Predictive Medication Parameter Locking for Safer Device Use

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Solution Overview

Problem

Medication errors in healthcare settings, particularly adverse drug events, are a significant concern due to their potential for causing patient injuries and deaths, and existing systems fail to effectively utilize event data to adjust future workflows and reduce waste.

Innovation Solution

A monitoring system that captures event data on patients, medical devices, and medical items to generate alternative workflows and notifications for caregivers, restricting harmful actions and suggesting improvements based on historical data.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If event data is captured and stored in hospital information systems, then medication safety monitoring is improved, but the data is not utilized to adjust future workflows resulting in lost opportunity for improvement

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemedication safetyVSAvoidworkflow optimization
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The system captures event data from medication administration workflows and uses it to generate feedback in the form of predictive notifications and alternative workflow suggestions. This feedback loop enables the system to learn from historical events and provide real-time guidance to prevent future errors, directly resolving the contradiction by transforming stored data into actionable insights that improve both safety and workflow efficiency.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs preliminary analysis of historical event data to predict potential medication errors before they occur. By generating notifications and alternative workflows in advance based on patterns from captured events, the system prevents harmful actions before they happen, thereby improving medication safety while optimizing future workflows.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

2Reliability

If multiple verification steps are performed in medication administration, then medication safety is improved, but time consumption and workflow complexity increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemedication safetyVSAvoidadministration time
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs verification and safety checks in advance by analyzing historical event data and generating predictive notifications before medication administration occurs. This preliminary action identifies potential issues beforehand, allowing caregivers to prepare appropriate responses without needing multiple time-consuming verification steps during actual administration.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system provides automated safety monitoring and alternative workflow suggestions that enable self-service verification. Instead of requiring multiple manual verification steps, the system autonomously monitors event data, detects potential errors, and provides guidance, thereby maintaining high safety standards while reducing time consumption.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

3Loss of information

If existing monitoring systems are used, then event data is captured, but the systems fail to adjust future workflows resulting in continued medication errors and waste

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveevent data utilizationVSAvoidmedication safety
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system implements a feedback mechanism that actively uses captured event data to generate predictive notifications and alternative workflow suggestions. This feedback loop ensures that historical information is not merely stored but is actively utilized to improve future medication administration, preventing errors and reducing waste while maintaining high reliability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The system dynamically adjusts workflows based on real-time analysis of historical event data. By continuously learning from captured events and adapting future recommendations, the system transforms static data storage into dynamic workflow optimization, ensuring that medication safety improvements are continuously enacted rather than merely monitored.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Data Source

PatentUS12475417B2Predictive medication safety
Publication Date: 2025.11.18 CAREFUSION 303 INC
  • US12475417B2 patent drawing
  • US12475417B2 patent drawing
  • US12475417B2 patent drawing

AI summary

A system and method for facilitating safe use of a medical device is provided. In one aspect, a method includes receiving an indication that a user has entered a set of parameters into a medical device to provide a medical treatment to a patient, receiving a history of previous medical treatment provided to the patient using the medical device, generating one or more alternative parameters for providing the medical treatment to the patient based on the set of parameters and the received history of previous medical treatment, causing, based on the generating of the one or more alternative parameters, a locking of the medical device to restrict operation of the medical device until an override of the lock is received, providing a notification for display to the user regarding the alternative parameters.