Optical Bed Rail Position Detection for Patient Safety
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional hospital beds lack the ability to provide real-time information on their configuration, posing risks for patients, especially those with Alzheimer's or physical impairments, as they may fall or become trapped due to uncoordinated movements, leading to serious injuries or death.
Innovation Solution
A device and method using optical image data to automatically determine the position of side boundaries, such as bed rails, to assess patient safety and trigger alerts if configurations are unsafe, without requiring additional sensors on the bed, enabling continuous monitoring and documentation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional hospital beds are used without additional sensors, then the device complexity is low and ease of manufacture is high, but the ability to provide real-time configuration information is lost and patient safety monitoring is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical sensors attached to the bed with an optical imaging system using cameras and image processing algorithms. The determination device captures optical images of the patient support device and uses computer vision techniques to detect the position and configuration of bed components, substituting physical sensing mechanisms with optical-field-based detection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a virtual model or representation of the physical bed configuration through optical imaging. Instead of directly measuring physical parameters with sensors, the system captures visual information and processes it to determine the state of the patient support device, effectively using an optical copy or representation to infer physical state.
2Measurement precision
If optical image data processing is implemented to determine side boundary positions, then real-time safety assessment capability is improved, but the difficulty of detecting and measuring increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables the patient support device to self-report its configuration state through passive optical detection. The bed structure itself provides the measurement targets (edges, corners, surfaces) that the imaging system detects, eliminating the need for active sensors on the device. The device's own geometric features serve as the measurement reference.
Solution Approach 2:
The imaging and determination system serves multiple functions: it detects the position of side boundaries, determines the configuration state of the patient support device, assesses patient safety risks, and provides documentation capability. A single optical detection system replaces what would otherwise require multiple specialized sensors for different measurement tasks.
3Reliability
If continuous monitoring of patient support device configuration is implemented, then patient safety is improved by preventing falls and entrapment, but the loss of time for documentation and assessment increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements continuous automated monitoring where the determination device continuously captures and processes optical images to track the configuration of the patient support device in real-time. This continuous automated assessment eliminates periodic manual checks and provides uninterrupted safety monitoring, keeping the useful action of safety assessment continuous rather than intermittent.
Solution Approach 2:
The system establishes a feedback loop where the determination device continuously monitors bed configuration, automatically assesses safety conditions, and can trigger alerts or notifications when unsafe states are detected. This closed-loop feedback system enables real-time response to configuration changes without requiring continuous human observation and documentation.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a device (10), a method and a computer program for capturing optical image data of a patient supporting device (20). The device (10) is designed to capture optical image data of a patient supporting device (100) and to determine a position of at least one lateral boundary (110) of the patient supporting device (100) on the basis of the image data. The device (100) is designed to initially determine the position of at least one portion (120) of the patient supporting device (100) on the basis of the image data, and to determine the position of the at least one lateral boundary (110) of the patient supporting device (100) on the basis of the position of the at least one portion (120).