Segmented Hospital Bed Alert Lights for Clear Remote Status
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hospital bed alert lights do not clearly indicate which specific condition is causing an alert, requiring caregivers to visually inspect various bed features to determine the issue, despite being designed for easy visibility from a distance.
Innovation Solution
The patient support apparatus features an alert light assembly with separate zones that can be individually illuminated, each with associated indicia to indicate specific alert conditions, and is large enough to occupy a significant portion of the lateral frame without extending beyond its edges, allowing for clear identification of the issue from a distance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single alert light is used to indicate multiple conditions, then the device complexity is reduced, but the information clarity deteriorates as caregivers cannot identify which specific condition is causing the alert
Solution Approach 1:
The alert light assembly is segmented into multiple independently controllable light zones, where each zone corresponds to a specific monitored condition. This allows the system to maintain relatively simple overall structure while providing detailed information about which specific condition is causing the alert, thus resolving the contradiction between device complexity and information clarity.
2Device complexity
If small LED indicators are used, then the device complexity is reduced, but the visibility from distance deteriorates requiring caregivers to view from two feet or closer
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical parameters of the light indicators by using large-area LEDs or LCD segments instead of small point-source LEDs. This parameter change increases the visible surface area and light output intensity, enabling caregivers to view the alert status from ten feet or more away while maintaining a relatively simple device structure.
3Illumination intensity
If large conspicuous alert lights are used, then the visibility from distance is improved, but the ability to convey specific condition information deteriorates as caregivers cannot identify which monitored condition is causing the alert
Solution Approach 1:
The large alert light assembly is divided into multiple segmented zones, each corresponding to a specific monitored condition. This segmentation allows the system to maintain large overall size for distance visibility while providing specific condition identification through selective illumination of individual zones, thus resolving the contradiction between visibility and information specificity.
Solution Approach 2:
Different zones within the alert light assembly have different local qualities or functions, with each zone designed to indicate a specific condition. This local differentiation allows the system to convey specific condition information through selective activation of particular zones while maintaining the overall large size needed for distance visibility.
Data Source
AI summary
A patient support apparatus, such as a hospital bed, includes an alert light assembly or an alert light module having separate zones that are individually illuminated to convey information regarding respective alert conditions. The zones each have indicia related to a particular condition of the patient support apparatus. The illuminated zones are each sufficiently large so as to be seen from afar, such as on the order of ten feet or more. Alternatively or additionally, a GUI of the patient support apparatus displays alert indicia as part of a screen saver. Further alternatively or additionally, the patient support apparatus illuminates an alert light in a manner indicating an optimal time for taking a patient's vital signs.