Time Buffer Display for Blood Treatment Scheduling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Blood treatment centers face challenges in managing patient schedules and reducing waiting times due to uncertainty about the urgency of treatment sessions, as not all necessary information is known to medical personnel, leading to inefficiencies and increased costs.
Innovation Solution
A device and method for quantifying and displaying a patient's time buffer by reading treatment duration and end time, calculating the urgency, and outputting a signal indicating the time buffer status, allowing for better scheduling and resource allocation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If medical personnel manually manage patient schedules without automated time buffer calculation, then operational flexibility is maintained, but waiting times increase and workflow predictability decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The blood treatment apparatus automatically calculates and displays the time buffer without requiring external scheduling systems or manual intervention by medical personnel. The device reads treatment duration from patient data, receives current time input, computes the time buffer autonomously, and presents the result to the patient, eliminating dependency on complex external scheduling infrastructure
Solution Approach 2:
The time buffer is calculated in advance before the treatment session begins, allowing patients to plan their departure ahead of time. By computing the buffer based on treatment duration and current time at the start of the session, the system provides predictive information that enables proactive scheduling and reduces waiting time uncertainty
2Reliability
If treatment sessions are extended to ensure complete blood purification, then treatment effectiveness improves, but patient waiting time and operational costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors the relationship between current time and treatment duration, providing real-time feedback through the time buffer display. This allows dynamic adjustment of patient expectations and scheduling decisions based on actual treatment progress, ensuring treatment effectiveness is maintained while minimizing unnecessary waiting time
Solution Approach 2:
The time buffer is not a fixed value but dynamically updates based on the current time and remaining treatment duration. The system adapts the displayed buffer throughout the treatment session, allowing flexible management of treatment completion timing while maintaining purification effectiveness
3Productivity
If multiple patients are treated simultaneously with limited apparatus, then operational efficiency improves, but scheduling accuracy and time buffer calculation reliability decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The system calculates and displays individual time buffers for each patient independently, segmenting the scheduling information by patient rather than using a centralized queue system. This allows multiple patients to have their own dedicated time buffer calculations displayed on their respective apparatus, maintaining accuracy even when multiple treatments occur simultaneously across different stations
Solution Approach 2:
The time buffer display acts as an intermediary between the complex multi-patient scheduling system and the individual patient. It translates overall operational scheduling into patient-specific, easily understandable time information, allowing accurate individual timing to be derived from and presented within a multi-patient operational context
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus configured to quantify and display a time buffer for at least one patient during a blood treatment session is described. A blood treatment apparatus which includes such an apparatus or is in signal communication therewith, and a method for quantifying and presenting the time buffer for at least one patient at a blood treatment session are also described, as well as a computer program, a computer program product and a digital storage medium.