COMMUNICATION METHODS FOR PATIENT HANDLING DEVICES

• US 20150231006A1
• Filed: 02/13/2015
• Published: 08/20/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/14/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Stryker Corporation
• Original Assignee: Stryker Corporation
• Inventors: Bhimavarapu, Krishna Sandeep, Greenbank, Jonathan Mark, Hayes, Michael Joseph, Cummings, Christopher J.
• Granted Patent: US 10,709,624 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 7/018 Control or drive mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation

Abstract

Patient care devices, such as person support apparatuses and thermal control units, include one or more internal high speed networks, such as an Ethernet, for transmitting data between internal nodes or modules. A lower speed network may also be included with the Ethernet for redundantly transmitting some, but not all, types of data. Devices external to the patient care device can be granted limited access to the internal high speed network. Such devices may connect to the high speed network to utilize one or more user interfaces of the patient care device and/or to piggyback onto the patient care device'"'"'s connection to an external local area network (e.g. a hospital LAN), or the patient care device'"'"'s connection to yet another device. Some nodes may include web servers for serving up web pages of diagnostic information relevant to that node. The web servers are accessible via an external web browser.

Claims

1. A person support apparatus comprising:

a support surface adapted to support a person;

a first module adapted to perform a first function associated with the person support apparatus;

a second module adapted to perform a second function associated with the person support apparatus;

a first communication network coupled to the first and second modules, the first communication network adapted to transport data between the first and second modules using a first communication protocol; and

a second communication network coupled to the first and second modules, the second communication network adapted to transport data between the first and second modules using a second communication protocol, the second communication protocol being different from the first communication protocol.

2. The person support apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first communication protocol is an Ethernet protocol, and the second communication protocol is one of the following:

an RS-485 protocol, a serial peripheral interface (SPI) protocol, an RS-232 protocol, an RS-422 protocol, and an I-squared C protocol (I²C).

3. The person support apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first communication network transports video data and the second communication network transports commands for moving at least one component of the person support apparatus.

4. The person support apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a third module adapted to perform a third function associated with the person support apparatus, the third module coupled to the first and second modules by the first communication network.

5. The person support apparatus of claim 4 wherein the first module includes a first microcontroller and an Ethernet switch, the second module includes a second microcontroller, the third module includes a third microcontroller.

6. The person support apparatus of claim 5 wherein the first microcontroller is adapted to control the Ethernet switch such that messages are routed over the first communication network between a subset of the first, second, and third modules.

7. The person support apparatus of claim 4 wherein the first function includes displaying graphics on a display of the person support apparatus, the second function includes controlling movement of the support surface, and the third function includes communicating with a device physically separate from the person support apparatus.

8. The person support apparatus of claim 7 further comprising a fourth module adapted to perform a fourth function associated with the person support apparatus, the fourth module coupled to the first, second, and third modules by the first communication network.

9. The person support apparatus of claim 8 wherein the fourth function includes driving a wheel coupled to the person support apparatus.

10. The person support apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first module includes a first microcontroller, the second module includes a second microcontroller, and the first microcontroller is adapted to decide whether to transmit a first message to the second module using the first communication network or the second communication network.

11. The person support apparatus of claim 10 wherein the first microcontroller decides whether to transmit the first message using the first communication network or the second communication network based upon a content of the first message.

12. The person support apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first module includes a first media access control (MAC) address and a first Internet Protocol (IP) address, the second module includes a second media access control (MAC) address and a second Internet Protocol (IP) address, and the first module is adapted to communicate with the second module over the first communication network by sending messages that include both the first and second MAC addresses and both the first and second IP addresses.

13. The person support apparatus of claim 2 wherein the person support apparatus is a bed, the first module is physically coupled to a frame of the bed, and the second module is physically positioned inside of a mattress positioned on top of the bed.

14. The person support apparatus of claim 2 wherein the person support apparatus is a bed having a support deck adapted to support a patient thereon, the first module is adapted to control movement of the support deck, and the second module is adapted to control movement of a drive wheel used to power movement of the bed from one location to another.

15. The person support apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first module is adapted to transmit a first command to the second module over both the first and second communication networks, and the second module is adapted to follow the first command if the second module receives the first command from the second communication network but does not receive the first command from the first communication network.

16. The person support apparatus of claim 15 wherein the second module is adapted to not follow the first command if the second module receives the first command from the first communication network but does not receive the first command from the second communication network, and wherein the second module is adapted to follow the first command if the second module receives the first command from both the first and second communication networks.

17. The person support apparatus of claim 15 wherein the first command instructs the second module to physically move a component of the person support apparatus.

18. The person support apparatus of claim 1 wherein the person support apparatus is a bed, the first module is physically coupled to a frame of the bed and includes a serializer/deserializer output for transmitting image data to a display mounted on a footboard of the bed, the image data being transmitted to the display in scalable vector graphics (SVG) format.

19. The person support apparatus of claim 18 wherein the first module receives a size message from the display indicative of a physical size of the display, and the first module adjusts the image data transmitted by the first module to the display based upon the size message, whereby different footboards may be coupled to the bed having different sized displays without requiring reprogramming of the first module.

20. A person support apparatus comprising:

a frame;

a support surface supported by the frame and adapted to support a person;

a plurality of siderails supported by the frame, the siderails movable between a lowered position and a raised position;

a first module adapted to perform a first function associated with the person support apparatus, the first module having a first address;

a second module adapted to perform a second function associated with the person support apparatus, the second module having a second address;

a third module adapted to perform a third function associated with the person support apparatus, the third module having a third address; and

a network switch having first, second, and third ports communicatively coupled to the first, second, and third modules, respectively, the network switch adapted to automatically associate the first address to the first port based upon messages received at the first port, automatically associate the second address to the second port based upon messages received at the second port, and automatically associate the third address to the third port based upon message received at the third port.

21. The person support apparatus of claim 20 wherein the first, second, and third addresses are media access control (MAC) addresses, and the network switch is adapted to automatically associate Internet Protocol (IP) addresses with the MAC addresses.

22. The person support apparatus of claim 20 further comprising a communication bus coupled between the first, second, and third modules, the communication bus carrying messages between the first, second, and third modules without passing through the network switch.

23. The person support apparatus of claim 20 wherein the network switch is controlled by a microcontroller on the first module.

24. The person support apparatus of claim 20 wherein the second module includes a WiFi transceiver adapted to communicate with a wireless access point of a computer network, the second module including a microcontroller programmed to control motion of at least one component of the person support apparatus.

25. The person support apparatus of claim 20 wherein the first and second modules are part of a first virtual local area network on the person support apparatus and the third module is part of a second virtual local area network on the person support apparatus.

26. The person support apparatus of claim 25 wherein the third module is physically contained within a mattress positioned on the person support apparatus.

27. A person support apparatus comprising:

a support surface adapted to support a person;

a first module adapted to perform a first function associated with the person support apparatus;

a second module adapted to perform a second function associated with the person support apparatus;

a third module adapted to perform a third function associated with the person support apparatus;

a communication network coupled to the first, second, and third modules, the communication network adapted to transmit packets between the first, second, and third modules; and

a firewall adapted to prevent selected packets from the second module from being communicated to the third module over the communication network.

28. The person support apparatus of claim 27 wherein the second module includes an external port adapted to allow a device separate from the person support apparatus to be communicatively coupled to the first module, and wherein the selected packets originate from the device.

29. The person support apparatus of claim 28 wherein the third function includes controlling movement of at least one component of the person support apparatus, and the first function includes displaying information on a display of the person support apparatus.

30. The person support apparatus of claim 29 wherein the first module is adapted to display information on the display that is received from the device via the communication network.

31. The person support apparatus of claim 28 wherein the first module is adapted to forward the selected packets to a wireless transceiver in communication with an external network, wherein the forwarding of the selected packets to the wireless transceiver enables the device to communicate with the external network.