Patient Data Age Indication for Latency-Aware Clinical Review
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing medical devices face challenges in transmitting patient data to separate user interfaces with significant latency, which can lead to outdated data being used for clinical decision-making, especially in emergency situations, potentially compromising patient care.
Innovation Solution
A system that includes a medical device and an auxiliary device connected via a communication channel, which estimates the transmission age of patient data and compares it to predefined thresholds based on context, providing visual and audible alerts when data age exceeds acceptable limits, ensuring timely and accurate data review.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If patient data is transmitted via communication channels to auxiliary devices, then data accessibility and review capability are improved, but transmission latency causes data to become outdated
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by estimating transmission age before data is displayed to the user. The auxiliary device calculates how old the data will be when it arrives and displays this age information proactively, allowing users to make informed decisions about whether to use the data before it becomes outdated.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by continuously monitoring and displaying the age of transmitted data in real-time. This feedback loop allows users to see how current the data is and makes adjustments to their decision-making process based on the freshness of the information being reviewed.
2Speed
If data transmission speed is increased to reduce latency, then data freshness is improved, but communication reliability and accuracy may deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies self-service by having the auxiliary device independently estimate and calculate transmission age using its own processing capabilities. Rather than relying on the medical device to provide perfectly timed data, the auxiliary device autonomously determines data freshness based on observed transmission characteristics, ensuring reliable age assessment regardless of transmission speed variations.
3Measurement precision
If transmission age estimation and context-based thresholding are implemented, then data quality control is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes parameters by establishing context-dependent age thresholds for different types of patient data. Rather than using a single fixed threshold, the system adjusts acceptable data age based on the clinical context, data type, and urgency of the medical situation, allowing flexible quality control that adapts to varying requirements without requiring complex algorithms.
Data Source
AI summary
An example of a system for review of clinical data includes a medical device configured to receive patient data signals from patient interface devices coupled to the medical device, and an auxiliary device configured to communicatively couple to the medical device via a communication channel and including an output device, a memory, a communication interface, and a processor configured to establish the communication channel, estimate a transmission age for the patient data, receive the patient data from the medical device via the communication channel, determine a patient data age based on at least one of the transmission age and a playback selection age, select a patient data age threshold based on a patient data context, compare the patient data age to the patient data age threshold to determine a patient data age indication, and provide the patient data and the patient data age indication at the output device.