Ambience Control System for Hospital Rooms
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Solution Overview
Problem
Hospital room ambience settings are not optimally adjusted for patient healing and staff workflow, as they remain unchanged throughout the day, failing to adapt to various activities and schedules, leading to suboptimal environments.
Innovation Solution
An ambience scheduling and controlling system that uses a processor to adjust ambient parameters based on patient and staff schedules, incorporating trigger signals from sensors to initiate or end phases, allowing for adaptive control of lighting, sound, and other environmental factors to match the current needs and activities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If manual control of ambience settings is used, then the system is simple to operate, but the ambience cannot adapt automatically to different activities and schedules
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically adjusts ambience settings based on scheduled activities and sensor inputs without requiring manual intervention. The processor autonomously determines phase transitions and controls ambient devices, enabling the system to serve itself by adapting to patient and staff needs throughout the day.
Solution Approach 2:
Ambience settings are pre-configured for different phases of the day (e.g., daytime, nighttime, meal times, rest periods). The system has these settings prepared in advance and automatically applies them when phase transitions occur, eliminating the need for real-time manual adjustments while maintaining adaptability.
2Reliability
If ambience settings remain unchanged throughout the day, then the control system is simple, but the healing environment is suboptimal
Solution Approach 1:
The ambience control system transitions from a static, unchanging configuration to a dynamic system that automatically adjusts settings based on the time of day, scheduled activities, and sensor-detected events. This enables the healing environment to adapt reliably to varying patient and staff needs throughout the day.
3Adaptability or versatility
If manual adjustment of ambience is performed, then the system is easy to operate, but it cannot respond to non-scheduled activities and events
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates sensors that continuously monitor the environment and generate trigger signals based on detected events (e.g., patient movement, staff presence, time-based schedules). This feedback mechanism enables automatic response to both scheduled and non-scheduled activities without requiring manual operation, while maintaining ease of use through automated decision-making.
4Adaptability or versatility
If automated ambience control is implemented, then adaptability to schedules is improved, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The processor-based control system serves multiple functions: it manages scheduled activities, processes sensor inputs, determines phase transitions, and controls various ambient devices (lighting, temperature, noise). By consolidating these diverse functions into a single multi-functional controller, the system achieves high adaptability while managing complexity through integration rather than proliferation of separate components.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a method and to an apparatus that enables the ambience of e.g. hospital rooms to adapt according the scheduled or non-scheduled activities throughout the day. The ambience generated by lights, sound devices, image, movie displays and other devices is controlled by an ambience controller (100) in dependence of day phases defined by a patient's day schedule or in dependence of other non-scheduled phases which may have been initiated in dependence of a trigger signal (215, 216) generated in response to activities such as the entering of a caterer.