Patient monitoring system employing array of force sensors on a bedsheet or similar substrate
First Claim
1. A system for sensing status of a patient in a bed comprising:
- a replaceable laminar sensor on said bed;
said laminar sensor having a plurality of force sensing elements distributed two-dimensionally throughout said sensor; and
processing apparatus responsive to forces sensed by said sensor for forming a spatially weighted sum of the forces sensed by said sensor to provide a distribution of the forces throughout said laminar sensor, said processing apparatus providing an indication over time of a patient status in response to said weighted average.
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Abstract
A patient monitoring system includes a replaceable laminar sensor to be placed on a bed, the sensor including distributed force sensing elements providing output signals to processing apparatus including a near-bed processor and a central processor coupled to the near-bed processor by a wireless communication link. The processing apparatus applies spatial weighting to the sensor output signals to derive the force distribution across the sensor, and processes the force distribution over time to generate patient status information such as patient presence, position, agitation, seizure activity, respiration, and security. This information can be displayed at a central monitoring station, provided to a paging system to alert attending medical personnel, and used to update medical databases. The sensor may be manufactured from layers of olefin film and conductive ink to form capacitive sensing elements.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A system for sensing status of a patient in a bed comprising:
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a replaceable laminar sensor on said bed;
said laminar sensor having a plurality of force sensing elements distributed two-dimensionally throughout said sensor; and
processing apparatus responsive to forces sensed by said sensor for forming a spatially weighted sum of the forces sensed by said sensor to provide a distribution of the forces throughout said laminar sensor, said processing apparatus providing an indication over time of a patient status in response to said weighted average. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A sensing sheet for use in a patient monitoring system, the patient monitoring system including processing apparatus operative to calculate a spatially weighted sum of the respective values of sensor signals generated by the sensing sheet, the spatially weighted sum being calculated using a set of predetermined two-dimensional spatial weight values, the sensing sheet comprising:
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a planar, flexible, electrically insulative substrate, the substrate having length and width substantially corresponding to the length and width of a patient'"'"'s bed; and
a pattern of sensing elements on the substrate, the sensing elements being spaced apart to define a two-dimensional sensing area on the patient'"'"'s bed when the sensing sheet is placed thereon, the sensing elements having respective sizes, shapes and locations in relation to the predetermined two-dimensional spatial weight values such that the spatially weighted sum accurately reflects the spatial distribution of forces existing between a patient and the patient'"'"'s bed when the sensing sheet is disposed therebetween. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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17. A sensing sheet for use in a patient monitoring system, the patient monitoring system including processing apparatus operative to calculate a spatially weighted sum of the respective values of sensor signals generated by the sensing sheet, the spatially weighted sum being calculated using a set of predetermined two-dimensional spatial weight values, the sensing sheet comprising:
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a first electrically insulative film, the first film having length and width substantially corresponding to the length and width of a patient'"'"'s bed and having a pattern of conductive electrodes formed thereon, the conductive electrodes being spaced apart on the film to define a two-dimensional sensing area extending substantially entirely across the patient'"'"'s bed when the sensing sheet is placed thereon, the conductive electrodes having respective sizes, shapes and locations in relation to the predetermined two-dimensional spatial weight values such that the spatially weighted sum accurately reflects the spatial distribution of forces existing between a patient and the patient'"'"'s bed when the sensing sheet is disposed therebetween, the first film also including a set of conductive traces creating individual conductive paths from the electrodes to a connection area of the sensing sheet;
a second electrically insulative film laminated with the first film, the second film having length and width substantially the same as the length and width of the first film, the second film having a pattern of conductive electrodes formed thereon at respective locations directly opposite the respective locations of the electrodes on the first film, the second film also including conductive traces operative to electrically interconnect all of the conductive electrodes on the second film to each other and to the connection area of the sensing sheet; and
a multi-conductor cable extending from the connection area of the sensing sheet and including a multi-terminal connector, the conductors of the cable being operative to create respective conductive paths from respective conductive traces of the first and second films to respective terminals of the multi-terminal connector. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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Specification