the eighth aspect may also include a medical device that may have circuitry that may include a processor, a memory, a microphone, a transmitter, and a proximity detector. The proximity detector may be configured to receive the wireless ID signal from the identifier item when the identifier item is within three feet or less of the medical device. The system of the eighth aspect may further include at least one voice control authorization (VCA) computer that may be remote from the medical device and communicatively coupled to the medical device. In response to the proximity detector receiving the wireless ID signal, the circuitry may transmit ID data that may be included in the wireless ID signal to the VCA computer via the transmitter. The VCA computer may be configured to verify that the ID data corresponds to a caregiver authorized to control the medical device via voice input. If the caregiver's authorization is verified by the VCA computer, the VCA computer may be configured to transmit an authorization message to the medical device. In response to the circuitry of the medical device receiving the authorization message, voice control of the medical device may be enabled.

[0048] In some embodiments of the eighth aspect, the identifier item may comprise a mobile phone. Alternatively or additionally, the identifier item of the eighth aspect may comprise a radio frequency identification (RFID) badge. Further alternatively or additionally, the identifier item of the eighth aspect may comprise a near field communication (NFC) transponder that can transmit a wireless ID signal in response to receiving electromagnetic energy emitted by circuitry of the medical device.

[0049] If desired, after enabling voice control of the medical device, voice input received by the circuit's microphone may be transmitted to the VCA computer via the circuit's transmitter. In this regard, the VCA computer may be configured to determine that the voice input may correspond to at least one valid control command for the medical device from among a plurality of valid control commands. If the voice input corresponds to one of the plurality of valid control commands, the VCA computer may be configured to transmit a device control message to the medical device. In response to the circuit of the medical device receiving the device control message, the medical device may execute a function corresponding to the device control message.

[0050] Optionally, after enabling voice control of the medical device of the eighth aspect, the circuitry may be enabled to receive voice commands to control functions of the medical device for a threshold time period. After the threshold time period has elapsed, if the medical device of the eighth aspect has not received at least one voice command, the medical device may be disabled from voice control. The present disclosure contemplates that the threshold time period may be reset in response to receiving a valid voice command during the threshold time period.

[0051] According to the ninth aspect of the present disclosure, a system for voice control of medical devices in a room may include a first medical device and a second medical device, the first medical device may have a first circuit that may include a first processor, a first memory and a first microphone, and the second medical device may have a second circuit that may include a second processor, a second memory and a second microphone. The first medical device and the second medical device of the ninth aspect may be close enough to each other so that the voice input spoken by a person can be received by both the first microphone and the second microphone. The first circuit of the first medical device may be configured to enable voice control in response to the voice input received by the first microphone being louder than the voice input received by the second microphone. The second circuit of the second medical device may be configured to enable voice control in response to the voice input received by the second microphone being louder than the voice input received by the first microphone.

[0052] In some embodiments of the ninth aspect, the first circuit can be configured to transmit a first loudness value for receipt by the second circuit, and the second circuit can be configured to transmit a second loudness value for receipt by the first circuit. The first medical device of the ninth aspect can be configured to enable voice control in response to the first circuit determining that the first loudness value is greater than the second loudness value. The second medical device of the ninth aspect can be configured to enable voice control in response to the second circuit determining that the second loudness value is greater than the first loudness value.

[0053] If desired, the system of the ninth aspect may further include at least one voice control authorization (VCA) computer, which may be remote from the first medical device and the second medical device and may be communicatively coupled to the first medical device and the second medical device. The first circuit may be configured to transmit a first loudness value for receipt by the at least one VCA computer, and the second circuit may be configured to transmit a second loudness value for receipt by the at least one VCA computer. The VCA computer may be configured to transmit a first message to the first medical device to enable voice control of the first medical device in response to the VCA computer determining that the first loudness value is greater than the second loudness value. The VCA computer may be configured to transmit a second message to the second medical device to enable voice control of the second medical device in response to the VCA computer determining that the second loudness value is greater than the first loudness value.

[0054] Optionally, after each of the first and second medical devices of the ninth aspect is enabled for voice control, the corresponding first and second circuits may be enabled to receive voice commands to control functions of the corresponding first and second medical devices for a threshold time period. After the threshold time period has elapsed, if the corresponding first and second medical devices of the ninth aspect do not receive at least one voice command, the corresponding first and second medical devices may be disabled for voice control. The present disclosure contemplates that the threshold time period may be reset in response to receiving a valid voice command during the threshold time period.

[0055] According to a tenth aspect of the present disclosure, a system for voice control of medical devices in a room includes a first medical device and a second medical device. The first medical device may have a first circuit that may include a first processor and a first memory, and the second medical device may have a second circuit that may include a second processor and a second memory. The system of the tenth aspect may also include a microphone array positioned in the room and spaced apart from the first and second medical devices. The microphone array may include a first microphone that is closer to the first medical device than to the second medical device, and a second microphone that is closer to the second medical device than to the first medical device. The first and second medical devices of the tenth aspect may be sufficiently close to each other so that voice input spoken by a person can be received by both the first and second microphones. The first circuit of the first medical device of the tenth aspect may be configured to enable voice control in response to voice input received by the first microphone being louder than voice input received by the second microphone. The second circuit of the second medical device of the tenth aspect may be configured to enable voice control in response to voice input received by the second microphone being louder than voice input received by the first microphone.

[0056] In some embodiments, the first microphone of the tenth aspect may be included in a first microphone circuit, which may be configured to transmit a first loudness value for receipt by a first circuit of the first medical device and a second circuit of the second medical device. The second microphone of the tenth aspect may be included in a second microphone circuit, which may be configured to transmit a second loudness value for receipt by the first circuit of the first medical device and the second circuit of the second medical device. The first medical device of the tenth aspect may be configured to enable voice control in response to the first circuit determining that the first loudness value is greater than the second loudness value. The second medical device of the tenth aspect may be configured to enable voice control in response to the second circuit determining that the second loudness value is greater than the first loudness value.

[0057] If desired, the microphone array of the tenth aspect may include a communication circuit that can be coupled to the first microphone and the second microphone. The communication circuit can be configured to determine a first loudness value based on a first loudness of the voice input received by the first microphone and to determine a second loudness value based on a second loudness of the voice input received by the second microphone. The communication circuit can be configured to transmit the first loudness value and the second loudness value for receipt by the first circuit of the first medical device and the second circuit of the second medical device. The first medical device of the tenth aspect can be configured to enable voice control in response to the first circuit determining that the first loudness value is greater than the second loudness value. The second medical device of the tenth aspect can be configured to enable voice control in response to the second circuit determining that the second loudness value is greater than the first loudness value.

[0058] Optionally, the system of the tenth aspect may further include at least one voice control authorization (VCA) computer, which may be remote from the first medical device and the second medical device and may be communicatively coupled to the first microphone and the second microphone in the microphone array. The VCA computer may receive a first loudness value that may be based on the first loudness of the voice input received by the first microphone and a second loudness value that may be based on the second loudness of the voice input received by the second microphone. The VCA computer may be configured to transmit a first message to the first medical device to enable voice control of the first medical device in response to the VCA computer determining that the first loudness value is greater than the second loudness value. The VCA computer may be configured to transmit a second message to the second medical device to enable voice control of the second medical device in response to the VCA computer determining that the second loudness value is greater than the first loudness value.

[0059] Further optionally, after each of the first and second medical devices of the tenth aspect is enabled for voice control, the corresponding first and second circuits may be enabled to receive voice commands to control functions of the corresponding first and second medical devices for a threshold time period. After the threshold time period has elapsed, if the corresponding first and second medical devices do not receive at least one voice command, the corresponding first and second medical devices of the tenth aspect are disabled from voice control. The present disclosure contemplates that the threshold time period may be reset in response to receiving a valid voice command during the threshold time period.

[0060] According to an eleventh aspect of the present disclosure, a system for voice control of medical devices in a room may include a first medical device and a second medical device, wherein the first medical device may have a first circuit that may include a first processor, a first memory, a first microphone, and a first camera, and the second medical device may have a second circuit that may include a second processor, a second memory, a second microphone, and a second camera. The first circuit of the first medical device of the eleventh aspect may be configured to enable voice control in response to the first processor recognizing a facial image of a first person captured by the first camera. The second circuit of the second medical device of the eleventh aspect may be configured to enable voice control in response to the second processor recognizing a facial image of a second person captured by the second camera.

[0061] In some embodiments of the eleventh aspect, the first camera may capture a first image of a person for processing by the processor in response to the first microphone receiving a voice command from the person, and the second camera may capture a second image of the person for processing by the processor in response to the second microphone receiving a voice command from the person. For example, the voice command may include any valid device control command from a plurality of valid device control commands.

[0062] Optionally, with respect to the eleventh aspect, the first circuit may include a first display screen, and the second circuit may include a second display screen. If the first camera and the second camera both capture the respective first person's facial image and the second person's facial image in response to a voice command, the first medical device and the second medical device may both remain disabled for voice control, and the first display screen and the second display screen may each display a notification message advising the person to only face the first camera or the second camera of the respective first medical device or second medical device that the person wishes to control by voice.

[0063] In some embodiments of the eleventh aspect, the first medical device may include a first bed having a first patient exit barrier to which the first camera can be coupled, and the second medical device may include a second bed having a second patient exit barrier to which the second camera can be coupled. For example, the first patient exit barrier and the second patient exit barrier may each include a first headboard and a second headboard, or a first footboard and a second footboard. Thus, the first patient exit barrier and the second patient exit barrier may each include a first sidebar and a second sidebar. In such embodiments, the first circuit may further include a first display screen coupled to the first sidebar, the second circuit may further include a second display screen coupled to the second sidebar, the first camera may be positioned adjacent to the first display screen, and the second camera may be positioned adjacent to the second display screen.

[0064] If desired, the system of the eleventh aspect may further include at least one voice control authorization (VCA) computer, which VCA computer may be remote from the first medical device and the second medical device and may be communicatively coupled to the first medical device and the second medical device. The first circuit may be configured to transmit the first image for reception by the at least one VCA computer, and the second circuit may be configured to transmit the second image for reception by the at least one VCA computer. The VCA computer of the eleventh aspect may be configured to transmit a first message to the first medical device enabling voice control of the first medical device in response to the VCA computer determining that the person is authorized to operate the first medical device by voice control based on analyzing the first image. The VCA computer may be configured to transmit a second message to the second medical device enabling voice control of the second medical device in response to the VCA computer determining that the person is authorized to operate the second medical device by voice control based on analyzing the second image.

[0065] Optionally, after each of the first and second medical devices is enabled for voice control, the corresponding first and second circuits may be enabled to receive voice commands to control functions of the corresponding first and second medical devices for a threshold time period. After the threshold time period has elapsed, if the corresponding first and second medical devices do not receive at least one voice command in the eleventh aspect, the corresponding first and second medical devices may be disabled for voice control. The present disclosure contemplates that the threshold time period may be reset in response to receiving a valid voice command during the threshold time period.

[0066] According to a twelfth aspect of the present disclosure, a system for voice control may include a medical device having a first circuit that may include a processor, a memory, a button, and a microphone. The circuit of the medical device of the twelfth aspect may be configured to enable voice control in response to a person selecting the button and then receiving valid voice input via the microphone within a threshold time period.

[0067] In some embodiments of the twelfth aspect, the valid voice input may include a codeword. For example, the codeword may include a first unique name that may correspond to the medical device and may be received by the microphone within a threshold time period. Optionally, the unique name may include a model name of the medical device.

[0068] If desired, after the medical device of the twelfth aspect is enabled for voice control, the corresponding circuitry can be enabled to receive voice commands to control functions of the medical device for a second threshold time period. After the second threshold time period has elapsed, if the medical device has not received at least one voice command, the medical device can be disabled for voice control. The present disclosure contemplates that, in response to receiving a valid voice command during the second threshold time period, the threshold time period can be reset.

[0069] In some embodiments of the twelfth aspect, the valid voice input may include any device control command from among a plurality of device control commands. The present disclosure contemplates that if no valid voice input is received within a threshold time period, the medical device may remain disabled for voice control.

[0070] According to the thirteenth aspect of the present disclosure, a system for voice control of medical devices in a room may include a first medical device and a second medical device, the first medical device may have a first circuit that may include a first processor, a first memory, a first microphone and a first infrared (IR) receiver, and the second medical device may have a second circuit that may include a second processor, a second memory, a second microphone and a second IR receiver. The system of the thirteenth aspect may further include an IR indicator that may have an IR transmitter. The first circuit of the first medical device may be configured to enable voice control in response to the first IR receiver receiving an IR signal from the IR transmitter of the IR indicator. The second circuit of the second medical device may be configured to enable voice control in response to the second IR receiver receiving an IR signal from the IR transmitter of the IR indicator.

[0071] In some embodiments of the thirteenth aspect, the IR indicator can be configured to be worn on a person's finger. Alternatively or additionally, the IR indicator can be mounted on a mobile phone. Further alternatively or additionally, the IR indicator can have the shape of a stylus. Still further alternatively or additionally, the IR indicator can have the shape of a key fob.

[0072] The present disclosure contemplates that the first medical device of the thirteenth aspect may include a first bed, which may have a first patient exit barrier to which the first IR receiver may be coupled, and the second medical device of the thirteenth aspect may have a second bed, which may have a second patient exit barrier to which the second IR receiver may be coupled. For example, the first patient exit barrier and the second patient exit barrier may each include a corresponding first and second headboard or a corresponding first and second footboard. Alternatively or additionally, the first patient exit barrier and the second patient exit barrier may each include a corresponding first and second sidebar. In such embodiments, the first circuit may further include a first display screen coupled to the first sidebar, the second circuit may further include a second display screen coupled to the second sidebar, the first IR receiver may be located adjacent to the first display screen, and the second IR receiver may be located adjacent to the second display screen.

[0073] If desired, after each of the first and second medical devices of the thirteenth aspect is enabled for voice control, the corresponding first and second circuits can be enabled to receive voice commands to control functions of the corresponding first and second medical devices for a threshold time period, and after the threshold time period has elapsed, if the corresponding first and second medical devices do not receive at least one voice command, the corresponding first and second medical devices can be disabled for voice control. The present disclosure contemplates that the threshold time period can be reset in response to receiving a valid voice command during the threshold time period.

[0074] According to a fourteenth aspect of the present disclosure, a system for voice control of medical devices in a room may include multiple medical devices that may be located in the room, a far-field microphone array that may be dispersed throughout the room, and at least one computer that may be communicatively coupled to the multiple medical devices and the far-field microphone array. The at least one computer may be configured to: (i) combine voice input that may be received from a person by the far-field microphone array; (ii) use beamforming software to amplify and recognize the voice input; (iii) use barge-in software to filter out ambient noise; (iv) execute speech recognition software to determine which of the multiple medical devices may be a designated medical device to be controlled by the voice input; and (v) transmit a control message to the designated medical device to control a first function of the designated medical device based on the voice input.

[0075] In some embodiments of the fourteenth aspect, each of the plurality of medical devices may carry at least one far-field microphone in a far-field microphone array. Optionally, the plurality of medical devices may include two or more of the following: a vital sign monitor, a hospital bed, an end wall interface, a caregiver badge, a positioning tag, a patient identification (ID) bracelet, a patient uniform, an audio station for a nurse call system, a patient lift, and a chair. The speech recognition software of the fourteenth aspect includes one or more of the following: speech-to-text conversion software, codeword recognition software, wake-up word recognition software, and natural language processing (NLP) software.

[0076] Optionally, the at least one computer of the fourteenth aspect can be further configured with distance processing software that can be executed to determine which far-field microphone in the far-field microphone array can be the closest far-field microphone to the person, and to determine which medical device in the plurality of medical devices can be closest to the closest far-field microphone. Further optionally, the interruption software can determine the ambient noise to be filtered out based on the characteristics or frequency of the noise that can last for a threshold period of time (e.g., longer than the amount of time it takes to speak the voice input).

[0077] If desired, the at least one computer of the fourteenth aspect can be further configured with speaker recognition software to determine the identification (ID) of a person who can provide voice input. In this regard, the speaker recognition software can include one or more of the following: Markov model software, pattern recognition software, voice biometrics software, neural network software, natural language processing (NLP) software, natural language understanding software, and anaphora resolution software.

[0078] In some embodiments of the fourteenth aspect, the at least one computer may be further configured to determine that the voice input may include a compound voice command, which may be related to the designated medical device and a second designated medical device. In such circumstances, the at least one computer may be further configured to transmit a second control message to the second designated medical device to control a second function of the second designated medical device based on a portion of the voice input related to the second medical device. The at least one computer of the fourteenth aspect may be further configured to determine that the voice input may include a compound voice command, which may be related to a first function and a second function of the designated medical device. In such circumstances, the control message transmitted by the at least one computer to the designated medical device may include a first portion for controlling the first function of the designated medical device and a second portion for controlling the second function of the designated medical device.

[0079] According to a fifteenth aspect of the present disclosure, a hospital bed may include a frame that can be configured to support a patient, a far-field microphone array that can be carried by the frame, and a circuit that can be carried by the frame and coupled to the far-field microphone array. The circuit of the fifteenth aspect may include a processor and a memory. In addition, the circuit of the fifteenth aspect may be configured to: (i) combine voice input that can be received from a person by the far-field microphone array; (ii) use beamforming software to amplify and recognize the voice input; (iii) use interruption software to filter out ambient noise; (iv) execute speech recognition software to determine a first function of the hospital bed to be executed based on the voice input; and (v) control the hospital bed to execute the first function.

[0080] In some embodiments of the fifteenth aspect, the bed can include a plurality of barriers that can be coupled to the frame, and each of the plurality of barriers can carry at least one far-field microphone in a far-field microphone array. Optionally, the speech recognition software of the fifteenth aspect includes one or more of the following: speech-to-text conversion software, codeword recognition software, wake-up word recognition software, and natural language processing (NLP) software. Further optionally, the interruption software of the fifteenth aspect can determine the ambient noise to be filtered out based on the characteristics or frequency of the noise that can last for a threshold time period (e.g., longer than the amount of time it takes to speak the voice input).

[0081] If desired, the circuit of the fifteenth aspect may be further configured with speaker recognition software to determine the identification (ID) of the person who can provide the voice input. In this regard, the speaker recognition software of the fifteenth aspect may include one or more of the following: Markov model software, pattern recognition software, voice biometrics software, neural network software, natural language processing (NLP) software, natural language understanding software, and anaphora resolution software. In some embodiments of the fifteenth aspect, the circuit may be further configured to determine that the voice input may include a compound voice command, which compound voice command may be related to the first function and the second function of the hospital bed. In this case, the circuit of the fifteenth aspect may be configured to control the second function of the hospital bed while controlling the first function. Optionally, the circuit of the fifteenth aspect may be configured to control the function of the hospital bed according to one or more rows (excluding the header row) provided in Table 1 below of the present application. If desired, the hospital bed of any of the first to fourteenth aspects may also be controlled by voice input according to one or more rows (excluding the header row) provided in Table 1.

[0082] According to the sixteenth aspect of the present disclosure, a system for voice control of a ward environment can be provided. The system of the sixteenth aspect may include an environmental device operable to control the ward environment, an entertainment device operable to provide entertainment to patients in the ward, and a microphone residing in the ward and configured to receive voice control commands from the patient for controlling the environmental device and the entertainment device. The system of the sixteenth aspect may further include a remote computer that can be communicatively coupled to the microphone and can have voice recognition software. The remote computer of the sixteenth aspect may be configured to process the voice control commands and send control messages to control the operation of the environmental device and the entertainment device.

[0083] In some embodiments of the sixteenth aspect, the environmental device may include one or more of the following: electric blinds, electric curtains, room lights, reading lights, or a thermostat. The entertainment device of the sixteenth aspect may include a television. Alternatively or additionally, the entertainment device of the sixteenth aspect may include a speaker unit that can be configured to play audio of audiobooks, voice-based games, and trivia questions. Optionally, the microphone of the sixteenth aspect may be included in the speaker unit. Further optionally, the system of the sixteenth aspect may further include a bed that can be configured to support a patient, and the speaker unit may be included in the bed.

[0084] If desired, the entertainment device of the sixteenth aspect can include a second entertainment device that can be separate from the speaker unit, and control messages for controlling the operation of the ambient device and the second entertainment device can be routed to the ambient device and the second entertainment device via the speaker unit. The present disclosure contemplates that the control messages of the sixteenth aspect can be received by the speaker unit as wireless control messages. Alternatively or additionally, the control messages sent from the speaker unit to the ambient device and the second entertainment device can be transmitted wirelessly.

[0085] According to the seventeenth aspect of the present disclosure, a system for voice control of a ward environment can be provided. The system of the seventeenth aspect may include an environmental device operable to control the ward environment, an entertainment device operable to provide entertainment to patients in the ward, and a microphone residing in the ward and configured to receive voice control commands from the patient for controlling the environmental device and the entertainment device. The system of the seventeenth aspect may further include an Internet of Things (IoT) hub that can be communicatively coupled to the microphone. The microphone of the seventeenth aspect can be configured to transmit voice control commands to the IoT hub, and the IoT hub can be configured to transmit control messages to control the operation of the environmental device and the entertainment device.

[0086] In some embodiments of the seventeenth aspect, the environmental device may include one or more of the following: electric blinds, electric curtains, room lights, reading lights, or a thermostat. The entertainment device of the seventeenth aspect may include a television. Alternatively or additionally, the entertainment device of the seventeenth aspect may include a speaker unit that can be configured to play audio of audiobooks, voice-based games, and trivia questions. Optionally, the microphone of the seventeenth aspect may be included in the speaker unit. Further optionally, the system of the seventeenth aspect may further include a bed that can be configured to support a patient, and the speaker unit may be included in the bed.

[0087] If desired, the entertainment device of the seventeenth aspect can include a second entertainment device that can be separate from the speaker unit, and control messages from the IoT hub for controlling the operation of the ambient devices and the second entertainment device can be routed to the ambient devices and the second entertainment device via the speaker unit. The present disclosure contemplates that at least some of the control messages of the seventeenth aspect can be received by the speaker unit from the IoT hub as wireless control messages. Alternatively or additionally, the control messages of the seventeenth aspect sent from the speaker unit to the ambient devices and the second entertainment device can be transmitted wirelessly.

[0088] In some embodiments, the system of the seventeenth aspect may further include a second environment device, a second entertainment device, and a remote computer that can be communicatively coupled to a microphone and has voice recognition software. The remote computer can be configured to process voice control commands and send a second control message to control the operation of the second environment device and the second entertainment device. Optionally, the second control message can be transmitted to the second environment device and the second entertainment device without involving an IoT hub. Further optionally, the system of the seventeenth aspect may further include a speaker unit, the microphone can be included in the speaker unit, and the second control message can be transmitted to the second environment device and the second entertainment device through the speaker unit.

[0089] Additional features, alone or in combination with any other features such as those listed above and those recited in the claims, may comprise patentable subject matter as will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of various embodiments illustrating the best mode presently considered to be carrying out such embodiments. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0090] The following is a detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0091] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a first voice control system, showing a caregiver entering voice input on a mobile phone to control a hospital bed supporting a patient, the mobile phone wirelessly communicating with a wireless access module (WAM) of the hospital bed, the WAM communicating a bed message corresponding to the voice input to a bed controller of the hospital bed via a wired connection, the hospital bed having a microphone and a speaker on each of a pair of sidebars (as indicated by circles on the sidebars), and a patient mobile phone shown above the patient's head for the patient to use to enter voice input into the WAM of the hospital bed;

[0092] Figure 2 is similar to Figure 1 a schematic diagram of a second voice control system, showing a room microphone and speaker unit above the footboard of a hospital bed, the room microphone and speaker unit in wireless communication with a WAM of the hospital bed, the room microphone and speaker unit configured to receive voice input from a caregiver and a patient, the room microphone and speaker unit in communication with a network having a continuous speech processing (CSP) speech recognition service and a bed control service provided by software of one or more servers in the network, so that the one or more servers can process the voice input and provide command messages to the WAM of the hospital bed via the room microphone and speaker unit to control functions of the hospital bed;

[0093] Figure 3 is similar to Figure 1 and Figure 2Schematic diagram of a third voice control system showing a caregiver providing voice input to a microphone on one of the side rails of a bed having a WAM interfaced with the bed. a software development kit (SDK) for the WAM to communicate with a network having a CSP speech recognition service and a bed control service provided by software of one or more servers in the network to enable the one or more servers to process speech input and provide command messages to the bed via the WAM to control functions of the bed;

[0094] Figure 4 is similar to Figures 1 to 3 a schematic diagram of a fourth voice control system, showing a caregiver providing voice input to a microphone on one of the bedside rails, the bed having circuitry embedded with speech recognition (VR) and natural language processing (NLP) software to convert the voice input into command messages, which are communicated to a bed controller to control functions of the bed;

[0095] Figure 5 is similar to Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a fifth voice control system, showing a smart speaker unit above the caregiver, the smart speaker unit configured to receive voice input from the caregiver and the patient, the speaker unit wirelessly communicating with the room environment and entertainment devices, the smart speaker unit communicating with a network having a CSP voice recognition service provided by software of one or more servers in the network, so that the one or more servers can process the voice input and provide command information to the smart speaker unit to control functions of the environment and entertainment devices;

[0096] Figure 6 is similar to Figures 1 to 5 a sixth schematic diagram of a voice control system showing a smart speaker unit configured to receive voice input from a caregiver and a patient, the smart speaker cooperating with an Internet of Things (IoT) hub and a network having a CSP voice recognition service provided by software of one or more servers in the network, so that the smart speaker, the network and / or the IoT hub provide command messages based on the voice input to control functions of a bed, environmental devices and entertainment devices;

[0097] Figure 7 is a flow chart of a speech model algorithm showing that a caregiver creates a speech model using an application on a mobile device, the speech model is pushed to a device such as a bed, and the application on the mobile phone updates the speech model to improve accuracy;

[0098] Figure 8 is a flow chart of a caregiver authorization algorithm for confirming that a caregiver providing voice input to a patient is authorized to do so;

[0099] Figure 9is a schematic diagram of a first way to determine which medical device among multiple medical devices in a room is to be controlled by voice, showing a caregiver using a key phrase including a keyword (e.g., "hey") followed by a unique name (e.g., "bed name A") to indicate that bed A is to be controlled by the caregiver's voice, rather than bed B;

[0100] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of a second method for determining which medical device among multiple medical devices in a room is to be controlled by voice, showing that when a caregiver approaches the medical device, the caregiver's caregiver badge transmits a near field communication (NFC) signal that can be detected by the medical device (e.g., a hospital bed), and the medical device enables voice control in response to detecting the NFC signal;

[0101] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of a third method for determining which medical device among multiple medical devices in a room is to be controlled by voice, showing a first microphone on a wall of the room, a second microphone on a patient's bed, and a third microphone on a medical monitor, wherein a remote server determines which medical device is to be controlled by voice based on which of the first microphone, the second microphone, and the third microphone detects the loudest voice input from the caregiver;

[0102] Figure 12 This is a schematic diagram of a fourth method for determining which medical device among multiple medical devices in a room is to be controlled by voice, showing that a first medical device (e.g., a first bed) has a first camera, a second medical device (e.g., a second bed) has a second camera, and the medical device to be controlled by voice is the medical device whose face is captured by the corresponding camera.

[0103] Figure 13 is a schematic diagram of a fifth manner for determining which medical device among a plurality of medical devices in a room is to be controlled by voice, showing a caregiver pressing a button on the medical device (e.g., a button on one of the bedside rails) to enable the medical device for voice control upon or within a threshold time period after the button is pressed;

[0104] Figure 14 is a schematic diagram of a sixth manner for determining which medical device among a plurality of medical devices in a room is to be controlled by voice, showing that an IR pointer of a caregiver transmits an IR signal toward an IR receiver of the medical device to be controlled by voice, the medical device being enabled for voice control for a threshold period of time in response to detection of the IR signal by the corresponding IR receiver; and

[0105] Figure 15is a flow chart of an algorithm for controlling a medical device via voice input, illustrating the algorithm including the following instructions: (i) combining voice input received from a person by a far-field microphone array in a room; (ii) using beamforming software to amplify and recognize the voice input; (iii) using interruption software to filter out ambient noise; (iv) executing speech recognition software to determine which of a plurality of medical devices is a designated medical device to be controlled via voice input; and (v) transmitting a control message to the designated medical device to control a first function of the designated medical device based on the voice input. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0106] The present disclosure Figures 1 to 6 and Figures 9 to 14 , and FIG. 2 show a system 20 for voice control of equipment in a medical setting. As contemplated by the present disclosure, Figure 7 、 Figure 8 and Figure 15 A flow chart of an algorithm for voice control of devices in system 20 is shown. Various embodiments are disclosed with respect to system 20, so for each Figures 1 to 6 and Figures 9 to 14 20, a hyphen followed by a suffix is ​​added to the reference numeral 20. The hyphen followed by a suffix corresponds to the figure number of the embodiment of the particular system 20. For example, Figure 1 The system 20 is designed with reference numeral 20-1, Figure 2 The system 20 is designed with reference numerals 20-2 and so on. It should be understood that Figures 1 to 6 and Figures 9 to 14 The systems 20 are not mutually exclusive, so a system having a combination of any two or more of the systems 20-1, 20-2, 20-3, 20-4, 20-5, 20-6, 20-9, 20-10, 20-11, 20-12, 20-13, 20-14 falls within the scope of the present disclosure. Figure 7 、 Figure 8 and Figure 15 The algorithm of the flowchart may be implemented in any one or more of the systems 20 - 1 , 20 - 2 , 20 - 3 , 20 - 4 , 20 - 5 , 20 - 6 , 20 - 9 , 20 - 10 , 20 - 11 , 20 - 12 , 20 - 13 , 20 - 14 and any combination thereof.

[0107] Now refer to Figure 1 The first voice control system 20-1 is configured to allow a caregiver to enter voice input on a caregiver mobile phone 22 to control a patient-supporting bed 30. The caregiver wears or otherwise carries a caregiver identification (ID) badge or tag 25 that provides a wireless signal (e.g., a radio signal) to the mobile phone 22. Figure 1(Schematically indicated by double arrows 24 in the figure). The wireless signal 24 from the caregiver badge 25 includes the caregiver ID (e.g., the caregiver's employee number, a randomly assigned number, the caregiver's name, etc.). The mobile phone 22 transmits an inquiry message to the caregiver badge 25, and the badge 25 responds to the inquiry message by transmitting the caregiver ID to the mobile phone 22. In some embodiments, the inquiry message from the phone 22 is initiated in response to the caregiver providing voice input to the mobile phone 22 regarding controlling the bed 20. Therefore, in the illustrative embodiment, the wireless link 24 between the mobile phone 22 and the badge 25 is bidirectional.

[0108] The mobile phone 22 communicates wirelessly with the wireless access module (WAM) 26 of the bed 30 (e.g. Figure 1 (Schematically indicated by a dashed double arrow 28 in the figure). In some embodiments, voice input from the caregiver is converted by the mobile phone 22 into a wireless bed command message 28, which is wirelessly transmitted to the WAM 26 along with the caregiver ID. Wireless messages 28, such as confirmation messages, alarm messages, and the like, are also appropriately communicated from the WAM 26 to the mobile phone 22. Thus, the wireless link 28 between the mobile phone 22 and the WAM 26 is bidirectional. In other embodiments, a voice recording is made by the phone 22 and converted into a digital sound file (e.g., a .wav file), which is wirelessly transmitted to the WAM 26 via the wireless link 28. The caregiver ID is also wirelessly transmitted to the WAM 26 along with the digital sound file. In some such embodiments, the WAM 26 converts the digital sound file into one or more bed command messages.

[0109] After receiving one or more bed command messages or one or more digital sound files along with the caregiver ID from the mobile phone 22 via the wireless link 28, the WAM 26 transmits the bed command message corresponding to the voice input from the caregiver along with the caregiver ID via the wired link or connection (at Figure 1 The bed controller 34 then communicates the caregiver's ID (schematically indicated by double arrows 32) to the bed controller 34. The controller 34 then determines whether the caregiver's ID matches an ID stored in the controller's 34 memory. If the IDs match, the controller 34 concludes that the caregiver is authorized to operate the bed 30 by voice and executes the bed function associated with the bed command message. In other embodiments, as described in more detail below, the bed controller 34 is configured to determine the caregiver's authorization for voice control by other methods.

[0110] Bed controller 34 Figure 1Although schematically shown as a single box, in some embodiments, the bed controller 34 includes various circuit boards, electronic modules, and the like that are electrically and communicatively interconnected. Thus, the bed controller includes a processor 36, such as one or more microprocessors or microcontrollers, that executes software to perform the various control functions and algorithms described herein. Thus, the bed controller 34 also includes a memory 38 for storing software, variables, calculations, and the like as is known in the art. Thus, the bed controller 34 may include or embody any device or circuit (e.g., a processor, microcontroller, field programmable gate array (FPGA), application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), reconfigurable circuit, system on chip (SoC), programmable system on chip (PSoC), embedded computer-on-module (CoM), embedded system-on-module (SoM), and / or software configured to operate the bed 30 as described herein. In certain embodiments, the bed controller 34 includes a VAR-SOM-MX6 embedded system-on-module (SoM), available from Variscite, Inc., located in Lod, Israel, as or disposed on the main control board (MCB) of the bed 20.

[0111] exist Figures 1 to 6 and Figures 9 to 14 In the illustrative example of FIG, each bed 30 is depicted as being available from Hill-Rom Corporation. Smart+ bed. Further details of the Smart+ bed 30 and its variations can be found in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 517,784, which is incorporated herein by reference to the extent not inconsistent with the present disclosure, in which case this disclosure shall prevail. Although the present disclosure focuses largely on voice control of the illustrative bed 30, it should be understood that the present disclosure is applicable to voice control of all types of medical equipment or devices, including: other models of beds (such as those available from Hill-Rom, to name a few); bed, Medical operating table, Air fluidization therapy bed, Bariatric surgery bed, ADVANTA TM 2nd generation medical operating table, EXCEL CARE Bariatric bed, 4th generation delivery bed and beds, as well as beds from other manufacturers); patient monitors (e.g., heart rate monitors, respiratory rate monitors, electrocardiographs (EKGs), electroencephalograms (EEGs), pulse oximeters, blood pressure monitors, and thermometers); medication delivery devices, such as medication infusion pumps; intravenous (IV) devices; ventilators; respiratory therapy devices, such as those for oscillatory lung expansion (OLE), insufflation / expiration, continuous positive expiratory pressure (CPEP), continuous high-frequency oscillation (CHFO), continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), Bi-PAP, etc.; compression therapy devices for the treatment of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), including sequential compression devices (SCDs); and the like.

[0112] Refer again Figure 1 , the bed 30 has a frame 40 that includes an articulated patient support deck 42 that supports a mattress 44. A head end sidebar 46 is coupled to each side of the head section of the deck 42, so that the bed 30 has two head end sidebars 46. As schematically indicated by the circle 48 on the sidebar 46, each of the sidebars 46 carries a microphone (mic) and a speaker. The speaker and microphone 48 on each sidebar 46 can be included in a single unit, which is sometimes referred to as a "speaker unit" although the microphone is also included in the unit. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the microphone and speaker of each sidebar 46 are separate components included in the circuitry of the corresponding sidebar 46. Further alternatively, in some embodiments, the speaker itself also serves as a microphone capable of receiving voice input. The microphones 48 of the bed 30 are each capable of receiving voice input from a caregiver or a patient supported on the bed 30.

[0113] exist Figure 1 In FIG, the patient's mobile phone 22' is schematically shown above the patient's head. As schematically indicated by the dotted double arrow 28', the patient can use the patient's mobile phone 22' to input voice input to the WAM 26 of the bed in addition to or instead of the microphone 48. Under appropriate conditions, confirmation messages, alarm messages, etc. are provided to the mobile phone 22' via the wireless link 28'. Figure 1 In the illustrative example, Figure 1As schematically indicated by double arrow 32, a patient identification (ID) wristband 50 is worn by the patient and provides a wireless signal 52 to the mobile phone 22'. The wireless signal 52 from the wristband 50 includes the patient ID (e.g., the patient's medical record number (MRN), randomization number, patient name, etc.). The mobile phone 22' includes the patient ID in a wireless transmission 28' to the WAM 26 of the bed 30, and the WAM 26 transmits the patient ID along with the bed command message to the bed controller 34. The controller 34 then determines whether the patient ID matches the ID stored in the memory 36. If the IDs match, the controller 34 concludes that the patient is authorized to operate the bed 30 by voice and to perform the bed function to which the bed command message relates.

[0114] exist Figure 1 , the WAM 26 is schematically shown coupled to the footboard 54 of the bed 30, and the bed controller 34 is shown in a box adjacent to the bed 30. Although the WAM 26 can be carried by or otherwise included in the footboard 54 of the bed 30, in the typical embodiment of the bed 30 contemplated herein, the WAM 26 and the bed controller 34 are carried by the frame 40 of the bed 30. In fact, if desired, the WAM 26 and the bed controller 34 can be included on the same printed circuit board. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the WAM 26 can be implemented as part of the processor 36 and memory 38 (e.g., a microcontroller, SoM, SoC, PSoC, FPGA, or ASIC) of the bed controller 34.

[0115] Based on the above, it should be understood that Figure 1 In the embodiment of the present invention, the controller 34 of the bed 30 determines that a caregiver or patient is authorized to control the functions of the bed 30 by voice based on an on-bed analysis of the caregiver ID from the badge 25 or the patient ID from the wristband 50, respectively. Therefore, before receiving voice input from the caregiver or patient via the mobile phone 22, 22' and / or the microphone 48 of the bed 20, the IDs of one or more caregivers and / or one or more patients authorized to control the bed 30 by voice are stored in the memory 38 of the bed 30. Such IDs are uploaded to the memory 38 of the bed controller 34 from a remote computer, such as an electronic medical record (EMR) computer, an admission discharge transfer (ADT) computer, a nurse call computer, a workflow computer, etc., which is coupled to the bed controller 34 via the healthcare facility's network communication.

[0116] After a patient is discharged from the healthcare facility or reassigned to a different bed, the remote computer transmits a purge signal to the bed controller 34, which causes the bed controller 34 to purge the patient ID from the memory 38 or otherwise designate that the patient ID no longer corresponds to a patient authorized to control the bed 30 via voice. Similar purge messages are sent to bed controllers associated with caregivers who are no longer authorized to control the bed 30 via voice for any reason, such as the caregiver being reassigned to a different ward in the healthcare facility, the caregiver no longer being employed by the healthcare facility, the caregiver's shift ending, etc.

[0117] exist Figure 1 In the illustrative embodiment of system 20-1, phones 22, 22' are each equipped with a transceiver for communicating with tag 25 and wristband 50. In such an embodiment, bed 30 need not be equipped with any type of reader / writer or transceiver for communicating with tag 25 and wristband 50, as this functionality is provided by mobile phones 22, 22'. In other embodiments, bed 30 includes a transceiver or reader / writer for communicating with tag 25 and wristband 50 in addition to or in lieu of the tag / band communication functionality of mobile phones 22, 22'.

[0118] In some embodiments of system 20-1, one or both mobile phones 22, 22' are equipped with a bed control software application that presents bed control inputs on the touchscreen display of the respective mobile phone 22, 22'. In such embodiments, the caregiver or patient, as appropriate, selects buttons or other user inputs presented on the display screen of the respective mobile phone 22, 22' to control corresponding bed functions. In response to selecting a bed control input on the phone 22, 22', a bed command message is transmitted from the phone 22, 22' to the WAM 26 via the respective wireless link 28, 28' and processed by the WAM 26 and bed controller 34 to control the bed function corresponding to the bed command message. In some embodiments where manual input is provided to the bed 30 via the phone 22, 22', the bed 30 does not implement a caregiver or patient authorization algorithm. That is, in such embodiments, it is assumed that any bed control message received at the WAM 26 originates from the phone 22, 22' of a user authorized to control a function of the bed 30. Optionally, the bed control application on the phone 22, 22' may require a personal identification number (PIN) to be entered on the respective phone 22, 22' before launching the bed control application for use by the respective caregiver or patient. Requiring the PIN to be entered on the phone 22, 22' provides a degree of assurance that the respective caregiver or patient is authorized to use the respective phone 22, 22' to control the bed 30.

[0119] Now refer to Figure 2 , provides something similar to Figure 1The second voice control system 20-2 of the system 20-1 is shown. The system 20-2 includes a bed 30 having a WAM 26, a bed controller 34, and a microphone and a speaker 48 coupled to a sidebar 46. The above description of these components and other parts of the bed 30 also applies to the system 20-2 and will not be repeated here. Figure 2 As schematically shown in FIG, instead of the mobile phones 22, 22' of system 20-1, system 20-2 has a room microphone (mic) and speaker unit 56 that receives voice input 58 from the caregiver and voice input 59 from the patient. The microphone and speaker unit 56 is sometimes referred to herein as "speaker unit 56". Speaker unit 56 is schematically shown in FIG. Figure 2 30, but it should be understood that the speaker unit 56 can be located in any suitable location within the patient's room. For example, the speaker unit 56 can be placed on a nightstand adjacent to the bed 30, mounted to a room wall or ceiling of the room in which the bed 30 is located, or even mounted to the bed 30 itself. When the speaker unit 56 or any other component is described herein as being mounted, fixed, or attached to a room wall, it means that the component is mounted directly to a wall within the room, mounted to an end wall unit attached to the room wall adjacent to the head end of the bed 30, or mounted to some other building structure within the room, such as a maintenance area, a bed positioner unit, or a beam attached to or otherwise fixed in position relative to a room wall.

[0120] In some embodiments, the speaker unit 56 and the speaker unit 48 cooperate to provide the system 20-2 with a microphone array that receives voice input 56, 58 from the caregiver and the patient, respectively. Figure 2 Schematically shown, the speaker unit 56 is communicatively coupled to a network 60 of the medical facility via a two-way wireless link 62. The speaker unit 56 also wirelessly communicates with the WAM 26 of the bed 30 via a two-way wireless link 64. The network 60 is schematically depicted as Figure 2 However, the illustrative cloud is intended to represent all components typically present in a healthcare institution's network, such as the infrastructure provided in a healthcare institution's network 60 (e.g., wireless access points, Ethernet jacks such as RJ-45 connectors, wiring, routers, gateways, etc.) and the various computer devices coupled to that infrastructure (e.g., personal computers, servers, laptops, patient care equipment, etc.).

[0121] like Figure 2As schematically shown in FIG, network 60 of system 20-2 provides continuous speech processing (CSP) speech recognition services and bed control services to bed 30. Specifically, the CSP speech recognition services and bed control services are provided by software on one or more servers of network 60. Thus, speech inputs 58, 59 received by speaker unit 62 are transmitted via wireless link 62 to one or more servers having CSP speech recognition services and bed control services, so that one or more servers can process the speech inputs and provide bed command messages to WAM 26 of bed 30 via room microphone and speaker unit 26 to control functions of bed 30.

[0122] In some examples of the system 20-2, voice input from a caregiver or patient received by one or both of the microphones 48 of the bed 30 is communicated to the WAM 26 directly via a wired connection or through the bed controller 34 and the wired connection 32, and then transmitted to the speaker unit 56 via a wireless link 64. The speaker unit 64 then communicates a message corresponding to the voice input originally received at the microphone 48 via the wireless link 62 to the network 60 for processing by one or more servers having CSP voice recognition services and bed control services. The server having software that provides the CSP voice recognition services is sometimes referred to herein as a "Voice Control Authorization (VCA) computer."

[0123] The voice input communicated over the wireless links 62, 64 is a digitized sound file, such as a .wav file. In other embodiments, other types of audio file formats may be used in addition to or instead of the .wav file format in the system 20, including audio formats having the following file designator types: .3gp, .aa, .aac, .aax, .act, .aiff, .alac, .amr, .ape, .au, .awb, .dct, .dss, .dvf, .flac, .gsm, .iklax, .ivs, .m4a, .m4b, .m4p, .mmf, .mp3, .mpc, .msv, .nmf, .ogg, .oga, .mogg, .opus, .ra, .rm, .raw, .rf64, .sln, .tta, .voc, .vox, .wma, .wv, .webm, .8svx, and .cda. Thus, the WAM 26 and / or the speaker unit 56 may employ various audio file compression techniques in conjunction with digitized sound files transmitted to the network 60 via one or both of the wireless links 62, 64. In some embodiments, the speaker unit 56 is Unit or unit.

[0124] In some embodiments, the VCA computer of the network 60 stores digital models of the voice of each of the caregivers and patients who are authorized to control various medical devices (such as beds 30) located in various wards in the medical facility. After receiving voice input from a caregiver or patient attempting to control the bed 30 as a digital audio file at the VCA computer, the VCA computer compares the digital audio file with the digital models of the voices of authorized users stored in the memory of the VCA computer. If the digital audio file of the voice input matches one of the digital models of the authorized user, the VCA computer sends a bed control message to a server (sometimes referred to herein as a "bed control computer") having software that provides bed control services. The present disclosure contemplates that the VCA computer uses voice biometrics in conjunction with comparing the audio file of the voice input with the stored digital models.

[0125] Voice biometrics used by a VCA computer may, for example, involve feature extraction (e.g., determining the tone, pitch, and / or frequency of a person's voice); creating a voiceprint (e.g., a spectrogram); using any one or more of: frequency estimation, hidden Markov models, Gaussian mixture models, pattern matching methods, neural networks, matrix representations, and decision trees; determining speech signal feature vectors, such as by segmenting the speech signal into glottal pulses, calculating a glottal pulse feature vector for each glottal pulse, and calculating a speech signal feature vector as a function of the glottal pulse feature vectors; and other methods, such as determining linear prediction coefficients from the speech signal, forming an inverse filter based on the extracted linear prediction coefficients, filtering the speech signal using the inverse filter to obtain an inverse filtered signal, and segmenting the inverse filtered signal into glottal pulses. Further details regarding voice biometrics may be found in U.S. Patents 10 / 614,814, 9 / 870,776, and 8 / 620,666, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety to the extent not inconsistent with the present disclosure, and any inconsistency shall prevail.

[0126] In some embodiments of the system 20, bed control messages sent from the VCA computer to the bed control computer include one or more data packets encoding text corresponding to the spoken voice input. For example, the data packets sent from the VCA computer to the bed control computer may include text in .html or .xml format. The bed control computer then converts the text from the one or more data packets into digitized bed control messages, transmits them to the bed 30 via the network 60, and activates the corresponding bed function on the bed 30. In some embodiments, the bed control messages can be sent from the bed control computer to the bed 30 via wireless links 62 and 64 and the speaker unit 56. In other embodiments, bed control messages from the bed control computer are routed to the bed 30 through other infrastructure of the network 60 (such as one or more wireless access points) or even through a nurse call system of the network 60, which communicates with the bed 30 via a wired connection (e.g., a 37-core nurse call cable between the bed 30 and a nurse call system interface unit such as a network interface unit (NIU), an audio station bed connector (ASBC), etc. mounted to the room wall) or via a wireless connection (e.g., a Bluetooth connection between the bed 30 and a universal collector or other unit mounted to the room wall and having Bluetooth wireless communication capabilities).

[0127] In order for the VCA computer to know which bed 30 the voice input corresponding to the digital audio file is intended to control, a bed ID corresponding to the specific bed 30 and / or a location ID corresponding to the room in which the bed 30 is located is included in the digital audio file. The location ID can correspond to or be associated with the speaker unit ID of the speaker unit 56. For example, the speaker unit ID can be an assigned unique ID, or can correspond to the media access control (MAC) address of the speaker unit 56. The bed-room associations are stored in a database on the network 60 so that each bed ID of the bed 30 is associated with a specific room in the medical facility. The bed-room association database can be included in the VCA computer, the bed control computer, or some other computer, such as a location server of a real-time location system (RTLS) of the medical facility. In some embodiments, a patient ID is also associated with the bed 30 and / or the room in which the bed 30 is located. Therefore, in some embodiments, the association database stores patient-bed associations and / or patient-room associations and / or patient-bed-room associations. In any case, when the bed control computer sends a bed command message, the bed ID and / or speaker unit ID is included in the bed command message to enable the network 60 to route the bed command message to the appropriate bed 30 to be controlled.

[0128] Now refer to Figure 3 , provides something similar to Figure 1 and Figure 2The third voice control system 20-3 of systems 20-1 and 20-2 is described. System 20-3 includes a bed 30 and a network 60, wherein the VCA computer has software that implements the CSP voice recognition service, and the bed control computer has software that implements the bed control service. Therefore, the description of the bed 30 and network 60 described above in conjunction with systems 20-1 and 20-2 also applies to system 20-3 and will not be repeated here. In some embodiments of system 20, the VCA computer and the bed control computer are the same computer. That is, the CSP voice recognition service and the bed control service are provided by the same computer, such as the same server.

[0129] The main difference between system 20-3 and system 20-2 is that the voice processing function of the speaker unit 56 of system 20-2 is included in the bed 30 of system 20-3. Figure 3 illustrative example, the bed 30 has a WAM 26 docking with the bed 30 Software Development Kit (SDK) 66. Figure 3 Schematically, the SDK, or more specifically the circuitry of the bed 30 implementing the SDK, is coupled to the microphone and speaker unit 48 on the sidebar 46 via a wired connection 68. Voice input 70 from the caregiver and voice input 72 from the patient are detected by one or both of the microphones 48 and provided to the SDK 66 via the wired link 68. In some embodiments, the microphones of the speaker unit 48 cooperate to provide the system 20-3 with a microphone array that receives voice input 70, 72 from the caregiver and the patient, respectively.

[0130] like Figure 3 Schematically, the SDK 66 processes voice inputs 70, 72 received from one or more microphones 48 and provides voice messages (e.g., digital audio files) to the WAM via a wired communication link, which in turn communicates the voice messages received from the SDK 66 to the VCA computer of the network 60 via a wireless communication link 76. The VCA computer of the network 60 processes the digital audio files corresponding to the voice inputs 70, 72 by comparing them to a digital model of the voice of an authorized user as described above. If one or more of the voice inputs 70, 72 originates from an authorized user, the VCA computer cooperates with the bed control computer, resulting in the bed control computer transmitting one or more bed command messages to the bed 30 via the wireless link 76 and the WAM 26 to control the functions of the bed. In this regard, as Figure 3 As schematically shown, bed command messages are routed on the bed 30 from the WAM 26 to the bed controller 34 via a wired communication link or connection 78 .

[0131] Now refer to Figure 4 , provides something similar to Figures 1 to 3The fourth voice control system 20-4 is configured to control systems 20-1, 20-2, and 20-3. Therefore, parts of system 20-4 that are substantially identical to parts of systems 20-1, 20-2, and 20-3 are labeled with the same reference numerals and will not be described again. Therefore, the above description of parts with the same reference numerals in systems 20-1, 20-2, and 20-3 also applies to system 20-4, unless otherwise noted.

[0132] In system 20-4, WAM 26 does not communicate with network 60 and thus does not use the VCA computer and bed command computer of network 60 to determine whether the caregiver or patient is authorized to control the bed 30 by voice. Instead, as schematically indicated at block 80, the bed 30 of system 20-4 includes circuitry with embedded speech recognition (VR) and / or natural language processing (NLP) software. Figure 4 As schematically shown in FIG, circuitry 80 with embedded VR / NLP software communicates bidirectionally with the bed controller via a wired link or connection 82. In some embodiments, circuitry 80 includes its own processor and memory. See above for the description of processor 36 and memory 38, which also apply to the processor and memory of circuitry 80 in such embodiments. In other embodiments, circuitry 80 is included as part of bed controller 34. Thus, in some embodiments, memory 38 stores VR / NLP software for execution by processor 36 of controller 34.

[0133] In system 20-4, the functionality of the VCA computer and bed command computer of network 60 of system 20-3 is provided on the bed 30. In this regard, circuitry 80 and controller 34 operate together or individually as a bed computer for processing voice input 70, 72 received from a caregiver or patient via microphone 48 of bed 30. Figure 4 Schematically, the bed 30 includes a wired link 81 between the microphone and speaker unit 48 and the circuit 80. The circuit 80 of the bed 30 stores digital models of the speech of the caregiver and patient authorized to control the bed 30 by voice. Therefore, before receiving the voice input 70, 72 from the patient and caregiver, the digital models are stored in the memory of the circuit 80 or the memory 38 of the bed controller 34. In some embodiments, the controller 34 of the bed 30 and / or the circuit 80 receives the digital models of the speech from a remote computer. In other embodiments, the authorized caregiver and patient use the microphone 48 of the bed 30 to record voice samples to create the digital models. Therefore, the VR / NLP software can implement a training routine to create the digital models required for the authorized speech.

[0134] Based on the above, it should be understood that the present disclosure contemplates an application that runs on a computer (e.g., a VCA computer of the network 60 or a bed computer 54 of the bed 30, circuit 80) or a mobile device (e.g., a mobile phone 22, 22') and records a digital model of the voice of each caregiver and, in some embodiments, the voice of one or more patients. The voice model is passed to a medical device such as the bed 30 or to a server (e.g., a VCA computer) for voice biometrics. In some embodiments, the application runs on the mobile device 22, 22' and updates the voice profile / digital model daily to improve the accuracy of the digital model. In this regard, reference is made to Figure 7 , which shows a flow chart of an algorithm 200. The algorithm 200 begins at block 202, where a caregiver uses an application on a mobile phone 22 to create a speech model. Thereafter, as indicated by block 204, the application pushes the speech model and the caregiver ID to one or more medical devices (e.g., one or more beds 30). Thereafter, as indicated by block 206, as the caregiver uses the mobile device 22, the application on the mobile device 22 updates the speech profile daily, thereby improving the accuracy of the speech model.

[0135] The present disclosure further contemplates that a caregiver may use a combination of voice input and touchscreen input to operate various features of the bed 30, thereby making the bed features easier to use while maintaining safe operation. That is, even if a caregiver is authorized to provide voice input for controlling the bed 30, the caregiver may still be able to use manual input to the bed 30, including touchscreen display input, to control various bed functions.

[0136] To give an example of caregiver voice control of the bed 30 contemplated by the present disclosure, the caregiver may say: “hey Centrella, weigh patient.” In this example, Centerlla is the model name of the bed, but other bed names or medical device names may be used as appropriate. In response to the stated voice input, the Centerlla bed 30 displays the current patient weight and requests the caregiver to accept the weight to be stored in the memory 38 of the bed 30 and, in some embodiments, sent to the patient's electronic medical record stored in a database on the EMR computer. If the bed 30 detects a problem, such as a significantly different patient weight, it gives the caregiver audible feedback— “patient weight is more than x pounds different than the last stored weight. Please check for items added to the bed and make sure the bed has been properly zeroed.” If no problem is detected, the bed plays an audio message through the speaker unit 48 stating "weight successfully stored" or some similar such confirmation message.

[0137] While the above description contemplates the use of voice recognition (e.g., using voice biometrics) to determine whether a caregiver and / or patient is authorized to voice control a medical device, the present disclosure contemplates other ways to determine voice control authorization in addition to or in lieu of using voice recognition. Accordingly, the present disclosure contemplates the following options, alone or in any combination, to determine authorized users to control a medical device by voice: (i) RTLS associates a caregiver with the bed and enables the use of voice commands; (ii) PIN entry on a screen (e.g., a touch screen of a mobile phone 22, 22' or a touch screen of the bed 30); and (iii) voice biometrics. With respect to using a combination of these voice, RTLS, PIN authorization methods, the authorization or access options may vary and be automatically applied based on the risk profile or risk level of the operation. That is, operations with higher risk may require two or three authorization methods to be satisfied before use, while operations with lower risk may only require one authorization method to be satisfied before use.

[0138] Now refer to Figure 8, which illustrates a method 210 requiring different levels of authorization depending on the medical device function to be implemented. As indicated by block 212, method 210 begins in response to a caregiver wearing an RTLS tag 25 entering a patient room. At block 214, the RTLS sends a message to bed 30 notifying bed 30 that an authorized caregiver is in the room. Then, as indicated by block 216, the caregiver issues a voice command to bed 30, stating, in the illustrative example, "hey bed name, weigh patient." Of course, in this example, "bed name" is replaced with the actual model name of the bed in practice. As indicated by block 218, after determining that the user entering the voice command is a valid user (e.g., an authorized user) through the use of voice biometrics and after weighing the patient, the bed 30's software determines that weighing the patient is a low-risk function and displays the current patient weight.

[0139] After the patient is weighed and the weight is displayed at box 218, the method 210 continues to box 220, where the bed 30 queries (e.g., plays an audio message through the speaker unit 48) whether the caregiver wants to record the patient's weight. If the caregiver responds "yes" as indicated by box 222, the software of the bed 30 determines that recording the weight is a high-risk task that requires further authentication of the caregiver as indicated by box 224. Thereafter, as indicated by box 226, the bed 30 obtains and checks the data received from the RTLS system to authenticate the caregiver or user. After the caregiver is authenticated at box 226, the bed 30 sends the patient's weight to the EMR system for recording. Figure 8 As noted in the note 229 at the bottom, if RTLS is not available (eg, omitted from the corresponding system 20 or present but offline for any reason), the bed 30 prompts the caregiver or user to enter a PIN.

[0140] With the foregoing in mind, a voice control system 20 for use in a medical facility includes a hospital bed 30 having a weighing scale for weighing a patient supported on the bed and a display screen displaying the patient's weight. The voice control system 20 further includes a voice recorder configured to record digital models of the voices of multiple caregivers, and a server to which the digital models are transmitted to determine a voice biometric for each caregiver. The hospital bed 30 is configured to receive a voice input from a first caregiver among the multiple caregivers, the voice input instructing the bed 30 to weigh the patient. The bed is configured to communicate with the server to confirm, based on the voice biometric, that the caregiver is authorized to control the bed 30 via the voice input. After confirming that the first caregiver is authorized to control the bed 30, the patient is weighed using the weighing scale, and the patient's weight is displayed on the display screen.

[0141] In some embodiments, the voice recorder is included in the computer. Alternatively or additionally, the voice recorder is included in the mobile phone 22. Optionally, a caregiver identification (ID) is transmitted to the server along with a digital model of each of the plurality of caregivers via the voice recorder. In some embodiments, the hospital bed 30 is configured to receive a zero-scale voice input from a first caregiver, instructing the hospital bed 30 to zero the weighing scale by measuring a tare weight using the weighing scale when the patient is not on the bed 30. In this regard, the hospital bed 30 is configured to communicate with the server to confirm, based on voice biometrics, that the caregiver is authorized to control the hospital bed 30 via the zero-scale voice input. After confirming that the first caregiver is authorized to control the hospital bed 30, the hospital bed 30 zeroes the weighing scale.

[0142] In some embodiments, the bed 30 is configured to display an accept button on the display screen for the first caregiver to select to accept the displayed patient weight for storage in one or both of the bed 30's memory 38 and the patient's electronic medical record. If the displayed weight accepted by the first caregiver differs from the previously accepted patient weight by a threshold amount, the bed 30 may display a message on the display screen instructing the first caregiver to check to determine if the bed 30 weighing scale has been properly zeroed. If the bed 30 does not detect a problem, the bed displays a message on the display screen indicating that the patient weight has been successfully stored in one or both of the bed's memory and the patient's electronic medical record.

[0143] In some embodiments, the voice control system 20 further includes a real-time location system (RTLS) that determines the locations of multiple caregivers in the healthcare facility. The server uses information from the RTLS in addition to voice biometrics to confirm that the first caregiver is authorized to control the bed 30 via voice input. Optionally, the bed 30 is configured to display a personal identification number (PIN) screen on a display screen for the first caregiver to enter the PIN, and the server uses the PIN in addition to voice biometrics to confirm that the first caregiver is authorized to control the bed 30 via voice input. In addition to using voice biometrics and the PIN to determine that the first caregiver is authorized, information from the RTLS may also be used in addition to or instead of using the voice biometrics to determine that the first caregiver is authorized. In some embodiments, the bed 30 is configured to display a voice input button on a display screen that the first caregiver can select to enable the bed 30 to receive voice input.

[0144] As further contemplated by the present disclosure, a voice control system 20 for a healthcare facility includes a medical device used to care for a patient and a mobile device 22 including a voice recorder configured to record a digital model of a caregiver's voice. The digital model is transferred from the mobile device 22 to the medical device. The medical device is configured to determine the caregiver's voice biometrics based on the digital model. The medical device is further configured to receive voice input from the caregiver, the voice input instructing the medical device to perform a function. The medical device is configured to confirm, based on the voice biometrics, that the caregiver is authorized to control the medical device via the voice input. After confirming that the caregiver is authorized to control the medical device, the medical device performs the function.

[0145] In some embodiments, the caregiver's caregiver identification (ID) is transmitted from the mobile device 22 to the medical device along with a digital model of the caregiver's voice. In some embodiments, the medical device is configured to display an accept button on a display screen for the caregiver to select to accept the displayed patient information for storage in one or both of the medical device's memory and the patient's electronic medical record. If the medical device does not detect a problem, the medical device displays a message on the display screen indicating that the patient information has been successfully stored in one or both of the medical device's memory and the patient's electronic medical record.

[0146] The present disclosure contemplates that, in some embodiments, the voice control system 20 further includes a real-time location system (RTLS) that determines the location of the caregiver in the medical facility. The medical device uses information from the RTLS in addition to voice biometrics to confirm that the caregiver is authorized to control the medical device through voice input. Alternatively or additionally, the medical device is configured to display a personal identification number (PIN) screen on a display screen for the caregiver to enter the PIN, and the medical device uses the PIN in addition to voice biometrics to confirm that the first caregiver is authorized to control the medical device through voice input. In addition to using voice biometrics and using the PIN to determine that the first caregiver is authorized, information from the RTLS may also be used in addition or instead. In some embodiments, the medical device is configured to display a voice input button on a display screen that can be selected by the caregiver to enable the medical device to receive voice input.

[0147] According to the present disclosure, a voice control system 20 for a medical institution includes a hospital bed 30 having a weighing scale for weighing a patient supported on the bed and a display screen that displays the patient's weight. A real-time location system (RTLS) is provided to track the locations of multiple caregivers in the medical institution. The RTLS is configured to send a message to the hospital bed 30, which notifies the hospital bed 30 that a first caregiver has entered the room where the bed is located. The hospital bed 30 is configured to receive voice input from the first caregiver, which voice input instructs the hospital bed 30 to weigh the patient. In addition, the hospital bed 30 is configured to confirm that the first caregiver is authorized to control the hospital bed 30 through voice input based on the voice biometrics of the first caregiver stored in the memory 38 of the hospital bed 30. After confirming that the first caregiver is authorized to control the bed, the patient is weighed by the weighing scale and the patient's weight is displayed on the display screen.

[0148] In some embodiments, the bed 30 is configured to play an audio message asking the first caregiver if they want to record the displayed patient weight for storage in the patient's electronic medical record. In response to the first caregiver audibly responding to the audio message in the affirmative, the bed 30 communicates with the RTLS to reconfirm that the first caregiver is authorized to record the patient's weight for storage in the patient's electronic medical record. After the RTLS of the third aspect reconfirms that the first caregiver is authorized, the patient's weight is transmitted to the EMR system for storage in the patient's electronic medical record.

[0149] Optionally, the bed 30 is configured to display a record button on the display screen for the first caregiver to select to record the displayed patient weight for storage in the patient's electronic medical record. In response to the first caregiver selecting the record button, the bed 30 communicates with the RTLS to reconfirm that the first caregiver is authorized to record the patient weight for storage in the patient's electronic medical record. After the RTLS reconfirms that the first caregiver is authorized, the patient weight is transmitted to the EMR system for storage in the patient's electronic medical record.

[0150] In some embodiments, in response to the first caregiver audibly responding affirmatively to the audio message, the bed 30 displays a personal identification number (PIN) screen on the display screen for the first caregiver to enter the PIN. The bed 30 uses the PIN to reconfirm that the first caregiver is authorized to record the patient's weight for storage in the patient's electronic medical record. After the bed of the third aspect reconfirms that the first caregiver is authorized based on the PIN, the bed transmits the patient's weight to the EMR system for storage in the patient's electronic medical record.

[0151] Alternatively, in response to the first caregiver selecting the record button, the hospital bed 30 displays a personal identification number (PIN) screen on the display screen for the first caregiver to enter the PIN, and the hospital bed 30 uses the PIN to reconfirm that the first caregiver is authorized to record the patient's weight for storage in the patient's electronic medical record. In such an alternative embodiment, after the hospital bed 30 reconfirms that the first caregiver is authorized based on the PIN, the patient's weight is transmitted to the EMR system for storage in the patient's electronic medical record.

[0152] Now refer to Figure 5 , provides something similar to Figure 2 Schematic diagram of a fifth voice control system 20-5 of the system 20-2. Figure 5 Used in Figures 1 to 4 The reference numerals for system 20-5 are common to systems 20-1, 20-2, 20-3, and 20-4, and their descriptions are omitted here for brevity, but are equally applicable. In system 20-5, a speaker unit 56 receives voice input 58 and 59 from a caregiver and patient, respectively, to control environmental devices and entertainment equipment within the patient room. In the illustrative example of system 20-5, the entertainment equipment includes the speaker unit 56 itself and a television (TV) 84 along with a TV remote control 86. In some embodiments, the TV remote control 86 includes a microphone for receiving voice input. Figure 5 The environmental equipment of system 20-5 depicted in FIG. 2 includes motorized blinds 88, room lights 90, and a thermostat 92 for controlling the room temperature. In some embodiments, motorized curtains are used in place of motorized blinds 88 to block light from entering the relevant windows of the patient room. Therefore, reference numeral 88 is intended to represent either or both motorized blinds and motorized curtains. The term "motorized" with respect to blinds and / or curtains 88 means that one or more motors are provided to open and close the one or more blinds or curtains, as appropriate, and to adjust the angle of the louvers or slats of blinds 88.

[0153] The speaker unit 56 converts voice input 58, 59 from the caregiver and patient for controlling one or more devices 84, 86, 88, 90, 92, and / or the like into voice control messages, such as audio files, and transmits them from the speaker unit 56 to the network 60 via the wireless communication link 62. The VCA computer of the network 60 operates the CSP voice recognition software to confirm that the caregiver and / or patient is authorized to control the one or more corresponding devices 84, 86, 88, 90, 92, or the like via voice control. If voice control authorization is confirmed, the VCA computer, either alone or in conjunction with another computer, transmits the command message back to the speaker unit 56 via the wireless communication link 62. The speaker unit 56 then wirelessly distributes the command message to the specific device or devices 84, 86, 88, 90, 92, or the like to be controlled via the corresponding wireless link 94. In some embodiments, feedback regarding the one or more devices 84, 86, 88, 90, 92 being controlled is communicated to the speaker unit 56 via the corresponding wireless link 94 for forwarding to one or more computers of the network 60.

[0154] The present disclosure also contemplates that the speaker unit 56 is used as one of the entertainment devices in the patient room. For example, the speaker unit 56 is configured to play audio of a log book, voice-based games, and trivia games, typically in response to voice input 59 from the patient, but this does not exclude the possibility that such entertainment functions may be activated by the caregiver in certain circumstances. Thus, the speaker unit 56 serves a dual function as a gateway for voice commands 58, 59 to the network 60, command messages from the network 60 to the devices 84, 86, 88, 90, 92, and feedback messages from the devices 84, 86, 88, 90, 92, and is itself an entertainment device. Furthermore, it should be understood that in addition to controlling medical devices, including those described above in combination with Figures 1 to 4 The bed 30 described in connection with systems 20-1, 20-2, 20-3, 20-4 may also be implemented using the speaker unit 56 to control the entertainment and environmental devices 84, 86, 88, 90, 92 as described in connection with system 20-5.

[0155] Based on the above, the present disclosure contemplates a system 20-5 for voice control of a patient room environment. The system 20-5 includes: environmental devices 88, 90, 92 operable to control the patient room environment, entertainment devices 56, 84, 86 operable to provide entertainment to patients in the patient room, and a microphone (e.g., a microphone of a speaker unit 56) located in the patient room and configured to receive voice control commands from the patient for controlling the environmental devices 88, 90, 92 and the entertainment devices 56, 84, 86. The system 20-5 also includes a remote computer (e.g., a VCA computer of a network 60) communicatively coupled to the microphone and having voice recognition software. The remote computer is configured to process the voice control commands and send control messages to control the operation of the environmental devices 88, 90, 92 and the entertainment devices 56, 84, 86.

[0156] In some embodiments, the environmental devices include one or more of: electric blinds 88, electric curtains (also schematically indicated by reference numeral 88), room lights 90, reading lights (also schematically indicated by reference numeral 90), or thermostat 92. The entertainment device includes a television 84. Alternatively or additionally, the entertainment device includes a speaker unit 56 configured to play audio for a logbook, voice-based games, and trivia games. Optionally, the microphone of system 20-5 is included in speaker unit 56. Further optionally, system 20-5 further includes a bed 30 configured to support a patient, and speaker unit 56 is included in bed 30.

[0157] If desired, the entertainment devices of the system 20-5 include a second entertainment device (e.g., a remote control 86) that is separate from the speaker unit 56, and control messages for controlling the operation of the ambient devices (e.g., TV 84) and the second entertainment device (e.g., remote control 86) are routed to the ambient devices 84 and the second entertainment device 86 through the speaker unit 56. The present disclosure contemplates that the control messages are received as wireless control messages by the speaker unit 56. Alternatively or additionally, the control messages sent from the speaker unit 56 to the ambient devices 84 and the second entertainment device 86 are transmitted wirelessly.

[0158] Now refer to Figure 6 , providing similar Figures 1 to 5 Schematic diagram of a sixth voice control system 20-6 of the systems 20-1, 20-2, 20-3, 20-4, and 20-5. Figure 6 Used in Figures 1 to 5 The same reference numerals as those in the system 20-6 are used for the systems 20-1, 20-2, 20-3, 20-4, and 20-5, and their descriptions are omitted here but are equally applicable. Figure 5 System 20-5 with Figure 6The primary difference between the systems 20-6 is that an Internet of Things (IoT) hub 96 is provided. In some embodiments, the IoT hub 96 is a standalone hub separate from the medical device, such as the bed 30. In other embodiments, the IoT hub 96 is included in the medical device, such as the bed 30. In some embodiments, the IoT hub 96 is an Insteon hub available from SmartLabs, Inc. of Irvine, California. Figure 6 Not shown Figure 5 The electric blinds or curtains 88 are, however, in some embodiments, environmental devices of the system 20-6.

[0159] The IoT hub 96 allows for the use of various devices (e.g., bed 30, such as ECHO device or HOME device speaker unit 56, etc.) provides an agnostic microphone array in the patient room. The IoT hub 96 also allows the system 20-6 to be agnostic about which voice recognition (VR) and / or natural language processing (NLP) services will be used and which TV brand will be controlled by voice. In one example of the system 20-6, The ECHO device 56 and AWS cloud stack provide a voice-based nurse call system for VR and machine learning (ML). Therefore, the present disclosure contemplates that the IoT hub 96 in the bed 30 or in the patient room provides processing of the voice input to the local network 60 (e.g., local edge computing) or to an external network (e.g., an external mesh network), as needed, depending on the type of device to be controlled. Figure 6 The external network that communicates with the IoT hub 96 is not shown.

[0160] If the voice control input 70, 72 cannot be processed locally by the network 60, the IoT hub 96 is used to communicate with the external network to obtain the command message required to control the device 56, 84, 86, 88, 90, 92 in the room. Therefore, after the external network responds with the control message required to control the specific device 56, 84, 86, 88, 90, 92 based on the voice input 70, 72, the IoT hub 96 communicates the wireless command message 98 to the device 56, 84, 86, 88, 90, 92 as needed. The architecture of the system 20-6 allows for the flexibility of the system designer to decide where the voice input processing is to be completed for the various medical devices, entertainment devices, and environmental devices in the various patient rooms (i.e., within the network 60 or externally via the IoT hub 96).

[0161] Also like Figure 6As shown, the caregiver can provide voice input 100 and touch input 102 to the mobile phone 22 to control medical equipment in the patient room, such as the bed 30 and other equipment 56, 84, 86, 88, 90, 92. Similarly, the patient can provide voice input 100' and touch input 102' to the mobile phone 22' to control medical equipment in the patient room, such as the bed 30 and other equipment 56, 84, 86, 88, 90, 92. Figure 6 In the illustrative example of system 20-6 in FIG, mobile phones 22, 22' communicate with network 60 without involving WAM 26 of bed 30. For example, in some embodiments, mobile phones 22, 22' communicate with a wireless access point (WAP) of network 60. The WAP then forwards voice input 100, 100' to the VCA computer and touch input 102, 102' to the other computer, depending on the device to be controlled by the touch input.

[0162] If the IoT hub 96 needs to process any of the inputs 100, 100', 102, 102', then the signal corresponding to the input 100, 100', 102, 102' is provided by the network 60 via the wireless communication link 62 to the speaker unit 56, which then communicates the input 100, 100', 102, 102' to the IoT hub 96 via the embedded link 106 or the wireless link 108. Command messages to control a medical device, such as the bed 30, are sent from the network 60 to the medical device via the wireless communication link 76, or are routed from the IoT hub 96 back to the network 60 (e.g., via one of the links 106, 108 to the speaker unit 56, and then via the wireless communication link 62 between the speaker unit 56 and the network 60) for delivery to the medical device via the wireless communication link 76.

[0163] In embodiments where the IoT hub 96 is included in a medical device such as a hospital bed 30, each of these medical devices with the IoT hub 96 acts as a communication and computing node in the healthcare facility's network 60. Thus, the computation required to process voice input, as well as video input, sensor input, and / or text input, can be localized to the patient room or distributed to other network nodes (internal, external, or both). If computation is localized to the patient room, edge networks and cloud-based computing infrastructure can be avoided.

[0164] Based on the above, the present disclosure contemplates a system 20-6 for voice control of a patient room environment. The system 20-6 includes: environmental devices 88, 90, 92 operable to control the patient room environment; entertainment devices 56, 84, 86 operable to provide entertainment to patients in the patient room; and microphones (e.g., the microphone of the speaker unit 56, the microphone 48 of the bed 30, and the microphone of the mobile phone 22') located in the patient room and configured to receive voice control commands from the patient for controlling the environmental devices 88, 90, 92 and the entertainment devices 56, 84, 86. The system 20-6 also includes an Internet of Things (IoT) hub 96 communicatively coupled to the microphones. The microphones of the system 20-6 are configured to transmit the voice control commands to the IoT hub 96 (e.g., via other components and equipment of the system 20-6), and the IoT hub 96 is configured to transmit control messages 98 to control the operation of the environmental devices 88, 90, 92 and the entertainment devices 56, 84, 86.

[0165] In some embodiments of system 20-6, the environmental devices include one or more of: electric blinds 88, electric curtains (also labeled with reference numeral 88), room lights 90, reading lights (also labeled with reference numeral 90), or thermostat 92. The entertainment device of system 20-6 includes a television 84. Alternatively or additionally, the entertainment device of system 20-6 includes a speaker unit 56 configured to play audio for a logbook, voice-based games, and trivia games. Optionally, the microphone of system 20-6 is included in the speaker unit 56. Further optionally, system 20-6 further includes a bed 30 configured to support a patient, and the speaker unit 56 is included in the bed 30.

[0166] If desired, the entertainment devices of the system 20-6 include a second entertainment device (e.g., a remote control 86) that is separate from the speaker unit 56, and control messages 98 from the IoT hub 96 for controlling the operation of the ambient devices 88, 90, 92 and the second entertainment device 86 are routed to the ambient devices 88, 90, 92, and the second entertainment device 86 via the speaker unit 56. The present disclosure contemplates that at least some of the control messages for the system 20-6 can be received by the speaker unit 56 from the IoT hub 96 as wireless control messages 108. Alternatively or additionally, the control messages 94 for the system 20-6 sent from the speaker unit 56 to the ambient devices 88, 90, 92, and the second entertainment device 86 are transmitted wirelessly.

[0167] In some embodiments, the system 20-6 further includes a second environment device 88, 90, 92, a second entertainment device 56, 84, 86, and a remote computer (e.g., a VCA computer of the network 60 or a computer on an external network coupled to the IoT hub 96) communicatively coupled to the microphone and having voice recognition software. The remote computer is configured to process the voice control command and send a second control message to control the operation of the second environment device 88, 90, 92 and the second entertainment device 56, 84, 86. Optionally, the second control message is transmitted to the second environment device 88, 90, 92 and the second entertainment device 56, 84, 86 without involving the IoT hub 96. Further optionally, the system 20-6 includes a speaker unit 56, the microphone being included in the speaker unit 56, and the second control message is transmitted to the second environment device 88, 90, 92 and the second entertainment device 56, 84, 86 via the speaker unit 56.

[0168] like Figures 1 to 6 As shown, the systems 20-1, 20-2, 20-3, 20-4, 20-5, 20-6 include various wireless communication links 24, 28, 28', 52, 62, 64, 76, 94, 98, 104, 104', 106, 108 between the components of the respective systems 20-1, 20-2, 20-3, 20-4, 20-5, 20-6. The wireless communication technology used for the wireless communication links 24, 28, 28', 52, 62, 64, 76, 94, 98, 104, 104', 106, 108 is at the discretion of the system designer. However, examples of wireless communication technologies that may be employed in systems 20-1, 20-2, 20-3, 20-4, 20-5, 20-6 include: Bluetooth (BT), such as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE); WiFi (e.g., according to any of the IEEE 802.11x protocols); Ultra-Wideband (UWB); Zigbee; Z-wave; 6LoWPAN; Thread; WiFi-ah (HaLow); 2G ​​(GSM); 3G; 4G; 5G; LTE Cat 0, 1 & 3; LTE-M1; NB-IoT; RFID; SigFox; LoRaWAN; Ingenu; Weightless-N; Weightless-P; Weightless-W; ANT & ANT+; DigiMesh; MiWi; EnOcean; Dash7; and WirelessHART, to name a few.

[0169] Regarding some functions of the medical devices of systems 20-1, 20-2, 20-3, 20-4, 20-5, and 20-6, it is desirable to record information regarding adherence to care protocols (e.g., fall prevention protocols, safe skin protocols, sepsis care protocols, lung cleansing protocols, etc.) in the EMR system for the respective patients involved in tracking and recording compliance with care protocols. Care protocol documentation is simply another task that increases the workload of caregivers but is not directly related to patient care. For example, in many medical-surgical (Med-Surg) units of a medical institution, caregivers may be required to record every two hours that they have followed fall prevention procedures. Caregivers may be required to record some matters directly related to bed 30 and some matters not related thereto. For example, the caregiver may be asked to record the following: two, three, or four siderails are up (e.g., the siderails are in a raised position), the bed is lowered (e.g., the bed 30 elevator supports the upper frame of the bed 30 in a lower position relative to the base frame of the bed 30), the brakes are set (e.g., one or more casters of the bed are braked), the bed exit alarm is activated (e.g., the bed exit system of the bed 30 is turned on to monitor the patient's position relative to the bed and sound an alarm if the patient moves to a position indicating bed exit or moves a threshold amount toward bed exit 30), the nurse call pendant (also known as a "bedside speaker") is accessible to the patient, and the path from the bed 30 to the patient room bathroom is unobstructed.

[0170] The present disclosure contemplates that the bed 30 is equipped with a speaker and microphone unit 48, and that the systems 20-1, 20-2, 20-3, 20-4, 20-5, 20-6 include SCP software, VR software, or the like for processing voice input on the bed 30 or on one or more remote computers on the network 60, so that it is possible to record protocol compliance to the EMR system. In some embodiments of the system 20, voice input for EMR recording can also be accomplished via voice input to the caregiver's mobile phone 22 or speaker unit 56, in addition to or in lieu of voice input to the bed's microphone and speaker unit 48.

[0171] According to one example workflow for recording protocol compliance into an EMR system, bed 30 is available from Hill-Rom In the example of a bed 30, a caregiver enters a patient room with a bed 30 and speaks the following voice input: "Centrella, perform fall prevention check." In response to the voice input, the bed 30 checks to determine and confirm that the bed is in a safe state for the fall risk patient—sidebars up, bed lowered, brakes set, and the exit alarm is armed. If the bed 30 is not in a safe state, the bed prompts the caregiver to change the bed's settings or position as needed. For example, the prompt is a text message on the bed 30's graphical user interface (GUI), a text message that appears on the caregiver's mobile phone 22 (e.g., in a pop-up window on the phone 22's display), and / or an audible message played through the bed 30's speaker unit 48. If the bed 30 is in a safe state, the bed plays an audible message, for example, telling the caregiver: "The bed is in a safe state for falls risk patient." Alternatively or additionally, a similar text message is displayed on the bed 30's GUI and / or the caregiver's mobile phone 22. Further alternatively or additionally, an audible message is played through the speaker of the caregiver's mobile phone 22 .

[0172] After the bed controller 34 has confirmed that the bed 30 is in a safe state, the bed 30 plays an audible message through the bed 30 speaker unit 48 to inquire whether the caregiver or patient has a nurse call pendant available (reachable) for the patient. Alternatively or additionally, in some embodiments, a text message inquiring whether the nurse call pendant is within reach of the patient is displayed on the bed 30 GUI and / or the caregiver's mobile phone 22 or even the patient's mobile phone 22'. If the answer to the inquiry about whether the nurse call pendant is available for use by the patient is "no", the bed 30 prompts the caregiver to correct the situation (e.g., move the nurse call pendant to be available for use by the patient) and confirm. The pendant availability prompt can be heard via the bed 30 speaker unit 48 or the caregiver's mobile phone 22, or the pendant availability prompt can be text, such as displayed on the bed 30 GUI or the caregiver's mobile phone 22.

[0173] After the caregiver confirms to the bed 30 that the nurse call pendant is available for use with the patient, either through an affirmative voice input to the bed 30's microphone 48 or mobile phone 22 transmitted to the bed 30's WAM 26, or through an affirmative manual input to the bed 30's GUI or mobile phone 22 display screen, the bed 30 plays an audible message through the bed 30's speaker unit 48 requesting the caregiver's confirmation that the path around the bed 30 is clear. Alternatively or additionally, a text message inquiring whether the path around the bed 30 is clear is displayed on the bed 30's GUI and / or the caregiver's mobile phone 22. If the answer to the inquiry about whether the path around the bed 30 is clear for the patient is "no," the bed 30 prompts the caregiver to correct the condition (e.g., clear a path around the bed 30 for the patient, particularly a path from the bed 30 to the bathroom) and confirm. The clear path prompt may be audible via the bed 30's speaker unit 48 or the caregiver's mobile phone 22, or the clear path prompt may be text, such as displayed on the bed 30's GUI or the caregiver's mobile phone 22.

[0174] After the caregiver confirms to the bed 30 that the path around the bed 30 is clear by an affirmative voice input to the bed 30 microphone 48 or mobile phone 22 transmitted to the bed 30's WAM 26 or an affirmative manual input to the bed 30 GUI or mobile phone 22 display screen transmitted to the bed 30, the bed 30 notifies the caregiver audibly and / or textually via the bed 30 GUI, the speaker unit 48 on the bed 30, the speaker of the phone 22, and / or the display screen of the mobile phone 22 that the fall prevention check has been completed and that the fall prevention protocol has been complied with, and inquires the caregiver whether he / she is ready to record the compliance check to the EMR system (e.g., for storage in a database of an EMR computer). In response to the caregiver answering "yes" to the record query, information about the fall prevention check is recorded from the bed 30 to the EMR system either audibly or via manual input on the bed 30 GUI or mobile phone 22 touch screen. Thus, the present disclosure contemplates that the bed 30 has voice capabilities and can interact with the caregiver and patient to ensure that care protocols are being followed, and automatically record information about successful care protocol checks to the healthcare facility's EMR system in response to the caregiver confirming that the respective care protocols have been followed.

[0175] Some operations on medical devices may inherently pose a hazard to the patient. For example, articulating any deck 42 segment of a bed 30 while the patient is in traction could potentially cause injury to the patient. For beds that require manual input (such as pressing a button) to articulate a deck segment, at any point during the movement of the deck segment, the user can release the articulation button to stop the movement and potentially prevent injury to the patient. A similar hazard inherent to the bed 30 involves operating the bed 30 elevator to lower the upper frame of the bed 30 relative to the base frame.

[0176] In embodiments of the system 20 where a bed 30 or other inherently dangerous medical device is operated by voice, it is desirable to include voice safety features for such medical products in the system 20. In particular, it is desirable that a voice input can be spoken to cause certain actions of the bed 30 or other medical device to stop before any harm to the patient occurs. However, other functions of the bed 30 and medical device that are unintentionally stopped should continue to operate normally. One way in which the present disclosure contemplates achieving this is to assume that when the caregiver issues the stop command, the caregiver is observing a potentially harmful action and that the caregiver is correctly aware of the potential harm that could occur if the function is continued. In this regard, embodiments of the system 20 are optionally configured with software that is able to infer where the caregiver's eyes are looking by determining the direction in which the caregiver's face, and therefore the direction in which the caregiver's eyes are pointing, when the caregiver is speaking via microphone beamforming.

[0177] Microphone arrays deployed in the product (e.g., microphone 48 on bed 30) and / or microphone arrays around the room (e.g., microphones in speaker unit 56 or microphones in the audio station of the nurse call system (see Figure 11 )) has outputs that allow a beamforming positioning device (e.g., the VCA computer of system 60) to translate and process incoming voice information from the microphone and share information with a device such as bed 30 regarding whether it has been inferred that a caregiver is viewing the device, including whether the caregiver is viewing a relevant portion of the device that is in operation and potentially causing harm to the patient.

[0178] It should be noted that the more the caregiver speaks, the more accurately the beamforming positioning device can distinguish the caregiver's face and infer the direction the caregiver's eyes are pointing. Accordingly, this safety feature of the system 20 is most suitable for use in situations where the caregiver is in frequent communication with the device, so that the caregiver's eye direction is constantly updated on an ongoing basis, during which time risks to the patient can be mitigated. Therefore, the present disclosure contemplates that the system 20 is configured with at least one computer that is operable to infer eye position based on the directionality of the caregiver's speech. This information is used by the system 20 in response to a spoken stop command for mitigating any danger that may occur due to the operation of the medical product that the caregiver is viewing. In some embodiments, if a patient issues a vocal stop command and the VCA computer or bed controller 34 recognizes that the voice input is from the patient, the movement of any medical equipment in the room that the patient is using is stopped, regardless of the patient's face / eye directionality.

[0179] In embodiments of the system 20 where the bed 30 is a medical device associated with a spoken stop command, bed functions to be stopped may include, for example, bed articulation (e.g., movement of the deck 42 sections of the bed 30 frame 40), bed-based therapies or mattress movements typically performed by controlling the inflation and deflation of mattress air cells (such as percussion and vibration (P&V) therapy, continuous lateral rotation (CLRT) therapy, and roll assist functions), and movement of the bed's upper frame relative to the base frame, such as by raising, lowering, or tilting the upper frame. Movement of a patient lift (such as an overhead patient lift, a ceiling-mounted patient lift, a patient lift integrated into the bed 30, etc.) used to translate or transfer a patient to or from the bed 30, as well as movement of an operating table section, can be similarly stopped by using a microphone array to determine face / eye directionality associated with a caregiver's spoken stop command.

[0180] Thus, based on the above, the present disclosure contemplates a system 20 for mitigating risks to patients in a medical environment. The system 20 includes a medical product (e.g., a hospital bed 30) having at least one function that could cause harm to a patient when operated. A circuit (e.g., a bed controller 34) is carried by the medical product and includes a processor 36 and a memory 38 for storing software. The system 20 also has a microphone array (e.g., a microphone 48, a microphone of a speaker unit 56, a microphone in an audio station of a nurse call system, a microphone of other medical equipment, and / or a separate microphone in a ward) configured to receive voice input from a person near the medical product. The microphone array communicates with the circuit, and the software is configured to cooperate with the microphone array to use beamforming technology to infer the direction in which the person's eyes are pointing based on the voice input. The circuit is configured to stop at least one function that could cause harm to the patient in response to the person saying a voice stop command when it is inferred that the person's eyes are pointing toward the medical product.

[0181] In some embodiments, the medical product includes a bed 30, and a microphone array 48 is mounted to the bed 30. Optionally, the bed 30 includes at least one sidebar 46 movable between a raised position that prevents a patient from leaving the bed and a lowered position that does not prevent the patient from leaving the bed. At least one microphone 48 in the microphone array is mounted to the at least one sidebar.

[0182] If the medical product includes a bed 30, some microphones in the microphone array may be mounted to one or both of the walls or ceiling of the patient room where the bed 30 is located. For example, the microphone array may include a first microphone mounted to the medical product and a second microphone mounted to one of the walls or ceiling of the patient room where the medical product is located. Further optionally, the medical product may include a patient lift, and the microphone array may be mounted to one or both of the walls and ceiling of the patient room where the patient lift is located. If desired, the patient lift may include a mobile patient lift or a ceiling-mounted patient lift.

[0183] Furthermore, if the medical product comprises a bed 30, the at least one function may include one or more of: moving a mattress support section of a mattress support deck 42 of the bed 30, moving an upper frame of the bed relative to a base frame of the bed 30, operating a percussion and vibration (P&V) therapy function of a mattress 44 of the bed 30, operating a rollover assist function of the mattress 44 of the bed 30, or operating a continuous lateral rotation therapy (CLRT) function of the mattress 44 of the bed 30. Further optionally, the medical product may comprise an operating table, and the at least one function may include moving a first operating table portion relative to a second operating table portion.

[0184] In some embodiments, the microphone array of the system 20 communicates wirelessly with the circuit 34 of the medical product. Alternatively or additionally, the microphone array can communicate with the circuit 34 of the medical product by wire. If necessary, the system 20 can further include a mobile phone 22, 22' that can be carried by a person. The mobile phone 22, 22' can be configured to receive a voice command from the person and transmit a command message corresponding to the voice command to the medical product to start the operation of at least one function. Alternatively or additionally, the system 20 can further include at least one computer (e.g., a VCA computer of the network 60) that can be away from the medical product. At least one computer can have clinical speech recognition software. The microphone array can communicate the voice command received from the person to the at least one computer. At least one computer can be configured to transmit a command message corresponding to the voice command to the medical product to start the operation of at least one function.

[0185] The present disclosure contemplates that circuitry 34 is configured to, when the person's eyes are not inferred to be directed toward the medical product, not to stop at least one function that could potentially harm the patient in response to a spoken stop command from the person. If desired, circuitry 34 can be configured to be trained to recognize the patient's voice and to stop at least one function that could potentially harm the patient in response to a spoken stop command from the patient, regardless of the direction of the patient's eyes. In such embodiments, the medical product can include a bed 30 that supports the patient.

[0186] According to the present disclosure, system 20 is configured to allow voice input to a medical device, such as bed 30, to be used to associate the medical device with a location in a healthcare facility. In this device-to-room association system 20, the medical device has circuitry (e.g., controller 34) including a processor 36, memory 38, and a transmitter (e.g., one of the electrical components of controller 34 and / or WAM 26). The device-to-room association system 20 also has at least one microphone (e.g., microphone 48, a microphone of speaker unit 56, or some other microphone, such as those disclosed herein) communicatively coupled to the circuitry 34. Memory 38 stores software configured to receive voice input via the at least one microphone. The device-to-room association system 20 also includes a positioning system comprising at least one positioning computer (e.g., a computer of network 60) configured to store device-to-room associations. The medical device's circuitry 34 is configured to receive voice input from a person, via the at least one microphone, indicating a location identification (ID) at which the medical device is located. The circuitry 34 is configured to store the location ID in the medical device's memory 38 and transmit the location ID along with the medical device ID to the at least one positioning computer. The at least one positioning computer is configured to establish an association between the first device and the room based on the medical device ID and the location ID transmitted from the medical device.

[0187] In some embodiments, the at least one microphone 48 of the device-to-room association system 20 is carried by the medical device. Optionally, the at least one microphone of the device-to-room association system 20 comprises a microphone array carried by the medical device. Further optionally, the at least one microphone of the device-to-room association system 20 is spaced apart from and mounted in place on the medical device. For example, the at least one microphone of the device-to-room association system 20 may comprise a microphone array spaced apart from and mounted in place on the medical device. If desired, the at least one microphone of the device-to-room association system 20 is configured to wirelessly communicate with circuitry of the medical device.

[0188] The present disclosure contemplates that the at least one microphone of the device-to-room association system 20 includes a first microphone carried by the medical device and a second microphone spaced apart from the medical device. In some such embodiments of the device-to-room association system 20, the second microphone is configured to wirelessly communicate with circuitry of the medical device.

[0189] In some embodiments, the circuitry 34 of the medical device in the device-to-room association system 20 further includes a display screen that displays the location ID after the circuitry 34 receives the location ID via the at least one microphone. Optionally, the circuitry 34 of the medical device in the device-to-room association system 20 is configured to wirelessly transmit the location ID and bed ID for receipt by the at least one positioning computer. Further optionally, the at least one positioning computer stores the patient-location association and can establish the device-patient association after receiving the medical device ID and location ID. In such embodiments, the at least one positioning computer is configured to transmit the patient ID corresponding to the patient associated with the device-to-patient association to the medical device. If desired, the circuitry 34 of the medical device in the device-to-room association system 20 includes a display screen, and the circuitry 34 is configured to display the patient ID on the display screen.

[0190] The present disclosure further contemplates that if the voice input does not include a valid location ID, the circuitry 34 of the medical device in the device-to-room association system 20 is configured to generate a query for additional information to the person. For example, the circuitry 34 of the medical device in the device-to-room association system 20 further includes at least one speaker, and the query includes an audible message played through the at least one speaker. Alternatively or additionally, the circuitry 34 of the medical device in the device-to-room association system 20 includes a display screen, and the query includes a text message displayed on the display screen.

[0191] In some embodiments of the device-to-room association system 20, the circuitry of the medical device further includes a display screen, and the circuitry 34 is configured to display a location menu of valid location IDs of the medical facility in response to a vocal request from a person. In this regard, the circuitry 34 of the medical device is configured to display a menu hierarchy associated with location options, and the circuitry is configured to allow the person to vocally navigate through the menu hierarchy to reach the location menu.

[0192] Optionally, the circuitry 34 of the medical device of the device-to-room association system 20 includes at least one speaker, and the circuitry 34 is configured to play an audible confirmation message via the at least one speaker in response to the location ID included in the voice input being a valid location ID. Further optionally, the circuitry 34 of the medical device of the device-to-room association system 20 is configured to receive a disassociation input from a person via at least one microphone indicating that the first device should be disassociated from the room. The circuitry 34 is configured to transmit the disassociation input along with the medical device ID to the at least one positioning computer. The at least one positioning computer is configured to disassociate the first device from the room based on the medical device ID and the disassociation input transmitted from the medical device.

[0193] Now refer to Figure 9, the system 20-9 has two beds 30 in the patient room. Therefore, when a caregiver or patient attempts to vocally control one of the beds 30 in the room, it is expected that the system 20-9 will know which bed 30 to control based on the voice input. In the illustrative example, one bed 30 is schematically labeled CENTRELLA A, and the other bed 30 is schematically labeled CENTRELLA B. Figure 9 In system 20-9, a method for determining which medical device (e.g., bed 30 in the illustrative example) among multiple medical devices in a room is to be controlled by voice is shown. In particular, the caregiver uses a key phrase including a keyword (e.g., "hey") followed by a unique name (e.g., "bed name A") to indicate that bed A is to be controlled by the caregiver's voice, rather than bed B. Thus, in the illustrative example, the caregiver's speech bubble indicates that the caregiver has spoken the voice input: "HEY CENTRELLA A. SET BRAKE." The system 20-9 responds by setting the brakes of bed 30 labeled CENTRELLA A but not setting the brakes of bed 30 labeled CENTRELLA B.

[0194] exist Figure 9 In FIG. 1 , a graphical user interface (GUI) 110 is displayed on one of the sidebars 46 of each bed 30 .

[0195] Thus, based on the foregoing, the present disclosure contemplates a system 20-9 for voice control of in-room medical devices, comprising a first medical device having a first circuit 34 including a first processor 36, a first memory 38, and a first microphone 48, and a second medical device having a second circuit 34 including a second processor 34, a second memory 36, and a second microphone 48. The first and second medical devices of the system 20-9 are sufficiently close to each other so that voice input spoken by a person is received by both the first microphone 48 and the second microphone 48. The first circuit 34 of the first medical device is configured to enable voice control in response to the voice input including a first code phrase, and the second circuit 34 of the second medical device is configured to enable voice control in response to the voice input including a second code phrase.

[0196] In some embodiments of system 20-9, the first code phrase and the second code phrase may each begin with a common code word. For example, the common code word may include the word "hey". Optionally, the first code phrase may include a first unique name corresponding to the first medical device and spoken immediately after the common code word. Similarly, the second code phrase may include a second unique name corresponding to the second medical device and spoken immediately after the common code word. In the case where the first medical device and the second medical device have the same model name, the first unique name may be in the format of "Model Name A" and the second unique name may be in the format of "Model Name B". Alternatively or additionally, in the case where the first medical device and the second medical device have the same model name, the first unique name may be in the format of "Model Name 1" and the second unique name may be in the format of "Model Name 2". In some embodiments of system 20-9, the specific unique names of the first medical device and the second medical device are stored in the memory 38 of the respective medical devices and / or in a remote computer, such as a VCA computer of network 60.

[0197] After each of the first and second medical devices of system 20-9 is enabled for voice control, the corresponding first and second circuits 34 are enabled to receive voice commands to control the functions of the corresponding first and second medical devices for a threshold time period, such as from five seconds to one minute, with the range of arbitrary threshold time periods being given. After the threshold time period has elapsed, if the corresponding first and second medical devices do not receive at least one voice command, the corresponding first and second medical devices are disabled from voice control, such as until another code phrase designating a specific medical voice control is received by the microphone of system 20-9. The present disclosure contemplates that, in response to receiving a valid voice command during the threshold time period, the threshold time period is reset so that additional voice commands can be provided to the corresponding medical devices if desired.

[0198] Now refer to Figure 10 The system 20-10 is shown in which a caregiver badge 25 is brought into proximity with a medical device to be voice-controlled (e.g., a bed 30 in the illustrative example) to determine which medical device among a plurality of medical devices in a patient room is the one to be controlled. Figure 10is a schematic diagram of a second way to determine which medical device among multiple medical devices in a room is to be controlled by voice. In system 20-10, a caregiver badge 25 worn by a caregiver transmits a near field communication (NFC) signal, which is detected by a WAM 26 of a medical device (e.g., a bed 30 in the illustrative example) when the caregiver approaches the medical device (e.g., approximately three feet (1 meter) or closer). In response to the WAM 26 of the medical device detecting the NFC signal from the badge 25, a controller 34 enables the medical device for voice control. In the illustrative example, the caregiver's speech bubble indicates that the caregiver has spoken the voice input: "CENTRELLA MCM ON" when the caregiver badge 35 is in proximity to the WAM 26. MCM is an acronym for the microclimate management feature of the mattress 44 of the bed 30.

[0199] Based on the above, a system 20-10 for enabling voice control of a medical device (e.g., a bed 30) includes an identifier item carried by a caregiver and configured to transmit a wireless identification (ID) signal. System 20-10 also includes a medical device having circuitry 34, which includes a processor 36, memory 38, a microphone 48, a transmitter (e.g., included in WAM 26), and a proximity detector (e.g., also included in WAM 26). The proximity detector is configured to receive the wireless ID signal from identifier item 25 when identifier item 25 is within three feet (1 meter) or less of the medical device. System 20-10 further includes at least one voice control authorization (VCA) computer (e.g., a VCA computer of network 60) located remote from the medical device and communicatively coupled to the medical device. In response to the proximity detector of WAM 26 receiving the wireless ID signal, circuitry 34 transmits the ID data contained in the wireless ID signal via the transmitter of WAM 26 for receipt by the VCA computer. The VCA computer is configured to verify that the ID data corresponds to a caregiver authorized to control the medical device via voice input. If the caregiver authorization is verified by the VCA computer, the VCA computer is configured to transmit an authorization message to the medical device. In response to the circuitry 34 of the medical device receiving the authorization message via the WAM 26, voice control of the medical device is enabled.

[0200] In some embodiments of the system 20-10, the identifier item further includes a mobile phone 22 in addition to or in lieu of the caregiver badge 25. In some embodiments of the system 20-10 where the identifier item is a caregiver badge 25, the identifier item is a radio frequency identification (RFID) badge. Further alternatively or additionally, the identifier item of the system 20-10 may include a near field communication (NFC) transponder that transmits a wireless ID signal in response to receiving electromagnetic energy transmitted by the WAM 26 of the circuit 34 of the medical device.

[0201] If desired, after enabling voice control of the medical device, voice input received by the circuit's microphone 48 is transmitted to the VCA computer via the circuit's transmitter. In this regard, the VCA computer of system 20-10 is configured to determine whether the voice input corresponds to at least one valid control command for the medical device from among a plurality of valid control commands. If the voice input corresponds to one of the plurality of valid control commands, the VCA computer is configured to transmit a device control message to the medical device. In response to the medical device's circuit 34 receiving the device control message, the medical device performs a function corresponding to the device control message.

[0202] Optionally, after voice control of a medical device of system 20-10 is enabled, circuitry 34 is enabled to receive voice commands to control functions of the medical device for a threshold time period, such as five seconds to one minute, with the range of any threshold time period being given. After the threshold time period has elapsed, if at least one voice command has not been received by the medical device of system 20-10, the medical device is disabled for voice control. The present disclosure contemplates that, in response to receiving a valid voice command during the threshold time period, the threshold time period is reset so that additional voice commands can be provided to the corresponding medical device, if desired. In other embodiments of system 20-10, circuitry 34 is enabled to receive voice commands to control functions of the medical device as long as the identifier item remains within communication range of the WAM 26 of the medical device.

[0203] Now refer to Figure 11 A system 20-11 is shown in which the loudness of a voice input received at each of a plurality of microphones is used to determine which medical device among a plurality of medical devices in a patient room is to be voice controlled. Figure 11 A schematic diagram illustrating a third method of determining which medical device among multiple medical devices in a room is to be controlled by voice. Figure 11 In the illustrative system 20-11, the bed 30 has a microphone 48, the second medical device 112 has a microphone 114, and the third medical device 116 has a microphone 118. The second medical device 112 has a microphone 114. Figure 11 An IV pump is shown here, but it could also be a vital signs monitor, therapeutic equipment, etc. The third medical device 116 of the illustrative system 20-11 is an audio station for the nurse call system. The audio station 116 is mounted to the room wall in a fixed location, while the bed 30 and IV pump 112 are mobile pieces of medical equipment that can be transported from one location to another within the medical facility. In other embodiments of the system 20-11, one or more speaker units 56 may be provided in the patient room in addition to or in place of the microphones 48, 114, and 118.

[0204] Based on the above, a system 20-11 for enabling voice control of medical devices 30, 112, 116 in a room includes a first medical device (e.g., one device 30, 112, 116) and a second medical device (e.g., the other device 30, 112, 116). The first medical device has a first circuit 34 including a first processor 36, a first memory 38, and a first microphone (e.g., one of microphones 48, 114, 118). The second medical device has a second circuit 34 including a second processor 36, a second memory 38, and a second microphone (e.g., the other of microphones 48, 114, 118). The first and second medical devices of the system 20-11 are sufficiently close to each other so that voice input spoken by a person is received by both the first and second microphones. The first circuit of the first medical device is configured to enable voice control in response to the voice input received by the first microphone being louder than the voice input received by the second microphone. The second circuit of the second medical device is configured to enable voice control in response to the voice input received by the second microphone being louder than the voice input received by the first microphone.

[0205] In some embodiments of system 20-11, the first circuit is configured to transmit a first loudness value for receipt by the second circuit, and the second circuit is configured to transmit a second loudness value for receipt by the first circuit. The first medical device of system 20-11 is configured to enable voice control in response to the first circuit determining that the first loudness value is greater than the second loudness value. Similarly, the second medical device of system 20-11 is configured to enable voice control in response to the second circuit determining that the second loudness value is greater than the first loudness value.

[0206] In some embodiments, the system 20-11 further includes at least one voice control authorization (VCA) computer (e.g., a VCA computer of network 60) remote from the first medical device and the second medical device and communicatively coupled to the first medical device and the second medical device. In such embodiments of the system 20-11, the first circuit is configured to transmit a first loudness value for receipt by the at least one VCA computer, and the second circuit is configured to transmit a second loudness value for receipt by the at least one VCA computer. The VCA computer is configured to transmit a first message to the first medical device to enable voice control of the first medical device in response to the VCA computer determining that the first loudness value is greater than the second loudness value. Similarly, the VCA computer is configured to transmit a second message to the second medical device to enable voice control of the second medical device in response to the VCA computer determining that the second loudness value is greater than the first loudness value.

[0207] Optionally, after each of the first and second medical devices of the system 20-11 is enabled for voice control, the corresponding first and second circuits 34 and 34 are enabled to receive voice commands to control functions of the corresponding first and second medical devices for a threshold time period, such as from five seconds to one minute, with any range of threshold time periods being given. After the threshold time period has elapsed, if the corresponding first and second medical devices of the system 20-11 do not receive at least one voice command, the corresponding first and second medical devices are disabled for voice control. The present disclosure contemplates that, in response to receiving a valid voice command during the threshold time period, the threshold time period is reset so that additional voice commands can be provided to the corresponding medical devices, if desired.

[0208] In the illustrative example of the system 20-11 described above, each medical device 30, 112, 116 has its own microphone 48, 114, 118, respectively. However, this need not be the case in other embodiments. Thus, according to a variant embodiment of the system 20-11, the microphone array is positioned within the patient room, but each microphone in the array is spaced apart from the medical device that can be controlled by voice. Thus, the present disclosure contemplates that a variant embodiment of the system 20-11 includes a first medical device having a first circuit 34 including a first processor 36 and a first memory 38, and a second medical device having a second circuit 34 including a second processor 36 and a second memory 38. The variant embodiment of the system 20-11 also has a microphone array positioned within the room and spaced apart from the first medical device and the second medical device.

[0209] In a variant embodiment of system 20-11, the microphone array includes a first microphone that is closer to the first medical device than to the second medical device and a second microphone that is closer to the second medical device than to the first medical device. However, the first medical device and the second medical device and the first microphone and the second microphone of the variant embodiment of system 20-11 are close enough to each other so that the voice input spoken by the person is received by both the first microphone and the second microphone. The first circuit 34 of the first medical device of the variant embodiment of system 20-11 is configured to enable voice control in response to the voice input received by the first microphone being louder than the voice input received by the second microphone. The second circuit of the second medical device of the variant embodiment of system 20-11 is configured to enable voice control in response to the voice input received by the second microphone being louder than the voice input received by the first microphone.

[0210] In some embodiments of system 20-11, a first microphone is included in a first microphone circuit that is configured to transmit a first loudness value for receipt by a first circuit 34 of a first medical device and a second circuit 34 of a second medical device. A second microphone of such embodiments of system 20-11 is included in a second microphone circuit that is configured to transmit a second loudness value for receipt by the first circuit 34 of the first medical device and the second circuit 34 of the second medical device. In variant embodiments of system 20-11, the first medical device is configured to enable voice control in response to the first circuit 34 determining that the first loudness value is greater than the second loudness value. Similarly, the second medical device of variant embodiments of system 20-11 is configured to enable voice control in response to the second circuit 34 determining that the second loudness value is greater than the first loudness value.

[0211] If desired, the microphone array of a variant embodiment of system 20-11 includes a communication circuit coupled to a first microphone and a second microphone. The communication circuit is configured to determine a first loudness value based on a first loudness of a speech input received by the first microphone and to determine a second loudness value based on a second loudness of a speech input received by the second microphone. The communication circuit is configured to transmit the first loudness value and the second loudness value for receipt by a first circuit 34 of the first medical device and a second circuit 34 of the second medical device. The first medical device of the variant embodiment of system 20-11 is configured to enable voice control in response to the first circuit 34 determining that the first loudness value is greater than the second loudness value. Similarly, the second medical device of the variant embodiment of system 20-11 is configured to enable voice control in response to the second circuit 34 determining that the second loudness value is greater than the first loudness value.

[0212] Optionally, a variant embodiment of system 20-11 further includes at least one voice control authorization (VCA) computer remote from the first medical device and the second medical device and communicatively coupled to the first microphone and the second microphone in the microphone array. The VCA computer receives a first loudness value based on the first loudness of the voice input received by the first microphone and a second loudness value based on the second loudness of the voice input received by the second microphone. The VCA computer is configured to transmit a first message to the first medical device to enable voice control of the first medical device in response to the VCA computer determining that the first loudness value is greater than the second loudness value. Similarly, the VCA computer is configured to transmit a second message to the second medical device to enable voice control of the second medical device in response to the VCA computer determining that the second loudness value is greater than the first loudness value.

[0213] Further optionally, after each of the first and second medical devices of the variant embodiment of system 20-11 is enabled for voice control, the corresponding first and second circuits 34 and 34 are enabled to receive voice commands to control functions of the corresponding first and second medical devices for a threshold time period, such as from five seconds to one minute, with the range of any threshold time period being given. After the threshold time period has elapsed, if the corresponding first and second medical devices have not received at least one voice command, the corresponding first and second medical devices of the variant embodiment of system 20-11 are disabled for voice control. The present disclosure contemplates that, in response to receiving a valid voice command during the threshold time period, the threshold time period can be reset so that additional voice commands can be provided to the corresponding medical devices, if desired.

[0214] Now refer to Figure 12 The system 20-12 is shown, in which a camera 120 provided on a medical device in a ward is used to determine which medical device among a plurality of medical devices in the ward is to be controlled by voice. Figure 12 A schematic diagram showing a fourth method of determining which medical device among multiple medical devices in a room is to be controlled by voice. Figure 12 In the example of system 20-12, two patient beds 30 are each equipped with a corresponding camera 120. In the illustrative example, the camera 120 is attached to the footboard 54 of the bed 30. Alternatively or additionally, the camera 120 is provided at other locations on the bed 30, such as positioned on one or more siderails 46 or on the headboard of the bed 30. When a person provides voice input to control a function of one of the beds 30, the circuitry or controller 34 of each bed 30 processes the image captured by the corresponding camera 120 at the time the voice input was spoken to determine whether the person is looking at the camera 120.

[0215] In the illustrative example of system 20-12, Figure 12 The speech bubble in the dialog box indicates that the person has provided the voice input "CENTRELLA BED EXIT ON" to turn on or enable the Figure 12 The bed exit system in the foreground. Figure 12 The bed in the foreground is 30° from the camera 120° instead of Figure 12120 of the bed 30 in the background. Thus, when the voice input is spoken, the camera 120 of the bed 30 in the foreground captures an image of a person's face, while the cameras 120 of the beds 30 in the background capture images without any person's face. The controller 34 of each bed 30, or a remote computer (such as a VCA computer on network 60), processes the image captured by the corresponding camera 120 to determine whether the voice input is related to that particular bed. In the illustrative example, after the controller 34 determines or is notified that the captured image contains a person's face, the bed 30 of the system 20-12 in the foreground executes the voice input (e.g., activates the corresponding bed exit system).

[0216] Thus, based on the above, the present disclosure contemplates that the system 20-12 includes a first medical device (e.g., Figure 12 a bed 30 in the apparatus) and a second medical device (e.g., Figure 12 12 ), the first medical device has a first circuit 34 including a first processor 36, a first memory 38, a first microphone 48, and a first camera 120, and the second medical device has a second circuit 34 including a second processor 36, a second memory 38, a second microphone 48, and a second camera 120. The first circuit 34 of the first medical device of the system 20-12 is configured to enable voice control in response to the first processor 36 recognizing a facial image of a first person captured by the first camera 120. Similarly, the second circuit 34 of the second medical device of the system 20-12 is configured to enable voice control in response to the second processor 36 recognizing a facial image of a second person captured by the second camera 120.

[0217] In some embodiments of system 20-12, first camera 120 captures a first image of a person for processing by processor 36 in response to first microphone 48 receiving a voice command from the person, and second camera 120 captures a second image of a person for processing by processor 36 in response to second microphone 48 receiving a voice command from the person. For example, the voice command may include any valid device control command from a plurality of valid device control commands.

[0218] Optionally, with respect to system 20-12, the first circuit 34 further includes a first display screen 110, and the second circuit 34 further includes a second display screen 110. If both the first camera 120 and the second camera 120 capture the respective first and second facial images of the person in response to a voice command, the first and second medical devices 30 and 30 remain disabled for voice control, and the first and second display screens 110 and 110 each display a notification message advising the person to only face the first camera 120 or second camera 120 of the respective first or second medical device 30 that the person wishes to control via voice. To confirm that both cameras 120 of the beds 30 have captured the person's facial image, the beds 30 communicate appropriate messages to each other, such as via the in-room network, directly via the WAM 26 of the bed 30, or via the network 60. Alternatively or additionally, a remote computer on the network 60 sends a notification message to the bed 30 indicating that both cameras 120 have captured the person's facial image, and thus, it is unknown which bed 30 is to be voice-controlled by the person. To accomplish this, each image captured by the camera 120 is time-stamped so that images captured simultaneously or within a short time threshold (eg, less than one second) of each other can be detected.

[0219] In some embodiments of system 20-12, a first medical device includes a first bed 30 having a first patient exit barrier (e.g., sidebar 46 or footboard 54) to which a first camera 120 is coupled, and a second medical device includes a second bed 30 having a second patient exit barrier (e.g., sidebar 46 or footboard 54) to which a second camera 120 is coupled. For example, the first patient exit barrier and the second patient exit barrier each include a first headboard and a second headboard, or a first footboard 54 and a footboard 54. Alternatively or additionally, the first patient exit barrier and the second patient exit barrier each include a first sidebar 46 and a second sidebar 46. Optionally, the first circuit 34 further includes a first display screen 110 coupled to the first sidebar 46, the second circuit further includes a second display screen 110 coupled to the second sidebar 46, the first camera 120 is positioned adjacent to the first display screen 110, and the second camera 120 is positioned adjacent to the second display screen 110.

[0220] If desired, the system 20-12 further includes at least one voice control authorization (VCA) computer remote from the first medical device and communicatively coupled to the first medical device and the second medical device. In such an embodiment, the first circuit 34 is configured to transmit the first image for receipt by the at least one VCA computer, such as via the WAM 26 of the first medical device, and the second circuit 34 is configured to transmit the second image for receipt by the at least one VCA computer, such as via the WAM 26 of the second medical device. The VCA computer of the system 20-12 is configured to transmit a first message to the first medical device enabling voice control of the first medical device in response to the VCA computer determining that the person is authorized to operate the first medical device via voice control based on analyzing the first image. Similarly, the VCA computer is configured to transmit a second message to the second medical device enabling voice control of the second medical device in response to the VCA computer determining that the person is authorized to operate the second medical device via voice control based on analyzing the second image.

[0221] Optionally, after each of the first and second medical devices of the system 20-12 is enabled for voice control, the corresponding first and second circuits 34 and 34 are enabled to receive voice commands to control the functions of the corresponding first and second medical devices for a threshold time period, such as from five seconds to one minute, with any range of threshold time periods being given. After the threshold time period has elapsed, if the corresponding first and second medical devices of the system 20-12 do not receive at least one voice command, the corresponding first and second medical devices are disabled for voice control. The present disclosure contemplates that, in response to receiving a valid voice command during the threshold time period, the threshold time period can be reset so that additional voice commands can be provided to the corresponding medical devices, if desired.

[0222] Now refer to Figure 13 System 20-13 is shown in which a caregiver presses a button 122 on a medical device (e.g., a button on one of the side rails of a bed 30) to enable the medical device for voice control while the button 122 is pressed or within a threshold time period (such as five seconds to one minute) after the button 122 is pressed. Thus, Figure 13 A schematic diagram showing a fifth method of determining which medical device among multiple medical devices in a room is to be controlled by voice. Figure 13Only one medical device (illustratively shown as a bed 30) is shown in the figure, but it should be understood that the system 20-13 includes other medical devices in the patient room, which also include buttons 122 thereon for selecting the corresponding medical device in response to inputting voice input. Although the need to press the button 122 on the medical device to enable voice control has the disadvantage of not being able to fully control the medical device hands-free, it has the advantage of not requiring the user to use the GUI 110 to navigate through a complex on-screen menu hierarchy to achieve specific control of the device function.

[0223] Based on the foregoing, the present disclosure contemplates that system 20-13 includes a medical device having a first circuit 34 that includes a processor 36, a memory 38, a button 122, and a microphone 48. The circuit 34 of the medical device of system 20-13 is configured to enable voice control in response to a person selecting the button 122 and then receiving valid voice input via the microphone 48 within a threshold time period (such as within five seconds to one minute, just to give any arbitrary time threshold range).

[0224] In some embodiments of system 20-13, the valid voice input includes a code word. For example, the code word may include a first unique name that corresponds to the medical device and is received by microphone 48 within a threshold time period. Optionally, the unique name may include the model name of the medical device. If desired, after the medical device of system 20-13 is enabled for voice control due to receiving a code word during a threshold time period (e.g., a first threshold time period), the corresponding circuit 34 is enabled to receive voice commands to control the functions of the medical device for a second threshold time period, such as within five seconds to one minute, with any time threshold range being given. After the second threshold time period has passed, if the medical device has not received at least one voice command, the medical device is disabled for voice control. The present disclosure contemplates that, in response to receiving a valid voice command during the second threshold time period, the second threshold time period is reset so that additional voice commands can be provided to the corresponding medical device if necessary.

[0225] In some embodiments of system 20-13, the valid voice input includes any device control command among a plurality of device control commands.The present disclosure contemplates that if no valid voice input is received within a threshold time period, the medical device of system 20-13 remains disabled for voice control.

[0226] Now refer to Figure 14 System 20-14 is shown in which the caregiver has an IR pointer 126 that transmits an IR signal toward the IR receiver 124 of the particular medical device to be voice controlled (e.g., the bed 30). Figure 14A schematic diagram of a sixth method for determining which of a plurality of medical devices in a room is to be controlled by voice is shown. In response to the receiver 124 receiving an IR signal from the IR indicator 126, the medical device is enabled for voice control for a threshold period of time. In the illustrative example, the size and shape of the IR indicator 126 are designed to conform to a human finger. In other embodiments, the IR indicator 126 is configured to be mounted to the mobile phone 22, or is shaped like a writing pen or stylus, or is shaped like a key fob. Optionally, the IR indicator 126 is mounted to or included in the caregiver badge 25. A button is provided on the IR indicator 126, and the button is pressed to send an IR signal from the IR indicator 126.

[0227] Based on the above, the system 20-14 includes a first medical device having a first circuit 34 including a first processor 36, a first memory 38, a first microphone 48, and a first infrared (IR) receiver 124, and a second medical device having a second circuit 34 including a second processor 36, a second memory 38, a second microphone 48, and a second IR receiver 124. The system 20-14 further includes an IR indicator 126 having an IR transmitter. The first circuit 34 of the first medical device is configured to enable voice control in response to the first IR receiver 124 receiving an IR signal from the IR transmitter of the IR indicator 126. The second circuit 34 of the second medical device is configured to enable voice control in response to the second IR receiver 124 receiving an IR signal from the IR transmitter of the IR indicator 126.

[0228] In some embodiments of the system 20-14, the IR indicator 126 is configured to be worn on a person's finger. Alternatively or additionally, the IR indicator 126 can be mounted to the mobile phone 22. Further alternatively or additionally, the IR indicator 126 has the shape of a stylus. Still further alternatively or additionally, the IR indicator 126 has the shape of a key fob.

[0229] The present disclosure contemplates that a first medical device in system 20-14 includes a first bed 30 having a first patient exit barrier (e.g., sidebar 46 or footboard 54 or headboard) coupled thereto with a first IR receiver 124, and a second medical device in system 20-14 includes a second bed 30 having a second patient exit barrier coupled thereto with a second IR receiver 124. For example, the first and second patient exit barriers each include a first and second headboard, or a first and second footboard. Alternatively or additionally, the first and second patient exit barriers each include a first and second sidebar 46, 46. In such an embodiment, the first circuit 34 further includes a first display screen 110 coupled to the first sidebar 46, the second circuit 34 further includes a second display screen 110 coupled to the second sidebar 46, the first IR receiver 124 is positioned adjacent to the first display screen 110, and the second IR receiver 124 is positioned adjacent to the second display screen 110.

[0230] If desired, after each of the first and second medical devices of the system 20-14 is enabled for voice control, the corresponding first and second circuits 34 and 34 are enabled to receive voice commands to control functions of the corresponding first and second medical devices for a threshold time period, and after the threshold time period has elapsed, if the corresponding first and second medical devices do not receive at least one voice command, the corresponding first and second medical devices are disabled from voice control. The present disclosure contemplates that the threshold time period can be reset in response to receiving a valid voice command during the threshold time period.

[0231] According to the present disclosure, far-field microphones are embedded in vital sign monitors, hospital beds, end wall interfaces, caregiver badges, location tags, disposable patient ID bracelets and / or clothing, and chairs to form a ward microphone array. At least one remote computer combines the voice signals received from these devices. Beamforming software is used to amplify and / or recognize voice signals. Interruption software is used to filter out constant ambient audio that may correspond to background noise. Automatic speech recognition software is used to determine code words or wake-up words (e.g., "Hey Hillrom", "Hey Centrella", "Hey Voalte", "Hey Navicare", to name a few). Additional processing such as through anaphora parsing, Markov models, speaker recognition / voice biometrics, compound command parsing, and natural language processing algorithms is also used in some embodiments of the system 20 according to the present disclosure.

[0232] Combinations of the features described above and / or some subcombinations are included in embodiments of system 20. In this regard, far-field microphones are dispersed throughout the patient room. In some embodiments, the far-field microphones are microphone arrays that use their position in space to amplify and reduce signals. With respect to suppressing ambient noise, the far-field microphone array uses algorithms to help deliver a clear signal. The microphones can be embedded in bed electronics, vital signs monitoring electronics, location / tracking tags, end wall interfaces, graphic audio stations on the wall, ceiling fixtures, and / or hospital patient lifts, at the discretion of the system designer. In some embodiments, each microphone actually comprises a microphone array, such as a single piece of hardware comprising multiple individual microphones operating in series.

[0233] The present disclosure contemplates that electronic devices / computers / circuits in the room and / or remotely located have software that processes and enhances the signal and determines what clinical action to take or what patient-requested action to take. The present disclosure further contemplates that the software includes speech recognition / ASR conversion of spoken to written text, code word / wake-up word recognition (e.g., Hey Centrella, Hey Navicare, Hey Voalte, Hey Nurse, Hey... etc.), thereby picking up the words following the code word or wake-up word. The software of system 20 is also configured to compare the voice command with a database of acceptable hospital commands and words to see if something is being commanded; if it is, execute the command in the table; if it is not, try to determine if this is a sign of distress for the patient or caregiver.

[0234] In some embodiments, distance processing is employed in system 20. For example, if the distance between the microphones is known (e.g., the software knows the distance between the end wall microphone and the wall-mounted microphone of the graphic audio station), the software factors this distance into determining what is spoken / heard through the microphones. Regarding the barge-in technique used in system 20, the software determines what constant / ambient noise is present in the room (e.g., due to the time at which the signal is heard, its volume, its characteristics, its frequency, etc.). The barge-in software filters out constant sounds to best capture spoken commands. Beamforming software enables the microphones to amplify speech and reduce noise.

[0235] According to the present disclosure, the speaker recognition software of system 20 is used to determine who is speaking. This can be achieved through the characteristics of speech and a variety of technologies including Markov models, pattern recognition algorithms, neural networks, and voice biometrics. The software includes algorithms that perform the following functions: (i) verification, which aims to verify whether the speaker is who they claim to be, and (ii) identification, which includes the task of determining the identity of unknown speakers. Markov model software involves randomly changing systems used to predict future states. This software attempts to determine the content of the speaker's words, the content previously said, the environment, the initial words, and the typical content after these words through context. Therefore, the software in some embodiments of the present disclosure involves pattern recognition, artificial neural networks, natural language processing (NLP), and / or natural language understanding. In this regard, NLP software analyzes, understands, and derives meaning from what is said. Therefore, NLP software can pick up and understand a large number of similar commands intended to mean the same thing and can convert them into a structured form to execute the single command conveyed.

[0236] In some embodiments, the system 20 contemplated by the present disclosure also uses anaphora parsing software. Such software allows the system 20 to recall what was said earlier and use that content to infer current intent. For example, if a patient says "turn on the TV" and later says "turn it up," the software can use this technique to know that it is the TV that is intended to be turned up. Some embodiments of the system 20 are configured with the ability to recognize compound commands. For example, if a patient says "turn off the TV and call the nurse," the text is parsed to know that two commands are actually intended—a turn off the TV command to cause the TV to turn off, and a call nurse command to cause a nurse call signal to be placed on the nurse call line. Accordingly, the present disclosure contemplates that the system 20 can act as a virtual assistant or chatbot that can perform tasks for the patient. Thus, the above-mentioned medical device can include a voice user interface (VUI) for performing these functions.

[0237] Based on the above, Figure 15, a flowchart of an algorithm 300 for controlling a medical device via voice input is shown in FIG. Broadly speaking, the algorithm includes instructions for: (i) combining voice input received from a person by a far-field microphone array in the room; (ii) using beamforming software to amplify and recognize the voice input; (iii) using barge-in software to filter out ambient noise; (iv) executing speech recognition software to determine which of a plurality of medical devices is a designated medical device to be controlled via voice input; and (v) transmitting a control message to the designated medical device to control a first function of the designated medical device based on the voice input. The instructions of the algorithm 300 are executed by one or more of the bed controller 34, the speaker unit 56, or the VCA computer of the network 60. Thus, not all portions of the algorithm 300 need to be executed on a single computer device, although this possibility is not excluded in some embodiments of the system 20.

[0238] Still refer to Figure 15 , the algorithm 300 begins at block 302, where an array of far-field microphones (e.g., microphones 48, 56, 114, 118) receives sounds within the patient room. The algorithm 300 then uses distance processing to determine the nearest medical device or microphone that is picking up the sounds, as shown in block 304. Thereafter, the algorithm 300 uses interruption software to filter out ambient noise from the incoming voice signal, as shown in block 306. Next, the algorithm 300 uses beamforming processing to amplify speech from the signal corresponding to the detected sounds, as shown in block 308. At block 310, the algorithm 300 determines whether the wake word has been spoken.

[0239] If it is determined at box 310 that the wake word has not been spoken, the algorithm 300 proceeds to box 312 and uses natural language processing (NLP) to determine what was said. At box 314, the algorithm 300 determines whether the sound detected by the microphone array 48 of the bed 30 indicates the patient's movement plus the patient's fall. If patient movement and a fall are detected at box 314, the algorithm proceeds to box 316 and issues a fall alert to one or more caregivers via the nurse call system. For example, the nurse call system sends an alert message to the mobile phone 22 of the one or more caregivers who issued the alert. In some embodiments of the nurse call system, the overhead light near the patient room door is also illuminated to indicate an alarm condition in the room. In some embodiments, an electronic whiteboard at the nurse call master station also displays an alarm condition regarding a possible patient fall.

[0240] If the bed microphone 48 does not indicate movement plus a fall at block 314, the algorithm 300 proceeds to block 318 to determine whether the words detected by the microphone array indicate a patient fall. If the words do indicate a fall at block 318, the algorithm proceeds to block 316 to alert one or more caregivers of a possible fall via the nurse call system as described above. If the words do not indicate a fall at block 318, the algorithm 300 returns to block 302 and continues therefrom as described herein.

[0241] If the algorithm 300 determines at block 310 that the wake word has been spoken, the algorithm 300 proceeds to block 320 to use NLP to determine what was said after the wake word was spoken. Thereafter, the algorithm 300 proceeds to block 322 to determine (or attempt to determine) who is speaking based on a comparison of the voice information with the voice biometrics of authorized users stored in a database (such as a database of a VCA computer or the memory 38 of the bed controller 34). Next, the algorithm 300 proceeds to block 324 to determine whether a caregiver is speaking.

[0242] If the algorithm 300 determines at block 324 that the caregiver is speaking, the algorithm 300 proceeds to block 326 to enter the caregiver command library. If the algorithm 300 determines at block 324 that the caregiver is not speaking, the algorithm 300 proceeds to block 328 to jump to other command libraries. Thus, the present disclosure contemplates allowing the caregiver to voice control more features of the medical equipment in the room than the patient or other non-caregiver (e.g., visitor) can voice control.

[0243] After each of boxes 326 and 328, the algorithm 300 proceeds to box 330 and uses anaphora processing and Markov processing to determine whether the detected speech is related to a previously stored command or a predicted command. Thereafter, the algorithm 300 proceeds to box 332 to determine whether a compound command has been spoken. The algorithm 300 then proceeds to box 334 to determine the content of the specific command and to perform bed operations, other medical equipment operations, or room equipment (e.g., environmental equipment or entertainment equipment) operations based on the identified one or more commands. In some embodiments of the system 20, where appropriate, with respect to box 334 of the algorithm 300, a nurse call with recorded sound may also be sent. After executing one or more commands at box 334, the algorithm 300 proceeds to box 336 to perform Markov processing to predict the next command that the user may speak. After box 336, the algorithm 300 returns to box 302 and continues therefrom as described herein.

[0244] It should be understood that any of the systems 20-9, 20-10, 20-11, 20-12, 20-13, 20-14 can be implemented in any of the systems 20-1, 20-2, 20-3, 20-4, 20-5, 20-6. Furthermore, all combinations and permutations of the systems 20-1, 20-2, 20-3, 20-4, 20-5, 20-6, 20-9, 20-10, 20-11, 20-12, 20-13, 20-14 are contemplated as being within the scope of the present disclosure. In this regard, the use of the reference numeral 20 by itself without any hyphen suffix encompasses all embodiments of the systems 20-1, 20-2, 20-3, 20-4, 20-5, 20-6, 20-9, 20-10, 20-11, 20-12, 20-13, 20-14 disclosed herein. In addition, the present disclosure contemplates that when a medical device (such as the illustrative bed 30) is enabled for voice control, a visual or audible indicator is provided to that effect. Thus, in some embodiments, an indicator light on the medical device is illuminated to notify a user (e.g., a caregiver or patient) that the medical device is ready to receive voice input to control the functions of the device. Alternatively or additionally, a message or icon is displayed on the display screen 110 of the medical device and / or the user's mobile phone 22, 22' to notify the user that the medical device is ready to receive voice input to control the functions of the device. Further alternatively or additionally, an audible message such as “ready for voice control” is played through the speaker 48 or other sound emitting element of the medical device or the speaker unit 46 or through the speaker of the user's mobile phone 22 , 22 ′.

[0245] The present disclosure contemplates that in some embodiments of each of the above-described systems 20 , one or more of the following voice commands, given as a non-exhaustive list only, are used to control the hospital bed 30 .

[0246] Table 1

[0247]

[0248]

[0249]

[0250]

[0251]

[0252] According to the present disclosure, a controller of a medical device (such as the controller 34 of the bed 30) implements rules for determining which of two potentially conflicting commands to execute. For example, the bed 30 includes buttons on the sidebar 46, some of which are accessible to the patient on the patient-facing surface of the corresponding sidebar 46, while some of which are accessible to the caregiver on the non-patient-facing surface of the corresponding sidebar 46. These buttons can be pressed by the caregiver or the patient to control the corresponding bed function. The caregiver can also select a soft button (e.g., a button or icon presented on the GUI 110) to control the corresponding bed function.

[0253] If a patient button on the sidebar 46 is pressed to implement a function that is opposite to a voice command issued by the caregiver (e.g., a caregiver issues a "head up" voice command to raise the head section of the deck 42, and the patient presses the head down button), the present disclosure contemplates that, in some embodiments, the bed 30 will execute the caregiver voice command and ignore the opposing patient button press. On the other hand, if a caregiver button on the sidebar 46 is pressed to implement a function that is opposite to a voice command issued by the patient, the present disclosure contemplates that the bed 30 will execute the function corresponding to the caregiver button press and ignore the patient voice request. Thus, in some embodiments, a caregiver command, either by pressing a hard or soft button or by voice input, always takes precedence over an opposing patient command, either by pressing a hard button or by voice input. In other embodiments, the bed 30 will not perform any function if opposing manual and voice inputs are received.

[0254] Embodiments in which some functions of the bed 30 are not performed due to conflicting inputs, while other functions of the bed 30 are performed based on caregiver priority over patient priority are also within the scope of the present disclosure. For example, movement of a deck section of the bed 30 deck 42 may not be performed due to conflicting inputs because bed movement is considered a high-risk function, whereas airbag pressure adjustment of the mattress may be performed based on caregiver input rather than conflicting patient input because airbag pressure adjustment is considered a low-risk function.

[0255] Some voice commands inherently involve functionality that allows visual feedback to be provided to the user as a result of a portion of the medical device moving. However, the present disclosure contemplates that in some embodiments, the amount of movement is limited for safety reasons. For example, if a caregiver issues a voice command to "lower the head of the bed," the controller 34 of the bed 30 will only lower the bed a small number of degrees at a time (e.g., 1 to 5 degrees, just to give an arbitrary range of movement) in order to reduce the possibility of injury to a person whose body part is under the moving assembly. Additional voice input is then required to move the movable assembly by additional increments. For example, the caregiver can provide such additional voice input by saying "more" each time the movement stops. The system 20 recognizes that the word "more" reiterates the initial voice command regarding the movement of a portion of the bed 30.

[0256] The degree or amount of change can be configured for all beds 30 within the system (e.g., centimeters or inches if the upper frame of a bed 30 is lowered relative to the base frame), but should be limited to safe ranges according to the present disclosure. This feedback-based control can be implemented differently depending on whether the caregiver is actually present in the room, for example, as determined by the RTLS, or is not in the room, viewing the patient via a camera using their computer or cell phone. Thus, if the caregiver is not in the room, a smaller movement threshold can be used, while if the caregiver is in the room, a larger movement threshold can be used. In other embodiments of the system 20, the movement threshold is the same regardless of whether the caregiver issuing the voice command is in the room.

[0257] In some embodiments, after the voice command function of a medical device, such as a bed 30, has completed or otherwise accomplished its task, the system 20 provides voice command confirmation. For example, as feedback to the caregiver, this confirmation can be provided as a text message displayed on the caregiver's mobile phone 22, on the bed 30's GUI 110, on the display screen of the audio station 116, or on some other computer. As another example, this confirmation can be played as an audible message via the caregiver's mobile phone 22, via the bed 30's speaker unit 48, via the speaker of the audio station 116, or via the speaker of some other computer. Sometimes, voice command confirmation feedback is inherent, thus eliminating the need for a text or audible message. For example, if the voice command is to turn the bedlight or room light on or off, the user will see the corresponding light turn on or off, as appropriate. In cases where this inherent visual feedback is present, no further feedback is required. However, if the user is remotely controlling the bed 30 and no such inherent feedback is available, obtaining text or audible confirmation of task completion can be helpful. Thus, based on the user's location as determined by the RTLS, textual feedback and / or audible feedback is provided if the caregiver is not in the room of the medical device being controlled by voice.

[0258] As described above, the present disclosure contemplates that some voice commands are combination commands. That is, a single command is intended to control multiple devices and / or multiple features of one or more medical devices substantially simultaneously or sequentially under appropriate conditions. For example, in response to the combination command "sleep mode," the system 20 performs actions to turn off the television in the room, turn on a walk-through light or night light on the base of the bed 30 that illuminates the floor near the bed 30, return the head and foot angles of the bed (i.e., the tilt angles of the head and foot sections of the shelves 42) to patient-specific angles, set the room temperature to a default value for sleep using the thermostat 92, notify a caregiver via the mobile phone 22 or via the nurse call system that the patient has switched to sleep mode, and the like.

[0259] In some embodiments where the equipment within the patient room is self-propelled, the sleep mode input results in the bed 30, one or more chairs, walkers, etc. being repositioned to appropriate locations within the room as necessary.

[0260] The present disclosure further contemplates that group commands may be provided as voice input to the system 20. Spoken group commands enable all or a subset of beds 30, medical devices, entertainment devices, and / or environmental devices to be controlled together. Thus, if a "sleep mode" voice command is formulated as a group command within the system 20, the result would be, for example, causing devices within multiple patient rooms to be configured according to sleep mode as described above. Changing the parameters of a caregiver's ward rounds (e.g., how often a caregiver is required to check on their assigned patient) is another example of a group command according to the present disclosure. In some embodiments, such a group command may be input into the system 20 by voice or via a user interface (UI) of a computer. For example, in some embodiments, a group command may only be input into the system 20 at a master nurse station computer.

[0261] The various contemplated inventions may be defined by the following numbered clauses:

[0262] 1. A voice control system for a medical institution, the voice control system comprising: a hospital bed having a weighing scale for weighing a patient supported on the hospital bed and a display screen for displaying the patient's weight; a voice recorder configured to record digital models of the voices of a plurality of caregivers; and a server to which the digital models are transmitted to determine voice biometrics of each of the plurality of caregivers, wherein the hospital bed is configured to receive voice input from a first caregiver among the plurality of caregivers instructing the bed to weigh the patient, wherein the hospital bed is configured to communicate with the server to confirm, based on the voice biometrics, that the caregiver is authorized to control the bed through the voice input, wherein, after confirming that the first caregiver is authorized to control the bed, the patient is weighed by the weighing scale and the patient's weight is displayed on the display screen.

[0263] 2. The voice control system according to clause 1, wherein the voice recorder is included in the computer.

[0264] 3. The voice control system according to clause 1, wherein the voice recorder is included in a mobile phone.

[0265] 4. The voice control system of clause 1, wherein a caregiver identification (ID) is transmitted to the server together with a digital model of each of the plurality of caregivers through the voice recorder.

[0266] 5. A voice control system according to claim 1, wherein the bed is configured to receive a zero-scale voice input from a first caregiver, the zero-scale voice input instructing the bed to zero the weighing scale by measuring the tare weight using the weighing scale when the patient is not in the bed, wherein the bed is configured to communicate with a server to confirm that the caregiver is authorized to control the bed through the zero-scale voice input based on voice biometrics, wherein after confirming that the first caregiver is authorized to control the bed, the bed zeroes the weighing scale.

[0267] 6. The voice control system of clause 1, wherein the bed is configured to display an accept button on the display screen for the first caregiver to select to accept the displayed patient weight for storage in one or both of the bed's memory and the patient's electronic medical record.

[0268] 7. A voice control system according to clause 6, wherein, if the displayed weight accepted by the first caregiver differs from the previously accepted patient weight by a threshold amount, the bed displays a message on the display screen instructing the first caregiver to check to determine whether the weighing scale of the bed has been correctly zeroed.

[0269] 8. The voice control system of clause 7, wherein, if the bed does not detect a problem, the bed displays a message on the display screen indicating that the patient's weight has been successfully stored in one or both of the bed's memory and the patient's electronic medical record.

[0270] 9. The voice control system of clause 1 further comprises a real-time location system (RTLS) that determines the locations of multiple caregivers in the medical facility, and the server uses information from the RTLS in addition to voice biometrics to confirm that the first caregiver is authorized to control the bed via voice input.

[0271] 10. A voice control system according to clause 9, wherein the bed is configured to display a personal identification number (PIN) screen on the display screen for the first caregiver to enter the PIN, and the server uses the PIN in addition to voice biometrics to confirm that the first caregiver is authorized to control the bed through voice input.

[0272] 11. A voice control system according to clause 1, wherein the bed is configured to display a personal identification number (PIN) screen on the display screen for the first caregiver to enter the PIN, and the server uses the PIN in addition to voice biometrics to confirm that the first caregiver is authorized to control the bed through voice input.

[0273] 12. The voice control system of clause 1, wherein the bed is configured to display a voice input button on the display screen, the voice input button selectable by the first caregiver to enable the bed to receive voice input.

[0274] 13. A voice control system for a medical institution, the voice control system comprising: a medical device for caring for a patient; and a mobile device, the mobile device comprising a voice recorder configured to record a digital model of a caregiver's voice, wherein the digital model is transmitted from the mobile device to the medical device, the medical device is configured to determine the caregiver's voice biometrics based on the digital model, wherein the medical device is configured to receive voice input from the caregiver instructing the medical device to perform a function, wherein the medical device is configured to confirm that the caregiver is authorized to control the medical device through voice input based on voice biometrics, wherein the function is performed by the medical device after confirming that the caregiver is authorized to control the medical device.

[0275] 14. The voice control system of clause 13, wherein a caregiver identification (ID) of the caregiver is transmitted from the mobile device to the medical device along with the digital model of the caregiver's voice.

[0276] 15. The voice control system of clause 13, wherein the medical device is configured to display an accept button on the display screen for the caregiver to select to accept the displayed patient information for storage in one or both of the medical device's memory and the patient's electronic medical record.

[0277] 16. The voice control system of clause 15, wherein, if the medical device detects no problem, the medical device displays a message on the display screen indicating that the patient information has been successfully stored in one or both of the medical device's memory and the patient's electronic medical record.

[0278] 17. The voice control system of clause 13, further comprising a real-time location system (RTLS) that determines the caregiver's location in the medical facility, and the medical device uses information from the RTLS in addition to voice biometrics to confirm that the caregiver is authorized to control the medical device through voice input.

[0279] 18. A voice control system according to clause 17, wherein the medical device is configured to display a personal identification number (PIN) screen on the display screen for the caregiver to enter the PIN, and the medical device uses the PIN in addition to voice biometrics to confirm that the first caregiver is authorized to control the medical device through voice input.

[0280] 19. A voice control system according to clause 13, wherein the medical device is configured to display a personal identification number (PIN) screen on the display screen for the caregiver to enter the PIN, and the medical device uses the PIN in addition to voice biometrics to confirm that the first caregiver is authorized to control the medical device through voice input.

[0281] 20. The voice control system of clause 13, wherein the medical device is configured to display a voice input button on the display screen, the voice input button selectable by the caregiver to enable the medical device to receive voice input.

[0282] 21. A voice control system for a medical institution, the voice control system comprising: a hospital bed having a weighing scale for weighing a patient supported on the hospital bed and a display screen for displaying the patient's weight; and a real-time location system (RTLS) for tracking the locations of multiple caregivers in the medical institution, the real-time location system being configured to send a message to the hospital bed notifying the bed that a first caregiver has entered a room where the bed is located, wherein the hospital bed is configured to receive voice input from the first caregiver instructing the bed to weigh the patient, wherein the hospital bed is configured to confirm that the first caregiver is authorized to control the bed through voice input based on a voice biometric of the first caregiver stored in a memory of the hospital bed, wherein, after confirming that the first caregiver is authorized to control the bed, the patient is weighed by the weighing scale and the patient's weight is displayed on the display screen.

[0283] 22. The voice control system of clause 21, wherein the bed is configured to play an audio message asking the first caregiver if they want to record the displayed patient weight for storage in the patient's electronic medical record.

[0284] 23. The voice control system of clause 22, wherein, in response to the first caregiver audibly responding affirmatively to the audio message, the bed communicates with the RTLS to reconfirm that the first caregiver is authorized to record the patient's weight for storage in the patient's electronic medical record.

[0285] 24. The voice control system of clause 23, wherein after the RTLS reconfirms that the first caregiver is authorized, the patient's weight is transmitted to the EMR system for storage in the patient's electronic medical record.

[0286] 25. The voice control system of clause 21, wherein the bed is configured to display a record button on the display screen for selection by the first caregiver to record the displayed patient weight for storage in the patient's electronic medical record.

[0287] 26. The voice control system of clause 25, wherein, in response to the first caregiver selecting the record button, the bed communicates with the RTLS to reconfirm that the first caregiver is authorized to record the patient's weight for storage in the patient's electronic medical record.

[0288] 27. The voice control system of clause 26, wherein after the RTLS reconfirms that the first caregiver is authorized, the patient's weight is transmitted to the EMR system for storage in the patient's electronic medical record.

[0289] 28. A voice control system according to claim 22, wherein, in response to the first caregiver responding affirmatively to the audio message in an audible manner, the bed displays a personal identification number (PIN) screen on the display screen for the first caregiver to enter the PIN, and the bed uses the PIN to reconfirm that the first caregiver is authorized to record the patient's weight for storage in the patient's electronic medical record.

[0290] 29. The voice control system of clause 28, wherein after the bed reconfirms that the first caregiver is authorized based on the PIN, the patient's weight is transmitted to the EMR system for storage in the patient's electronic medical record.

[0291] 30. A voice control system according to clause 25, wherein, in response to the first caregiver selecting the record button, the bed displays a personal identification number (PIN) screen on the display screen for the first caregiver to enter the PIN, and the bed uses the PIN to reconfirm that the first caregiver is authorized to record the patient's weight for storage in the patient's electronic medical record.

[0292] 31. The voice control system of clause 30, wherein after the bed reconfirms that the first caregiver is authorized based on the PIN, the patient's weight is transmitted to the EMR system for storage in the patient's electronic medical record.

[0293] 32. A hospital bed comprising: a frame configured to support a patient; and circuitry carried by the frame and comprising a processor, a memory, a speaker, a microphone, and a transmitter, the memory storing software configured to receive voice input via the microphone and output voice messages via the speaker, wherein, in response to receiving a first voice input detected by the microphone, the first voice input comprising a fall prevention check statement from a caregiver, the processor and the software cooperate to determine whether the bed is properly configured according to a fall prevention protocol, wherein if the bed is not properly configured according to the fall prevention protocol, the circuitry is configured to prompt the caregiver Correcting one or more bed settings to be configured in accordance with a fall prevention protocol, wherein if the bed is correctly configured in accordance with the fall prevention protocol, the circuitry is configured to play a confirmation message via the speaker to confirm to the caregiver that the bed is correctly configured in accordance with the fall prevention protocol, wherein, after playing the confirmation message, the circuitry is configured to communicate a record query to the caregiver regarding whether fall prevention protocol compliance information should be recorded in the patient's electronic medical record, and in response to receiving an affirmative input from the caregiver in response to the record query, the circuitry transmits the fall prevention protocol compliance information via the transmitter for storage in the patient's electronic medical record.

[0294] 33. A bed according to clause 32, wherein the circuit is configured to prompt the caregiver to correct one or more bed settings by playing an audio message via a speaker of the circuit with information about the bed settings that need to be corrected.

[0295] 34. A bed according to clause 32, wherein the circuit further comprises a display screen, and the circuit prompts the caregiver to correct one or more bed settings by displaying a visual message on the display screen with information about the bed settings that need to be corrected.

[0296] 35. The hospital bed of clause 34, wherein the visual message comprises a text message.

[0297] 36. The hospital bed of clause 34, wherein the visual message comprises a picture message.

[0298] 37. The hospital bed according to claim 32, further comprising a plurality of siderails coupled to the frame and each siderail movable between a raised position that prevents a patient from leaving the frame and a lowered position that unblocks the patient from leaving the frame; a plurality of casters coupled to the frame; and a bed exit system carried by the frame and coupled to the circuit, wherein the frame comprises a base frame and an upper frame supported above the base frame by a lifting system, and wherein, in order to properly configure the bed according to a fall prevention protocol, two or more siderails of the frame need to be in their respective raised positions, at least one of the plurality of casters needs to be braked, the bed exit system needs to activate an alarm to monitor the patient's bed exit status, and the upper frame needs to be in a lower position relative to the base frame.

[0299] 38. The bed of clause 32, wherein the circuit is configured to communicate the recording query to the caregiver by playing an audio recording message via a speaker of the circuit asking the caregiver whether the caregiver wishes to record the fall prevention compliance information to the patient's electronic medical record.

[0300] 39. A bed according to clause 38, wherein the affirmative input from the caregiver is a spoken statement detected by a microphone.

[0301] 40. The bed of clause 32, wherein the circuit further comprises a display screen, and wherein the circuit is configured to communicate the log query to the caregiver by displaying a log message on the display screen.

[0302] 41. The bed of clause 40, wherein the affirmative input from the caregiver comprises selection of a button displayed on a display screen.

[0303] 42. The bed of clause 32, wherein, after playing the confirmation message and before making the record query, the circuitry is configured to communicate a nurse call pendant availability query to the caregiver asking whether the nurse call pendant is within reach of the patient.

[0304] 43. The bed of clause 42, wherein the circuit is configured to communicate the nurse call pendant availability query to the caregiver by playing an audio availability message via a speaker of the circuit.

[0305] 44. The bed of clause 42, wherein the circuitry further comprises a display screen, and wherein the circuitry is configured to communicate the nurse call pendant availability query to the caregiver by displaying the nurse call pendant availability query on the display screen.

[0306] 45. A bed according to clause 42, wherein if the caregiver answers the nurse call pendant availability query in the negative, the circuit is configured to prompt the caregiver to move the nurse call pendant within reach of the patient and to confirm that the nurse call pendant has been moved within reach of the patient.

[0307] 46. ​​A bed according to clause 45, wherein the circuit is configured to prompt the caregiver to move the nurse call pendant within reach of the patient by playing an audio message through a speaker of the circuit.

[0308] 47. A bed according to clause 45, wherein the circuit further includes a display screen, and the circuit is configured to prompt the caregiver to move the nurse call pendant within reach of the patient by displaying a visual message on the display.

[0309] 48. The bed of clause 45, wherein the circuitry is configured to confirm that the nurse call pendant has been moved into reach of the patient in response to receiving a spoken confirmation message from the caregiver detected by the microphone.

[0310] 49. A bed according to clause 45, wherein the circuit further includes a display screen, and wherein the circuit is configured to confirm that the nurse call pendant has been moved within reach of the patient in response to the caregiver selecting a confirmation button displayed on the display screen.

[0311] 50. A bed as described in clause 42, wherein after playing the confirmation message and before making the record query, the circuitry is configured to communicate a clear path query to the caregiver asking whether a path around the bed is clear.

[0312] 51. A bed according to clause 50, wherein the circuit is configured to communicate the clear path query to the caregiver by playing an audio clear path message through a speaker of the circuit.

[0313] 52. The hospital bed of clause 50, wherein the circuit further comprises a display screen, and wherein the circuit is configured to communicate the clear path query to the caregiver by displaying the clear path query on the display screen.

[0314] 53. A bed as described in clause 50, wherein if the caregiver answers the clear path query in the negative, the circuit is configured to prompt the caregiver to clear the path around the bed and to confirm that the path around the bed has been cleared.

[0315] 54. A bed according to clause 53, wherein the circuit is configured to prompt a caregiver to clear a path around the bed by playing an audio message through a speaker of the circuit.

[0316] 55. A bed according to clause 53, wherein the circuit further includes a display screen, and the circuit is configured to prompt the caregiver to clear a path around the bed by displaying a visual message on the display screen.

[0317] 56. The bed of clause 53, wherein the circuitry is configured to confirm that a path around the bed is clear in response to receiving a spoken confirmation message from the caregiver detected by the microphone.

[0318] 57. A bed according to clause 53, wherein the circuit further comprises a display screen, and wherein the circuit is configured to confirm that the path around the bed is clear in response to the caregiver selecting a confirmation button displayed on the display screen.

[0319] 58. A system for mitigating risk to a patient in a medical environment, the system comprising: a medical product having at least one function that, when operated, has the potential to cause harm to the patient; a circuit carried by the medical product and having a processor and a memory storing software; and a microphone array configured to receive voice input from a person near the medical product, wherein the microphone array communicates with the circuit and the software is configured to cooperate with the microphone array to use beamforming technology to infer the direction in which the person's eyes are pointing based on the voice input, wherein the circuit is configured to stop at least one function that has the potential to cause harm to the patient in response to the person speaking a vocal stop command when it is inferred that the person's eyes are pointing toward the medical product.

[0320] 59. The system of clause 58, wherein the medical product comprises a hospital bed and the microphone array is mounted to the hospital bed.

[0321] 60. A system according to claim 59, wherein the bed includes at least one sidebar movable between a raised position that prevents the patient from leaving the bed and a lowered position that releases the patient from leaving the bed, and wherein at least one microphone in the microphone array is mounted to at least one sidebar.

[0322] 61. The system of clause 58, wherein the medical product comprises a hospital bed and the microphone array is mounted to one or both of a wall or a ceiling of a room in which the hospital bed is located.

[0323] 62. The system of clause 58, wherein the microphone array comprises a first microphone mounted to the medical product and a second microphone mounted to a wall or ceiling of a room in which the medical product is located.

[0324] 63. The system of clause 58, wherein the medical product comprises a patient lift, and the microphone array is mounted to one or both of a wall and a ceiling of a room in which the patient lift is located.

[0325] 64. The system of clause 63, wherein the patient lift comprises a mobile patient lift or a ceiling mounted patient lift.

[0326] 65. A system according to claim 58, wherein the medical product includes a hospital bed supporting a mattress, and at least one function includes one or more of the following functions: moving a mattress support section of a mattress support layer of the hospital bed, moving an upper frame of the hospital bed relative to a base frame of the hospital bed, operating a percussion and vibration (P&V) therapy function of the mattress of the hospital bed, operating a flip assist function of the mattress of the hospital bed, or operating a continuous lateral rotation therapy (CLRT) function of the mattress of the hospital bed.

[0327] 66. The system of clause 58, wherein the medical product comprises an operating table, and wherein the at least one function comprises moving a first operating table portion relative to a second operating table portion.

[0328] 67. The system of clause 58, wherein the microphone array communicates wirelessly with the circuitry of the medical product.

[0329] 68. The system of clause 58, wherein the microphone array is in wired communication with circuitry of the medical product.

[0330] 69. The system according to clause 58 further includes a mobile phone carried by the person, the mobile phone being configured to receive a voice command from the person and transmit a command message corresponding to the voice command to the medical product to start operation of at least one function.

[0331] 70. The system of clause 58 further comprises at least one computer remote from the medical product, the at least one computer having clinical speech recognition software, and the microphone array communicating voice commands received from a person to the at least one computer, and wherein the at least one computer is configured to transmit a command message corresponding to the voice command to the medical product to initiate operation of at least one function.

[0332] 71. The system of clause 58, wherein the circuitry is configured to stop at least one function that could potentially cause harm to the patient in response to a person speaking an audible stop command when the person's eyes are not inferred to be directed toward the medical product.

[0333] 72. A system according to claim 58, wherein the circuit is configured to be trained to recognize the patient's voice, and wherein the circuit is configured to stop at least one function that has the potential to cause harm to the patient in response to an audible stop command originating from the patient spoken by the patient without regard to the direction of the patient's eyes.

[0334] 73. The system of clause 72, wherein the medical product comprises a patient bed for supporting a patient.

[0335] 74. A system for associating a medical device with a location in a medical institution, the system comprising: a medical device having a circuit including a processor, a memory, and a transmitter; at least one microphone communicatively coupled to the circuit, the memory storing software configured to receive voice input via the at least one microphone; and a positioning system comprising at least one positioning computer configured to store the association of the device with a room, wherein the circuit of the medical device is configured to receive voice input from a person indicating a location identification (ID) at which the medical device is located via the at least one microphone, wherein the circuit is configured to store the location ID in the memory of the medical device and transmit the location ID together with the medical device ID to the at least one positioning computer, wherein the at least one positioning computer is configured to establish a first device-room association based on the medical device ID and the location ID transmitted from the medical device.

[0336] 75. A system according to clause 74, wherein at least one microphone is carried by the medical device.

[0337] 76. The system of clause 74, wherein the at least one microphone comprises a microphone array carried by the medical device.

[0338] 77. A system according to clause 74, wherein at least one microphone is spaced apart from and mounted in place by the medical device.

[0339] 78. A system according to clause 77, wherein at least one microphone is configured to communicate wirelessly with circuitry of the medical device.

[0340] 79. The system of clause 77, wherein the at least one microphone comprises a microphone array spaced apart from and mounted in place by the medical device.

[0341] 80. The system of clause 74, wherein the at least one microphone comprises a first microphone carried by the medical device and a second microphone spaced apart from the medical device.

[0342] 81. The system of clause 80, wherein the second microphone is configured to communicate wirelessly with circuitry of the medical device.

[0343] 82. The system of clause 74, wherein the circuitry of the medical device further comprises a display screen that displays the location ID after the circuitry receives the location ID via the at least one microphone.

[0344] 83. The system of clause 74, wherein the circuitry of the medical device is configured to wirelessly transmit the location ID and the bed ID for receipt by the at least one positioning computer.

[0345] 84. The system of clause 74, wherein at least one positioning computer stores patient-location associations and establishes device-patient associations upon receiving the medical device ID and the location ID.

[0346] 85. The system of clause 84, wherein the at least one positioning computer is configured to transmit to the medical device a patient ID corresponding to the patient associated with the device.

[0347] 86. The system of clause 85, wherein the circuitry of the medical device includes a display screen, and wherein the circuitry is configured to display the patient ID on the display screen.

[0348] 87. A system according to clause 74, wherein if the voice input does not include a valid location ID, the circuitry of the medical device is configured to generate a query to the person for additional information.

[0349] 88. The system of clause 87, wherein the circuitry of the medical device further comprises at least one speaker, and the query comprises an audible message played through the at least one speaker.

[0350] 89. The system of clause 87, wherein the circuitry of the medical device further comprises a display screen, and the query comprises a text message displayed on the display screen.

[0351] 90. A system according to clause 74, wherein the circuitry of the medical device further comprises a display screen, and wherein the circuitry is configured to display a location menu of valid location IDs of the medical facility in response to a vocal request by a person.

[0352] 91. A system according to clause 90, wherein the circuitry of the medical device is configured to display a menu hierarchy associated with location options, and wherein the circuitry is configured to allow a person to audibly navigate through the menu hierarchy to reach the location menu.

[0353] 92. A system according to clause 74, wherein the circuit of the medical device further includes at least one speaker, and the circuit is configured to play an audible confirmation message through the at least one speaker in response to the location ID included in the voice input being a valid location ID.

[0354] 93. A system according to claim 74, wherein the circuitry of the medical device is configured to receive a disassociation input from a person via at least one microphone indicating that the first device should be disassociated from the room, wherein the circuitry is configured to transmit the disassociation input along with the medical device ID to at least one positioning computer, wherein the at least one positioning computer is configured to disassociate the first device from the room based on the medical device ID and the disassociation input transmitted from the medical device.

[0355] 94. A system for voice control of a medical device in a room, the system comprising: a first medical device having a first circuit including a first processor, a first memory, and a first microphone; and a second medical device having a second circuit including a second processor, a second memory, and a second microphone, wherein the first medical device and the second medical device are sufficiently close to each other so that voice input spoken by a person is received by both the first microphone and the second microphone, wherein the first circuit of the first medical device is configured to enable voice control in response to the voice input including a first code phrase, and the second circuit of the second medical device is configured to enable voice control in response to the voice input including a second code phrase.

[0356] 95. The system of clause 94, wherein the first code phrase and the second code phrase each begin with a common code word.

[0357] 96. The system of clause 95, wherein the common codeword comprises the word "hey".

[0358] 97. A system according to clause 95, wherein the first code phrase comprises a first unique name corresponding to a first medical device and spoken immediately after the common code word, and wherein the second code phrase comprises a second unique name corresponding to a second medical device and spoken immediately after the common code word.

[0359] 98. A system according to clause 97, wherein the first medical device and the second medical device have the same model name, the first unique name is in the format of "Model Name A" and the second unique name is in the format of "Model Name B".

[0360] 99. A system according to clause 97, wherein the first medical device and the second medical device have the same model name, the first unique name is in the format of "Model Name 1", and the second unique name is in the format of "Model Name 2".

[0361] 100. A system according to claim 94, wherein, after each of the first medical device and the second medical device is enabled for voice control, the corresponding first circuit and the second circuit are enabled to receive voice commands to control functions of the corresponding first medical device and the second medical device for a threshold time period, and wherein, after the threshold time period has passed, if the corresponding first medical device and the second medical device do not receive at least one voice command, the corresponding first medical device and the second medical device are disabled for voice control.

[0362] 101. The system of clause 100, wherein the threshold time period is reset in response to receiving a valid voice command during the threshold time period.

[0363] 102. A system for enabling voice control of a medical device, the system comprising: an identifier item carried by a caregiver and configured to transmit a wireless identification (ID) signal; a medical device having circuitry including a processor, a memory, a microphone, a transmitter, and a proximity detector, the proximity detector configured to receive the wireless ID signal from the identifier item when the identifier item is within three feet or less of the medical device; and at least one voice control authorization (VCA) computer remote from the medical device and communicatively coupled to the medical device, wherein, in response to the proximity detector receiving the wireless ID signal, the circuitry transmits ID data contained in the wireless ID signal to the VCA computer via the transmitter, wherein the VCA computer is configured to verify that the ID data corresponds to a caregiver authorized to control the medical device via voice input, wherein, if the caregiver authorization is verified by the VCA computer, the VCA computer is configured to transmit an authorization message to the medical device, wherein, in response to the circuitry of the medical device receiving the authorization message, voice control of the medical device is enabled.

[0364] 103. The system of clause 102, wherein the identifier item comprises a mobile phone.

[0365] 104. The system of clause 102, wherein the identifier item comprises a radio frequency identification (RFID) badge.

[0366] 105. The system of clause 102, wherein the identifier item comprises a near field communication (NFC) transponder that transmits a wireless ID signal in response to receiving electromagnetic energy transmitted by circuitry of the medical device.

[0367] 106. A system according to clause 102, wherein, after voice control of the medical device is enabled, voice input received by a microphone of the circuit is transmitted to a VCA computer via a transmitter of the circuit, wherein the VCA computer is configured to determine that the voice input corresponds to at least one valid control command for the medical device among a plurality of valid control commands, wherein if the voice input corresponds to one of the plurality of valid control commands, the VCA computer is configured to transmit a device control message to the medical device, wherein, in response to the circuit of the medical device receiving the device control message, the medical device performs a function corresponding to the device control message.

[0368] 107. A system according to claim 102, wherein, after voice control of the medical device is enabled, the circuit is enabled to receive voice commands to control functions of the medical device for a threshold time period, and wherein, after the threshold time period has passed, the medical device is disabled from voice control if the medical device does not receive at least one voice command.

[0369] 108. A system according to clause 107, wherein the threshold time period is reset in response to receiving a valid voice command during the threshold time period.

[0370] 109. A system for voice control of a medical device in a room, the system comprising: a first medical device having a first circuit including a first processor, a first memory, and a first microphone; and a second medical device having a second circuit including a second processor, a second memory, and a second microphone, wherein the first medical device and the second medical device are sufficiently close to each other so that voice input spoken by a person is received by both the first microphone and the second microphone, wherein the first circuit of the first medical device is configured to enable voice control in response to the voice input received by the first microphone being louder than the voice input received by the second microphone, and wherein the second circuit of the second medical device is configured to enable voice control in response to the voice input received by the second microphone being louder than the voice input received by the first microphone.

[0371] 110. A system according to clause 109, wherein the first circuit is configured to transmit a first loudness value for receipt by the second circuit, the second circuit is configured to transmit a second loudness value for receipt by the first circuit, the first medical device is configured to enable voice control in response to the first circuit determining that the first loudness value is greater than the second loudness value, and the second medical device is configured to enable voice control in response to the second circuit determining that the second loudness value is greater than the first loudness value.

[0372] 111. The system of clause 109, further comprising at least one voice control authorization (VCA) computer remote from the first medical device and the second medical device and communicatively coupled to the first medical device and the second medical device, and wherein the first circuit is configured to transmit a first loudness value for receipt by the at least one VCA computer, the second circuit is configured to transmit a second loudness value for receipt by the at least one VCA computer, the VCA computer is configured to transmit a first message to the first medical device to enable the first medical device for voice control in response to the VCA computer determining that the first loudness value is greater than the second loudness value, and the VCA computer is configured to transmit a second message to the second medical device to enable the second medical device for voice control in response to the VCA computer determining that the second loudness value is greater than the first loudness value.

[0373] 112. A system according to claim 109, wherein, after each of the first medical device and the second medical device is enabled for voice control, the corresponding first circuit and the second circuit are enabled to receive voice commands to control functions of the corresponding first medical device and the second medical device for a threshold time period, and wherein, after the threshold time period has passed, if the corresponding first medical device and the second medical device do not receive at least one voice command, the corresponding first medical device and the second medical device are disabled for voice control.

[0374] 113. A system according to clause 112, wherein the threshold time period is reset in response to receiving a valid voice command during the threshold time period.

[0375] 114. A system for voice control of a medical device in a room, the system comprising: a first medical device having a first circuit including a first processor and a first memory; a second medical device having a second circuit including a second processor and a second memory; and a microphone array positioned in the room and spaced apart from the first and second medical devices, the microphone array comprising a first microphone that is closer to the first medical device than to the second medical device and a second microphone that is closer to the second medical device than to the first medical device, wherein the first and second medical devices are sufficiently close to each other so that voice input spoken by a person is received by both the first and second microphones, wherein the first circuit of the first medical device is configured to enable voice control in response to the voice input received by the first microphone being louder than the voice input received by the second microphone, and wherein the second circuit of the second medical device is configured to enable voice control in response to the voice input received by the second microphone being louder than the voice input received by the first microphone.

[0376] 115. A system according to clause 114, wherein the first microphone is included in a first microphone circuit, the first microphone circuit being configured to transmit a first loudness value for receipt by a first circuit of the first medical device and a second circuit of the second medical device, the second microphone is included in a second microphone circuit, the second microphone circuit being configured to transmit a second loudness value for receipt by the first circuit of the first medical device and the second circuit of the second medical device, the first medical device is configured to enable voice control in response to the first circuit determining that the first loudness value is greater than the second loudness value, and the second medical device is configured to enable voice control in response to the second circuit determining that the second loudness value is greater than the first loudness value.

[0377] 116. A system according to clause 114, wherein the microphone array includes a communication circuit coupled to a first microphone and a second microphone, the communication circuit being configured to determine a first loudness value based on a first loudness of a voice input received by the first microphone and to determine a second loudness value based on a second loudness of a voice input received by the second microphone, the communication circuit being configured to transmit the first loudness value and the second loudness value for receipt by a first circuit of a first medical device and a second circuit of a second medical device, the first medical device being configured to enable voice control in response to the first circuit determining that the first loudness value is greater than the second loudness value, and the second medical device being configured to enable voice control in response to the second circuit determining that the second loudness value is greater than the first loudness value.

[0378] 117. The system of clause 114 further comprises at least one voice control authorization (VCA) computer remote from the first medical device and the second medical device and communicatively coupled to the first microphone and the second microphone in the microphone array, the VCA computer receiving a first loudness value based on a first loudness of a voice input received by the first microphone and a second loudness value based on a second loudness of a voice input received by the second microphone, the VCA computer being configured to transmit a first message to the first medical device enabling the first medical device for voice control in response to the VCA computer determining that the first loudness value is greater than the second loudness value, and the VCA computer being configured to transmit a second message to the second medical device enabling the second medical device for voice control in response to the VCA computer determining that the second loudness value is greater than the first loudness value.

[0379] 118. A system according to claim 114, wherein, after each of the first medical device and the second medical device is enabled for voice control, the corresponding first circuit and the second circuit are enabled to receive voice commands to control functions of the corresponding first medical device and the second medical device for a threshold time period, and wherein, after the threshold time period has passed, if the corresponding first medical device and the second medical device do not receive at least one voice command, the corresponding first medical device and the second medical device are disabled for voice control.

[0380] 119. A system according to clause 118, wherein the threshold time period is reset in response to receiving a valid voice command during the threshold time period.

[0381] 120. A system for voice control of a medical device in a room, the system comprising: a first medical device having a first circuit including a first processor, a first memory, a first microphone and a first camera; and a second medical device having a second circuit including a second processor, a second memory, a second microphone and a second camera, wherein the first circuit of the first medical device is configured to enable voice control in response to the first processor recognizing a facial image of a first person captured by the first camera, and wherein the second circuit of the second medical device is configured to enable voice control in response to the second processor recognizing a facial image of a second person captured by the second camera.

[0382] 121. A system according to claim 120, wherein the first camera captures a first image of a person for processing by the processor in response to the first microphone receiving a voice command from the person, and wherein the second camera captures a second image of the person for processing by the processor in response to the second microphone receiving a voice command from the person.

[0383] 122. A system according to clause 121, wherein the voice command includes any valid device control command among a plurality of valid device control commands.

[0384] 123. A system according to claim 121, wherein the first circuit includes a first display screen, the second circuit includes a second display screen, and if the first camera and the second camera both capture corresponding first person facial images and second person facial images in response to a voice command, the first medical device and the second medical device both remain disabled for voice control, and the first display screen and the second display screen each display a notification message advising the person to only face the first camera or second camera of the corresponding first medical device or second medical device that the person wishes to control by voice.

[0385] 124. A system according to clause 120, wherein the first medical device includes a first bed having a first patient exit barrier with a first camera coupled thereto, and the second medical device includes a second bed having a second patient exit barrier with a second camera coupled thereto.

[0386] 125. The system of clause 124, wherein the first patient exit barrier and the second patient exit barrier each comprise a respective first and second headboard or a respective first and second footboard.

[0387] 126. The system of clause 124, wherein the first patient exit barrier and the second patient exit barrier each comprise a respective first side rail and a second side rail.

[0388] 127. A system according to clause 126, wherein the first circuit further includes a first display screen coupled to the first sidebar, the second circuit further includes a second display screen coupled to the second sidebar, the first camera is located adjacent to the first display screen, and the second camera is located adjacent to the second display screen.

[0389] 128. The system of clause 120 further comprises at least one voice control authorization (VCA) computer remote from the first medical device and the second medical device and communicatively coupled to the first medical device and the second medical device, and wherein the first circuit is configured to transmit a first image for receipt by the at least one VCA computer, the second circuit is configured to transmit a second image for receipt by the at least one VCA computer, the VCA computer is configured to transmit a first message to the first medical device enabling the first medical device for voice control in response to the VCA computer determining that the person is authorized to operate the first medical device by voice control based on analyzing the first image, and the VCA computer is configured to transmit a second message to the second medical device enabling the second medical device for voice control in response to the VCA computer determining that the person is authorized to operate the second medical device by voice control based on analyzing the second image.

[0390] 129. A system according to claim 120, wherein, after each of the first medical device and the second medical device is enabled for voice control, the corresponding first circuit and the second circuit are enabled to receive voice commands to control functions of the corresponding first medical device and the second medical device for a threshold time period, and wherein, after the threshold time period has passed, if the corresponding first medical device and the second medical device do not receive at least one voice command, the corresponding first medical device and the second medical device are disabled for voice control.

[0391] 130. A system according to clause 129, wherein the threshold time period is reset in response to receiving a valid voice command during the threshold time period.

[0392] 131. A system for voice control, the system comprising a medical device having a first circuit including a processor, a memory, a button, and a microphone, wherein the circuit of the medical device is configured to enable voice control in response to a person selecting the button and then receiving valid voice input via the microphone within a threshold time period.

[0393] 132. A system according to clause 131, wherein the valid voice input includes a code word.

[0394] 133. A system according to clause 132, wherein the codeword comprises a first unique name corresponding to the medical device and received by the microphone within a threshold time period.

[0395] 134. A system according to clause 133, wherein the unique name includes a model name of the medical device.

[0396] 135. A system according to claim 131, wherein, after the medical device is enabled for voice control, the corresponding circuit is enabled to receive voice commands to control functions of the medical device for a second threshold time period, and wherein, after the second threshold time period has passed, the medical device is disabled for voice control if the medical device does not receive at least one voice command.

[0397] 136. A system according to clause 135, wherein the threshold time period is reset in response to receiving a valid voice command during the second threshold time period.

[0398] 137. A system according to clause 131, wherein the valid voice input includes any device control command among a plurality of device control commands.

[0399] 138. A system according to clause 131, wherein if valid voice input is not received within a threshold time period, the medical device remains disabled for voice control.

[0400] 139. A system for voice control of a medical device in a room, the system comprising: a first medical device having a first circuit including a first processor, a first memory, a first microphone, and a first infrared (IR) receiver; a second medical device having a second circuit including a second processor, a second memory, a second microphone, and a second IR receiver; and an IR indicator having an IR transmitter, wherein the first circuit of the first medical device is configured to enable voice control in response to the first IR receiver receiving an IR signal from the IR transmitter of the IR indicator, and wherein the second circuit of the second medical device is configured to enable voice control in response to the second IR receiver receiving an IR signal from the IR transmitter of the IR indicator.

[0401] 140. The system of clause 139, wherein the IR indicator is configured to be worn on a finger of a person.

[0402] 141. The system of clause 139, wherein the IR indicator is mountable to a mobile phone.

[0403] 142. The system of clause 139, wherein the IR indicator has the shape of a stylus.

[0404] 144. A system according to clause 139, wherein the IR indicator has the shape of a key fob.

[0405] 145. A system according to clause 139, wherein the first medical device includes a first bed having a first patient exit barrier having a first IR receiver coupled thereto, and the second medical device includes a second bed having a second patient exit barrier having a second IR receiver coupled thereto.

[0406] 146. A system according to clause 145, wherein the first patient exit barrier and the second patient exit barrier each include a respective first and second headboard or a respective first and second footboard.

[0407] 147. The system of clause 145, wherein the first patient exit barrier and the second patient exit barrier each comprise a respective first side rail and a second side rail.

[0408] 148. A system according to clause 147, wherein the first circuit further includes a first display screen coupled to the first sidebar, the second circuit further includes a second display screen coupled to the second sidebar, the first IR receiver is located adjacent to the first display screen, and the second IR receiver is located adjacent to the second display screen.

[0409] 149. A system according to claim 139, wherein, after each of the first medical device and the second medical device is enabled for voice control, the corresponding first circuit and the second circuit are enabled to receive voice commands to control functions of the corresponding first medical device and the second medical device for a threshold time period, and wherein, after the threshold time period has passed, if the corresponding first medical device and the second medical device do not receive at least one voice command, the corresponding first medical device and the second medical device are disabled from voice control.

[0410] 150. A system according to clause 149, wherein the threshold time period is reset in response to receiving a valid voice command during the threshold time period.

[0411] 151. A system for voice control of medical devices in a room, the system comprising: a plurality of medical devices in the room; a far-field microphone array dispersed throughout the room; and at least one computer communicatively coupled to the plurality of medical devices and the far-field microphone array, the at least one computer being configured to: (i) combine voice input received from a person by the far-field microphone array; (ii) use beamforming software to amplify and recognize the voice input; (iii) use interruption software to filter out ambient noise; (iv) execute speech recognition software to determine which of the plurality of medical devices is a designated medical device to be controlled by the voice input; and (v) transmit a control message to the designated medical device to control a first function of the designated medical device based on the voice input.

[0412] 152. A system according to clause 151, wherein each medical device in the plurality of medical devices carries at least one far-field microphone in the far-field microphone array.

[0413] 153. A system according to claim 152, wherein the plurality of medical devices includes two or more of the following: a vital signs monitor, a hospital bed, an end wall interface, a caregiver badge, a location tag, a patient identification (ID) bracelet, a patient gown, an audio station for a nurse call system, a patient lift, and a chair.

[0414] 154. A system according to clause 151, wherein the speech recognition software includes one or more of the following software: speech-to-text conversion software, codeword recognition software, wake-up word recognition software and natural language processing (NLP) software.

[0415] 155. A system according to clause 151, wherein at least one computer is further configured with distance processing software that is executed to determine which far-field microphone in the far-field microphone array is the far-field microphone closest to the person and to determine which medical device among the multiple medical devices is closest to the closest far-field microphone.

[0416] 156. A system according to clause 151, wherein the interruption software determines the ambient noise to be filtered out based on the characteristics or frequency of the noise that persists for a threshold period of time.

[0417] 157. A system according to clause 151, wherein at least one computer is further configured with speaker recognition software to determine the identification (ID) of the person providing the voice input.

[0418] 158. A system according to clause 157, wherein the speaker identification software includes one or more of the following: Markov model software, pattern recognition software, voice biometrics software, neural network software, natural language processing (NLP) software, natural language understanding software, and anaphora resolution software.

[0419] 159. A system according to clause 151, wherein at least one computer is further configured to determine that the voice input includes a composite voice command relating to the specified medical device and a second specified medical device, and wherein at least one computer is further configured to transmit a second control message to the second specified medical device to control a second function of the second specified medical device based on a portion of the voice input relating to the second medical device.

[0420] 160. A system according to clause 151, wherein the at least one computer is further configured to determine that the voice input includes a compound voice command relating to a first function and a second function of a specified medical device, and wherein the control message transmitted by the at least one computer to the specified medical device includes a first portion for controlling the first function of the specified medical device and a second portion for controlling the second function of the specified medical device.

[0421] 161. A hospital bed comprising: a frame configured to support a patient; a far-field microphone array carried by the frame; and circuitry carried by the frame and coupled to the far-field microphone array, the circuitry comprising a processor and a memory, the circuitry configured to: (i) combine voice input received from a person by the far-field microphone array; (ii) use beamforming software to amplify and recognize the voice input; (iii) use interruption software to filter out ambient noise; (iv) execute speech recognition software to determine a first function of the hospital bed to be performed based on the voice input; and (v) control the bed to perform the first function.

[0422] 162. The bed of clause 161, wherein the bed comprises a plurality of barriers coupled to the frame, and wherein each barrier of the plurality of barriers carries at least one far-field microphone of the far-field microphone array.

[0423] 163. A hospital bed according to clause 161, wherein the speech recognition software includes one or more of the following software: speech to text conversion software, codeword recognition software, wake-up word recognition software and natural language processing (NLP) software.

[0424] 164. A bed according to clause 161, wherein the interruption software determines the ambient noise to be filtered out based on the characteristics or frequency of the noise persisting for a threshold period of time.

[0425] 165. A bed according to clause 161, wherein the circuit is further configured with speaker recognition software to determine the identification (ID) of the person providing the voice input.

[0426] 166. A hospital bed according to clause 165, wherein the speaker recognition software includes one or more of the following software: Markov model software, pattern recognition software, voice biometrics software, neural network software, natural language processing (NLP) software, natural language understanding software and anaphora resolution software.

[0427] 167. A bed according to clause 166, wherein the circuit is further configured to determine that the voice input includes a compound voice command related to a first function and a second function of the bed, and wherein the circuit is configured to control its second function while controlling the first function of the bed.

[0428] 168. A hospital bed according to clause 161, wherein the circuitry is configured to control a function of the hospital bed in accordance with one or more of the rows provided in the following table (excluding the header row):

[0429]

[0430]

[0431]

[0432]

[0433]

[0434]

[0435] 169. A system for voice control of a ward environment, the system comprising: an environmental device operable to control the ward environment; an entertainment device operable to provide entertainment to patients in the ward; a microphone located in the ward and configured to receive voice control commands from the patient for controlling the environmental device and the entertainment device; and a remote computer communicatively coupled to the microphone and having voice recognition software, the remote computer configured to process the voice control commands and send control messages to control the operation of the environmental device and the entertainment device.

[0436] 170. The system of clause 169, wherein the environmental device comprises one or more of: electric blinds, electric curtains, room lights, reading lights, or a thermostat.

[0437] 171. The system of clause 169, wherein the entertainment device comprises a television.

[0438] 172. A system according to clause 169, wherein the entertainment device includes a speaker unit configured to play audio of audiobooks, voice-based games, and trivia games.

[0439] 173. A system according to clause 172, wherein the microphone is included in the speaker unit.

[0440] 174. The system of clause 172, further comprising a bed configured to support a patient, and wherein the speaker unit is included in the bed.

[0441] 175. A system according to clause 172, wherein the entertainment device includes a second entertainment device separated from the speaker unit, and wherein control messages for controlling the operation of the environmental device and the second entertainment device are routed to the environmental device and the second entertainment device through the speaker unit.

[0442] 176. A system according to clause 175, wherein the control message is received by the speaker unit as a wireless control message.

[0443] 177. A system according to clause 175, wherein the control messages sent from the speaker unit to the ambient device and the second entertainment device are transmitted wirelessly.

[0444] 178. A system for voice control of a ward environment, the system comprising: an environmental device operable to control the ward environment; an entertainment device operable to provide entertainment to patients in the ward; a microphone located in the ward and configured to receive voice control commands from the patient for controlling the environmental device and the entertainment device; and an Internet of Things (IoT) hub coupled to the microphone, the microphone configured to transmit the voice control commands to the IoT hub, wherein the IoT hub is configured to transmit control messages to control the operation of the environmental device and the entertainment device.

[0445] 179. The system of clause 178, wherein the environmental device comprises one or more of: electric blinds, electric curtains, room lights, reading lights, or a thermostat.

[0446] 180. The system of clause 178, wherein the entertainment device comprises a television.

[0447] 181. A system according to clause 178, wherein the entertainment device includes a speaker unit configured to play audio of audiobooks, voice-based games, and trivia games.

[0448] 182. A system according to clause 181, wherein the microphone is included in the speaker unit.

[0449] 183. The system of clause 181, further comprising a bed configured to support a patient, and wherein the speaker unit is included in the bed.

[0450] 184. A system according to clause 181, wherein the entertainment device includes a second entertainment device separated from the speaker unit, and wherein control messages from the IoT hub for controlling the operation of the environmental device and the second entertainment device are routed to the environmental device and the second entertainment device via the speaker unit.

[0451] 185. A system according to clause 184, wherein at least some of the control messages are received by the speaker unit from the IoT hub as wireless control messages.

[0452] 186. A system according to clause 184, wherein the control messages sent from the speaker unit to the ambient device and the second entertainment device are transmitted wirelessly.

[0453] 187. The system of clause 178 further comprises a second environment device, a second entertainment device, and a remote computer communicatively coupled to the microphone and having voice recognition software, the remote computer configured to process voice control commands and send a second control message to control the operation of the second environment device and the second entertainment device.

[0454] 188. A system according to clause 187, wherein the second control message is transmitted to the second environmental device and the second entertainment device without involving the IoT hub.

[0455] 189. The system according to clause 188, further comprising a speaker unit, the microphone being included in the speaker unit, and the second control message being transmitted to the second environment device and the second entertainment device via the speaker unit.

[0456] 190. A voice control system for a medical institution, the voice control system comprising: a hospital bed having a weighing scale for weighing a patient supported on the bed and a display screen for displaying the patient's weight; and a real-time positioning system (RTLS) for tracking the positions of multiple caregivers in the medical institution, the real-time positioning system being configured to send a message to the hospital bed notifying the bed that a first caregiver has entered a room where the bed is located, wherein the hospital bed is configured to receive voice input from the first caregiver instructing the bed to weigh the patient, wherein the bed is configured to confirm that the first caregiver is authorized to control the bed, and wherein, after confirming that the first caregiver is authorized to control the bed, the patient is weighed by means of a weighing scale.

[0457] 191. A voice control system according to clause 190, wherein the bed is configured to confirm that the first caregiver is authorized to control the bed via voice input based on a voice biometric of the first caregiver stored in a memory of the bed.

[0458] 192. A voice control system according to clause 190, wherein the bed is configured to display the patient's weight on the display screen after weighing the patient.

[0459] 193. A voice control system according to clause 190, in combination with any one or more of clauses 22 to 31.

[0460] 194. A hospital bed comprising: a frame configured to support a patient; and circuitry carried by the frame and including a processor, a memory, a speaker, a microphone, and a transmitter, the memory storing software configured to receive voice input via the microphone and output voice messages via the speaker, wherein, in response to receiving a first voice input detected by the microphone, the first voice input comprising a fall prevention check statement from a caregiver, the processor and the software collaborate to determine whether the bed is properly configured according to a fall prevention protocol, wherein, if the bed is not properly configured according to the fall prevention protocol, the circuitry is configured to allow correction of one or more bed settings so that it is configured according to the fall prevention protocol, wherein, if the bed is properly configured according to the fall prevention protocol, the circuitry is configured to play a confirmation message via the speaker to confirm to the caregiver that the bed is properly configured according to the fall prevention protocol.

[0461] 195. A bed as described in clause 194, wherein the circuit is configured to prompt a caregiver to correct one or more bed settings so that they are configured according to a fall prevention protocol.

[0462] 196. A bed as described in clause 194, wherein, after playing the confirmation message, the circuit is configured to communicate a record query to the caregiver regarding whether fall prevention protocol compliance information should be recorded in the patient's electronic medical record, and in response to receiving affirmative input from the caregiver in response to the record query, the circuit transmits the fall prevention protocol compliance information via the transmitter for storage in the patient's electronic medical record.

[0463] 197. A bed as described in clause 194, in combination with any one or more of clauses 33 to 57.

[0464] Although certain exemplary embodiments have been described in detail above, variations and modifications exist within the scope and spirit of the disclosure as described and defined in the claims.

Claims

1. A voice control system for a medical institution, the voice control system comprising: a hospital bed having a weighing scale for weighing a patient supported on the bed and having a display screen for displaying the patient's weight; a voice recorder configured to record digital models of the voices of a plurality of caregivers; and a server to which the digital model is transmitted to determine a voice biometric of each of a plurality of caregivers, wherein the hospital bed is configured to receive a voice input from a first caregiver of the plurality of caregivers instructing the bed to weigh the patient, wherein the hospital bed is configured to communicate with the server to confirm, based on the voice biometric, that the caregiver is authorized to control the bed via the voice input, wherein after confirming that the first caregiver is authorized to control the bed, the patient is weighed via a weighing scale and the patient's weight is displayed on a display screen.

2. The voice control system according to claim 1, wherein: A voice recorder is included in the computer.

3. The voice control system according to claim 1, wherein: A voice recorder is included in the mobile phone.

4. The voice control system according to claim 1, wherein: A caregiver identification (ID) is transmitted to a server through the voice recorder along with a digital model of each of the plurality of caregivers.

5. The voice control system according to claim 1, wherein: The hospital bed is configured to receive a zero-scale voice input from a first caregiver, the zero-scale voice input instructing the bed to zero the weighing scale by measuring a tare weight using the weighing scale when a patient is not in the bed, wherein the hospital bed is configured to communicate with a server to confirm, based on voice biometrics, that the caregiver is authorized to control the bed through the zero-scale voice input, wherein after confirming that the first caregiver is authorized to control the bed, the bed zeroes the weighing scale.

6. The voice control system according to claim 1, wherein: The hospital bed is configured to display an accept button on the display screen for selection by the first caregiver to accept the displayed patient weight for storage in one or both of the hospital bed's memory and the patient's electronic medical record.

7. The voice control system according to claim 6, wherein: If the displayed weight accepted by the first caregiver differs from the previously accepted patient weight by a threshold amount, the bed displays a message on the display screen instructing the first caregiver to check to determine if the bed's weighing scale has been properly zeroed.

8. The voice control system according to claim 7, wherein: If the bed detects no problem, the bed displays a message on the display indicating that the patient's weight has been successfully stored in one or both of the bed's memory and the patient's electronic medical record.

9. The voice control system of claim 1 , further comprising a real-time location system (RTLS) that determines the locations of multiple caregivers in the healthcare facility, and the server uses information from the RTLS in addition to voice biometrics to confirm that the first caregiver is authorized to control the bed via voice input.

10. The voice control system according to claim 9, wherein: The bed is configured to display a personal identification number (PIN) screen on the display screen for the first caregiver to enter the PIN, and the server uses the PIN in addition to the voice biometric to confirm that the first caregiver is authorized to control the bed via voice input.

11. The voice control system according to claim 1, wherein: The bed is configured to display a personal identification number (PIN) screen on the display screen for the first caregiver to enter the PIN, and the server uses the PIN in addition to the voice biometric to confirm that the first caregiver is authorized to control the bed via voice input.

12. The voice control system according to claim 1, wherein: The bed is configured to display a voice input button on the display screen, which is selectable by the first caregiver to enable the bed to receive voice input.

13. A voice control system for a medical institution, the voice control system comprising: medical equipment used in patient care; and a mobile device comprising a voice recorder configured to record a digital model of a caregiver's voice, wherein the digital model is transferred from the mobile device to a medical device, the medical device configured to determine a voice biometric of the caregiver based on the digital model, wherein the medical device is configured to receive voice input from the caregiver instructing the medical device to perform a function, wherein the medical device is configured to confirm that the caregiver is authorized to control the medical device via the voice input based on the voice biometric, and wherein the function is performed by the medical device after confirming that the caregiver is authorized to control the medical device.

14. The voice control system according to claim 13, wherein: The caregiver's caregiver identification (ID) is transmitted from the mobile device to the medical device along with a digital model of the caregiver's voice.

15. The voice control system according to claim 13, wherein: The medical device is configured to display an accept button on the display screen for the caregiver to select to accept the displayed patient information for storage in one or both of the medical device's memory and the patient's electronic medical record.

16. The voice control system according to claim 15, wherein: If the medical device detects no problem, the medical device displays a message on the display screen indicating that the patient information has been successfully stored in one or both of the medical device's memory and the patient's electronic medical record.

17. The voice control system of claim 13, further comprising a real-time location system (RTLS) that determines the caregiver's location in the medical facility, and the medical device uses information from the RTLS in addition to voice biometrics to confirm that the caregiver is authorized to control the medical device through voice input.

18. The voice control system according to claim 17, wherein: The medical device is configured to display a personal identification number (PIN) screen on the display screen for the caregiver to enter the PIN, and the medical device uses the PIN in addition to the voice biometric to confirm that the first caregiver is authorized to control the medical device through voice input.

19. The voice control system according to claim 13, wherein: The medical device is configured to display a personal identification number (PIN) screen on the display screen for the caregiver to enter the PIN, and the medical device uses the PIN in addition to the voice biometric to confirm that the first caregiver is authorized to control the medical device through voice input.

20. The voice control system according to claim 13, wherein: The medical device is configured to display a voice input button on the display screen, which is selectable by the caregiver to enable the medical device to receive voice input.

Images