Bed status information system for hospital beds
DC CAFCFirst Claim
1. A bed status information system for indicating to attending personnel the status of a patient bed, the bed status information system comprising:
- at least one bed condition input signal generator carried by said patient bed, the signal generator operable for monitoring a condition of the patient bed and generating an input signal indicative of the status of said monitored bed condition;
an interface board including a processor which is electrically coupled with said signal generator, said interface board operable for receiving said bed condition input signal and processing said input signal to create bed condition messages indicating the status of the monitored condition;
a processing station remote from the bed and coupled with said interface board by a datalink, the processing station operable for receiving said bed condition messages over the datalink and processing said messages, said station including an indication device for indicating, in a humanly perceptible form, the status of the monitored condition of the patient bed and the contents of the bed condition messages, such that the status of the monitored condition of the patient bed is indicated to attending personnel at a location remote from the bed.
3 Assignments
Litigations
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A bed status information system for indicating to attending personnel the status of a patient bed includes bed condition input signal generators carried by the bed and coupled to operational elements on the bed, which have one or more monitorable conditions. The signal generators are operable to monitor a bed element condition and input signal indicative of the status of the monitored condition. An interface board on the bed processes the bed condition input signal and generates bed condition messages, which indicate the status of the monitored condition. A processing station remote from the bed is electrically coupled via a datalink to the interface board and is operable to receive the bed condition messages and indicate the status of the patient bed and its operational elements to attending personnel at a location remote from the bed, thereby eliminating the need for constant personnel attendance at the bed. The system is capable for monitoring a variety of different bed operational element systems, as well as providing a remote processing station and identification number for the bed, bed-type information, and a list of the operational capabilities of the bed.
-
Citations
31 Claims
-
1. A bed status information system for indicating to attending personnel the status of a patient bed, the bed status information system comprising:
-
at least one bed condition input signal generator carried by said patient bed, the signal generator operable for monitoring a condition of the patient bed and generating an input signal indicative of the status of said monitored bed condition; an interface board including a processor which is electrically coupled with said signal generator, said interface board operable for receiving said bed condition input signal and processing said input signal to create bed condition messages indicating the status of the monitored condition; a processing station remote from the bed and coupled with said interface board by a datalink, the processing station operable for receiving said bed condition messages over the datalink and processing said messages, said station including an indication device for indicating, in a humanly perceptible form, the status of the monitored condition of the patient bed and the contents of the bed condition messages, such that the status of the monitored condition of the patient bed is indicated to attending personnel at a location remote from the bed. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
-
19. An information system for monitoring patient care, the system comprising:
-
at least one patient bed including a patient support surface carried by a bed frame for supporting a patient, the bed further comprising a plurality of patient care operational elements coupled to one of the bed frame and the support surface, each operational element operable to have at least one monitorable condition; a bed condition input signal generator coupled to an operational element for monitoring a condition of one of the bed frame and support surface and generating an input signal indicative of the status of said monitored condition; an interface board including a processor associated with the patient bed, the interface board electrically coupled to said input signal generator for receiving said bed condition input signal and processing said input signal to create bed condition messages to be sent over a datalink; a processing station remote from the bed and coupled with said interface board by a datalink for receiving said bed condition messages and processing said messages, said station including at least one indication device for indicating, in a humanly perceptible form, the status of the patient bed monitored condition as contained in the bed condition messages, such that the status of various patient bed conditions is indicated to attending personnel at a location remote from the bed. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
-
-
26. A patient bed for patient care, the bed comprising:
-
a bed frame; a patient support surface carried by the frame for supporting a patient; a plurality of patient care operational elements, each of the elements coupled to one of the bed frame and the support surface, each of the elements operable to have at least one monitorable condition; an input signal generator coupled to at least one element for monitoring said element monitorable condition and generating an input signal indicative of the status of said monitorable condition; and an interface board including a processor associated with the patient bed, the interface board electrically coupled to said input signal generator for receiving said input signals, the interface board operable to process said input signals for creating bed condition data messages to be sent over a datalink to a processing station remote from the bed, such that the status of a patient bed is indicated to attending personnel at a location remote from the bed. - View Dependent Claims (27)
-
-
28. A method of retrofitting a patient bed, having at least one operational element with a monitorable condition, for use in a medical facility having a nurse locator system with a central processing station remote from the patient bed, the method comprising:
-
coupling an input signal generator to said operational bed element, the input signal generator operable for monitoring said monitorable condition and generating an input signal indicative of the status of said monitorable condition; complying an interface board with a processor to said bed and said input signal generator such at the interface board receives the input signal, the interface board being operable to process the input signal and create a bed condition data message; connecting said interface board and said facility central processing station with a datalink such that the bed condition data message may be sent from the bed to be processed at a location remote from the bed and retrieved by attending personnel to indicate to the personnel the status of the monitorable bed condition. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31)
-
Specification