Pairing and location system

Abstract

A system for automatically pairing patient support apparatuses with locator units in a healthcare facility is provided. The system includes a patient support apparatus, camera subsystem, and a locator unit. The patient support apparatus includes a visual indicator adapted to be recognized by the camera subsystem. The camera subsystem uses the visual indicator to determine a first pairing credential and to send the first pairing credential to the locator unit. The camera subsystem may receive a second pairing credential from the locator unit and send it to the patient support apparatus. In some instances, the visual indicator includes the first pairing credential. In other instances, the visual indicator uniquely identifies the patient support apparatus so that a request message may be sent to the patient support apparatus requesting the first pairing credential. The first and second pairing credentials may include an address and a pairing key.

Description

STR03 FP-726BPAIRING AND LOCATION SYSTEM CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application serial number 63 / 776,901 filed March 24, 2025, and patent application serial number 63 / 854,710 filed July 31, 2025 by inventors Daniel B. Lorantetal. and entitled PAIRING AND LOCATION SYSTEM, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by referenceBACKGROUND

[0002] The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for automatically pairing a patient support apparatus to another device, such as a locator unit, and / or system and methods for automatically verifying the location of a device, such as a patient support apparatus, within a healthcare facility.SUMMARY

[0003] According to various aspects of the present disclosure, a pairing system is disclosed that includes one or more patient support apparatuses, one or more camera subsystems, and one or more locator units. The system is adapted to automatically pair a patient support apparatus in a particular location within a healthcare facility, such as a patient room, with a locator unit that is within a vicinity of the patient support apparatus (e.g. within the same room) This automatic pairing allows the patient support apparatus to communicate with the locator unit without requiring a human to take any manual steps to effectuate such pairing. Once paired, the paired locator is able to communicate directly with the paired patient support apparatus and such communications are not acted upon by other patient support apparatuses and / or locator units that are positioned within communication range Similarly, the paired patient support apparatus 20 and locator unit 64 do not act upon other communications that are intended for other patient support apparatuses and / or other locator units. The automatic pairing process allows the location of a specific patient support apparatus within a healthcare facility to be determined by the pairing system, or another system in communication with the pairing system. In some versions, the pairing refers to a Bluetooth communication pairing, although it will be understood that other types of communication protocols may be paired together using the teachings of the present disclosure. In other aspects of the present disclosure, systems and methods are provided for verifying the location of one or more medical devices, such as patient support apparatuses, as well as automatically carrying out the verifications, determining when such verifications are needed, determining how such verifications are carried out, and / or communicating information about the verification process to appropriate users. These and other features of the present disclosure will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in light of the following description and accompanying drawings.

[0004] A system for a healthcare facility according to a first aspect of the present disclosure includes a patient support apparatus, a locator unit, and a camera subsystem. The patient support apparatus includes a support surface adapted to support a patient thereon; a visual indicator; a first transceiver adapted to communicate with the locator unit; and a first controller in communication with the and the first and second transceivers. The camera subsystem includes a camera, a second transceiver; and a second controller The second controller is adapted to analyze images captured by the camera and to perform the following: use the visual indicator to determine a first pairing credential; and transmit the first pairing credential to the locator unit using the second transceiver. The locator unit includes a third transceiver and a third controller. The third transceiver is adapted to receive the first pairing credential from the camera subsystem; and the third controller is adapted to use the first pairing credential to automatically pair the third transceiver with the first transceiver of the patient support apparatus.

[0005] According to other aspects of the present disclosure, the third controller is adapted to use the third transceiver to transmit a second pairing credential to the camera subsystem.

[0006] In some aspects, the camera subsystem is adapted to transmit the second pairing credential to the patient support apparatus.

[0007] In some aspects, the first, second, and third transceivers are Bluetooth transceivers.

[0008] The visual indicator, in some aspects, is a dynamic visual indicator and the first controller is adapted to temporarily display the visual indicator at a first time and to not display the visual indicator at other times.

[0009] The patient support apparatus, in some aspects, includes a control panel having a display, and the first controller is adapted to temporarily display the visual indicator on the display at the first time

[0010] In some aspects, the visual indicator includes a Quick Response (QR) code.

[0011] The patient support apparatus, in some aspects, includes a light and the visual indicator comprises a sequence of first illumination states and second illumination states of the light.

[0012] In some aspects, the first illumination states are defined by the light emitting light, and the second illumination states are defined by the light not emitting light.

[0013] In some aspects, the first illumination states are defined by the light emitting light of a first color, and the second illumination states are defined by the light emitting light of a second color.

[0014] The first controller, in some aspects, is adapted to display the visual indicator at the first time in response to a triggering condition

[0015] The triggering condition, in some aspects, includes at least one of the following: an activation of a brake of the patient support apparatus, or a connection of the patient support apparatus to an external power source.

[0016] In some aspects, the triggering condition is the receipt of a trigger message from the camera subsystem.

[0017] The camera subsystem, in some aspects, is adapted to send the trigger message to the patient support apparatus after the second controller analyzes the images captured by the camera and detects the patient support apparatus in the images.

[0018] The trigger message, in some aspects, is not specifically addressed to the patient support apparatus but is broadcast to a set of multiple patient support apparatuses, and the set of multiple patient support apparatuses includes the patient support apparatus as well as other patient support apparatuses.

[0019] In some aspects, the camera subsystem is adapted to determine the set of multiple patient support apparatuses by determining which patient support apparatuses within the healthcare facility are currently paired with locator units and which patient support apparatuses are not currently paired with locator units, and the set of multiple patient support apparatuses excludes those patient support apparatuses that are currently paired with locator units.

[0020] In some aspects, the patient support apparatus includes a network transceiver adapted to send a pairing state message to the camera subsystem, the pairing state message indicating whether or not the first transceiver of the patient support apparatus is paired with the third transceiver of the locator unit.

[0021] In some aspects, the patient support apparatus includes a first IR transceiver and the locator unit includes a second IR transceiver.

[0022] In some aspects, the third controller is adapted to receive the first pairing credential directly from the patient support apparatus using the first IR transceiver, and the first controller is adapted to receive a second pairing credential directly from the locator unit using the second IR transceiver.

[0023] In some aspects, if the third controller successfully receives the first pairing credential directly from the patient support apparatus using the first IR transceiver, and if the first controller successfully receives the second credential directly from the locator unit using the second IR transceiver, the first and third controllers are adapted to automatically pair the first and third transceivers with each other using the first and second pairing credentials received via the first and second IR transceivers.

[0024] In some aspects, the camera subsystem is adapted to only perform steps (1) and (2) if the first and second pairing credentials are unable to be exchanged between the locator unit and patient support apparatus using the first and second IR transceivers.

[0025] The camera subsystem, in some aspects, includes a camera unit and a server, and at least the camera and second transceiver are housed with the camera unit while the server is positioned at a location remote from the camera unit.

[0026] In some aspects, the camera unit and the locator unit are positioned in a room of the healthcare facility.

[0027] The second controller, in some aspects, is adapted to use the visual indicator to determine the first pairing credential by decoding the first pairing credential from the visual indicator.

[0028] The second controller, in some aspects, is adapted to use the visual indicator to determine the first pairing credential by performing the following: determining an ID of the patient support apparatus from the visual indicator; transmitting the ID to the server using a first network transceiver; and receiving the first pairing credential from the server via the network transceiver.

[0029] In some aspects, the server is adapted to, in response to receipt of the ID from the second controller, perform the following: transmit a request message to the patient support apparatus using a second network transceiver; and receive a response message from the patient support apparatus via the second network transceiver, wherein the response message includes the first pairing credential.

[0030] The camera subsystem, in some aspects, is adapted to receive a second pairing credential from the locator unit via the second transceiver, and to transmit the second pairing credential to the patient support apparatus.

[0031] The first controller, in some aspects, is adapted to use the second pairing credential to automatically pair the first transceiver with the third transceiver of the locator unit.

[0032] The camera subsystem, in some aspects, includes a first network transceiver and the patient support apparatus includes a second network transceiver. The camera subsystem is adapted to transmit the second pairing credential to the patient support apparatus using the first and second network transceivers.

[0033] The first and / or second pairing credential, in some aspects, includes an address and a pairing key.

[0034] In some aspects, the address includes at least one of a Media Access Control (MAC) address or an IP address.

[0035] The locator unit, in some aspects, is adapted to transmit a location identifier to the patient support apparatus using the third transceiver, and the patient support apparatus is adapted to forward the location identifier to a server.

[0036] In some aspects, the patient support apparatus includes a nurse call control adapted to summon a nurse when activated by a patient; the locator unit is coupled to a nurse call outlet; the first controller is adapted to transmit a nurse call signal to the locator unit in response to the nurse call control being activated; and the third controller is adapted to communicate the nurse call signal to the nurse call outlet.

[0037] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a patient support apparatus is provided that includes a support surface adapted to support a patient thereon, a memory, a network transceiver, a first transceiver, and a controller. The first transceiver is adapted to communicate with a locator unit. The controller is adapted to make a first determination of a location of the patient support apparatus within a healthcare facility based upon the communication between the first transceiver and the locator unit. The controller is also adapted to record a verification state within the memory, wherein the verification state indicates either a verified state or an unverified state. The verified state corresponds to a second determination of the location of the patient support apparatus within the healthcare facility having been made independently of the communication between the first transceiver and the locator unit. The unverified state refers to the opposite, that is, the unverified state corresponds to no second determination of the location of the patient support apparatus within the healthcare facility having been made. The controller is adapted to transmit the verification state to a server using the network transceiver

[0038] According to other aspects of the present disclosure, the controller is adapted to send a verification request to the server, the verification request requesting the server to carry out the second determination of the location of the patient support apparatus within the healthcare facility.

[0039] In some aspects, the controller is adapted to send the verification request to the server in response to both of the following being true: the controller detects a triggering condition, and the verification state is currently in the unverified state

[0040] The triggering condition, in some aspects, includes at least one of the following: a brake on the patient support apparatus being activated, a power cord of the patient support apparatus being plugged into a source of electrical power, the controller receiving a motion command, or a location verification command being received.

[0041] In some aspects, the first transceiver is a Bluetooth transceiver, an infrared transceiver, or an ultra-wideband transceiver.

[0042] In some aspects, the second determination of the location of the patient support apparatus is made using a camera unit having a field of view encompassing the patient support apparatus.

[0043] The camera unit, in some aspects, is mounted in a fixed location

[0044] The patient support apparatus, in some aspects, includes a display and the controller is adapted to display an indicator of the verification state on the display.

[0045] The patient support apparatus, in some aspects, includes a verification control adapted to be manually activated by a user, and the controller is adapted to change the verification state from an unverified state to a verified state in response to the verification control being activated.

[0046] In some aspects, the patient support apparatus includes a display and the controller is adapted to display a first indicator on the display when the verification state is verified, to display a second indicator on the display when the verification state is unverified, and a third indicator on the display when the controller is carrying out a process to transition from the unverified state to the verified state.

[0047] In some aspects, the controller is adapted to automatically change the verification state from a verified state to an unverified state in response to a triggering condition.

[0048] The triggering condition for changing from a verified state to an unverified state, in some aspects, includes at least one of the following: a passage of a predetermined amount of time, a brake on the patient support apparatus being deactivated, a power cord of the patient support apparatus being unplugged from a source of electrical power, or an unverification command being received.

[0049] The controller, in some aspects, is adapted to receive a remote motion command via the network transceiver, wherein the remote motion command instructs the controller to move a component of the patient support apparatus. The controller is adapted to move the component of the patient support apparatus in response to the remote motion command if the verification state is currently in the verified state, and to not move the component of the patient support apparatus in response to the remote motion command if the verification state is currently in the unverified state.

[0050] In some aspects, the controller is adapted to move the component of the patient support apparatus in response to the remote motion command if the remote motion command is received by the patient support apparatus through two independent communication pathways, and to not move the component of the patient support apparatus in response to the remote motion command if the remote motion command is not received by the patient support apparatus through two independent communication pathways

[0051] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a patient support apparatus system is provided that includes a patient support apparatus and a software application embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium. The patient support apparatus includes a support surface adapted to support a patient thereon, a network transceiver, a first transceiver, and a controller. The first transceiver is adapted to communicate with a locator unit, and the controller is adapted to communicate with the first transceiver. The controller is adapted to make a first determination of a location of the patient support apparatus within a healthcare facility based upon the communication between the first transceiver and the locator unit, and to forward the first determination of the location of the patient support apparatus to the software application using the network transceiver. The software application is adapted, when executed by a server, to instruct the server to determine a verification state of the patient support apparatus. The verification state indicates either a verified state or an unverified stat. The verified state corresponds to a second determination of the location of the patient support apparatus within the healthcare facility having been made independently of the communication between the first transceiver and the locator unit. The unverified state corresponds to no second determination of the location of the patient support apparatus within the healthcare facility having been made.

[0052] According to other aspects of the present disclosure, the software application is adapted to instruct the server to transmit the verification state to a display for display thereon.

[0053] In some aspects, the software application is adapted to instruct the server to send a verification command to the patient support apparatus. The verification command instructs the patient support apparatus to perform the second determination of the location of the patient support apparatus.

[0054] In some aspects, the software application is adapted to instruct the server to send a verification command to a camera unit. The verification command instructs the camera unit to perform the second determination of the location of the patient support apparatus.

[0055] The software application, in some aspects, is adapted to instruct the server to send a secondary command to the patient support apparatus. The secondary command instructs the patient support apparatus to change an aspect of the patient support apparatus that is visually detectable by the camera unit.

[0056] The visually detectable aspect may include changing an illumination status of a light onboard the patient support apparatus, and / or changing content displayed on a display of the patient support apparatus.

[0057] In some aspects, the controller is adapted to send a verification request to the server. The verification request requests the server to carry out the second determination of the location of the patient support apparatus within the healthcare facility.

[0058] The controller, in some aspects, is adapted to send the verification request to the server in response to both of the following being true: the controller detects a triggering condition, and the verification state is currently in the unverified state.

[0059] In some aspects, the triggering condition includes at least one of the following: a brake on the patient support apparatus being activated, a power cord of the patient support apparatus being plugged into a source of electrical power, the controller receiving a motion command, or a location verification command being received.

[0060] The first transceiver, in some aspects, is one of a Bluetooth transceiver, an infrared transceiver, or an ultra-wideband transceiver.

[0061] The second determination of location of the patient support apparatus, in some aspects, is made using a camera unit having a field of view encompassing the patient support apparatus.

[0062] The camera unit, in some aspects, is mounted in a fixed location

[0063] The patient support apparatus, in some aspects, includes a display and the controller is adapted to display an indicator of the verification state on the display.

[0064] In some aspects, the patient support apparatus includes a verification control adapted to be manually activated by a user, and the controller is adapted to change the verification state from an unverified state to a verified state in response to the verification control being activated.

[0065] The patient support apparatus, in some aspects, includes a display and the controller is adapted to display a first indicator on the display when the verification state is verified, to display a second indicator on the display when the verification state is unverified, and to display a third indicator on the display when the controller is carrying out a process to transition from the unverified state to the verified state.

[0066] In some aspects, the controller is adapted to automatically change the verification state from a verified state to an unverified state in response to a triggering condition.

[0067] The triggering condition for changing from a verified state to an unverified state may include at least one of the following: a passage of a predetermined amount of time, a brake on the patient support apparatus being deactivated, a power cord of the patient support apparatus being unplugged from a source of electrical power, or an unverification command being received.

[0068] In some aspects, the controller is adapted to receive a remote motion command via the network transceiver. The remote motion command instructs the controller to move a component of the patient support apparatus. The controller is adapted to move the component of the patient support apparatus in response to the remote motion command if the verification state is currently in the verified state, and to not move the component of the patient support apparatus in response to the remote motion command if the verification state is currently in the unverified state.

[0069] In some aspects, the controller is adapted to move the component of the patient support apparatus in response to the remote motion command if the remote motion command is received by the patient support apparatus through two independent communication pathways, and to not move the component of the patient support apparatus in response to the remote motion command if the remote motion command is not received by the patient support apparatus through two independent communication pathways

[0070] Before the various embodiments disclosed herein are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the claims are not to be limited to the details of operation or to the details of construction and the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings The embodiments described herein are capable of being practiced or being carried out in alternative ways not expressly disclosed herein. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology usedherein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of "including" and "comprising" and variations thereof is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items and equivalents thereof Further, enumeration may be used in the description of various embodiments. Unless otherwise expressly stated, the use of enumeration should not be construed as limiting the claims to any specific order or number of components. Nor should the use of enumeration be construed as excluding from the scope of the claims any additional steps or components that might be combined with or into the enumerated steps or componentsBRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0071] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one example of a patient support apparatus incorporating aspects of the present disclosure;

[0072] FIG. 2 is a plan view of a footboard control panel of the patient support apparatus of FIG. 1 ;

[0073] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of several components of a pairing system according to aspects of the present disclosure, including the patient support apparatus, a camera subsystem, and a locator unit;

[0074] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a first pairing algorithm that may be implemented by the pairing system;

[0075] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a second pairing algorithm that may be implemented by the pairing system;

[0076] FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a third pairing algorithm that may be implemented by the pairing system;

[0077] FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a location verification system according to aspects of the present disclosure that may be implemented separately from, or in combination with, the pairing system of FIG. 3;

[0078] FIG.8 is a block diagram of a verification algorithm that may be implemented by the location verification system;

[0079] FIG. 9 is an example of a first message that may be displayed as part of the verification system;

[0080] FIG. 10 is an example of a second message that may be displayed as part of the verification system;

[0081] FIG. 11 is an example of a third message that may be displayed as part of the verification system; and

[0082] FIG. 12 is an example of a dashboard screen that may be displayed as part of the verification system described herein.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0083] An illustrative patient support apparatus 20 that may be used in a pairing system and / or verification system of the present disclosure is shown in FIG. 1. Although the particular form of patient support apparatus 20 illustrated in FIG. 1 is a bed adapted for use in a hospital or other medical setting, it will be understood that patient support apparatus 20 could, in different versions, be a cot, a stretcher, a recliner, or any other structure capable of supporting a patient in a healthcare environment.

[0084] In general, patient support apparatus 20 includes a base 22 having a plurality of wheels 24, a pair of lifts 26 supported on the base 22, a litter frame 28 supported on the lifts 26, and a support deck 30 supported on the litter frame 28. Patient support apparatus 20 further includes a headboard 32, a footboard 34 and a plurality of siderails 36. Siderails 36 are all shown in a raised position in FIG. 1 but are each individually movable to a lower position in which ingress into, and egress out of, patient support apparatus 20 is not obstructed by the lowered siderails 36

[0085] Lifts 26 are adapted to raise and lower litter frame 28 with respect to base 22. Lifts 26 may utilize hydraulic actuators, electric actuators, or any other suitable device for raising and lowering litter frame 28 with respect to base 22. In the illustrated version of patient support apparatus 20, lifts 26 are operable independently so that the tilting of litter frame 28 with respect to base 22 can also be adjusted, to place the litter frame 28 in a flat or horizontal orientation, a Trendelenburg orientation, or a reverse Trendelenburg orientation. That is, litter frame 28 includes a head end 38 and a foot end 40, each of whose height can beindependently adjusted by the nearest lift 26. Patient support apparatus 20 is designed so that when an occupant lies thereon, his or her head will be positioned adjacent head end 38 and his or her feet will be positioned adjacent foot end 40. The lifts 26 may be constructed and / or operated in any of the manners disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent publication 2017 / 0246065, filed on February 22, 2017, entitled LIFT ASSEMBLY FOR PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUS, the complete disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. Other manners for constructing and / or operating lifts 26 may, of course, be used.

[0086] Litter frame 28 provides a structure for supporting support deck 30, the headboard 32, footboard 34, and siderails 36. Support deck 30 provides a support surface for a mattress 42, or other soft cushion, so that a person may lie and / or sit thereon. The top surface of the mattress 42 or other cushion forms a support surface for the occupant.

[0087] Support deck 30 is made of a plurality of sections, some of which are pivotable about generally horizontal pivot axes In the example shown in FIG. 1 , support deck 30 includes at least a head section 44, a thigh section 46, and a foot section 48, all of which are positioned underneath mattress 42 and which generally form flat surfaces for supporting mattress 42. Head section 44, which is also sometimes referred to as a Fowler section, is pivotable about a generally horizontal pivot axis between a generally horizontal orientation (not shown in FIG. 1) and a plurality of raised positions (one of which is shown in FIG. 1). Thigh section 46 and foot section 48 may also be pivotable about generally horizontal pivot axes.

[0088] It will be understood by those skilled in the art that patient support apparatus 20 can be designed with other types of mechanical constructions, such as, but not limited to, that described in commonly assigned, U.S. Patent No. 10,130,536 to Roussy et al., entitled PATIENT SUPPORT USABLE WITH BARIATRIC PATIENTS, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. As another example, the mechanical construction of patient support apparatus 20 may be the same as, or nearly the same as, the mechanical construction of the Model 3002 S3 bed manufactured and sold by Stryker Corporation of Kalamazoo, Michigan. This mechanical construction is described in greater detail in the Stryker Maintenance Manual for the MedSurg Bed, Model 3002 S3, published in 2010 by Stryker Corporation of Kalamazoo, Michigan, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that patient support apparatus 20 can be designed with still other types of mechanical constructions, such as, but not limited to, those described in commonly assigned, U.S Pat. No. 7,690,059 issued to Lemire et al., and entitled HOSPITAL BED; and / or commonly assigned U.S. Pat. publication No. 2007 / 0163045 filed by Becker et al and entitled PATIENT HANDLING DEVICE INCLUDING LOCAL STATUS INDICATION, ONE-TOUCH FOWLER ANGLE ADJUSTMENT, AND POWER-ON ALARM CONFIGURATION, the complete disclosures of both of which are also hereby incorporated herein by reference. The mechanical construction of patient support apparatus 20 may also take on still other forms different from what is disclosed in the aforementioned references.

[0089] Patient support apparatus 20 further includes a plurality of control panels 54 that enable a user of patient support apparatus 20, such as a patient and / or an associated caregiver, to control one or more aspects of patient support apparatus 20. As shown in FIG. 1 , patient support apparatus 20 includes a footboard control panel 54a, a pair of outer siderail control panels 54b (only one of which is visible), and a pair of inner siderail control panels 54c (only one of which is visible). Footboard control panel 54a and outer siderail control panels 54b are intended to be used by caregivers, or other authorized personnel, while inner siderail control panels 54c are intended to be used by the patient associated with patient support apparatus 20. Each of the control panels 54 includes a plurality of controls 50 (see, e.g. FIG. 2), although each control panel 54 does not necessarily include the same controls and / or functionality.

[0090] Among other functions, controls 50 of control panel 54a allow a user to control one or more of the following: change a height of support deck 30, raise or lower head section 44, activate and deactivate a brake for wheels 24, arm and disarman exit detection system, arm and disarm an onboard monitoring system, configure patient support apparatus 20, control an onboard scale system, communicate with the camera subsystem described herein, and / or other functions. One or both of the inner siderail control panels 54c also include at least one control that enables a patient to call a remotely located nurse (or other caregiver). In addition to the nurse call control, one or both of the inner siderail control panels 54c may also include one or more controls for controlling one or more features of a television, room light, and / or reading light positioned within the same room as the patient support apparatus 20. With respect to the television, the features that may be controllable by one or more controls 50 on control panel 54c include, but are not limited to, the volume, the channel, the closed-captioning, and / or the power state of the television. With respect to the room and / or night lights, the features that may be controlled by one or more controls 50 on control panel 54c include the on / off state of these lights.

[0091] Control panel 54a includes a display 52 (FIG. 2) configured to display a plurality of different screens thereon. Display 52 may be a touchscreen-type display, although it will be understood that a non-touchscreen display may alternatively be used. Display 52 displays one or more icons, controls, graphics, and / or control screens, and / or other types of information, as will be discussed more below. Display 52 may comprise an LED display, an OLED display, or another type of display. One of the visual indicators that display 52 may temporarily display, in some versions of patient support apparatus 20, is a Quick Response (QR) code and / or another type of code that encodes information used to communicatively pair a Bluetooth transceiver onboard patient support apparatus 20 with a Bluetooth transceiver of a locator unit that is positioned in the same room as, or nearby to, patient support apparatus 20, as will be discussed in greater detail below.

[0092] Surrounding display 52 is a plurality of navigation controls 50a-f that, when activated, cause the display 52 to display different screens on display 52. More specifically, when a user presses navigation control 50a, control panel 54a displays an exit detection control screen on display 52 that includes one or more icons that, when touched, control an onboard exit detection system The exit detection system is as adapted to issue an alert when a patient exit from patient support apparatus 20. The exit detection system may include any of the features and functions as, and / or may be constructed in any of the same manners as, the exit detection system disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application 62 / 889,254 filed August 20, 2019, by inventors Sujay Sukumaran et al. and entitled PERSON SUPPORT APPARATUS WITH ADJUSTABLE EXIT DETECTION ZONES, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Other types of exit detection systems can also or alternatively be used.

[0093] When a user presses navigation control 50b (FIG. 2), control panel 54 displays a monitoring control screen that includes a plurality of control icons that, when touched, control an onboard monitoring system built into patient support apparatus 20. Further details of one type of monitoring system that may be built into patient support apparatus 20 are disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application serial number 62 / 864,638 filed June 21, 2019, by inventors Kurosh Nahavandi et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUS WITH CAREGIVER REMINDERS, as well as commonly assigned U.S. patent application serial number 16 / 721,133 filed December 19, 2019, by inventors Kurosh Nahavandi et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUSES WITH MOTION CUSTOMIZATION, the complete disclosures of both of which are incorporated herein by reference Other types of monitoring systems can also or alternatively be included with patient support apparatus 20.

[0094] When a user presses navigation control 50c, control panel 54a displays a scale control screen that includes a plurality of control icons that, when touched, control a scale system of patient support apparatus 20. Such a scale system may include any of the features and functions as, and / or may be constructed in any of the same manners as, the scale systems disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application 62 / 889,254 filed August 20, 2019, by inventors Sujay Sukumaran et al. and entitled PERSON SUPPORT APPARATUS WITH ADJUSTABLE EXIT DETECTION ZONES, and U.S. patent application serial number62 / 885,954 filed August 13, 2019, by inventors Kurosh Nahavandi et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUS WITH EQUIPMENT WEIGHT LOG, the complete disclosures of both of which are incorporated herein by reference. Other types of scale systems can also or alternatively be included with patient support apparatus 20.

[0095] When a user presses navigation control 50d, control panel 54 displays a motion control screen that includes a plurality of control icons that, when touched, control the movement of various components of patient support apparatus 20, such as, but not limited to, the height of litter frame 28 and the pivoting of head section 44. In some versions of patient support apparatus 20, the motion control screen displayed on display 52 in response to pressing control 50d may be the same as, or similar to, the position control screen 216 disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application serial number 62 / 885,953 filed August 13, 2019, by inventors Kurosh Nahavandi etal. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUS WITH TOUCHSCREEN, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Other types of motion control screens can also or alternatively be included with patient support apparatus 20.

[0096] When a user presses navigation control 50e, control panel 54a displays a motion lock control screen that includes a plurality of control icons that, when touched, control one or more motion lockout functions of patient support apparatus 20. Such a motion lockout screen may include any of the features and functions as, and / or may be constructed in any of the same manners as, the motion lockout features, functions, and constructions disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application serial number 16 / 721,133 filed December 19, 2019, by inventors Kurosh Nahavandi et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUSES WITH MOTION CUSTOMIZATION, the complete disclosures of both of which are incorporated herein by reference. Other types of motion lockout control screens can also or alternatively be included with patient support apparatus 20.

[0097] When a user presses on navigation control 50f, control panel 54a displays a menu screen that includes a plurality of menu icons that, when touched, bring up one or more additional screens for controlling and / or viewing one or more other aspects of patient support apparatus 20. Such other aspects include, but are not limited to, diagnostic and / or service information for patient support apparatus 20, mattress control and / or status information, configuration settings, and other settings and / or information. One example of a suitable menu screen is the menu screen 100 disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application serial number 62 / 885,953 filed August 13, 2019, by inventors Kurosh Nahavandi et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUS WITH TOUCHSCREEN, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Other types of menu screens can also or alternatively be included with patient support apparatus 20.

[0098] For all of the navigation controls 50a-f (FIG. 2), screens other than the ones specifically mentioned above may be displayed on display 52 in other versions of patient support apparatus 20 in response to a user pressing these controls. Thus, it will be understood that the specific screens mentioned above are merely representative of the types of screens that are displayable on display 52 in response to a user pressing on one or more of navigation controls 50a-f. It will also be understood that, although navigation controls 50a-f have all been illustrated in the accompanying drawings as dedicated controls that are positioned adjacent display 52, any one or more of these controls 50a-f could alternatively be touchscreen controls that are displayed at one or more locations on display 52. Still further, although controls 50a-f have been shown herein as buttons, it will be understood that any of controls 50a-f could also, or alternatively, be switches, dials, or other types of non-button controls. It will also be understood that, as described in more detail below, display 52 may temporarily display one or more other screens, such as a QR code, automatically in response to one or more triggering conditions.

[0099] As illustrated in FIG. 1 , patient support apparatus 20 is adapted to include at least one visual indicator 60 that is used by the camera subsystem described below to automatically pair the patient support apparatus 10 with a nearby locator unit. Inthe example shown in FIG. 2, the visual indicator 60 is a QR code 62 displayed on display 52. In the example shown in FIG. 1 , visual indicators 60 may be stickers, markings, lights, and / or any other type of indicia that can be detected by a camera and that differentiates that particular patient support apparatus 20 from other patient support apparatuses 20 that may be in the same healthcare facility. The number and location of the visual indicators 60 may vary in different versions. In the version shown in FIG.1 , a first visual indicator 60 is coupled to the exterior surface of footboard 34 and additional visual indicators 60 are coupled to the outer surfaces of each of the four siderails 36. By including visual indicators 60 in more than one location of patient support apparatus 20, the chances of the visual indicators 60 of being visual blocked or obscured from detection by the camera subsystem is reduced. It will be understood, however, that in some versions, patient support apparatus 20 may include only a single visual indicator 60.

[0100] In addition to, and / or in lieu of, the visual indicators 60 shown coupled to the footboard 34 and siderails 36 of patient support apparatus 20, it will be understood that display 52 and / or one or more other displays of patient support apparatus 20 may temporarily or permanently display a visual indicator 60 thereon. When a visual indicator 60 is displayed on a display, such as display 52, the visual indicator may comprise any indicia that can be detected by the camera subsystem described below and that distinguish the particular patient support apparatus 20 bearing the visual indicator 60 from other patient support apparatuses 20 within the healthcare facility. One example of such a visual indicator 60 that may be displayed on display 52 is a QR code, such as the QR code 62 shown in FIG. 2. Other examples may include a bar code, a serial number, or another identifier.

[0101] FIG. 3 depicts in more detail the structures of a pairing system 70 according to one aspect of the present disclosure. Pairing system 70 is adapted to automatically pair a patient support apparatus 20 with a locator unit 64 that is positioned in the same room as, or otherwise within a defined vicinity (e.g. in the same bay as, within a threshold distance, etc.). In some versions, the pairing is a Bluetooth pairing that enables the patient support apparatus 20 to communicate via Bluetooth with the specific locator unit 64 that is in the same room as, or within a defined vicinity of, the locator unit 64, and vice versa. In other words, the automatic pairing process of pairing system 70 automatically ensures that the patient support apparatus 20 pairs with the correct locator unit 64, and vice versa. The correct locator unit 64 is the one positioned within the same room as the patient support apparatus 20, or within a defined distance of the patient support apparatus 20. By automatically pairing patient support apparatus 20 with the correct locator unit 64, patient support apparatus 20 is able to address communications to that correct locator unit 64, and that correct locator unit 64 is able to address communications to that particular patient support apparatus 20. By addressing their communications to each other, the paired patient support apparatus 20 and locator unit 64 are able to ignore other communications that they may detect from other locator units 64 and / or patient support apparatuses 20 that may be within communication range within the healthcare facility. Additionally, by addressing their communications to each other, any other patient support apparatus 20 and / or locator unit 64 that is positioned within communication range and may intercept those communications will be able to determine that those communications are not addressed to them, and they may then ignore them.

[0102] Pairing system 70 (FIG 3) includes at least one patient support apparatus 20, at least one locator unit 64, and a camera subsystem 66. Camera subsystem 66 includes a camera unit 68 and a server 72. The server 72 may be a local server 72a that is positioned on the premises of the healthcare facility and that executes local software 74a, or it may be a remote server 72b that is positioned off of the premises of the healthcare facility and that executes remote software 74b. As yet another alternative, server 72 may comprise both a local server 72a and a remote server 72b that, in concert, carry out the algorithms discussed herein using both local and remote software 74a and 74b. For purposes of the following written description, reference to “server 72” shall refer toeither or both of servers 72a and / or 72b, unless specifically noted otherwise. Thus, it will be understood that “server 72” can be implemented as a purely local server, a purely remote server, or a combination of one or more remote and local servers.

[0103] As shown in FIG. 3, patient support apparatus 20 includes a controller 80, a network transceiver 82, a Bluetooth transceiver 84, an I R transceiver 86, one or more lights 88, a brake sensor 90, and an Alternating Current (A / C) sensor 92. Each of these components are in communication with each other in one or more conventional manners, such as, but not limited to, one or more the following: a Controller Area Network (CAN); an l-Squared-C bus; a Local Interconnect Network (LIN) bus, Firewire; RS-232; RS-485; Universal Serial Bus (USB); Ethernet; a Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) bus, and / or in other manners.

[0104] Network transceiver 82 is configured to communicate with a local area network 100 of the healthcare facility. Network transceiver 82 is, in at least some versions of patient support apparatus 20, a WiFi transceiver (e.g. IEEE 802.11) that wirelessly communicates with one or more conventional wireless access points 102 of local area network 100 In other versions, network transceiver 82 may be a wireless transceiver that uses conventional 5G technology to communicate with network 100, one or more servers hosted thereon, and / or other devices. In some versions, network transceiver 82 may include any of the structures and / or functionality of the communication modules 56 disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent 10,500,401 issued to Michael Hayes and entitled NETWORK COMMUNICATION FOR PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUSES, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Still other types of wireless network transceivers may be utilized.

[0105] Controller 80 of patient support apparatus 20, may take on a variety of different forms. For example, controller 80 may be implemented as one or more conventional microcontrollers. However, controller 80 may be modified to use a variety of other types of circuits— either alone or in combination with one or more microcontrollers— such as, but not limited to, any one or more microprocessors, field programmable gate arrays, systems on a chip, volatile or nonvolatile memory, discrete circuitry, and / or other hardware, software, or firmware that is capable of carrying out the functions described herein, as would be known to one of ordinary skill in the art. Such components can be physically configured in any suitable manner, such as by mounting them to one or more circuit boards, or arranging them in other manners, whether combined into a single unit or distributed across multiple units. The instructions followed by controller 80 when carrying out the functions described herein, as well as the data necessary for carrying out these functions, are stored in one or more accessible memories onboard patient support apparatus 20, such as memory 55

[0106] Infrared transceiver 86 is adapted to communicate using infrared communications with an infrared transceiver integrated into a nearby locator unit 64. Controller 80 may be configured to attempt to use infrared transceiver 86 to automatically exchange Bluetooth pairing credentials with a nearby locator unit 64 using. If that attempt is unsuccessful, or if patient support apparatus 20 does not include infrared transceiver 86, or if locator unit 64 does not include an infrared transceiver, then pairing system 70 may be configured to carry out the automatic Bluetooth pairing of patient support apparatus 20 and the nearby locator unit 60, as will be discussed in greater detail below.

[0107] Bluetooth transceiver 84 is adapted to communicate with a Bluetooth transceiver integrated into camera unit 68, as well as a Bluetooth transceiver integrated into a nearby locator unit 64. As will be discussed in greater detail below, pairing system 70 is adapted to automatically pair Bluetooth transceiver 84 with the Bluetooth transceiver of the nearby locator unit 64 so that, when patient support apparatus 20 is moved into a room or other location with a nearby locator unit 64, patient support apparatus 20 will automatically pair with that nearby locator unit 64 and be able to carry out Bluetooth communications with that locator unit 64. As will be discussed, those Bluetooth communications may include the transmission of location data from the locator unit 64 to the patient support apparatus 20. In some versions, the locator unit 64 may be communicatively linked to a nurse call system, in which case theBluetooth communications between locator unit 64 and patient support apparatus 20 may additionally include nurse call data and / or other signals.

[0108] One or more lights 88 may be included with patient support apparatus 20 that are used to create a visual indicator 60, in some versions of patient support apparatus 20. In such versions, controller 80 may be configured to illuminate the one or more lights 88 in a manner that visually identifies patient support apparatus 20 in a way that distinguishes it from other patient support apparatuses 20 that may be located within the same healthcare facility. Such visual distinguishment may be accomplished in a variety of different manners, including, but not limited to, flashing one or more lights 88 in a sequence wherein the “on” and / or “off” time is unique to that particular patient support apparatus; illuminating one or more lights 88 in one or more specific colors that are unique to that patient support apparatus; statically turning on or off a defined set of the lights 88; combinations of these manners; and / or in still other manners.

[0109] Brake sensor 90 is adapted to detect if a brake has been applied on patient support apparatus 20. When the brake is applied, the brake resists movement of wheels 24. Brake sensor 90 informs controller 80 of its status Controller 80, as will be discussed in greater detail below, may use activation of the brake as a trigger to temporarily display one or more of the visual indicators 60. The display of the visual indicator(s) 60 may include, in addition to the identity of the patient support apparatus 20, pairing credential that are used by pairing system 70 to automatically establish the Bluetooth pairing between Bluetooth transceiver 84 of patient support apparatus and the Bluetooth transceiver of the nearby locator unit 64.

[0110] AC power sensor 92 is adapted to detect if the patient support apparatus 20 is plugged into AC power, or is operating on battery power. AC power sensor 90 informs controller 80 of its status. Controller 80, as will be discussed in greater detail below, may use the plugging in of patient support apparatus 20 to an electrical outlet as a trigger to temporarily display one or more of the visual indicators 60 This trigger may be used by itself, or in combination with the brake sensor 90 trigger discussed above, to cause controller 70 to display the visual indicator(s) 60. As noted, the display of the visual indicator(s) 60 is used by pairing system 70 to automatically establish the Bluetooth pairing between Bluetooth transceiver 84 of patient support apparatus and the Bluetooth transceiver of the nearby locator unit 64.

[0111] Patient support apparatus 20 may also include a plurality of additional components not shown in FIG. 3. For example, patient support apparatus 20 may include an exit detection system 98 that is adapted to issue an alert when a patient onboard patient support apparatus 20 exits therefrom. The exit detection system may include any of the features and functions as, and / or may be constructed in any of the same manners as, the exit detection system disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application 62 / 889,254 filed August 20, 2019, by inventors Sujay Sukumaran et al. and entitled PERSON SUPPORT APPARATUS WITH ADJUSTABLE EXIT DETECTION ZONES, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. In some embodiments, the exit detection system includes a plurality of load cells adapted to detect the downward weight exerted by the patient when he or she is positioned on support deck 30. In such embodiments, the exit detection system may use the outputs of the load cells to monitor the center of gravity of the patient and issue an alert, when armed, if the patient’s center of gravity travels outside of a predefined zone or boundary, such as is explained in greater detail in U.S. patent 5,276,432 issued to Travis, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Other types of exit detection systems may be included within patient support apparatus 20 Still further, in some versions of patient support apparatus, controller 70 may be configured to transmit an exit detection alert signal to a nearby locator unit 64 using Bluetooth transceiver 84 when the exit detection system detects a patient exit. In such versions, the locator unit 64 may then communicate this exit alert signal to a nurse call system 104 of the healthcare facility.

[0112] Patient support apparatus 20 may still further include additional components, such as a monitoring system, a powered mattress controller, actuators, and still other components. Patient support apparatus 20 may also omit one or more of the components shown in FIG. 3 in different versions. In some versions of patient support apparatus 20, infrared transceiver 86 and Bluetooth transceiver 84 may include any of the structures, and / or perform any of the functions, of any of the I R transceivers 170 and RF transceivers 172, respectively, disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application serial number 63 / 26,937 filed May 19, 2020, by inventors Alexander Bodurka et al and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUSES WITH HEADWALL COMMUNICATION, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference

[0113] Each locator unit 64 includes a controller 110, an infrared transceiver 112, a Bluetooth transceiver 114, a nurse call interface 116, and location data 118. Locator units 64 are positioned at known and fixed locations within the healthcare facility in which patient support apparatus 20 is positioned. These known and fixed locations are stored in a memory accessible to server 72. Locator units 64 function as location beacons for patient support apparatuses 20 and / or other devices. That is, locator units 64 communicate with patient support apparatuses 20 and share information with them that allows the location of the patient support apparatuses 20 to be determined. Locator units 64 are adapted to be mounted to the walls, ceilings, or other fixed locations within a healthcare facility.

[0114] In some versions, patient support apparatus 20 is configured to be able to communicate with at least two different types of locator units 64: linked locator units and unlinked locator units. Linked locator units 64 are locator unit 64 that are communicatively coupled to nurse call system 104 and that allow the locator unit 64 to server as a communication intermediary between patient support apparatus 20 and nurse call system 104. Unlinked locator units 64 are not communicatively coupled to nurse call system 104, and therefore do not act as a communication intermediary between the patient support apparatuses 20 and nurse call system 104. Such unlinked locator units 64 may omit nurse call interface 116. Both the linked and unlinked locator units 64 are adapted to provide location information to patient support apparatus 20 (and / or other devices). Pairing system 70 is adapted to automatically pair a patient support apparatus 20 with a linked or an unlinked locator unit 64.

[0115] One example of the construction and functionality of an unlinked locator unit 64 is shown (and referred to as unlinked locator units 60b) in commonly assigned U.S. patent application serial number 63 / 306,279 filed February 3, 2022, by inventors Madhu Sandeep Thota et al. and entitled COMMUNICATION SYSTEM FOR PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUSES, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Other examples of unlinked locator units 64 are shown (and referred to as unlinked locator units 60a) in commonly assigned U.S. patent application serial number 63 / 356,061 filed June 28, 2022, by inventors Krishna Bhimavarapu etal and entitled BADGE AND PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Patient support apparatus 20 is configured to communicate with the unlinked locator units described in either of the aforementioned '279 or ‘061 applications and / or to perform any one or more of the functions described therein that utilize such unlinked locator units and / or information provided by such unlinked locator units. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, all references herein to “locator units 64” without the term “linked” or “unlinked” in the reference will refer to both linked and unlinked locator units 64

[0116] Linked locator units 64 are adapted to be communicatively linked to a conventional communication outlet or connector 106. Linked locator units 64 are also adapted to serve as a communication conduit for routing wireless communications between patient support apparatus 20 and one or more devices and / or systems that are communicatively coupled to communication connector 106 (e.g. a television 108, a room light, a reading light, and / or a nurse call system 1104). In general, linked locator units 64 are typically positioned in patient rooms of the healthcare facility where one or more communication connectors 106 are typically present. Suchcommunications connectors 106 are adapted to receive a nurse call cable that physically connects at its other end either to patient support apparatus 20 or to a linked locator unit 64. In many healthcare facilities, communication connector 106 includes a 37-pin connector, although other types of connectors are often found in certain healthcare facilities. Linked locator unit 64, when paired with a patient support apparatus 20, allows that patient support apparatus 20 to wirelessly communicate with nurse call system 104 (and TV 108) without requiring a cable to be connected between the patient support apparatus 20 and the connector 106. Instead, a cable is connected between the nearby locator unit 64 and the wall connector 106, and the nearby locator unit 64, after pairing with patient support apparatus 20, acts as a communication intermediary between patient support apparatus 20 and nurse call system 104. The nearby locator unit 64 also acts as a communication intermediary between a TV 108, reading light, and / or room light, that may be in communication with the wall connector 106.

[0117] As noted, linked locator units 64 typically include a nurse call interface 116 Nurse call interface 116 may be adapted to change the electrical state of one or more pins that are in electrical communication with communication connector 106 (via a cable). Nurse call interface 116 changes these electrical states in response to instructions from controller 110. For example, if the exit detection system of patient support apparatus 20 detects a patient exit, controller 780 of patient support apparatus 20 sends an exit alert signal to linked locator unit 64 via Bluetooth transceiver 84 (after pairing) and controller 110 responds by instructing nurse call interface 116 to change the electrical state of at least one pin that is used to signal an exit alert (or a generic priority alert) to the nurse call system 104 via communications connector 106.

[0118] In some embodiments, nurse call interface 116 may be constructed in the same manner as, and / or may include any one or of the functions as, the cable interface 88 described in commonly assigned U.S. patent application serial number 63 / 193,778 filed May 27, 2021, by inventors Krishna Bhimavarapu et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUS AND HEADWALL UNIT SYNCING, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Alternatively, or additionally, interface 116 may be constructed in the same manner as, and / or may include any one or more of the same functions as, the headwall interface 120 disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application serial number 63 / 131,508 filed December 29, 2020, by inventors Kirby Neihouser et al. and entitled TOOL FOR CONFIGURING HEADWALL UNITS USED FOR PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUS COMMUNICATION, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference Linked locator unit 64 may also be configured to perform any of the functions of the headwall units 94 disclosed in the above-mentioned ‘778 patent application.

[0119] Headwall interface 116 may include circuitry to control TV 108 and such circuitry may carry out any of the same functions as, and / or be constructed in any of the same manners as, the configuration circuitry 132 and the TV control circuit 134 of commonly assigned U.S. patent application serial number 63 / 131,508 filed December 29, 2020, by inventors Kirby Neihouser et al. and entitled TOOL FOR CONFIGURING HEADWALL UNITS USED FOR PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUS COMMUNICATION, the complete disclosure of which has already been incorporated herein by reference. Additionally, or alternatively, linked locator unit 64 may be configured to perform any of the functions of the headwall units 144 disclosed in the aforementioned '508 patent application.

[0120] Communication connector 106 is electrically coupled to one or more cables, wires, or other type of conductors that electrically couple the communication connector 106 to nurse call system 104 and one or more conventional room devices, such as television 108, a room light (not shown), and / or a reading light (not shown). The conductors are typically located behind the walls of the healthcare facility and not visible. In some healthcare facilities, the conductors may first couple to a room interface circuit board that includes one or more additional conductors for electrically coupling the room interface circuit board to the room devices and / or nurse call system 104. Still other communicative arrangements for coupling communication connector 106 to nurse call system 104 and / or one or more room devices are possible.

[0121] After Bluetooth transceiver 84 of a patient support apparatus 20 is paired with Bluetooth transceiver 114 of a linked locator unit, patient support apparatus 20 is able to wirelessly communicate with the nurse call system 104 and / or room devices using linked locator unit 64 as a communication conduit. A patient supported on patient support apparatus 20 who activates a nurse call control, which may be located on control panel 54c of patient support apparatus 20, causes a signal to be wirelessly sent from patient support apparatus 20 to linked locator unit 64 (via the paired Bluetooth transceivers 84, 114), which in turn conveys the signal via connector 106 to the nurse call system 104, which forwards the signal to one or more remotely located nurses (e.g. nurses at one or more nurse’s stations). If the patient activates one or more room device controls on inner control panel 54c, one or more wireless signals are conveyed to linked locator unit 64, which in turn sends appropriate signals via wall connector 106 to the room devices that change one or more features of these devices (eg. the volume, channel, on / off state, etc.).

[0122] Camera unit 68 includes one or more cameras 120, one or motors 122 or other actuators for aiming the camera(s) 120, a Bluetooth transceiver 124, and a control unit 126. Camera units 68 are positioned at fixed locations within the healthcare facility Typically, a camera unit 68 is positioned inside of each patient room in a location where camera 68 will have a field of view that captures a patient support apparatus 20. In other words, each camera unit 68 is typically positioned such that its camera(s) 68 will be pointed toward a bed bay of a room or area of the healthcare facility. In some healthcare facility, camera units 68 may be placed elsewhere, such as in hallways, or other areas. Each camera unit 68 includes a unique identifier that is communicated to server 72. The location of each camera unit 68 is surveyed after installation and stored in a memory, along with its unique identifier, that is accessible to server 72. In this manner, server 72 is able to correlate messages from camera units 68 to specific locations within the healthcare facility. For example, if a first camera unit 68 is installed in room 402 and bears the unique identifier XYZ, that camera unit 68 will include the unique identifier XYZ in its communications so that server 72 will know which specific camera unit 68 is it communicating with. Further, from the results of the surveying operation, server 72 will be able to determine the location of that particular camera unit 68 within the healthcare facility.

[0123] Camera unit 68 may be a camera unit of the type formerly marketed by careai.com of Orlando, Florida, and now marketed by Stryker Corporation of Kalamazoo and integrated into Stryker’s SmartCare Platform. Such camera units include, but are not limited to, the Smart Patient Room AMS-RS-PRO, the Virtual Care AMS-0RS Ultra, the AMS-M2-PRO, the Smart Spaces AMS-M2 Ultra, the AMS-T2, and still other types of camera units 68. Camera unit 68 may, of course, take on other forms and / or be manufactured by other entities.

[0124] Motor(s) 122 of camera unit 68 are controlled by control unit 126 and used to aim and / or focus camera 120 in a manner such that the field of view of camera 120 captures patient support apparatus 20 and a nearby locator unit 64. Control unit 126, as well as controller 110 of locator unit 64, may take on a variety of different forms, such as one or more conventional microcontrollers. However, control unit 126 and / or controller 110 may be modified to use a variety of other types of circuits— either alone or in combination with one or more microcontrollers— such as, but not limited to, any one or more microprocessors, field programmable gate arrays, systems on a chip, volatile or nonvolatile memory, discrete circuitry, and / or other hardware, software, or firmware that is capable of carrying out the functions described herein, as would be known to one of ordinary skill in the art. Such components can be physically configured in any suitable manner, such as by mounting them to one or more circuit boards, or arranging them in other manners, whether combined into a single unit or distributed across multiple units. The instructions followed by control unit 126 and / or controller 110 when carrying out the functions described herein, as well as the data necessary for carrying out these functions, are stored in one or more accessible memories.

[0125] Control unit 126, in combination with patient support apparatus server 72 (local server 72a and / or remote server 72b), forms a camera system controller 128. Camera system controller 128 works to process the images captured by camera 120 and to perform the functions described herein Some of the operations of camera system controller 128 may be carried out exclusively by control unit 126, while other operations of camera system controller 128 may be carried out exclusively by local and / or remote server 72a and / or 72b, while still other operations of camera system controller 128 may be carried out by a combination of control unit 126 and servers 72a and / or 72b.

[0126] Camera system controller 128 has access to a database (not shown) that contains data that is used by controller 128 in carrying out the pairing functions described herein. Such data may include, but is not necessarily limited to, any of the following: visual attribute data, such as color, size, shape, and / or other data, that assist camera subsystem 66 in identifying patient support apparatus 20, including any visual indicator 60 that is part of patient support apparatus 20. Such visual attribute data may assist camera subsystem 66 in identifying the siderails 36 of the patient support apparatus 20, the head or Fowler section 44 of the patient support apparatus 20, the mattress 42, the headboard 32, the footboard 34, the control panels 54 on the patient support apparatus 20, and / or other components of the patient support apparatus 20 that may be positioned within the field of view of one or more of the cameras 120.

[0127] In some embodiments, camera system controller 128 may include commercially available software that is adapted to carry out the image analysis discussed herein. For example, in some embodiments, camera system controller 128 may utilize the commercially available software suite referred to as OpenCV (Open Source Computer Vision Library), which is an open source computer vision library supported by Willow Garage of Menlo Park, California. The OpenCV library has been released under the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) open source license. The OpenCV library has more than 2500 computer vision algorithms and is available for use with various commercially available operating systems, including Microsoft Windows, Linux / Mac, and iOS. The OpenCV algorithms include a comprehensive set of both classic and state-of-the-art computer vision and machine learning algorithms. These algorithms are designed to be used to detect and recognize faces, identify objects, classify human actions in videos, track camera movements, track moving objects, extract 3D models of objects, produce 3D point clouds from stereo cameras, stitch images together to produce high resolution images of entire scenes, find similar images from an image database, follow eye movements, recognize scenery and establish markers to overlay scenery with augmented reality, and other tasks.

[0128] The OpenCV library has to date included multiple major releases (version 4.5.2 was released in 2021), and any one of these major versions (as well as any of the multiple intermediate versions), is suitable for carrying out the features and functions described in more detail herein. In at least one embodiment of camera subsystem 66, customized software is added to interact with and utilize various of the software algorithms of the OpenCV library in order to carry out the features described herein. Other commercially available software may also be used, either in addition to or in lieu of the OpenCV library.

[0129] Patient support apparatus 20 is configured to communicate with one or more servers on local area network 100 of the healthcare facility (FIG. 3). One such server is patient support apparatus server 72. In addition to the pairing operations discussed herein, patient support apparatus server 72 may also be adapted to receive status information from patient support apparatuses 20 positioned within the healthcare facility and distribute this status information to caregivers, other servers 130, and / or other software applications In some embodiments, camera subsystem 66 is configured to communicate at least some of the data received from patient support apparatuses 20 and / or camera unit 68 to remote server 72b. Such communication may take place via a gateway 132, or other network appliance, that is coupled to the Internet 134. The remote server 72b, in turn, is also coupled to the Internet134, and camera subsystem 66 is provided with the URL and / or other information necessary to communicate with remote server 72b via the Internet connection between network 100 and subsystem 66.

[0130] It will be understood that the architecture and content of local area network 100 will vary from healthcare facility to healthcare facility, and that the example shown in FIG. 3 is merely one example of the type of network a healthcare facility may be employ. Typically, additional servers, such as an ADT server, an EMR server, a caregiver assignment server, and still other servers will be hosted on network 100 and one or more of them may be adapted to communicate with patient support apparatus server 72.

[0131] Camera subsystem 66 is adapted to determine a location of a patient support apparatus 20 within the healthcare facility by receiving a unique identifier from the patient support apparatus 20, as well as a unique identifier from the nearby locator unit 64 that is associated with the patient support apparatus 20. In order for the patient support apparatus 20 to become associated with the nearby locator unit 64, their Bluetooth transceivers 84 and 114 need to be paired. Pairing system 70 takes care of this pairing automatically. A first algorithm 140 that camera system controller 128 may utilize to perform this automatic pairing is shown in FIG. 4. A second algorithm 140a that camera system controller 128 may utilize in performing this automatic pairing is shown in FIG. 5.

[0132] Pairing algorithm 140 (FIG. 4) begins at a step 142 when a triggering event occurs that prompts patient support apparatus 20 to display one or more visual indicators 60 that encode a first set of pairing credentials. The triggering event may be the application of a brake on the patient support apparatus 20 as detected by sensor 90, the plugging in of an AC power cord to an AC outlet as detected by sensor 92, a periodic trigger, or some other kind of trigger. The display of visual indicators 60 may include displaying a QR code 62 on display 52, or it may include the activation of one or more lights 88, as discussed above. In some versions of patient support apparatus 20, the visual indicator(s) 60 may be permanently displayed (e.g. a sticker, imprinted indicia, etc.), in which case step 142 proceeds without a triggering event.

[0133] Whether triggered or not, camera subsystem 66 detects the visual indicator 60 of patient support apparatus 20 at step 142. In the specific algorithm 140 of FIG 4, the visual indicator 60 includes not only an identification of patient support apparatus 20, but also a first set of pairing credentials, such as, but not limited to, a MAC address, an IP address, a pairing key, and / or other information Camera subsystem 66 deciphers this first set of pairing credentials by analyzing the images captured by camera 120 that include the visual indicator 60 of patient support apparatus 20. That is, camera subsystem 66 captures images of the visual indicator 60 of patient support apparatus 20, recognizes the visual indicator 60, and deciphers the first set of pairing information contained within the visual indicator 60 After deciphering the first set of pairing information contained within the captured images, camera subsystem 66 sends a message at step 144 to the locator unit 64 positioned adjacent to the patient support apparatus 20 (e.g. within the same room) using a previously-established Bluetooth connection between Bluetooth transceivers 124 and 114.

[0134] Camera subsystem 66 knows which locator unit 64 to transmit the first set of pairing information to at step 144 because camera subsystem 66 knows the location of each camera unit 68. Therefore, when a particular camera unit 68 detects visual indicator 60 of a particular patient support apparatus, camera subsystem 66 is informed by camera unit 68 of the location of the camera unit 68 that captured that image. Once camera subsystem 66 knows which camera unit 68 captured the image of the patient support apparatus’s visual indicator 60, it is able to determine which locator unit to communicate with at step 144 by determining which locator unit 64 is positioned in the same room as (or within a defined proximity of) the camera unit 68 that captured the images of the visual indicator 60. Thus, camera subsystem 66 is able to determine which specific locator unit 64 totransmit the first set of pairing credentials to at step 144. As will be described more below, the first set of pairing credentials are used by locator unit 64 to automatically pair with patient support apparatus 20.

[0135] In response to receiving the first set of pairing credentials at step 142, locator unit 64 sends a second set of pairing credentials to camera unit 68 at step 145. The second set of pairing credentials will be used by patient support apparatus 20 to pair with locator unit 64. The second set of pairing credentials is transmitted to camera unit 68 by Bluetooth transceivers 114 and 124. In response to receiving this second set of pairing credentials, camera unit 68 forwards the second set of pairing credentials to server 72 at step 146. Server 72 is in communication with network 100 and access points 102. Server 72 uses the ID of the patient support apparatus 20 (that was part of the first set of pairing credentials received at step 142) to send the second set of pairing credentials to patient support apparatus 20 via network 100 at step 148. That is, network transceiver 82 of patient support apparatus 20 receives the second set of pairing credentials at step 148 via its connection to network 100, such as through one or more access points 102 (or via a wired connection to network 100)

[0136] Once patient support apparatus 20 receives the second set of pairing credentials at step 149, both patient support apparatus 20 and locator unit 64 have the necessary pairing information for their respective Bluetooth transceivers 84 and 114 to automatically pair with each other. That is, patient support apparatus 20 has the MAC address (or other address) of the specific locator unit 64 that it will pair with, and the locator unit 64 has the MAC address (or other address) of the specific patient support apparatus 20 that it will pair with. Further, they each have a pairing key (and / or other information needed to carry out the pairing). Thus, at step 149, the Bluetooth transceivers 84 and 114 automatically pair with each other without requiring any human intervention.

[0137] FIG. 5 depicts an alternative pairing algorithm 150 that may be utilized by pairing system 70. Pairing algorithm 150 begins at step 160 in response to a triggering event. The triggering event may be the same as the triggering event that starts algorithm 140, discussed above. Alternatively, like algorithm 140, algorithm 150 may utilize a patient support apparatus 20 that always displays one or more visual indicators 60, in which case no triggering event is needed to start step 160. Regardless of what prompts it, step 160 involves camera subsystem 66 visually recognizing the visual indicator 60 of patient support apparatus 20. Algorithm 150 differs from algorithm 140 in that the visual indicator 60 of algorithm 150 does not include any pairing information, but instead only includes a unique identification of patient support apparatus 20, such as a MAC address, a serial number, or the like. Camera subsystem 66 determines this unique identification of patient support apparatus 20 by analyzing the images captured by camera 120 that include the visual indicator 60 of patient support apparatus 20. That is, camera subsystem 66 captures images of the visual indicator 60 of patient support apparatus 20, recognizes the visual indicator 60, and deciphers the identity of patient support apparatus 20 that is contained within the visual indicator 60 After deciphering this identity, camera subsystem 66 sends a message to server 72 at step 162.

[0138] Server 72 uses the identity information it receives at step 162 to address a message at step 164 to patient support apparatus 20 using network 100, access points 102, and network transceiver 82 of patient support apparatus 20. The message contains a request for a first set or pairing credentials from patient support apparatus 20. At step 166, patient support apparatus 20 responds to server 72 with a first set of pairing credentials. Patient support apparatus 20 sends this first set of pairing credentials at step 166 via network transceiver 82, one or more access points 102, and network 100. In response to receiving this first set of pairing credentials, server 72 forwards this first set of pairing credentials to camera unit 68 at step 168. Upon receiving the first set of pairing credentials at step 168, camera unit 68 uses its Bluetooth transceiver to forward the first set of pairing credentials to locator unit 64 at step 170. Step 170 is the same as step 144 of algorithm 140, and need not be further described. Algorithm 150then carries out steps 172, 174, 176, and 179, which are the same as steps 145, 146, 148, and 149, respectively, and which need not be re-described herein

[0139] FIG. 6 illustrates an algorithm 180 that may be used for automatically pairing a camera unit 68 with a locator unit 64. Algorithm 180 begins at step 182 where a locator unit 64 and patient support apparatus 20 pair with each other using infrared communications (e.g. IR transceivers 86 and 112 are used to exchange pairing credentials for setting up a Bluetooth connection between Bluetooth transceivers 84 and 114). Algorithm 180 then proceeds through steps 184, 186, 188, and 190 At step 190, the camera unit 68 and locator unit 68 automatically pair their Bluetooth transceivers 114 and 126 together.

[0140] In some versions of pairing system 70, one or more of locator units 64 may include a display and / or visual indicator that uniquely identifies that particular locator unit 64 to camera unit 68 and / or contains pairing credentials. This information may then be used by camera subsystem 66 to automatically pair a particular locator unit 64 to a nearby camera unit 68 in a manner similar to what has been described herein.

[0141] It will be understood that the triggering conditions that start algorithms 140 and / or 150 may vary from what has been previously described. For example, in some versions, camera unit 68 may detect visually when a patient support apparatus 20 enters a particular room. In response thereto, camera unit 68 may inform server 72 of the detection of a patient support apparatus 20 within a particular room Server 72 may then consult a table it maintains indicating which patient support apparatuses 20 within the healthcare facility are currently Bluetooth paired with a nearby locator unit 64, and which patient support apparatuses 20 within the healthcare facility are not currently Bluetooth paired with a nearby locator unit 64 After making this determination, server 72 may send a message to all patient support apparatuses 20 within the healthcare facility (via network 100 and access points 102) instructing those patient support apparatuses 20 to temporarily display their visual indicator(s) 60. The display of the visual indicator(s) 60 is then detected at step 142 and / or 160 of algorithms 140 and 150, respectively, and those algorithms proceed in the manner previously described

[0142] In some versions, the triggering event for a patient support apparatus 20 to temporarily display its visual indicator(s) 60 may also or alternatively be the passage of a predetermined amount of time while the patient support apparatus 20 is not currently paired with a locator unit 64.

[0143] Still further, in some versions, camera subsystem 66 may be configured to automatically detect if a visual obstruction is obscuring a visual indicator 60 from being detected by a camera 60. In such a case, server 72 could send a message to a caregiver to remove the obstruction. Such a message may be sent by server 72 to a badge or mobile device of a caregiver. Alternatively, or additionally, camera units 68 may include a speaker and / or microphone, and server 72 could send an audio message to the camera unit 68 that is positioned in the same room as the visual obstruction The audio message could ask any caregiver positioned in that room to remove the obstruction so that camera 120 can see the visual indicator 60.

[0144] In some versions, it will be understood that camera unit 68 may be equipped with software algorithms for deskewing and / or skewing images captured by camera 120 where the camera 120 is not aimed directly at the visual indicator 60, thereby creating a skewed image of the visual indicator 60. Still further, in some versions, camera unit 68 and / or control unit 126 may be equipped with algorithms for auto-rotating the visual indicator 60 (such as a QR code 62) so that it is oriented properly for decoding the information contained therein.

[0145] It will be understood that, in some versions, instead of using a visual indicator 60 to convey to camera subsystem 66 the identity of patient support apparatus 20 and / or a first set of pairing credentials, patient support apparatus 20 may be configured to emit an ultrasonic sound that encodes the same information in an ultrasonic waveform. In such situations, camerasubsystem 66 may include an ultrasonic microphone that detects the ultrasonic sound, decodes the sound to determine the first set of pairing credentials and / or patient support apparatus ID, and then proceeds in the same manner as algorithms 140 and / or 150.

[0146] FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a location verification system 200. Location verification system 200 may be implemented, in some versions, as a standalone system that operates without implementing any of the features or functions of the pairing system 70 described herein. Alternatively, location verification system 200 may be implemented in combination with pairing system 200. In still other versions, location verification system 200 may be implemented using some, but not all, of any of the features of pairing system 70. Similarly, pairing system 70 may be implemented as a standalone system from location verification system 200, as a combination with location verification system 200, or as a partial combination with any one or more features of location verification system 70.

[0147] Location verification system 200 functions to verify the current location of one or more medical devices of interest, such as, but not necessarily limited to, patient support apparatuses 20. Such verification refers to determining the location of a patient support apparatus 20, or other medical device, using two independent location-determining methods. For purposes of the following written description, location verification system 200 will be described with reference to verifying the location of a patient support apparatus 20, but it will be understood that verification system 200 may be applied to other medical devices other than patient support apparatuses 20.

[0148] One example of the components that may be included within location system 200 is shown in FIG. 7. Location system 200 may include all of the same components of pairing system 70, plus one or more additional components. Those components that are in common with pairing system 70 are shown in FIG. 7 with the same reference number and need not be described further herein unless they perform additional and / or alternative functions.

[0149] The additional components of verification system 200 that may be omitted from some versions of pairing system 70 include a plurality of UWB transceivers 204 and / or other types of location-determining transceivers (FIG. 7). UWB transceivers 204 may include one or more UWB transceivers 204a that are incorporated into one or more patient support apparatuses 20, one or more UWB transceivers 204b that are incorporated into one or more locator units 64, and one or more UWB transceivers 204c that are incorporated into one or more camera units 64.

[0150] UWB transceivers 204 may be adapted to use time of flight (ToF) computations to determine the distance between themselves (e.g. distance between a UWB transceiver 204a on patient support apparatus 20 and a UWB transceiver 204b positioned on a locator unit 60). In other versions, UWB transceivers 204 may utilize other techniques (e.g., time difference of arrival, two-way ranging, angle of arrival, channel state information, etc.) for determining their distance from each other (and thus the distance between patient support apparatuses 20, locator units 64, and / or camera unit 68), either in addition to, or in lieu of, ToF computations. In some versions, UWB transceivers 204 may also determine an angle between themselves using angular information derived from antenna arrays positioned onboard each of the devices 20, 64, and / or 68, or by using other techniques. The position and orientation of each UWB transceiver 204 onboard each medical device 20 may be measured during manufacture (or prior to use) and stored in an onboard memory (e.g. memory 55) and used to determine the position and orientation of a first device to a second device (e.g. position of orientation of a patient support apparatus 20 to a wall on which a locator unit 64 is coupled). Such position and / or orientation information may be determined using conventional trilateration and / or triangulation techniques, or other techniques.

[0151] In some versions, UWB transceivers 204 may be implemented as any of the Trimension™ ultra-wideband modules available from NXP Semiconductors of Austin, Texas. These modules include, but are not limited to, the Trimension™UWB modules ASMOP1BOON1, ASMOP1COOR1, and / or the ASMOP1COOA1, that utilize any of the following chips: the NXP SR150, SR100T, SR040, NCJ29D5, and / or the OL23DO chips Modules manufactured and / or marketed by other companies may also be used, including, but not limited to, the Decawave DWM1000, DWM10001C, DWM3000 modules (available from Decawave of Dublin, Ireland); the Nordic TSG5162 SiP module (available from Tsingoal Technology of Beijing, China); and / or the UWB hub, wand, and / or sensors available from Zebra technologies of Lincolnshire, Illinois. Still other types of UWB modules may be used to implement UWB transceivers 104.

[0152] Location verification system 200 may use UWB transceivers 204 as either a primary or secondary source of position information for determining the location of patient support apparatus 20 That is, UWB transceivers 204 may be used to make an initial determination of the location of a patient support apparatus 20, or they may be used to make a secondary determination of the location of the patient support apparatus 20, wherein that secondary determination either confirms or contradicts the initial determination of location that was made using a separate type of location-determining technology (e.g. Bluetooth, infrared, ultrasonic, cameras, etc.).

[0153] Location verification system 200 be implemented by executing one or more algorithms, such as the algorithm 202 illustrated in FIG. 8. Algorithm 202 is executed by controller 80 of patient support apparatus 20, and algorithm 202 may, as will be explained below, include interacting with one or more other devices that are separate from patient support apparatus 20 (eg. locator unit 64, patient support apparatus server 72, and / or other devices).

[0154] Location algorithm 202 begins at a step 210 when power is turned on to patient support apparatus 20. Such power may be supplied by a battery and / or by a connection to a conventional electrical wall outlet. After patient support apparatus 20 is turned on at step 210, controller 80 proceeds to step 212 where it sets a verification state of the patient support apparatus 20 to an unverified state. The verification state may be recorded in memory 55. The verification state refers to whether the location of the patient support apparatus 20 has been independently verified by a second location-determining technology, protocol, and / or other means. In some versions, patient support apparatus 20 is configured to automatically attempt to determine its location after it receives power. In some versions, this attempt is carried out through I R transceiver 86 detecting an I signal from I transceiver 112 of a nearby locator unit 64. In other versions, the initial attempt by controller 80 to determine the location of patient support apparatus 20 may be carried out through other means, such as Bluetooth communications between Bluetooth transceiver 84 and any one or more of Bluetooth transceivers 114 and / or 124 As yet another alternative, controller 80 may initially determine its location using wireless communications between UWB transceivers 204 and / or by camera unit 68 visually identifying patient support apparatus 20 within a particular location of the healthcare facility. Still other manners are possible for patient support apparatus 20 to make an initial determination of its location.

[0155] Until patient support apparatus 20 makes an initial determination of its location within a healthcare facility, its location cannot be verified. Therefore, algorithm 202 sets the verification state of patient support apparatus 20 initially to unverified at step 212. After setting the verification state to unverified in step 212, controller 80 proceeds to step 214 where it proceeds to ignore any remote motion commands that it may receive. Such remote motion commands refer to commands to move one or more components of patient support apparatus 20 that are received from another device. For example, a remote motion command may come from server 72 and / or a mobile device (e.g. smart phone, wireless pendant, etc.). Patient support apparatus 20 is configured to not allow a remote device to move any of its components without having its position first verified. Such motion includes movement of lifts 26, support deck 30, and / or other components.

[0156] Step 214 is a continuous step that takes place for as long as patient support apparatus 20’s verification state remains in the unverified state. This is indicated by step 216, which indicates that patient support apparatus 20 continues its normal operation while in the unverified state. At some point during the normal operation of patient support apparatus 20, controller 80 will automatically attempt to determine its location using a primary method. As was noted, in some versions, the primary version may include performing ranging between UWB transceiver 204a and either or both of UWB transceivers 204b and / or 204c. Because the positions of each camera unit 68 and each locator unit 64 are known and stored in a memory (e.g. server 72 and / or memory 55), when UWB transceiver 204a ranges with UWB transceivers 204b and / or 204c, controller 80 is able to determine its distance from one or two known locations. This allows the location of patient support apparatus 20 to be determined. In some versions, this position-determination is made by controller 80, while in other versions, it is made by patient support apparatus server 72, and / or in some versions by both controller 80 and patient support apparatus server 72.

[0157] In those versions where controller 80 makes the primary determination of the location of patient support apparatus 20, controller 80 receives a unique identity of any of the locator units 64 and / or camera units 68 its UWB transceiver 204a is ranging with. These unique identities may be transmitted to patient support apparatus 20 wirelessly via their respective UWB transceivers 204b and / or 204c. After receiving one or more unique identities, controller 80 may consult server 72 (or its own memory 55) to see where those specific locator units 64 and / or camera units 66 are located in the healthcare facility because, after installation of the camera units 68 and locator units 64, the location of these devices is surveyed, stored in memory (e.g. server 72 and / or memory 55), and their unique identities are also stored in memory and correlated to their locations. Using this stored information, controller 80 is able to use the unique identity received from a locator unit 64 and / or a camera unit 68 to determine the location of that locator unit 64 and / or camera unit 68 within the healthcare facility. Further, by determining the distance of patient support apparatus 20 from that particular locator unit 64 and / or camera unit 68 using UWB transceiver 204a, controller 80 is able to also determine the location of patient support apparatus 20 within the healthcare facility.

[0158] In those versions of patient support apparatus 20 where server 72 makes the primary determination of patient support apparatus 20, server 72 performs the same steps that controller 80 was just described as performing. That is, server 72 receives from controller 80 the distance of patient support apparatus 20 from a specific locator unit 64 and / or camera unit 68, and then looks in its memory for the location of that specific locator unit 64 and / or camera unit 68. From these two pieces of information, server 72 is able to determine the location of patient support apparatus 20 within the healthcare facility.

[0159] Whether controller 80 and / or server 72 make the primary determination of the current location of patient support apparatus 20 within the healthcare facility, the verification status of patient support apparatus 20 remains as unverified until a secondary determination of the current location of patient support apparatus 20 is made (the verification state of patient support apparatus 20 also remains unverified if neither a primary or secondary determination of its location has been made).

[0160] At some point during the normal operation of patient support apparatus 20, a trigger may occur for performing a secondary determination of the location of patient support apparatus 20, as indicated at step 218 (FIG. 8). This trigger may take on a variety of different forms. In some versions, there may be multiple triggers for patient support apparatus 20 to automatically begin the process of verifying its location via a secondary location determination process. Such triggers may include any one or more of the following: activation of a brake onboard patient support apparatus 20 (and sensed by brake sensor 90); connection of patient support apparatus 20 to an external power source via a cable (e.g. the plugging of a power cord of patient support apparatus 20 into a conventional electrical outlet); the receipt of a verification message via any of network transceiver 82, Bluetooth transceiver 84, and / or IR transceiver (wherein the verification message may be sent by server 72, camera unit 68, and / or a locator unit 64); theactivation by a user of a verification control 50 (e.g. control 50g; FIG. 11) onboard patient support apparatus 20; the passage of a set amount of time that patient support apparatus 20 has remined in the unverified state; the passage of a set amount of time from another event (e.g. the completion of the primary location determination); and / or still other triggers.

[0161] If controller 80 determines at step 218 (FIG. 8) that no verification trigger has occurred, it returns back to steps 214 and 216 where it continues to perform normal operations and to ignore any remote motion commands it may receive from any offboard devices (eg. any devices that are separate from patient support apparatus 20). If controller 80 determines at step 218 that a verification trigger has occurred, it proceeds to step 220, where it begins the verification process. The verification process may take on a variety of different forms.

[0162] In some versions, the verification process is carried out by controller 80 using one or more of the components of patient support apparatus 20 In other versions, the verification process may be carried out, either partially or wholly, by one or more devices that are not part of patient support apparatus 20 (e.g. camera unit 68, locator unit 64, server 72, and / or the like). In those versions where controller 80 carries out the verification process, controller 80 uses a different transceiver for making the secondary determination of location than was made for the primary determination of the location of patient support apparatus 20. Thus, if the primary location was determined using IR transceiver 86, controller 80 uses Bluetooth transceiver 84 and / or UWB transceiver 204a to make the secondary determination of location Similarly, if the primary location was determined using UWB transceiver 204a, controller 80 uses I transceiver 86 and / or Bluetooth transceiver 84 to make the secondary location determination. And, if the primary location was determined using Bluetooth transceiver 84, controller 80 uses I R transceiver 86 and / or UWB transceiver 204a to make the secondary determination of location

[0163] When making a primary or secondary determination of the location of patient support apparatus 20 using infrared transceiver 86, IR transceiver 112 of locator unit 64 is configured to emit an I R signal that is only able to be detected by IR transceiver 86 when patient support apparatus 20 is positioned within a close and / or defined proximity of locator unit 64 (e.g. 1-2 meters). Thus, the primary or secondary determination of location using IR transceiver 86 involves determining if IR transceiver 86 is able to communicate with an IR transceiver 112 of a nearby locator unit 64 and, if so, receiving the unique ID of that nearby locator unit 64 (which can then be matched to a specific location within the healthcare facility using the surveying data previously discussed). Alternatively, or additionally, IR transceiver 112 of locator unit 64 and / or I R transceiver 86 of patient support apparatus 20 may be configured to emit a unique IR pattern through their respective IR transceivers that enables the devices to uniquely identify each other, thereby confirming that they are within a threshold distance of each other, and therefore within a threshold distance of a known location within the healthcare facility

[0164] When making a primary or secondary determination of the location of patient support apparatus 20 using Bluetooth transceiver 84 and / or UWB transceiver 204a, controller 80 uses a wireless exchange of signals with the Bluetooth transceiver 114 and / or UWB transceiver 204b of a nearby locator unit 64, and / or with the Bluetooth transceiver 124 and / or UWB transceiver 204c of a nearby camera unit 68. The wireless exchange of signals may involve conventional ranging communications that enable an estimate of the distance to be made between patient support apparatus 20 and the device it is communicating with (i.e. locator unit 64 and / or camera unit 68). Using this distance, as well as the known location of the locator unit 64 and / or camera unit 68, the location of the patient support apparatus 20 within the healthcare facility can be made.

[0165] In those versions of patient support apparatus 20 where server 72 attempts to carry out the verification process at step 220 (FIG. 8), controller 80 sends a verification request to server 72, which responds by attempting to make a secondary determination of the location of patient support apparatus 20. The secondary determination of the location of patient supportapparatus 20 uses a technology and / or communication path that is different from the technology and / or communication path used for making the primary determination of the location of patient support apparatus Thus, for example, if the primary location was determined using IR transceiver 86, server 72 may make the secondary determination of location using communications with Bluetooth transceiver 84 and / or UWB transceiver 204a. Regardless of which transceivers of patient support apparatus 20 the secondary location determination method involves, server 72 may carry out this communication by controlling the Bluetooth transceiver 124 and / or UWB transceiver 204c of camera unit 68. Indeed, in some versions of camera unit 68, it may also include an I transceiver (not shown) that is adapted to communicate with the I transceiver 86 of patient support apparatus 20. After server 72 has used any one or more of Bluetooth transceiver 124 and / or UWB transceiver 204c (and / or camera unit 68’s IR transceiver, if present) to make a secondary determination of the location of patient support apparatus 20, server 72 sends a message to patient support apparatus 20 indicating that a secondary determination of its location has been made.

[0166] At step 222 of algorithm 202, controller 80 determines if the secondary verification process was successful or not. This may involve receiving a message from server 72 indicating the success, or lack of success, of the secondary determination process, or it may involve controller 80 attempting to, and either succeeding or not succeeding, in carrying out the verification process (depending upon whether controller 80 or server 72 was responsible for carrying out the location verification process). If controller 80 determines that the secondary location process was not successful, it returns to steps 214 and 216 where patient support apparatus 20 remains in the unverified state, ignores remote motion commands, and otherwise operates normally. If controller 80 determines that the secondary location process was successful, it proceeds to step 224.

[0167] Before proceeding to describe step 224, it should be noted that that the secondary location determination process may, in some versions, involve using the same transceiver that was used for the primary location determination process. In such versions, the same transceiver is used for both the primary and secondary location determination processes, but one of the two processes uses communication with a first device and the other of the two processes uses communication with a second and different device. Thus, for example, if the primary method of determining the location of patient support apparatus 20 uses UWB communication between UWB transceiver 204a and UWB transceiver 204b of locator unit, the secondary method of determining the location of patient support apparatus 20 may use UWB communication between UWB transceiver 204a and UWB transceiver 204c of camera unit 68. In this example, patient support apparatus 20 uses UWB transceiver 204a for both the primary and secondary methods of determining location, but one of these methods involves UWB communication with locator unit 64 and the other involves UWB communication with camera unit 68. Thus, the two methods of determining location are independent of each other.

[0168] As part of step 220, controller 80 may also compare the results of the primary and secondary processes of determining location to see if they match or not. If they do not match, controller 80 returns to steps 214 and 216. If they do match, controller 80 proceeds to step 224. The process of determining whether the two location results match may involve the use of an acceptable tolerance.

[0169] After concluding that the verification process was successful, controller 80 proceeds to step 224 where it changes the verification state of patient support apparatus 20 to a verified state. After making this change, controller 80 proceeds to step 226, where it then begins accepting remote motion commands. That is, after completing step 226, if patient support apparatus 20 receives a motion command from an authorized device (via Bluetooth transceiver 84, IR transceiver 86, UWB transceiver 204, and / or network transceiver 82, controller 80 will respond to the remote motion command by instructing the corresponding actuator (not shown) to move the corresponding component of patient support apparatus 20. Thus, when the location of patient supportapparatus 20 has been verified, it will respond to remote motion commands. Step 224, like step 214, is a continuous process, whereby for as long as patient support apparatus 20 remains in a verified location state, it will accept remote motion commands.

[0170] After completing step 226, controller 80 carries out normal operations of patient support apparatus 20, as indicated by step 228. These normal operations continue until an unverification trigger is detected at step 230. The unverification trigger may include any one or more of the following: deactivation of the brake onboard patient support apparatus 20 (and sensed by brake sensor 90); disconnection of patient support apparatus 20 from an external power source via a cable (e.g. the unplugging of a power cord of patient support apparatus 20 into a conventional electrical outlet); the receipt of an unverification message via any of network transceiver 82, Bluetooth transceiver 84, and / or IR transceiver (wherein the unverification message may be sent by server 72, camera unit 68, and / or a locator unit 64); the activation by a user of an unverification control 50 onboard patient support apparatus 20; the passage of a set amount of time that patient support apparatus 20 has remined in the verified state; the passage of a set amount of time from another event (e.g. the receipt of signals from locator unit 64 and / or camera unit 68); and / or still other triggers.

[0171] If controller 80 determines at step 230 (FIG. 8) that no unverification trigger has occurred, it returns back to steps 226 and 226 where it continues to perform normal operations while accepting any remote motion commands it may receive from any offboard devices (eg. any devices that are separate from patient support apparatus 20). If controller 80 determines at step 230 that an unverification trigger has occurred, it proceeds to step 212, where it changes its state back to an unverified state and proceeds in the manners previously described.

[0172] It will be understood that, in addition to using transceivers 82, 86, 86, and / or 204a for carrying out either the primary or secondary location determination process, verification algorithm 202 may also, or alternatively, use images captured by camera 120 for carrying out a location determination process (primary or secondary). When using camera 120 for carrying out the location process, the images captured by a camera 120 are analyzed to see if a particular patient support apparatus 20 is captured within the field of view of the camera 120 The images may be analyzed in any of the manners previously discussed above with respect to pairing system 70. That is, the images may be analyzed in order to determine the specific identity of any patient support apparatus 20 captured within the field of view of camera 120, and then that identity can be compared to the identity of the specific patient support apparatus 20 whose location is being determined in order to confirm that the identities match. This image analysis may involve, as previously discussed, recognizing a visual indicator 60 positioned on the patient support apparatus 20, the flashing and / or other controlling of one or more lights 88, and / or the displaying of specific information on a display (e.g. display 52) of patient support apparatus 20 that can be visually detected by camera 120.

[0173] When carrying out algorithm 202, controller 80 may be configured to display information regarding the verification status and / or other verification information on display 52 of patient support apparatus 20. Three examples of the type of information that controller 80 may be configured to display are shown in FIGS. 9-11. FIG 9 illustrates a verification-in-progress message 240 that may be displayed on display 52 of patient support apparatus 20. The verification-in-progress message 240 may be displayed by controller 80 during step 220, and may be maintained on display 52 until the verification process is determined as either being successful or unsuccessful in step 222

[0174] FIG. 10 illustrates controller 80 displaying a location-verified message 250 on display 52 of patient support apparatus 20. Controller 80 may display message 250 at any point in time while the location of patient support apparatus 20 is in a verified state. Thus, controller 80 may display message 250 during steps 224, 226, 228, and 230 of algorithm 202 (FIG. 8).

[0175] FIG. 11 illustrates controller 80 display a location-unverified message 260 on display 52 of patient support apparatus 20. Controller 80 may display message 260 at any point in time while the location of patient support apparatus 20 is in an unverified state. Thus, controller 80 may display message 260 during steps 210, 212, 214, 216, 218, 220, and 222. FIG. 11 also illustrates the display of a verification control 50g. Verification control 50g is configured to allow a user to manually begin the verification process. Thus, a user pressing on, or otherwise activating, verification control 50g is a verification trigger that is detected at step 218 of algorithm 202, and that causes controller 80 to proceed to step 220, where the verification process begins.

[0176] It will be understood that additional information may also be displayed on display 52 in any of FIGS. 9-11. Thus, the messages 240, 250, and / or 260 may be displayed as banners, headers, and / or footers that accompany the display of other information and that remain visible even when a user of patient support apparatus 20 navigates to different types of screens of patient support apparatus 20 (e.g. when a user navigates to / from a scale control screen to / from an exit detection screen via navigation controls 50a and 50c). Alternatively, messages 240, 250, and / or 260 may be displayed without any additional information shown on display 52, and / or may be displayed for only a limited time on display 52, and / or may be removed from display 52 if the user navigates to a different type of screen, or otherwise takes action to remove these messages. In still other versions, information about the verification state and / or verification process may be communicated to a user via one or more dedicated lights 88 and / or via other indicators that are separate from display 52. Verification control 50g may also be modified to be implemented in hardware, rather than as a touchscreen control. In some versions, an additional navigation control 50g may be provided that allows a user to navigate to a dedicated verification screen that may include any of messages 240, 250, 260, and / or control 50g. Still other variations are possible.

[0177] It will be understood that, when the primary and / or secondary method of determining the location of patient support apparatus 20 is carried out, either of these methods may be configured to utilize any of the automatic pairing techniques discussed above with respect to pairing system 70. Such pairing techniques facilitate the communication between one or more of the wireless transceivers onboard patient support apparatus 20 (e.g. 82, 84, and / or 86) and the one or more corresponding wireless transceivers onboard locator units 64 and / or camera units 68 that are used in the location determination process.

[0178] FIG. 12 illustrates a dashboard screen 270 that may be displayed on a computing device (e.g. laptop, desktop, tablet, smart phone, etc.) in communication with server 72. Dashboard screen 270 may be generated by software app 74 and displayed on any computing device that is communicatively coupled to server72 via network 100. Thus, for example, dashboard screen 270 may be displayed on a large screen computer monitor or television that has Internet connectivity. Alternatively, or additionally, dashboard screen 270 may be displayed on one or more computer screens at one or more nurses’ stations within the healthcare facility. Dashboard screen 270 may be displayed at still other locations.

[0179] Dashboard screen 270 (FIG. 12) includes a plurality of room icons 274 (i.e enclosures that are defined by rectangles having rounded corners). Each room icon 274 corresponds to a particular room and / or bay within an actual room of the healthcare facility in which pairing system 70 and / or verification system 200 is installed. Thus, in the example shown in FIG. 12, there are thirty room icons 274. Each room icon 274 includes a header portion 276 that identifies the particular room in the healthcare facility to which the room icon 274 corresponds and a body portion 278 that, as will be discussed more below, may display information about the status of the patient and / or the patient support apparatus 20 positioned within that particular room, including, but not limited to, the verification status of the patient support apparatuses 20. Thus, in some versions of systems 70 and / or 200, software app 74 is adapted to not only display alarms when a patient exits from patient support apparatus, but to alsoreceive status data about patients and / or patient support apparatuses 20 and to display that status data on dashboard screen 270 in addition to exit alerts.

[0180] In the example shown in FIG. 12, dashboard screen 270 includes in the body portion 278 of the rooms NW3, NW14, NW17, and NW18 an icon indicating that the exit detection systems of those patient support apparatuses 20 have detected that their patients have exited from their respective patient support apparatuses 20.

[0181] Software 74 may be configured to receive status data from patient support apparatuses 20 via network transceiver 82 and to display some or all of that status data on dashboard screen 270. Such status date may include, but is not limited to, a state of a brake on patient support apparatus 20, a state of the siderails 36 of patient support apparatus 20, a state of the exit detection system (e.g. armed / disarmed, sensitivity level, etc.), a height of litter frame 28, a state of a power cord and / or nurse call cable (e.g. plugged-in or unplugged), and / or still other states. In some versions of software app 74, software app 74 may be modified to monitor and / or display on dashboard screen 270 any one or more of the states that are monitored and displayed on the dashboard screen 162 of commonly assigned PCT patent application serial number PCT / US2024 / 014966 filed February 8, 2024, by applicant Stryker Corporation and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUS SYSTEM, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0182] As can be seen in FIG. 12, software app 74 may also be configured to display the verification state of each patient support apparatus 20 on dashboard screen 270. Controller 80 of each patient support apparatus 20 is configured to transmit the current verification status (verified or unverified) of the corresponding patient support apparatus 20 to server 72, and software app 74 then displays this information on dashboard screen 270 and / or on another screen. In the example shown in FIG. 12, each room icon 274 includes a verification indicator 280 positioned near the bottom of body area 278. The verification indicator 280 indicates whether the patient support apparatus 20 in that room has had its location verified or not. In this manner, users of software app 74 can remotely see the verification status of each patient support apparatus 20 within a wing or other unit of a healthcare facility.

[0183] It will be understood that the manner in which the verification state of each patient support apparatus is displayed on dashboard screen 270 can be varied in a number of different manners from what is shown in FIG. 12 For example, in some versions, only the unverified patient support apparatuses 20 have their status displayed on dashboard screen 270. Alternatively, or additionally, the color of all or a portion of the room icon 274 may be changed to correspond to a verified or unverified state.Dashboard screen 270 may also display an icon, indicator, or text indicating when a patient support apparatus 20 is undergoing the verification process. Still other manners of conveying the verification status of patient support apparatuses 20 on dashboard screen 270 may also be implemented.

[0184] It will be understood that, when verification system 200 uses Bluetooth transceiver 84 to determine the location of a patient support apparatus 20, any conventional means of using Bluetooth and / or Bluetooth Low Energy protocols may be used for such location determination. Such means may include techniques for determining time-of-flight, time-difference-of-arrival, angle of arrival, channel state information, and / or other means for measuring distances and / or angles between Bluetooth transceivers 84, 114, and / or 124.

[0185] As was noted previously, it will be understood that any of the functions of verification system 200 and / or pairing system 70 may be followed by patient support apparatuses 20 and / or server 72 (and software app 74). It will also be understood that any of patient support apparatuses 20, camera subsystem 68, and / or locator units 64 may be incorporated into location verification system 200 in a manner that does not utilize any of the features or functions of pairing system 70, or vice versa Similarly, softwareapp 74 of server 72 may be configured to perform the functions of both pairing system 70 and verification system 200, or it may include only the functions of one of these, or it may include a combination of some features of one system 70, 200 with all or some of the features of the other system 70, 200.

[0186] It will also be understood that, in addition to the automatic manners of verifying the location of patient support apparatus 20 that have been discussed above with respect to verification system 200, patient support apparatuses 20 may be configured to include a manual manner in which a caregiver, or other authorized individual, can verify the location of the patient support apparatus 20. This may involve, for example, the caregiver using a control panel 54 to manually enter the room, bay area, and / or other location that the patient support apparatus 20 is currently located in into patient support apparatus 20. This manually-entered location information can then act as either a primary or secondary location determination.

[0187] Still further, in some versions, patient support apparatus 20 may be configured to use one or more badges carried by caregivers in the primary or secondary location determining processes. Each badge may include a UWB transceiver and / or Bluetooth transceiver, and the badge may use those transceivers to range with the locator units 64 within the healthcare facility and / or the camera unit 68, thereby enabling the position of the badge to be determined. Alternatively, or additionally, each badge may include a network transceiver that wirelessly communicates with the access points 102 of the facility, and known techniques may be used to determine the location of the badge within the healthcare facility based upon the signal strength, known locations of access points 102, and / or factors relating to the wireless communication between the badge and the access point(s) 102. Once the location of the badge is determined, it may wirelessly communicate with any of the transceivers of a patient support apparatus 20 to determine a distance between the badge and the patient support apparatus 20. With this distance known, as well as the location of the badge known, the location of the patient support apparatus 20 can be determined (or verified).

[0188] As yet another manner of determining the location of patient support apparatus 20, either as primary or secondary manner, the communication parameters that the patient support apparatus 20 and / or other devices have previously used may be compared to the current parameters and, if the same, this may server as an indication of the current location of the patient support apparatus 20. Thus, for example, if a first patient support apparatus 20 moves into a room that was previously occupied by a second patient support apparatus 20, and the first patient support apparatus 20 uses one or more communication parameters for communicating with that room’s locator unit 64, camera unit 68, and / or other device, and those one or more communication parameters match the communication parameters that were previously used by the second patient support apparatus 20 when it previously occupied that same room, controller 80 and / or server 72 may utilize the matching of these communication parameters as an indication that the first patient support apparatus 20 is now occupying the room previously occupied by the second patient support apparatus 20.

[0189] It will be understood that system 70 and / or system 200 may include any of the components, functions, software modules, and / or other features of the monitoring system disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent 10,121,070 issued November 6, 2018, to Richard Derenne etal. and entitled VIDEO MONITORING SYSTEM, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Further, systems 70 and / or 200 may use any of the techniques, databases, tools, and / or other structures disclosed in the aforementioned 10,121 ,070 patent to carry out any one or more of the functions described herein.

[0190] Various additional alterations and changes beyond those already mentioned herein can be made to the abovedescribed embodiments This disclosure is presented for illustrative purposes and should not be interpreted as an exhaustive description of all embodiments or to limit the scope of the claims to the specific elements illustrated or described in connection with these embodiments. For example, and without limitation, any individual element(s) of the described embodiments may be replacedby alternative elements that provide substantially similar functionality or otherwise provide adequate operation. This includes, for example, presently known alternative elements, such as those that might be currently known to one skilled in the art, and alternative elements that may be developed in the future, such as those that one skilled in the art might, upon development, recognize as an alternative. Any reference to claim elements in the singular, for example, using the articles “a,” “an,” “the” or “said,” is not to be construed as limiting the element to the singular.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A system for a healthcare facility comprising:a patient support apparatus, a locator unit, and a camera subsystem;wherein the patient support apparatus comprises:(a) a support surface adapted to support a patient thereon;(b) a visual indicator;(c) a first transceiver adapted to communicate with the locator unit; and(d) a first controller in communication with the and the first and second transceivers;wherein the camera subsystem comprises:(i) a camera;(ii) a second transceiver; and(iii) a second controller adapted to analyze images captured by the camera and to perform the following:(1) use the visual indicator to determine a first pairing credential; and(2) transmit the first pairing credential to the locator unit using the second transceiver; and wherein the locator unit comprises:(A) a third transceiver adapted to receive the first pairing credential from the camera subsystem; and (B) a third controller adapted to use the first pairing credential to automatically pair the third transceiver with the first transceiver of the patient support apparatus.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the third controller of the locator unit is further adapted to use the third transceiver to transmit a second pairing credential to the camera subsystem.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein the camera subsystem is further adapted to transmit the second pairing credential to the patient support apparatus.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the first, second, and third transceivers are Bluetooth transceivers.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the visual indicator is a dynamic visual indicator and the first controller is adapted to temporarily display the visual indicator at a first time and to not display the visual indicator at other times.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein the patient support apparatus includes a control panel having a display, and the first controller is adapted to temporarily display the visual indicator on the display at the first time.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein the visual indicator includes a Quick Response (QR) code.

8. The system of claim 5 wherein the patient support apparatus further includes a light and the visual indicator comprises a sequence of first illumination states and second illumination states of the light.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein the first illumination states are defined by the light emitting light, and the second illumination states are defined by the light not emitting light.

10. The system of claim 8 wherein the first illumination states are defined by the light emitting light of a first color, and the second illumination states are defined by the light emitting light of a second color.

11. The system of claim 5 wherein the first controller is adapted to display the visual indicator at the first time in response to a triggering condition.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the triggering condition is at least one of the following: an activation of a brake of the patient support apparatus, or a connection of the patient support apparatus to an external power source.

13. The system of claim 11 wherein the triggering condition is the receipt of a trigger message from the camera subsystem.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the camera subsystem is adapted to send the trigger message to the patient support apparatus after the second controller analyzes the images captured by the camera and detects the patient support apparatus in the images.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein the trigger message is not specifically addressed to the patient support apparatus but is broadcast to a set of multiple patient support apparatuses, the set of multiple patient support apparatuses including the patient support apparatus and other patient support apparatuses.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the camera subsystem is adapted to determine the set of multiple patient support apparatuses by determining which patient support apparatuses within the healthcare facility are currently paired with locator units and which patient support apparatuses are not currently paired with locator units, the set of multiple patient support apparatuses excluding those patient support apparatuses that are currently paired with locator units.

17. The system of claim 1 wherein the patient support apparatus further includes a network transceiver adapted to send a pairing state message to the camera subsystem, the pairing state message indicating whether or not the first transceiver of the patient support apparatus is paired with the third transceiver of the locator unit.

18. The system of claim 1 wherein the patient support apparatus further includes a first IR transceiver and the locator unit further includes a second I R transceiver.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein the third controller is adapted to receive the first pairing credential directly from the patient support apparatus using the first I R transceiver, and the first controller is adapted to receive a second pairing credential directly from the locator unit using the second I R transceiver.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein, if the third controller successfully receives the first pairing credential directly from the patient support apparatus using the first IR transceiver, and if the first controller successfully receives the second credential directly from the locator unit using the second I R transceiver, the first and third controllers are adapted to automatically pair the first and third transceivers with each other using the first and second pairing credentials received via the first and second IR transceivers.

21. The system of claim 20 wherein the camera subsystem is adapted to only perform steps (1) and (2) if the first and second pairing credentials are unable to be exchanged between the locator unit and patient support apparatus using the first and second IR transceivers.

22. The system of claim 1 wherein the camera subsystem includes a camera unit and a server, and at least the camera and second transceiver are housed with the camera unit and the server is positioned at a location remote from the camera unit.

23. The system of claim 22 wherein the camera unit and the locator unit are positioned in a room of the healthcare facility.

24. The system of claim 1 wherein the second controller is adapted to use the visual indicator to determine the first pairing credential by decoding the first pairing credential from the visual indicator.

25. The system of claim 22 wherein the second controller is adapted to use the visual indicator to determine the first pairing credential by performing the following:determining an ID of the patient support apparatus from the visual indicator;transmitting the ID to the server using a first network transceiver; andreceiving the first pairing credential from the server via the network transceiver.

26. The system of claim 25 wherein the server is adapted to, in response to receipt of the ID from the second controller, perform the following:transmit a request message to the patient support apparatus using a second network transceiver; and receive a response message from the patient support apparatus via the second network transceiver, wherein the response message includes the first pairing credential.

27. The system of claim 1 wherein the camera subsystem is further adapted to receive a second pairing credential from the locator unit via the second transceiver, and to transmit the second pairing credential to the patient support apparatus.

28. The system of claim 27 wherein the first controller is adapted to use the second pairing credential to automatically pair the first transceiver with the third transceiver of the locator unit.

29. The system of claim 28 wherein the camera subsystem further includes a first network transceiver and the patient support apparatus further includes a second network transceiver, and the camera subsystem is adapted to transmit the second pairing credential to the patient support apparatus using the first and second network transceivers.

30. The system of claim 1 wherein the first pairing credential includes an address and a pairing key.

31. The system of claim 30 wherein the address includes at least one of a Media Access Control (MAC) address or an IP address.

32. The system of claim 1 wherein the locator unit is adapted to transmit a location identifier to the patient support apparatus using the third transceiver, and the patient support apparatus is adapted to forward the location identifier to a server.

33. The system of claim 1 wherein the patient support apparatus further includes a nurse call control adapted to summon a nurse when activated by a patient, the locator unit is coupled to a nurse call outlet, the first controller is adapted to transmit a nurse call signal to the locator unit in response to the nurse call control being activated, and the third controller is adapted to communicate the nurse call signal to the nurse call outlet.

34. A patient support apparatus comprising:a support surface adapted to support a patient thereon;a memory;a network transceiver;a first transceiver adapted to communicate with a locator unit; anda controller in communication with the first transceiver and adapted to make a first determination of a location of the patient support apparatus within a healthcare facility based upon the communication between the first transceiver and the locator unit, the controller further adapted to record a verification state within the memory, the verification state indicating a verified state or an unverified state, wherein the verified state corresponds to a second determination of the location of the patient support apparatus within the healthcare facility having been made independently of the communication between the first transceiver and the locator unit, and the unverified state corresponds to no second determination of the location of the patient support apparatus within thehealthcare facility having been made, and wherein the controller is further adapted to transmit the verification state to a server using the network transceiver.

35. The patient support apparatus of claim 34 wherein the controller is further adapted to send a verification request to the server, the verification request requesting the server to carry out the second determination of the location of the patient support apparatus within the healthcare facility.

36. The patient support apparatus of claim 35 wherein the controller is adapted to send the verification request to the server in response to both of the following being true: the controller detects a triggering condition, and the verification state is currently in the unverified state.

37. The patient support apparatus of claim 36 wherein the triggering condition includes at least one of the following: a brake on the patient support apparatus being activated, a power cord of the patient support apparatus being plugged into a source of electrical power, the controller receiving a motion command, or a location verification command being received.

38. The patient support apparatus of claim 34 wherein the first transceiver is a Bluetooth transceiver, an infrared transceiver, or an ultra-wideband transceiver.

39. The patient support apparatus of claim 34 wherein the second determination of the location of the patient support apparatus is made using a camera unit having a field of view encompassing the patient support apparatus.

40. The patient support apparatus of claim 39 wherein the camera unit is mounted in a fixed location.

41. The patient support apparatus of claim 34 further including a display and wherein the controller is adapted to display an indicator of the verification state on the display.

42. The patient support apparatus of claim 34 further including a verification control adapted to be manually activated by a user, wherein the controller is adapted to change the verification state from an unverified state to a verified state in response to the verification control being activated.

43. The patient support apparatus of claim 34 further including a display and wherein the controller is adapted to display a first indicator on the display when the verification state is verified, to display a second indicator on the display when the verification state is unverified, and a third indicator on the display when the controller is carrying out a process to transition from the unverified state to the verified state.

44. The patent support apparatus of claim 34 wherein the controller is adapted to automatically change the verification state from a verified state to an unverified state in response to a triggering condition.

45. The patient support apparatus of claim 44 wherein the triggering condition includes at least one of the following: a passage of a predetermined amount of time, a brake on the patient support apparatus being deactivated, a power cord of the patient support apparatus being unplugged from a source of electrical power, or an unverification command being received.

46. The patient support apparatus of claim 44 wherein the controller is further adapted to receive a remote motion command via the network transceiver, wherein the remote motion command instructs the controller to move a component of the patient support apparatus, and the controller is further adapted to move the component of the patient support apparatus in response to the remote motion command if the verification state is currently in the verified state, and to not move the component of the patient support apparatus in response to the remote motion command if the verification state is currently in the unverified state.

47. The patient support apparatus of claim 46 wherein the controller is further adapted to move the component of the patient support apparatus in response to the remote motion command if the remote motion command is received by the patient support apparatus through two independent communication pathways, and to not move the component of the patient supportapparatus in response to the remote motion command if the remote motion command is not received by the patient support apparatus through two independent communication pathways.

48. A patient support apparatus system comprising a patient support apparatus and a software application embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium;wherein the patient support apparatus includes:(a) a support surface adapted to support a patient thereon;(b) a network transceiver;(c) a first transceiver adapted to communicate with a locator unit; and(d) a controller in communication with the first transceiver and adapted to make a first determination of a location of the patient support apparatus within a healthcare facility based upon the communication between the first transceiver and the locator unit, the controller further adapted to forward the first determination of the location of the patient support apparatus to the software application using the network transceiver;wherein the software application is adapted, when executed by a server, to instruct the server to determine a verification state of the patient support apparatus, the verification state indicating a verified state or an unverified state, wherein the verified state corresponds to a second determination of the location of the patient support apparatus within the healthcare facility having been made independently of the communication between the first transceiver and the locator unit, and the unverified state corresponds to no second determination of the location of the patient support apparatus within the healthcare facility having been made.

49. The patient support apparatus system of claim 48 wherein the software application is further adapted to instruct the server to transmit the verification state to a display for display thereon.

50. The patient support apparatus system of claim 48 wherein the software application is further adapted to instruct the server to send a verification command to the patient support apparatus, the verification command instructing the patient support apparatus to perform the second determination of the location of the patient support apparatus.

51. The patient support apparatus system of claim 48 wherein the software application is further adapted to instruct the server to send a verification command to a camera unit, the verification command instructing the camera unit to perform the second determination of the location of the patient support apparatus.

52. The patient support apparatus system of claim 48 wherein the software application is further adapted to instruct the server to send a secondary command to the patient support apparatus, the secondary command instructing the patient support apparatus to change an aspect of the patient support apparatus that is visually detectable by the camera unit.

53. The patient support apparatus system of claim 52 wherein the visually detectable aspect is a change in an illumination status of a light onboard the patient support apparatus.

54. The patient support apparatus system of claim 52 wherein the visually detectable aspect is a change in content displayed on a display of the patient support apparatus.

55. The patient support apparatus system of claim 48 wherein the controller is further adapted to send a verification request to the server, the verification request requesting the server to carry out the second determination of the location of the patient support apparatus within the healthcare facility.

56. The patient support apparatus system of claim 55 wherein the controller is adapted to send the verification request to the server in response to both of the following being true: the controller detects a triggering condition, and the verification state is currently in the unverified state57. The patient support apparatus system of claim 56 wherein the triggering condition includes at least one of the following: a brake on the patient support apparatus being activated, a power cord of the patient support apparatus being plugged into a source of electrical power, the controller receiving a motion command, or a location verification command being received.

58. The patient support apparatus system of claim 48 wherein the first transceiver is a Bluetooth transceiver, an infrared transceiver, or an ultra-wideband transceiver59. The patient support apparatus system of claim 48 wherein the second determination of the location of the patient support apparatus is made using a camera unit having a field of view encompassing the patient support apparatus.

60. The patient support apparatus system of claim 59 wherein the camera unit is mounted in a fixed location.

61. The patient support apparatus system of claim 48 wherein the patient support apparatus further includes a display and the controller is adapted to display an indicator of the verification state on the display.

62. The patient support apparatus system of claim 48 wherein the patient support apparatus further includes a verification control adapted to be manually activated by a user, wherein the controller is adapted to change the verification state from an unverified state to a verified state in response to the verification control being activated.

63. The patient support apparatus system of claim 48 wherein the patient support apparatus further includes a display and wherein the controller is adapted to display a first indicator on the display when the verification state is verified, to display a second indicator on the display when the verification state is unverified, and to display a third indicator on the display when the controller is carrying out a process to transition from the unverified state to the verified state.

64. The patent support apparatus system of claim 48 wherein the controller is adapted to automatically change the verification state from a verified state to an unverified state in response to a triggering condition.

65. The patient support apparatus system of claim 64 wherein the triggering condition includes at least one of the following: a passage of a predetermined amount of time, a brake on the patient support apparatus being deactivated, a power cord of the patient support apparatus being unplugged from a source of electrical power, or an unverification command being received.

66. The patient support apparatus system of claim 64 wherein the controller is further adapted to receive a remote motion command via the network transceiver, wherein the remote motion command instructs the controller to move a component of the patient support apparatus, and the controller is further adapted to move the component of the patient support apparatus in response to the remote motion command if the verification state is currently in the verified state, and to not move the component of the patient support apparatus in response to the remote motion command if the verification state is currently in the unverified state.

67. The patient support apparatus system of claim 66 wherein the controller is further adapted to move the component of the patient support apparatus in response to the remote motion command if the remote motion command is received by the patient support apparatus through two independent communication pathways, and to not move the component of the patient support apparatus in response to the remote motion command if the remote motion command is not received by the patient support apparatus through two independent communication pathways.

68. The patient support apparatus system of claim 48 further including a visual indicator coupled to the patient support apparatus, a locator unit, and a camera subsystem;wherein the camera subsystem comprises:(i) a camera;(ii) a second transceiver; and(iii) a second controller adapted to analyze images captured by the camera and to perform the following:(1 ) use the visual indicator to determine a first pairing credential; and(2) transmit the first pairing credential to the locator unit using the second transceiver; and wherein the locator unit comprises:a third transceiver adapted to receive the first pairing credential from the camera subsystem; and a third controller adapted to use the first pairing credential to automatically pair the third transceiver with the first transceiver of the patient support apparatus.

Images