Patient Bed Location Tracking via RFID Interrogation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for tracking medical equipment locations, such as patient beds, face issues like barcode unreadability, user error in manual entry, and high costs associated with complex tracking device installations and maintenance.
Innovation Solution
A system where a patient bed is equipped with a tag reader and antennas that produce an interrogation signal to detect a location tag mounted to a room doorway, determining its location based on response signals and room data, with the ability to identify room entries and exits, and handle multiple sublocations, while reducing equipment and maintenance costs by using a single location tag per room.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If barcodes are used for tracking patient bed locations, then the tracking system can identify room numbers, but the barcodes become unreadable over time due to fading, scratching, and wear and tear
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical/optical barcode scanning system with a wireless electromagnetic field-based RFID tracking system. The RFID tags attached to patient beds communicate with readers via radio waves, eliminating the need for line-of-sight optical scanning and physical barcode surfaces that deteriorate. This substitution resolves the contradiction by maintaining tracking reliability while eliminating the durability issues of physical barcodes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses RFID tags that contain digital copies of location information instead of physical barcodes. The tag data can be read wirelessly multiple times without any physical contact or wear, creating a virtual copy of the identification data that doesn't degrade over time like physical barcodes do.
2Reliability
If manual entry of medical equipment locations is used, then the system can track locations, but the system is prone to user error and is labor intensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patient beds are equipped with active RFID tags that automatically transmit their location data to readers in the environment. The system serves itself by continuously reporting its own location without requiring human intervention for data entry. This eliminates user error and labor-intensive manual tracking while maintaining high accuracy through automated wireless communication.
Solution Approach 2:
The RFID tracking system provides continuous automatic location reporting as beds move through the facility, rather than relying on intermittent manual entries. The tags continuously emit signals that readers detect, creating an unbroken chain of location data that improves both accuracy and eliminates the need for ongoing manual input effort.
3Reliability
If complex tracking devices with dedicated power sources are installed throughout the building, then the system can continually monitor equipment locations, but the system requires invasive installation, significant upfront cost, and significant ongoing expenses for repair and replacement
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of installing fixed readers throughout the building that require power and complex installation, the patent inverts the approach by placing active RFID tags on the mobile patient beds themselves. The beds become the active transmitting elements, while passive or low-power readers can be strategically placed in key locations. This inversion reduces infrastructure complexity and installation costs while maintaining continuous tracking capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The RFID tags on patient beds serve multiple functions: they provide location tracking, identify the specific bed, and can potentially carry additional information about the patient or bed status. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate specialized devices, simplifying the overall system while maintaining reliable continuous monitoring.
4Measurement precision
If multiple tracking devices are deployed to ensure complete coverage, then the tracking accuracy improves, but the cost and complexity of the system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces a distributed array of fixed tracking devices with mobile RFID tags on the beds themselves. Each bed carries its own identification and location-reporting capability, eliminating the need for multiple fixed readers to achieve the same coverage. This substitution maintains detection accuracy while dramatically reducing the total number of tracking devices required in the infrastructure.
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
This solution provides accurate and efficient tracking of patient bed locations with reduced costs and complexity, minimizing user error and equipment wear, by using a single passive RFID tag per room and linearly polarized interrogation signals for enhanced range and power efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
a tag reader that may be connected to antennas on opposite sides of the patient bed. The patient bed may also include circuitry that may be configured to produce, with the tag reader and the antennas, an interrogation signal from the opposite sides of the patient bed, to cause a location tag that may be mounted to a doorway of a room to produce a response signal
Implementation Method 2
the tag reader may produce the interrogation signal as a radio frequency signal having a linear polarization
Data Source
AI summary
A patient bed may include a tag reader that may be connected to antennas on opposite sides of the patient bed. The patient bed may also include circuitry configured to produce, with the tag reader and the antennas, an interrogation signal from the opposite sides of the patient bed, to cause a location tag that may be mounted to a doorway of a room to produce a response signal. The circuitry may also be configured to receive, with the tag reader and with one of the antennas, the response signal from the location tag. Additionally, the circuitry may be configured to determine, as a function of room data in the response signal, a present location of the patient bed.