Article locating and tracking apparatus and method
First Claim
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1. A system for tracking a plurality of movable assets in a healthcare environment, the system comprising:
- a plurality of badges, each badge of the plurality of badges including a transmitter, the badge being adapted to be coupled to the asset, and the badge being configured to transmit an identification signal identifying the badge; and
a locating system configured to receive the identification signal from the respective badge and to determine a location of the asset in the healthcare environment including a height associated with the asset based at least in part on the identification signal, the locating system being further configured to determine if the height of the asset is an expected height.
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Abstract
An activity based monitoring system is disclosed, the activity based monitoring system being configured to monitor a plurality of badges associated with a plurality of assets within a healthcare facility.
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Citations
88 Claims
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1. A system for tracking a plurality of movable assets in a healthcare environment, the system comprising:
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a plurality of badges, each badge of the plurality of badges including a transmitter, the badge being adapted to be coupled to the asset, and the badge being configured to transmit an identification signal identifying the badge; and
a locating system configured to receive the identification signal from the respective badge and to determine a location of the asset in the healthcare environment including a height associated with the asset based at least in part on the identification signal, the locating system being further configured to determine if the height of the asset is an expected height. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method for monitoring an asset to determine if the asset has been dropped or has fallen, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing a badge adapted to be coupled to the asset, the badge having an accelerometer configured to monitor a vertical acceleration of the asset and a transmitter;
monitoring the vertical component of the acceleration of the badge;
transmitting information regarding the vertical acceleration of the badge;
determining if the vertical acceleration of the badge has exceeded a threshold value;
identifying the asset as having been dropped or as having fallen based on the vertical acceleration exceeding the threshold value. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A system for tracking a plurality of movable assets in a healthcare facility, the system comprising:
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a plurality of badges, each badge of the plurality of badges including a transmitter, the badge being adapted to be coupled to the asset, and the badge being configured to transmit an identification signal identifying the badge, a first badge being associated with a first movable asset;
a locating system configured to receive the identification signal from the first badge and to determine a location of the first movable asset in the healthcare facility based at least in part on the identification signal received from the first badge; and
at least one portable device, the portable device including a controller, a display, a memory, an input device, and a transceiver, the portable device being configured to generate a request signal to be received by the locating system requesting the location of the first movable asset in the healthcare facility, to receive a location signal from the locating system indicating the location of the first movable asset and to provide appropriate directions to a first location in the healthcare facility based on the location of the first movable asset. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64)
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65. A system for tracking a plurality of movable assets in a healthcare facility, the system comprising:
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a plurality of badges, each badge of the plurality of badges including a transmitter, the badge being adapted to be coupled to the asset, and the badge being configured to transmit an identification signal identifying the badge, a first badge being associated with a first movable asset;
a locating system configured to receive the identification signal from the first badge and to determine a location of the first movable asset in the healthcare facility based at least in part on the identification signal received from the first badge; and
a virtual facility interface including a display and an input device, wherein the virtual facility interface presents a virtual facility including a map of the facility and representations of various assets each having a badge associated therewith, the representations being positioned within the virtual facility based on the location information determined by the locating system for each asset, at least the first asset including multiple representations including a first representation corresponding to a first status and a second representation corresponding to a second status. - View Dependent Claims (66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79)
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80. A system for tracking a plurality of movable assets in a healthcare environment, the system comprising:
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a plurality of badges, each badge of the plurality of badges including a transmitter and a displacement sensor, the badge being adapted to be coupled to the asset; and
a locating system including a plurality of transmitters positioned at fixed locations within the healthcare environment and a processor with an associated receiver, the processor configured to receive an identification signal from the respective badges and the plurality of transmitters configured to transmit identification signals identifying the transmitter, wherein a first badge is configured to receive the transmitter identifying signals from the transmitters within range of the first badge, to transmit an identification signal to the processor of the locating system, the identification signal including identification information identifying the first badge and motion information collected by the first badge based on the displacement sensor, and wherein one of the processor and the first badge determines the location of the first badge based on the transmitter identifying signals received by the first badge. - View Dependent Claims (81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88)
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Specification