Incubator patient health care system

• US 20050215845A1
• Filed: 09/30/2004
• Published: 09/29/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/23/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Hershey, John Erik, Sexton, Daniel White, Carter, John Jr., Mahony, Michael Joseph, Krain, Howard Leigh
• Granted Patent: US 7,691,048 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/22
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0006 ECG or EEG signals
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0017 transmitting optical signals transmission by light H04B10/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/002 Monitoring the patient using a local or closed circuit, e.g. in a room or building A61B5/0017 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0022 Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02055 Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular condition and temperature
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/021 Measuring pressure in heart or blood vessels A61B5/0205 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/145 Measuring characteristics of blood in vivo, e.g. gas concentration, pH value; Measuring characteristics of body fluids or tissues, e.g. interstitial fluid, cerebral tissuemeasuring of blood pressure or blood flow A61B5/02; non-radiation detecting or locating of foreign bodies in blood A61B5/06
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 11/00 Baby-incubators; Couveuses

Abstract

An infant monitoring system includes an incubation chamber configured to house an infant. Furthermore, the infant monitoring system includes a data reception interface configured to receive a wireless signal indicative of a vital sign. The infant monitoring system may be configured to communicate wirelessly with a LAN or a remote monitoring system.

Claims

1. An infant monitoring system comprising:

an incubation chamber configured to house an infant; and

a data reception interface configured to receive a wireless signal indicative of a vital sign of the infant.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the vital sign comprises one of a temperature, a blood pressure, an electrocardiogram, or a blood oxygen level.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the wireless signal comprises one of a radio frequency signal, an infrared signal, an ultrasonic signal, an optical signal or an acoustic signal.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising a sensor unit configured to generate and transmit the wireless signal.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising a display unit configured to display the vital sign.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising a data logging unit configured to log the vital sign.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising a data analyzing unit configured to analyze the vital sign.

8. The system of claim 7, further comprising an alarm unit configured to trigger an alarm in response to the vital sign exceeding a predetermined threshold value.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the incubation chamber is configured to communicate with at least one of a remote monitoring unit or a local area network.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising a remote monitoring unit configured to receive the wireless signal.

11. An infant monitoring system comprising:

an incubation chamber configured to house an infant;

a data reception interface configured to receive a wireless signal indicative of a vital sign of the infant, wherein the wireless signal comprises one of a radio frequency signal, an infrared signal, an ultrasonic signal, an optical signal or an acoustic signal; and

a sensor unit configured to generate and transmit the wireless signal.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the vital sign comprises one of a temperature, a blood pressure, an electrocardiogram, or a blood oxygen level.

13. The system of claim 11, further comprising a display unit configured to display the vital sign.

14. The system of claim 11, further comprising a data logging unit configured to log the vital sign.

15. The system of claim 11, further comprising a data analyzing unit configured to analyze the vital sign.

16. The system of claim 15, further comprising an alarm unit configured to trigger an alarm in response to the vital sign exceeding a predetermined threshold value.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein the incubation chamber is configured to communicate with at least one of a remote monitoring unit or a local area network.

18. The system of claim 11, further comprising a remote monitoring unit configured to receive the wireless signal.

19. A sensing and transmitting unit, the unit comprising:

a sensing component configured to measure an infant vital sign;

a data analysis component configured to analyze the infant vital sign to generate a set of analyzed data; and

a transmitting component configured to transmit a wireless signal indicative of the set of analyzed data.

20. The unit of claim 19, wherein the wireless signal comprises at least one of an alarm or a filtered signal.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the wireless signal comprises one of a radio frequency signal, an infrared signal, an ultrasonic signal, an optical signal or an acoustic signal.

22. A method for monitoring an infant, the method comprising:

measuring an infant vital sign; and

wirelessly transmitting the infant vital sign to a data reception interface of an incubator.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the infant vital sign comprises one of a temperature, a blood pressure, an electrocardiogram, or a blood oxygen level.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein wirelessly transmitting comprises transmitting one of an infrared signal, a radio frequency signal, an ultrasonic signal, an optical signal or an acoustic signal.

25. The method of claim 22, further comprising displaying the infant vital sign on a display unit.

26. The method of claim 22, further comprising logging the infant vital sign.

27. The method of claim 22, further comprising analyzing the infant vital sign.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising triggering an alarm in response to the infant vital sign exceeding a predetermined threshold value.

29. The method of claim 22, further comprising wirelessly communicating the infant vital sign to a remote monitoring unit.

30. A method of manufacturing an infant monitoring system, the method comprising:

providing an incubation chamber configured to house an infant;

providing a data reception interface configured to receive a wireless signal transmitted from within the incubation chamber.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising providing a display unit configured to display an infant vital sign conveyed by the wireless signal.

32. The method of claim 30, further comprising providing a data logging unit configured to log an infant vital sign conveyed by the wireless signal.

33. The method of claim 30, further comprising providing a data analyzing unit configured to analyze an infant vital sign conveyed by the wireless signal.

34. The method of claim 33, further comprising providing an alarm unit configured to trigger an alarm in response to the infant vital sign exceeding a predetermined threshold value.