407 results about "Nursing homes" patented technology

The present invention relates to an apparatus for conducting a variety of assays for the determination of analytes in liquid samples, and relates to the methods for such assays. In particular, the invention relates to a single-use cartridge designed to be adaptable to a variety of real-time assay protocols, preferably assays for the determination of analytes in biological samples using immunosensors or other ligand / ligand receptor-based biosensor embodiments. The cartridge provides novel features for processing a metered portion of a sample, for precise and flexible control of the movement of a sample or second fluid within the cartridge, for the amending of solutions with additional compounds during an assay, and for the construction of immunosensors capable of adaptation to diverse analyte measurements. The disclosed device and methods of use enjoy substantial benefits over the prior art, including simplicity of use by an operator, rapid in situ determinations of one or more analytes, and single-use methodology that minimizes the risk of contamination of both operator and patient. The disclosed invention is adaptable to the point-of-care clinical diagnostic field, including use in accident sites, emergency rooms, surgery, nursing homes, intensive care units, and non-medical environments.

A method and apparatus for a home monitoring system is provided. The home monitoring system may include a command console for monitoring and processing the output of sensors. The processing of the sensors includes (1) providing a history of the sensor as an indicator to the operator of the sensor output over time; (2) analyzing the trends of the sensor to increase the effectiveness of the sensor beyond simply the current sensor output; and (3) analyzing the output of one sensor which may impact interpretation of a second sensor's output. The monitoring system may also be a prescription reminder system. The prescription reminder system may be used in homes or institutional medical facilities (assisted living or nursing homes) to provide patients with a manner to remind them to take pharmaceutical drugs at prescribed times.

This invention relates to an interactive medication container or console that hold or otherwise organizes one or more medication vials or containers. Each vial has a memory strip containing medication and prescription information. Each vial can also include a reminder unit that is attached to and portable with the individual vials. The console or reminder unit reads the information strip of the vial and communicates this information to or interacts with a patient to remind them to take the medication. The medication container or reminder unit also gathers or tracks information such as consumption time, quantity remaining, patient feedback, and contraindication information. The medication container or reminder unit interacts with the patient by displaying questions or receiving and recording input from the patient before, during or after a dose of medication is taken. The patient input can be used to modify the dosing regimen for future doses of medication. The medication container reorders medication when the quantity remaining reaches a threshold level. Contraindication information in the memory strip is downloaded to a personal home computer or a hospital or nursing home computer.

A system, electronic monitor and method are provided that utilize impulse radio technology to alert medical personnel when a patient needs medical assistance. In addition, the present invention includes a system, electronic monitor and method that utilize the communication capabilities and positioning capabilities of impulse radio technology to enable medical personnel to monitor one or more vitals signs of a patient and / or to enable medical personnel to determine a current a position of a patient in a building such as a hospital, nursing home or their home.

A method and apparatus for a home monitoring system is provided. The home monitoring system may include a command console for monitoring and processing the output of sensors. The processing of the sensors includes (1) providing a history of the sensor as an indicator to the operator of the sensor output over time; (2) analyzing the trends of the sensor to increase the effectiveness of the sensor beyond simply the current sensor output; and (3) analyzing the output of one sensor which may impact interpretation of a second sensor's output. The monitoring system may also be a prescription reminder system. The prescription reminder system may be used in homes or institutional medical facilities (assisted living or nursing homes) to provide patients with a manner to remind them to take pharmaceutical drugs at prescribed times.

This invention relates to an interactive medication container or console that hold or otherwise organizes one or more medication vials or containers. Each vial has a memory strip containing medication and prescription information. Each vial can also include a reminder unit that is attached to and portable with the individual vials. The console or reminder unit reads the information strip of the vial and communicates this information to or interacts with a patient to remind them to take the medication. The medication container or reminder unit also gathers or tracks information such as consumption time, quantity remaining, patient feedback, and contraindication information. The medication container or reminder unit interacts with the patient by displaying questions or receiving and recording input from the patient before, during or after a dose of medication is taken. The patient input can be used to modify the dosing regimen for future doses of medication. The medication container reorders medication when the quantity remaining reaches a threshold level. Contraindication information in the memory strip is downloaded to a personal home computer or a hospital or nursing home computer.

Portable x-ray devices and methods for using such devices are described. The devices have an x-ray tube powered by an integrated power system. The x-ray tube is shielded with a low-density insulating material containing a high-Z substance. The devices can also have an integrated display component. With these components, the size and weight of the x-ray devices can be reduced and the portability of the devices enhanced. The x-ray devices also have an x-ray detecting means that is not structurally attached to the device and therefore is free standing. Consequently, the x-ray devices can also be used as a digital x-ray camera. The portable x-ray devices are especially useful for applications where portability is an important feature such as in field work, remote operations, and mobile operations such as nursing homes, home healthcare, or teaching classrooms. This portability feature can be particularly useful in multi-suite medical and dental offices where a single x-ray device can be used as a digital x-ray camera in multiple offices instead of requiring a separate device in every office.

An Internet-based system involves a database and search capabilities for connecting patients with healthcare providers, e.g., physicians, hospitals, nursing homes, treatment facilities, etc., and further enables such providers to reach patients with whom they may not otherwise come into contact. A patient may access the healthcare provider information through a search conducted using a search engine, such as Google, Yahoo, etc. Alternatively, a patient may access the company Web site's predetermined Web page that provides search capabilities on its database. A patient may research a healthcare provider based on criteria specified by the patient. Information provided to the patient may be in the form of a report, profile, ratings, etc., including patient-provided information, physician-verified information, and information verified by an independent third party. The verified information and ratings provided by the Web site enable patients to differentiate among healthcare providers and thereby select the provider that best meets their individual needs.

The present invention transforms existing electrical wall outlets into an emergency lighting system for homes, hospitals, hotels, nursing homes and businesses. The lighting device, designed as a replacement electrical wall outlet or receptacle, simply plugs into an existing dual outlet after removal of its faceplate. The lighting device continues to function as an electrical outlet, however, also comprises a local power source such as a constant charge lithium ion battery; a motion sensor for initiating a low level of lighting for darkened room or corridor transit; a power sensor for activating a high level of light when electrical service is disrupted, thereby broadcasting a wash of light over an otherwise darkened room or corridor; and a photoelectric cell which detects daylight or otherwise provided lighting of the room or corridor and thereby prevent unnecessary power usage.

A device and method for reminding people to maintain hand hygiene. Further a device and method for reminding people to perform hand washing and obtaining hand hygiene compliance data in a patient care environment, which may be a hospital, a nursing home, or a food service facility, which may be a restaurant or cafeteria. A device and method for using accelerometry and / or additional sensor cues, which may include the sound of running water and / or alcohol odor, for sensing when a person has washed their hands, and for using accelerometry information and other cues to determine when a person has touched something, thereby contaminating his / her hands.

To achieve “ecological” robotic rehabilitation therapy, the present invention provides the system capacity of training of patients in different ambulatory tasks utilizing motorized footplates that guide the lower limbs according to human gait trajectories generated for different ambulatory tasks of interest. A lower extremity robotic rehabilitation system comprises an active pelvic / hip device which applies series elastic actuation to achieve an intrinsically safe and desirable impedance control. A robotic unit features the telepresence operation control that allows a patient stay at home or nursing home to continue his or her rehabilitation training under a physician's remote supervision and monitoring. The robot unit utilizes an affective patient-robot interface to capture emotional information of the patient, to allow for real-time adaptation of the robotic system and adjustments of treatment protocol, and to enhance the quality and effectiveness of rehabilitation

The disclosed invention is a patient monitoring system that employs a pressure sensitive pad. The pad is placed beneath a patient who is lying in bed or sitting in a chair. When weight is removed from the pad, an alarm is given. The pad comprises an upper layer of circuitry and a lower layer of circuitry. When the respective layers of circuitry are in contact, the alarm remains off, but when the layers of circuitry become separated, the alarm is given. This invention is generally for use in hospitals and nursing homes to alert caregivers when a patient falls out of a bed or a wheelchair; or if a patient otherwise leaves a bed or chair against the wishes of the caregiver. This situation is of special concern with elderly patients, post operational patients, and / or at night when nursing staffs are reduced.

An insurance program that provides improved health care and longevity by emphasizing health improvement and maintenance. After a predetermined waiting period from the time health insurance is purchased, during which the health status of the insured is maintained or improved, the insured may link the health insurance policy with one or more other types of insurance policies, such as; life, disability, nursing home, etc. Throughout the life of the policy, portions of the premiums may be deposited in an escrow account, provided that the health of the insured is maintained or improved, which may be utilized to pay or help pay for the linked insurance and may also be utilized for retirement benefits.

Portable x-ray devices and methods for using such devices are described. The devices have an x-ray tube powered by an integrated power system. The x-ray tube is shielded with a low-density insulating material containing a high-Z substance. The devices can also have an integrated display component. With these components, the size and weight of the x-ray devices can be reduced and the portability of the devices enhanced. The x-ray devices also have an x-ray detecting means that is not structurally attached to the device and therefore is free standing. Consequently, the x-ray devices can also be used as a digital x-ray camera. The portable x-ray devices are especially useful for applications where portability is an important feature such as in field work, remote operations, and mobile operations such as nursing homes, home healthcare, or teaching classrooms. This portability feature can be particularly useful in multi-suite medical and dental offices where a single x-ray device can be used as a digital x-ray camera in multiple offices instead of requiring a separate device in every office.

There is provided an inflatable mattress and coverlet used to reduce and treat decubitus ulcers. The mattress is an air inflatable mattress and is particularly adapted for use on a bed in a hospital, nursing home, health care facility or the like. The air inflatable mattress has a series of apertures on the top allowing small amounts of air to pass through to the underside of the coverlet. According to one aspect of the invention the coverlet is placed over the top of air inflatable mattress in the central portion thereof between the head of the bed and the foot of the bed. The coverlet is of sufficient length to extend under the weight bearing portions of the patient. The coverlet has as a first layer a moisture wicking fabric, such as a polyester, and on one side of the moisture wicking fabric there is attached a microporous polymeric member which allows air from the mattress to pass through the coverlet to the patient. Adjacent the polymeric member is another layer comprising a spacer fabric. The side edges of the coverlet form a drip edge and may be attached to the mattress by suitable means.

Waste disposal device includes a container, a lid, and a rotation mechanism that rotates a waste-containing member when present in the container. A slide mechanism enables opening movement of the lid to cause the rotation mechanism to rotate the waste-containing member or prevent the rotation mechanism from rotating the waste-containing member depending on its setting. A foot pedal assembly includes a foot pedal and a spring, and causes both opening of the lid when the foot pedal is depressed and closure of the lid when the pressing force is removed. The spring is moved against its bias upon depression of the foot pedal and returns to its original state when the pressing force is removed to cause closure of the lid and rotation of the waste-containing member. The device may be used for medical waste from hospitals, doctors' offices, home health care personnel and facilities, nursing homes, and biohazard laboratories.

A method and a system for creating websites for healthcare providers contained on a network are provided. Specifically, a healthcare provider such as, for example, a hospital, a nursing home, a practitioner and / or any other healthcare provider, may access a remote server and may create a website based on pre-defined information contained on the database. The website may then be stored on the remote server and may be searchable via a search engine on the remote server. In addition, the healthcare provider may associate a plurality of attributes to the website created so that a search engine may easily search for the healthcare provider based on the attributes associated therewith.

The invention discloses an object recognition water dispenser and an intelligent water drinking control system and method. The object recognition water dispenser comprises a water dispenser body with a water outlet and a water inlet. The water dispenser body is provided with an information transmission unit, a label reader, a user identity recognition unit and a control unit, the information transmission unit is used for information transmission between the water dispenser body and an external information management center, the user identity recognition unit is used for obtaining input information of users, and the control unit controls the water inlet to discharge water; the label reader, the user identity recognition unit and the control unit are connected with the information transmission unit, and transmit information to the information management center or receive instruction information sent by the information management center through the information transmission unit. The object recognition water dispenser manages and controls water intake and other information according to own characteristics of the users, can be widely used in public places such as a hospital and a nursing home, and ensures healthy water drinking, and it is avoided that the users contract a disease due to confusion of cups.

An improved disposable privacy curtain system for use in hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and other healthcare facilities is disclosed. The disposable privacy curtain system includes a disposable curtain packaged and sold with novel pre-attached sliding carriers affixed to the top edge thereof that are adapted for rapid, snap-in engagement with existing ceiling tracks thereby allowing for rapid removal and replacement of the curtain system. A disposable hospital curtain in accordance with the present invention comprises sheet-like material formed as a generally rectangular panel with vertical fold lines that permit the panel to be drawn between to a compact stowed configuration wherein the curtain is disposed in a pleated and / or folded configuration, and an extended deployed configuration wherein the curtain is extended. In a preferred embodiment, the disposable hospital curtain is fabricated from non-woven polypropylene treated with an antimicrobial agent and a flame retardant.

The invention discloses a telemetering monitoring method and system of multiparameter automatic early warning and rapid positioning response. The system is composed of a portable monitor carried by a patient, a hospital center monitoring system, a doctor intelligent query terminal, a wireless communication network and the like. The telemetering monitoring method and system of the multiparameter automatic early warning and rapid positioning response are characterized in that 1, accurate positioning on the patient is achieved through a regional positioning function in an inpatient area, and by means of an electronic fence technology, anti-lost and border-crossing alarm for the patient is achieved; 2, a multidimensional pre-warning mechanism comprises automatic monitoring of electrocardio, blood oxygen and breathing of the patient and threshold alarm, automatic alarm of falling of the patient and active alarm of an SOS call; 3, by means of the rapid response function, medical staff can understand the factual condition of the patient at any time such as a ward round and in any place such as a monitoring center, an office and even outside a hospital; 4, monitoring frequency is increased and decreased flexibly, and additional cable laying or system updating is not needed. According to the telemetering monitoring method and system of the multiparameter automatic early warning and the rapid positioning response, a passive monitoring system is changed into an active monitoring system, and the telemetering monitoring method and system of the multiparameter automatic early warning and the rapid positioning response can be applied to hospitals, nursing homes, communities and other areas where patients and old people are concentrated.

The invention discloses a nursing home old man dangerous act monitoring method. The problems of low old man tracking accuracy, poor behavior analysis effect, frequent behavior recognition algorithm calling, large system load, excessive dependence on device performance of a monitoring effect and the like in the prior art are overcome. The method is characterized in that a monitoring camera, a video capture card, a personal PC machine, a display and an alarm sound box are used to be combined with a contour detection program module, a tracking program module and a behavior recognition program module in the personal PC machine; and the method based on the combination of target tracking and behavior recognition monitors the movement states of old men in a nursing home in daily life and gives an alarm due to the risks and the abnormal behaviors of the old men. The method has the advantages of high monitoring efficiency, high old man behavior recognition degree, low operation cost and good practicability and application prospect.

The present invention transforms existing electrical wall outlets into an emergency lighting system for homes, hospitals, hotels, nursing homes and businesses. The lighting device, designed as a replacement electrical wall outlet or receptacle, simply plugs into an existing dual outlet after removal of its faceplate. The lighting device continues to function as an electrical outlet, however, also comprises a local power source such as a constant charge lithium ion battery; a motion sensor for initiating a low level of lighting for darkened room or corridor transit; a power sensor for activating a high level of light when electrical service is disrupted, thereby broadcasting a wash of light over an otherwise darkened room or corridor; and a photoelectric cell which detects daylight or otherwise provided lighting of the room or corridor and thereby prevent unnecessary power usage.

The present invention includes an emergency lighting device comprising, at least one light emitting diode (LED), a local energy source such as a lithium ion battery, a control circuit in electric communication with the at least one LED and further sensing a main power supply, and a reflector for broadcasting light produced by the LED to designated areas. In particular, the present invention transforms existing fluorescent, incandescent or halogen light fixtures into emergency lighting systems for homes, hospitals, hotels, nursing homes and businesses. The device includes a power sensor for triggering the control circuit to engage the LEDs when electrical service is disrupted, thereby broadcasting a wash of light over an otherwise darkened room or corridor.

A method and apparatus for a home monitoring system is provided. The home monitoring system may include a command console for monitoring and processing the output of sensors. The processing of the sensors includes (1) providing a history of the sensor as an indicator to the operator of the sensor output over time; (2) analyzing the trends of the sensor to increase the effectiveness of the sensor beyond simply the current sensor output; and (3) analyzing the output of one sensor which may impact interpretation of a second sensor's output. The monitoring system may also be a prescription reminder system. The prescription reminder system may be used in homes or institutional medical facilities (assisted living or nursing homes) to provide patients with a manner to remind them to take pharmaceutical drugs at prescribed times.

The invention discloses a pension information comprehensive service platform, comprising a terminal device, a data management module, a development and recommendation module, a service design and publishment module, an user and service management module, an user presentation module and an external data interface; according to the pension information comprehensive service platform, health records of the aged in medical institutions, pension institutions and nearby communities are uploaded to a cloud terminal, and services like daily life management, health consultation and management and first aid service are provided for the aged in the institutions and nearby communities and homes. The problems, that the systems of the three major pension modes and hospitals are closed and resource sharing is restricted, are solved by the pension information comprehensive service platform, barrier-free flow of service objects, information and various kinds of resources among the pension service platforms is realized, long-term balance between supply and demand in pension service is realized through adjustment and integration, and thereby integration of pension service, nursing service and medical service between homes, communities, nursing homes and hospitals is realized.

A medication cart is disclosed for use in a hospital, rest home, nursing home or the like to conveniently deliver medications to patients therein. The medication cart has a plurality of drawers movably mounted in the front portion thereof and has trash receptacles positioned at one side of the cart. The cart also has a receptacle or receptacles positioned at the other side thereof. Upstanding posts are provided at the corners of the cart and have hand gripping portions at the upper ends thereof which permit the cart to be conveniently moved from one location to another. Further, the cart has an auxiliary port tray positioned thereon which may be selectively moved from a vertically disposed stored or stowed position to a horizontally disposed operative position.

A method and system provide an annuity contract with a payment base value, a contract value, lifetime benefit payments, and a death benefit, as well as the option of enhanced lifetime benefit payments for a period of time. An insured qualifies for these enhanced lifetime benefit payments when the insured is confined to a nursing home and fails two of six predetermined activities of daily living. The insured retains the option of returning to a lower level of lifetime benefit payments when the enhanced lifetime benefit payments are no longer necessary. The death benefit is reduced by the enhanced lifetime benefit payment withdrawals but the lifetime benefit payment continues to be paid, even if the contract value declines to zero.

Systems, devices and methods for analyzing the movement, orientation, and location of patients and other users within a hospital, nursing home, or other setting where patient monitoring is desired. One or more sensors or markers are positioned on the body of the user, and a plurality of readers or transceivers in known relative location within the patient care environment detect or communicate with the sensors or markers to identify user location. Location sensing techniques include multi-angulation, multi-lateration, scene analysis (such as visual image analysis), or proximity. Analysis techniques used include time-of-flight analysis, signal strength analysis, image, and video analysis.