System for patient monitoring

• US 20010029321A1
• Filed: 02/26/2001
• Published: 10/11/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 02/25/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Biotronik Mess-Und Therapiegeraete GmbH & Company Ingenieurbuero Berlin (Biotronik SE & Company KG)
• Original Assignee: Biotronik Mess-Und Therapiegeraete GmbH & Company Ingenieurbuero Berlin (Biotronik SE & Company KG)
• Inventors: Potschadtke, Jens, Kraus, Michael, Lang, Martin, Lang, Bernhard, Beetz, Klemens, Neudecker, Johannes, Nagelschmidt, Axel
• Granted Patent: US 6,544,171 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/300
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37 Monitoring; Protecting
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37235 Aspects of the external programmer
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37282 characterised by communication with experts in remote locations using a network
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0247 System arrangements wherein the alarm criteria uses signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0283 via a telephone network, e.g. cellular GSM
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/016 Personal emergency signalling and security systems emergency non-personal manually actuated alarm activators G08B25/12
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 128/903 Radio telemetry

Abstract

A patient monitoring system (1) is provided with at least one body sensor (2a) for measuring a physiological parameter, as well as with a body signal processing unit (3) connected downstream from the former and/or a therapy device (2) designed to act on the patient (P), and a mobile radiotelephone end unit (7) operable in a cellular mobile radiotelephone network (1B) for transmitting data from the body signal processing unit or the therapy device to a central monitoring station (1C) and/or from the central monitoring station to the therapy device. A base station coordinate memory unit (13; 13′) and a locator unit (12, 12.1′ through 12.3′) connected to the former serves for the rough determination of the location of the patient based on location information obtained from the current base station connection of the mobile radiotelephone end unit in the mobile radiotelephone network. For the fine position determination, a direction-finding transmitter (300) that sends out a direction-finding signal is provided in the mobile radiotelephone end unit (7). A separate direction-finding device (310) serves for the fine tracking of the direction-finding signal.

Claims

1. A system (1) for patient monitoring comprising at least one body sensor (2a) for detecting a physiological parameter, as well as, connected downstream from the body sensor (2a), at least one of a body signal processing unit (3;

204, 206) and a therapy device (2, 2′

) designed for acting on a patient (P), and a mobile radio end unit (7;

700) designed for transmitting data from at least one of the body signal processing unit (3;

204, 200) and the therapy device (2;

2′

) to a central monitoring station (1C), said mobile radio end unit (7;

700) being operable in a cellular mobile radiotelephone network (1B) having a multiplicity of preferably ground-based base stations (8.1 through 8.3), wherein a base station coordinate memory unit (13) is provided and a rough locator unit (12) for a rough determination of a patient'"'"'s current location based on rough positioning information obtained from a current base station connection of the mobile radio end unit in the mobile radiotelephony network, and further comprising a fine locator unit incorporating a direction-finding transmitter (300) in the mobile radiotelephone end unit (7, 700) and a separate direction-finder device (310) for fine tracking of a direction-finding signal, and thus of the mobile radiotelephone end unit (7, 700), after the rough location determination.

2. A monitoring system according to

claim 1

, wherein the direction-finding transmitter (300) that traits a direction-finding signal is formed by a transmitter part of the mobile radio telephone end unit (7, 700) itself.

3. A monitoring system according to

claim 1

, wherein the direction-finding transmitter (300) is switchable by remote control by an operator of the direction-finding device (310) into a continuous transmission mode.

4. A monitoring system according to

claim 1

, wherein an activation of the direction-finding transmitter (300) of the fine locator unit can be performed remotely by an operator of the mobile radiotelephone network (1B).

5. A monitoring system according to

claim 1

, wherein the direction-finding transmitter (300) transmits an intermittent fixed-frequency direction-finding signal.

6. A monitoring system according to

claim 5

, wherein at least one of a transmitter power and a repeat rate of the intermittent fixed frequency signal is adjustable in dependence upon a remaining capacity of an energy supply to the mobile radio end unit (7, 700).

7. A monitoring system according to

claim 1

, wherein the direction-finding device is formed by a modified standard mobile radio end unit (310).

8. A monitoring system according to

claim 1

, wherein the direction-finding device (310) is be equipped with a direction-sensitive receive antenna (312) for the direction-finding signal.

9. A monitoring system according to

claim 8

, wherein the receive antenna (312) is connected via an external antenna connector (311) of a standard mobile radio end unit (310).

10. A monitoring system according to

claim 1

, wherein the direction-finding device (310) has a high-resolution, preferably numeric field strength indicator (313) for the direction-finding signal to be received.

11. A monitoring system according to

claim 7

, wherein the mobile radiotelephone end unit (31) functioning as the direction-finding device is operable in a dual mode operation in which a direction-finding mode alternates with a message-transmission mode.

12. A monitoring system according to

claim 1

, wherein an additional direction-finding transmitter (301) is integrated into the therapy device (2′

) designed to act on the patient (P).