Patient Temperature Regulation Tool Selection System
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current patient temperature regulation tools often result in the selection of incompatible tools for specific medical procedures, making it difficult for medical personnel to choose appropriate tools that effectively manage patient heat balance, and there is a lack of training resources to understand the inter-relationship of various warming tools.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that utilizes a database to select patient temperature regulation tools based on calculated heat balance and provides a visual aid to assess compatibility, including active and passive tools, fluid warming, and environmental factors, ensuring suitable tool selection for patients and procedures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a wide range of patient temperature regulation tools are made available, then the ability to regulate patient heat balance is improved, but the difficulty of selecting compatible tools increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a computer-based selection system that acts as an intermediary between the wide range of available temperature regulation tools and the medical personnel selecting them. The system calculates heat balance metrics, evaluates tool compatibility, and provides recommendations, thereby mediating the complexity of tool selection while maintaining access to diverse tools for effective heat balance regulation.
2Measurement precision
If thermal properties of tools are matched with patient metrics, then temperature regulation effectiveness is improved, but the risk of selecting incompatible tools increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the system calculates the patient's heat balance metrics, evaluates how selected tools affect these metrics, and adjusts recommendations accordingly. The system provides feedback on the thermal impact of each tool and alerts users to potential incompatibilities, allowing iterative refinement of tool selections to achieve both precision and reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary calculations of heat balance metrics and tool compatibility before final tool selection is made. By pre-evaluating the thermal properties of available tools against patient-specific metrics, the system identifies compatible combinations in advance, preventing incompatible selections and ensuring effective temperature regulation from the outset.
3Ease of operation
If medical personnel are trained on various warming tools, then understanding of tool properties is improved, but the difficulty of keeping up with new products increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables the selection system to automatically update and adapt to new temperature regulation tools without requiring extensive retraining of medical personnel. The system maintains a database of tool thermal properties and can independently evaluate new products, allowing personnel to rely on the system's updated recommendations rather than needing to manually learn each new tool's characteristics.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention provides a method of selecting one or more patient temperature regulation tools is provided. The method comprises: providing a database storing one or more properties of each of a plurality of temperature regulation tools; selecting one or more patient temperature regulation tools from the database; calculating an estimated patient heat balance taking into account one or more of the one or more properties of the selected patient temperature regulation tool(s); providing an indication of the estimated patient heat balance; and providing a visual aid illustrating the one or more selected patient temperature regulation tools regulating the temperature of a patient. The method may be used for selecting one or more patient temperature tools for a patient who is to undergo a medical procedure. Additionally or alternatively, the method may be use as an e-learning tool.