Patient Support Wireless Communication Bypassing Hospital LAN
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Solution Overview
Problem
Medical facilities face bandwidth limitations and interference issues when implementing wireless communication between patient support apparatuses and local area networks, leading to burdensome administration and communication challenges.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a communication system that allows patient support apparatuses to transmit data directly to devices outside the healthcare facility's local area network using wireless transmitters and receivers, including visible light communications, to bypass the local area network and reduce administrative burdens.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If patient support apparatuses communicate wirelessly through the healthcare facility's local area network, then data can be transmitted to remote devices, but bandwidth limitations and interference issues occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a wireless communication system that acts as an intermediary between patient support apparatuses and remote devices. This system includes a wireless transmitter in the patient support apparatus, a wireless receiver outside the facility, and a server that receives data directly without requiring connection to the healthcare facility's local area network. This intermediary communication path eliminates bandwidth limitations and interference issues of the local network while reducing administrative complexity.
2Productivity
If wireless communication is implemented through the local area network, then data transmission is possible, but bandwidth limitations reduce transmission efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the communication path from the constrained local area network environment. The wireless receiver is positioned outside the healthcare facility and receives data directly from the patient support apparatus via wireless transmission. This extracted communication path bypasses the bandwidth limitations of the local network infrastructure, enabling efficient data transmission without being constrained by the facility's network capacity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If patient support apparatuses connect to the local area network, then remote monitoring is enabled, but administrative burdens increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a self-service communication system where the patient support apparatus autonomously transmits data wirelessly to external receivers and servers without requiring configuration or management of the healthcare facility's local area network. The system automatically establishes wireless communication, transmits patient support data, and enables remote monitoring capabilities without technician intervention for network setup, authentication, or maintenance, thereby eliminating administrative burdens.
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 enables efficient data transmission from patient support apparatuses to remote devices without relying on the local area network, reducing traffic and administrative burdens, and allowing for real-time monitoring and management of medical devices.
Implementation Method 1
a wireless transmitter adapted to communicate with a wireless receiver positioned outside of the healthcare facility
Implementation Method 2
one or more segments of the communications between the medical devices and the local area network utilize visible light communications whereby messages are transmitted using visible light waves as carriers of such messages
Data Source
AI summary
Patient support apparatuses, such as beds, cots, stretchers, chairs, or the like, include wireless communication systems that are adapted to communicate with a non-local wireless receiver positioned outside of the healthcare facility and not associated with the healthcare facility. A computer positioned within the healthcare facility and coupled a local area network of the healthcare facility receives messages from the patient support apparatuses that have been forwarded by the non-local wireless receiver to the local area network. In some embodiments, the wireless receiver is local and positioned within the healthcare facility. In such instances, a second computer, such as a server, forwards a first subset of the patient support apparatus messages to a first computer via the local area network and a second subset of the patient support apparatus messages to a device remote from the healthcare facility. Patient support apparatuses that communicate using visible light are also disclosed.