Medical Device Allocation Verification System
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Solution Overview
Problem
In medical treatment settings, especially during procedures like dialysis, incorrect association between peripheral devices and blood treatment units can lead to life-threatening complications due to unclear connections, especially when wireless communication is used and multiple devices are operating simultaneously.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a system where the operating personnel confirms the correct assignment of a peripheral device to a patient by sending and receiving identification addresses, using means such as MAC addresses, and ensuring the peripheral device is recognized within a designated receiving unit, which can include charging stations, to prevent incorrect assignments and ensure safe operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If wireless communication is used between peripheral devices and treatment units, then flexibility and ease of operation are improved, but the risk of incorrect association between devices and patients increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where peripheral devices transmit identification signals to treatment units, and the treatment unit provides feedback by acknowledging the correct device association. This closed-loop communication ensures that wireless connections are properly established and verified, preventing incorrect device-patient associations while maintaining operational flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary identification signal mechanism that mediates between the peripheral device and treatment unit. This intermediary layer of identification protocols acts as a verification bridge, ensuring that wireless communications are properly authenticated before establishing connections, thus resolving the contradiction between wireless flexibility and association reliability.
2Productivity
If multiple treatment units and peripheral devices are operated simultaneously, then productivity is improved, but the difficulty of detecting and measuring correct associations increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the identification and association process into distinct stages: peripheral device identification signal transmission, treatment unit signal reception and processing, and association confirmation. This segmentation allows multiple devices to be managed simultaneously by breaking down the complex association process into manageable, trackable steps, reducing the difficulty of detecting correct associations in multi-device environments.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary identification signal transmission before actual treatment begins. Peripheral devices send their identification signals in advance, allowing the treatment unit to pre-verify and pre-associate the correct device-patient connections. This preliminary action ensures that when multiple devices operate simultaneously, each association is already verified and tracked, making detection and measurement of correct associations straightforward.
3Reliability
If identification signals are used to distinguish between multiple peripheral devices, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The identification signal mechanism serves multiple functions simultaneously: it identifies the peripheral device, establishes the wireless connection, verifies the association, and enables communication. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate identification hardware or protocols, maintaining reliability while minimizing the increase in device complexity through a universal identification approach.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
Figure 4A
AI summary
The invention relates to an assembly consisting of at least two medical treatment units (1, 1'), each of which can be allocated to a patient and at least two peripheral devices (5, 5'), each of which can be allocated to a patient. The peripheral devices and the treatment units have means (7, 10, 14, 16) for allocating a peripheral device to a treatment unit and means (16) for verifying the allocation of a peripheral device to a patient. To allocate a peripheral device to a treatment unit, the peripheral device is placed by operators in a receiving unit (14) belonging to the treatment unit. Said receiving unit is preferably designed as a charging station for the battery of the peripheral device. In the claimed assembly of treatment units (1) and peripheral devices (5), in the event of a successful allocation of peripheral device and patient, confirmed by the receipt of physiological data of the patient, the operators verify the correct allocation of a peripheral device to the patient and must confirm the correct allocation by confirmation means, for example by pressing a confirmation button (19). The peripheral device is only released if the operator has confirmed the correct allocation, preferably within a predefined time period.