SAFE NURSING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING SAFE NURSING SYSTEM

• US 20130182092A1
• Filed: 07/15/2011
• Published: 07/18/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Omron Healthcare Company Limited (Omron Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Omron Healthcare Company Limited (Omron Corporation)
• Inventors: Ishii, Hiromoto, Miyazaki, Makoto
• Granted Patent: US 8,994,805 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/77
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1113 Local tracking of patients, e.g. in a hospital or private home
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1128 using image analysis A61B5/1127 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/02 Alarms for ensuring the safety of persons
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0079 Medical imaging device
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3253 Position information, e.g. geographical position at time of capture, GPS data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/18 Closed-circuit television [CCTV] systems, i.e. systems in which the video signal is not broadcast

Abstract

A safe nursing system includes a control unit and monitors movement of a patient on a bed. The control unit sets, for each patient, a correspondence relationship between a plurality of types of predetermined movements and a plurality of alert levels based on conditions; calculates a value of a predetermined index used to determine a predetermined movement of the patient; sets a predetermined condition to determine the predetermined movement; determines the predetermined movement based on the calculated value and the set predetermined condition; and outputs information indicating that the patient has performed the predetermined movement at the alert level indicated by the correspondence relationship set for the patient in accordance with the predetermined movement, under the condition that the predetermined movement has been determined to have been performed. It is possible to give a notification to a caregiver based on the condition of each patient.

Claims

1-9. -9. (canceled)

10. A safe nursing system comprising:

a control unit programmed to monitor a movement of a patient on a bed, the control unit including;

an alert level setting unit that sets, for each patient, a correspondence relationship between a plurality of types of predetermined movements and a plurality of alert levels based on conditions;

a calculation unit that calculates a value of a predetermined index used to determine a predetermined movement of the patient;

a setting unit that sets a predetermined condition to determine the predetermined movement;

a determination unit that determines the predetermined movement based on the value calculated by the calculation unit and the predetermined condition set by the setting unit; and

an output unit that outputs information indicating that the patient has performed the predetermined movement at the alert level indicated by the correspondence relationship set for the patient by the alert level setting unit in accordance with the predetermined movement, under the condition that the determination unit has determined that the predetermined movement has been performed.

11. The safe nursing system according to claim 10, further comprising an image capturing unit disposed in a position from which an image including a side of a top surface of the bed can be captured;

wherein

the control unit further includes an image capturing control unit that obtains image data captured by the image capturing unit;

the calculation unit specifies feature points in an image of the patient in the image data obtained by the image capturing control unit and calculates a value of the predetermined index of the specified feature points; and

the setting unit sets the predetermined condition based on a region of the bed in the image data obtained by the image capturing control unit.

12. The safe nursing system according to claim 11, wherein the image capturing unit is disposed in a position from which an image can be captured from the direction of a head area of the patient.

13. The safe nursing system according to claim 11, wherein the control unit further includes a caregiver determination unit that determines whether or not a caregiver is present based on the image data obtained by the image capturing control unit;

and

the alert level setting unit changes, in a case where the caregiver determination unit determines that a caregiver is present, the correspondence relationship so as to lower the alert level for each predetermined movement indicated by the set correspondence relationship.

14. The safe nursing system according to claim 11, wherein the control unit further includes a caregiver determination unit that determines whether or not a caregiver is present based on the image data obtained by the image capturing control unit;

and

the output unit does not output the information in a case where the caregiver determination unit determines that a caregiver is present.

15. The safe nursing system according to claim 10, wherein the alert level setting unit selects and sets a correspondence relationship based on a condition of the patient from among pre-set correspondence relationships between the predetermined movements and the alert levels set for respective conditions.

16. The safe nursing system according to claim 10, wherein the control unit further includes a condition specification unit that specifies a condition of the patient in accordance with information from an external biological information monitor;

and

the alert level setting unit selects and sets a correspondence relationship based on the condition specified by the condition specification unit from among pre-set correspondence relationships between the predetermined movements and the alert levels set for respective conditions.

17. The safe nursing system according to claim 10, wherein the control unit further includes a biological information determination unit that determines whether or not a value indicated by information from an external biological information monitor has worsened;

and

the alert level setting unit changes, in a case where the biological information determination unit determines that the value has worsened, the correspondence relationship so as to raise alert levels for each of the predetermined movements indicated in the set correspondence relationship.

18. A control method for controlling a safe nursing system that includes a control unit programmed to monitor a movement of a patient on a bed, the method comprising the steps, executed by the control unit, of:

setting, for each patient, a correspondence relationship between a plurality of types of predetermined movements and a plurality of alert levels based on conditions;

calculating a value of a predetermined index used to determine a predetermined movement of the patient;

setting a predetermined condition to determine the predetermined movement;

determining the predetermined movement based on the calculated value and the set predetermined condition; and

outputting information indicating that the patient has performed the predetermined movement at the alert level indicated by the correspondence relationship set for the patient in accordance with the predetermined movement, under the condition that the predetermined movement has been determined to have been performed.