Hospital Bed Exit Detection with Delayed Alarm Re-Arming
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hospital bed systems face issues with inaccurate patient exit detection leading to repeated alarms, failure to re-arm the system after patient care, and cumbersome recalibration of tare weight conditions, as well as potential damage from lowering the bed deck to ground level.
Innovation Solution
Implement a system with a weight sensing assembly and patient location sensor to detect patient presence and movement, a bed exit alarm, a user interface for input, and a processing unit to manage these components, along with a method to recalibrate tare weight conditions and limit bed height.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the bed exit alarm is triggered and deactivated while the patient is still in a location indicating possible bed exit, then the alarm can be temporarily silenced, but the alarm is immediately reactivated requiring the caregiver to deactivate it again
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces a time delay mechanism that anticipates the caregiver's need to attend to the patient. Instead of immediately reactivating the alarm when deactivated, the system waits for a predetermined time period before reactivation, allowing the caregiver sufficient time to provide care without immediate alarm interruption.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides a buffer period (time delay) between alarm deactivation and reactivation. This cushioning time prevents the harmful effect of immediate alarm reactivation, giving the caregiver a grace period to attend to the patient without being immediately interrupted again by the same alarm condition.
2Ease of operation
If the caregiver disables the bed exit alarm to provide care to the patient, then the caregiver can move the patient without activating the alarm, but the caregiver may forget to re-arm the system
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically re-arms itself after a predetermined time delay following alarm deactivation. Instead of requiring the caregiver to manually remember and re-enable the monitoring system, the system performs this function automatically, ensuring continuous monitoring without adding operational burden to the caregiver.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides automatic feedback to the monitoring state. After the caregiver deactivates the alarm to provide care, the system automatically restores the monitoring function after the time delay, ensuring the system returns to its protective state without requiring manual intervention from the caregiver.
3Productivity
If the system measures initial tare weight condition with the patient already on the bed, then the measurement can be taken immediately, but the bed will no longer properly indicate the patient's weight
Solution Approach 1:
The system stores the correct tare weight condition in memory before the patient gets on the bed. When weight measurement issues occur, the system retrieves and reapplies the previously stored accurate tare weight, eliminating the need to remove the patient for recalibration while maintaining measurement precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates and stores a copy of the correct tare weight condition in memory. This stored copy can be retrieved and reapplied when needed, allowing the system to restore accurate weight measurements without requiring the physical presence of an empty bed for recalibration.
4Adaptability or versatility
If the bed is lowered towards the ground surface under the deck, then the bed can be adjusted to lower positions, but it may come in contact with medical equipment or other items under the bed
Solution Approach 1:
The system determines a safe minimum height position before the bed is lowered. This predetermined safe position is stored in memory and used as a reference point to prevent the bed from being lowered to potentially harmful positions where it could contact equipment or the ground.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies a counteracting force or constraint by comparing the current bed position with the stored safe minimum height. When the bed approaches the dangerous position, the system activates the elevation mechanism to prevent further lowering, thereby preventing the harmful contact before it can occur.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system provides accurate patient exit detection, prevents repeated alarms, ensures timely re-arming, simplifies tare weight recalibration, and prevents bed damage by limiting its descent.
Implementation Method 1
providing a weight sensing assembly operatively connected to the bed to measure a weight of a patient received on the patient receiving surface
Implementation Method 2
a patient location sensor operatively connected to the patient receiving surface for determining a location of the patient on the patient receiving surface
Data Source
AI summary
A method for detecting an exit of a patient from a hospital bed, the method comprising: detecting a presence of the patient on the bed, upon detection of the patient on the bed, monitoring an indication that the patient has moved from a predetermined patient area on a patient receiving surface of the bed to outside the predetermined patient area, upon detection that the patient has moved outside the predetermined patient area, activating a bed alarm to indicate to a user that an exit of the patient from the hospital bed has been detected, and after monitoring the indication that the patient has moved from the predetermined patient area and further upon receiving a pause command, suspending monitoring the indication that the patient has moved from the predetermined patient area. There is also provided a system for detecting an exit of a patient from a hospital bed.