Wearable Dialysis Interface for Remote Alarm Response
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing dialysis systems require healthcare practitioners to physically attend to multiple patients, leading to inefficiencies and potential disruptions when alarms occur, as they need to re-glove and switch attention between patients.
Innovation Solution
A wearable interface device, such as a head-mounted augmented reality system, enables remote monitoring and control of dialysis machines through wireless communication, allowing non-contact command inputs and real-time display of treatment information, even when out of visual line-of-sight.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If healthcare practitioners physically attend to multiple patients during dialysis treatment, then they can directly monitor and control the dialysis machines, but they need to repeatedly move between patients and re-glove when alarms occur, reducing workflow efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical system of physical presence and manual control with a wireless communication system. The wearable interface device transmits control signals and receives alarm notifications wirelessly, eliminating the need for practitioners to physically move to and from the dialysis machines. This substitution of mechanical interaction with wireless communication directly resolves the contradiction by maintaining monitoring and control capabilities while eliminating time loss from movement.
Solution Approach 2:
The wearable interface device serves as an intermediary between the healthcare practitioner and the dialysis machine. It wirelessly transmits control commands from the practitioner to the machine and relays alarm notifications back to the practitioner, enabling remote monitoring and control without physical presence. This intermediary role allows the practitioner to remain at the patient's bedside while still managing the dialysis equipment, thus improving workflow efficiency without time loss.
2Reliability
If healthcare practitioners are physically present at the dialysis machine to respond to alarms, then they can immediately adjust treatment parameters, but they must leave current duties and potentially re-glove, disrupting continuous patient care
Solution Approach 1:
The wireless interface device replaces the mechanical requirement of physical presence for alarm response. The device receives alarm notifications wirelessly and transmits control commands without requiring the practitioner to leave the patient's bedside or make physical contact with the dialysis machine. This maintains reliable alarm response capability while preserving continuous patient care efficiency by eliminating the need to interrupt current duties or re-glove.
Solution Approach 2:
The wearable interface device enables the practitioner to self-serve the dialysis machine control functions from a distance. The device handles the transmission of alarm notifications and control commands autonomously, allowing the practitioner to manage multiple patients simultaneously without physical movement. This self-service capability ensures reliable alarm response while maintaining continuous care of all patients under supervision.
3Ease of operation
If healthcare practitioners use traditional interfaces to control dialysis machines, then they can directly interact with the machine controls, but they must be in close proximity to the machine, limiting their ability to monitor multiple patients simultaneously
Solution Approach 1:
The wearable interface device provides universal control capability for multiple dialysis machines from a single location. It can transmit control commands to any dialysis machine in the facility wirelessly, eliminating the need for the practitioner to physically move between machines. This multi-functionality maintains ease of direct machine control while enabling simultaneous monitoring and management of multiple patients, thus resolving the contradiction between direct control and multi-patient capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The wireless interface device acts as an intermediary that bridges the practitioner and multiple dialysis machines simultaneously. It receives control commands from the practitioner and distributes them to the appropriate machines wirelessly, and consolidates alarm notifications from multiple machines to present to the practitioner. This intermediary function maintains ease of operation for each individual machine while providing versatility to monitor and control multiple patients from a single location.
Data Source
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AI summary
A wearable interface device, such as a head-mounted display, provides an augmented reality and/or display system and may be used in accordance with medical devices and the performance of medical treatments, particularly a dialysis machine and a dialysis treatment. The wearable interface device may be worn by a user, such as a health care practitioner (HCP), in connection with remotely monitoring and/or controlling the dialysis machine during the dialysis treatment. The HCP may receive alerts and/or other information concerning the dialysis treatment from the dialysis machine that are displayed on the wearable interface device and may use the wearable interface device to control the dialysis machine via the exchange of wireless signals with the dialysis machine. The wearable interface device may recognize commands from the HCP, such as gestures, to provide noncontact operation of the wearable interface device and remote control of the dialysis machine by the HCP.