UWB Badge Positioning for Patient Support Alert Suppression
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing patient support apparatuses lack effective systems for monitoring the positions of caregivers, equipment, and patients within healthcare facilities, leading to potential safety risks and inefficiencies in responding to critical events.
Innovation Solution
A patient support apparatus system that utilizes ultra-wideband transceivers to track badges, tags, and smart phones, enabling real-time monitoring and communication with a server to automate alerts, track distances, and manage equipment movement, ensuring appropriate caregiver presence and preventing unsafe movements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If real-time monitoring of badge positions is implemented using ultra-wideband transceivers, then patient safety and caregiver response efficiency are improved, but device complexity and system cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The monitoring system is segmented into distributed ultra-wideband transceivers placed throughout the facility, each independently tracking badge positions. This segmentation allows the complex monitoring function to be distributed across multiple simple units rather than requiring a single complex centralized system, improving reliability through redundancy while managing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
Ultra-wideband transceivers serve as intermediary devices that mediate between caregivers (badges) and the central monitoring system. These transceivers automatically handle position tracking and communication, eliminating the need for direct complex interactions between the central system and each caregiver, thereby simplifying the overall system architecture while enabling comprehensive monitoring.
2Loss of time
If automated alert systems are implemented to notify caregivers of critical events, then response time to critical events is reduced, but device complexity and energy consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The alert system uses periodic monitoring of badge positions and critical event status rather than continuous active alerting. The system periodically checks whether caregivers are within proximity of critical events and only activates alerts when needed, reducing energy consumption while maintaining rapid response capability through periodic status assessments.
Solution Approach 2:
The automated alert system monitors its own operational status and automatically activates or deactivates alerts based on detected conditions without requiring manual intervention. The system serves itself by autonomously determining when alerting is necessary based on caregiver proximity and event criticality, reducing the need for complex control mechanisms while maintaining rapid response times.
3Measurement precision
If multiple sensors and transceivers are integrated into the patient support apparatus, then monitoring precision and safety are improved, but device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple sensing functions (position tracking, critical event detection, caregiver proximity monitoring) are merged into a single integrated patient support apparatus system. By combining these functions into one unified platform rather than separate systems, the patent achieves high measurement precision through multiple sensors while managing complexity through integrated architecture and shared processing resources.
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
Enhances patient safety by ensuring correct caregiver response to events, preventing unsafe apparatus movements, and optimizing equipment usage, thereby improving healthcare facility operations.
Implementation Method 1
The controller is adapted to use radio frequency (RF) communication between the plurality of ultra-wideband transceivers and a badge to determine a position of the badge relative to the patient support apparatus
Data Source
AI summary
A patient support apparatus includes a patient support surface, a plurality of ultra-wideband transceivers, and a controller. The controller is adapted to use the ultra-wideband transceivers to automatically determine a position of the badge relative to the patient support apparatus, to receive a badge identifier from the badge, to determine if the badge is positioned inside or outside of a volume of space; and, if the badge is positioned inside the volume of space, to perform one or more of the following: stop an alert that would otherwise be issued; determine a distance between the badge and a tag worn by the patient; send the badge identifier and status data to an offboard device that includes a dashboard screen; determine if a correct type of healthcare worker is present at the patient support apparatus; send the badge identifier to a server; and/or take other actions.