SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONSERVING BATTERY POWER IN A PATIENT MONITORING SYSTEM

• US 20120029315A1
• Filed: 07/27/2010
• Published: 02/02/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/27/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Carefusion 303 Incorporated (Becton Dickinson & Co)
• Original Assignee: Carefusion 303 Incorporated (Becton Dickinson & Co)
• Inventors: Raptis, Mark, Jafri, Amir, Burdett, Alison, Kathiresan, Ganesh
• Granted Patent: US 9,615,792 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/301
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0209 adapted for power saving
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0022 Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6833 Adhesive patches
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation

Abstract

A vital-signs patch in a patient monitoring system is disclosed. The patch includes a housing configured to be attached to the skin of a patient, the housing containing a radio that can selectably transmit and receive on more than one frequency and a processor. The processor configures the radio to transmit and receive on a determined frequency based at least in part on the level of noise detected on the frequencies.

Claims

1. A vital-signs patch in a patient monitoring system, the patch comprising:

a patch housing configured for attaching to the skin of a patient and containing;

a radio configured to selectably transmit and receive on more than one frequency; and

a processor operably connected to the radio, the processor configuring the radio to transmit and receive on a determined frequency based at least in part on a detected noise level of the determined frequency.

2. The vital-signs patch of claim 1 wherein the patch further comprises a memory operably connected to the processor and configured to store a list of frequencies;

the processor configured to determine the frequency for configuring the radio at least in part by selecting the frequency from the list of frequencies.

3. The vital-signs patch of claim 1 wherein the processor is configured to determine a first frequency, to configure the radio to transmit and receive on that frequency, and then to listen on that frequency to detect the amplitude of existing radio noise at that frequency, and if the amplitude of radio noise is below a threshold then the processor is configured to select that frequency for continued operation, alternately if the amplitude of radio noise is above the threshold then the transmitter is configured to determine another frequency and repeat the process described above.

4. The vital-signs patch of claim 1 wherein the determined frequencies comprise frequencies associated with subchannels within a frequency band defined by a regulatory body.

5. The vital-signs patch of claim 4 wherein the bandwidth of each subchannel is smaller than the width of the frequency band.

6. A bridge in a patient monitoring system, the bridge comprising:

a bridge housing containing;

at least one radio configured to selectably transmit and receive on more than one frequency; and

a processor operably connected to the radio, the processor configuring the radio to transmit and receive on a determined frequency based at least in part on a detected noise level of the frequencies.

7. The bridge of claim 6 wherein the bridge housing further comprises a memory operably connected to the processor and configured to store a list of frequencies, the processor configured to determine the frequency for configuring the radio at least in part by selecting the frequency from the list of frequencies.

8. The bridge of claim 6 wherein the processor is configured to determine a first frequency, to configure the radio to transmit and receive on that frequency, and then to listen on that frequency to detect the amplitude of existing radio noise at that frequency, and if the amplitude of radio noise is below a threshold then the processor is configured to select that frequency for continued operation, alternately if the amplitude of radio noise is above the threshold then the transmitter is configured to determine another frequency and repeat the process described above.

9. The bridge of claim 6 wherein after selecting a frequency for continued operation, the processor is configured to send a command via the radio to a patch to use the selected frequency for communicating with the bridge.

10. The bridge of claim 6 wherein the determined frequencies comprise frequencies associated with subchannels within a frequency band defined by a regulatory body.

11. The bridge of claim 10 wherein the bandwidth of each subchannel is smaller than the width of the frequency band.

12. The bridge of claim 6 wherein if during the continued operation, the radio noise at the frequency being used increases to a level that exceeds the threshold, the processor is configured to determine another frequency and repeat the process described above.

13. The bridge of claim 6 wherein if, during the continued operation, the number of failed or lost transmissions between the patch and the bridge within a defined period of time exceeds a second threshold, the processor is configured to determine another frequency and repeat the process described above.

14. The bridge of claim 6 wherein if, during the continued operation, the processor determines or is commanded to determine a new frequency, the processor is configured to transmit a command on the prior frequency to every patch with which it was communicating that the patch is to switch its radio to operate at the selected new frequency.

15. A method of conserving battery power in a wireless vital-signs patch that is attached to a patient in a patient monitoring system, comprising the steps of

determining a first frequency to evaluate;

configuring a radio that can be configured to transmit and receive on more than one frequency to operate at the selected frequency;

listening on the selected frequency to determine the magnitude of the radio noise at the selected frequency;

comparing the magnitude of the radio noise to a threshold value; and

using the determined frequency for continued operation if the magnitude of the radio noise is below the threshold value, alternately determining a new frequency and repeating the steps of listening and comparing.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the determined frequency is associated with subchannels within a frequency band defined by a regulatory body.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the radio is configured to operate at each subchannel frequency with a bandwidth that is smaller than the width of the frequency band.

18. The method of claim 15 wherein the continued operation comprises transmitting vital-sign information from the vital-signs patch to a bridge that is part of the patient monitoring system.