CPR computer aiding

• US 5,913,685 A
• Filed: 06/24/1996
• Issued: 06/22/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 06/24/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Donald C. Hutchins
• Original Assignee: Donald C. Hutchins
• Inventors: Hutchins, Donald C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hafer, Robert A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rovnak, John Edmund
• Application Number:
  US08/667,946
• Time in Patent Office: 1,093 Days
• Field of Search: 434/262, 434/265, 434/307 R, 434/308, 434/323
• US Class Current: 434/265
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 23/288 for artificial respiration or heart massage

Abstract

A cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) aiding computer system provides guidance to rescue personnel trained in CPR for resuscitating a victim under an emergency condition. The system includes an input for entering information signals representative at least of characteristics of the victim relevant to proper performance of CPR techniques, a processing unit responsive to the information signals and for providing output signals representative of proper steps to be taken in resuscitating the victim, and an output, including a display, responsive to the output signals and for providing guidance signals, which include visible signals, such as animated images, on the display, of the proper steps to be taken by the rescue personnel in resuscitating the victim. In one embodiment, the output includes an audio system for producing audible guidance in response to the output signals, wherein the speech guidance is synchronized with the visible guidance. The system can be configured as a personal computer, or as a network of terminals and computers.

Claims

1. A general purpose computer system adapted for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) aiding to provide guidance to rescue personnel trained in CPR for resuscitating a victim under an emergency condition, comprising:

a computer terminal, including;

an output comprising a display and an electroacoustical transducer; and

an input comprising an interactive display input, wherein the interactive display input is adapted for selecting from image or text viewed on the display that is representative at least of characteristics of said victim relevant to proper performance of CPR techniques, and producing information signals corresponding to the characteristics of said victim represented by said image or text selected with said interactive display input;

a processing unit responsive to the information signals and for providing output signals representative of proper steps to be taken in resuscitating said victim; and

wherein the output, in response to said output signals, provides guidance signals, which include audible speech signals produced by the electroacoustical transducer, of the proper steps to be taken by said rescue personnel in resuscitating said victim.

2. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the guidance signals further include visible signals on the display.

3. The computer system of claim 2, wherein said visible signals include a pictorial representation of a rescue personnel practicing said proper steps upon a victim.

4. The computer system of claim 3, wherein the pictorial representation includes an animated sequence of images.

5. The computer system of claim 3, wherein said information signals are further representative of the number of said rescue personnel relevant to proper performance of CPR techniques.

6. The computer system of claim 5, wherein the visible display further provides text signals representative of at least one of said relevant characteristics of said victim and said number of said rescue personnel.

7. The computer system of claim 5, wherein said visible display further provides icon representations of at least one of said relevant characteristics of said victim and said number of rescue personnel.

8. The computer system of claim 3, wherein said output signals are further representative of queries regarding at least one of said relevant characteristics of said victim and the number of said rescue personnel relevant to proper performance of CPR techniques.

9. The computer system of claim 3, wherein said input further includes at least one of an alphanumeric keypad for keying the information signals, and a voice recognizer for converting speech information signals into corresponding electrical signals.

10. The computer system of claim 3, wherein said input, said processor unit and said output comprise components of a personal computer.

11. The computer system of claim 10, and further comprising a network of personal computers linked to each other and to said first mentioned personal computer.

12. The computer system of claim 3, and further comprising a recorder for providing a record of a sequence of the information signals and the output signals.

13. A general purpose computer network system adapted to provide guidance to rescue personnel trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation for resuscitating victims under emergency conditions, comprising:

a plurality of peripheral units, each including an input for entering information signals representative at least of characteristics of a victim relevant to proper performance of CPR techniques, and an output including a display and an electroacoustical transducer, wherein the input comprises an interactive display input adapted for selecting displayed image or text representative at least of characteristics of said victim relevant to proper performance of CPR techniques, and producing information signals corresponding to the characteristics of said victim represented by said image or text selected with said interactive display input;

a network server, including a router, responsive to said information signals for providing output signals representative of proper steps to be taken in resuscitating said victim; and

a communication link for communicating the information signals from the peripheral units to the network server and the output signals from the network server to the peripheral units, wherein said output provides guidance signals in response to said output signals, said guidance signals including audible speech signals representative of the proper steps to be taken by said rescue personnel in resuscitating said victim.

14. The computer network system of claim 13, wherein said guidance signals further include visible guidance signals on the display representative of the proper steps to be taken by said rescue personnel in resuscitating said victim and synchronized with said audible speech signals.

15. The computer network system of claim 14, wherein the visible guidance signals include a pictorial representation of rescue personnel practicing said proper steps upon a victim.

16. The computer network system of claim 15, wherein the pictorial representation includes an animated sequence of images.

17. The computer network system of claim 14, wherein said communication link includes at least one of a wireless communication system and a hard-wired communication system.

18. The computer network system of claim 17, wherein said hard-wired communication system includes a member of the group consisting of a local area network, a PBX network, an interactive CATV network, a telephone network, and the internet.

19. The computer network system of claim 17, wherein said wireless communication system includes a transmitter and a receiver.

20. The computer network system of claim 14, and further including a recorder for providing a record of a sequence of the information signals and the output signals.

21. An article of manufacture, comprising:

a computer usable medium adapted for use in a general purpose computer having a processor, a display, an interactive display input, and an electroacoustical transducer, the computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for providing guidance signals to rescue personnel trained in CPR for resuscitation of a victim under an emergency condition, including;

computer readable program code for causing the general purpose computer to display image or text on the display corresponding at least to characteristics of said victim relevant to proper performance of CPR techniques;

computer readable program code for causing the general purpose computer to produce information signals based upon image or text selected by rescue personnel with said interactive display input, wherein said information signals are representative of said characteristics corresponding to said selected image or text;

computer readable program code for causing the general purpose computer to provide output signals representative of proper steps to be taken in resuscitating said victim in response to said information signals; and

computer readable program code for causing the general purpose computer to produce audible speech signals representative of proper steps to be taken by said rescue personnel in resuscitating said victim in response to said output signals.

22. The article of manufacture of claim 21, wherein the computer readable program code in the article of manufacture further includes:

computer readable program code for causing the computer, in response to said output signals, to display visible signals on the display synchronized with the audible speech signals, the visible signals representative of proper steps to be taken by said rescue personnel in resuscitating said victim.

23. The article of manufacture of claim 22, wherein the visible signals include a pictorial representation of rescue personnel practicing said proper steps upon a victim.

24. The article of manufacture of claim 23, wherein the computer readable program code in the article of manufacture further includes:

computer readable program code for causing the computer to display an animated sequence of the pictorial representations.

25. The article of manufacture of claim 24, wherein the computer readable program code in the article of manufacture further includes:

computer readable program code for causing the computer to synchronize the audible speech signals with the animated sequence of pictorial representations.

26. The article of manufacture of claim 24, wherein the visible signals further include icon representations at least of characteristics of said victim relevant to proper performance of CPR techniques.

27. The article of manufacture of claim 24, wherein the visible signals further include text representations at least of characteristics of said victim relevant to proper performance of CPR techniques.

28. The article of manufacture of claim 24, wherein the computer readable program code in the article of manufacture further includes:

computer readable program code for causing the computer to store a record of a sequence of the information signals and the output signals.

29. The article of manufacture of claim 24, wherein said information signal is further representative of the number of said rescue personnel.

30. The article of manufacture of claim 24, wherein said information signal includes a language selection signal and the computer readable program code in the article of manufacture further includes computer readable program code for causing the computer to produce the audible speech signals in a spoken language selected from a group of spoken languages in response to said language selection signal.

31. A computer program for providing guidance signals to rescue personnel trained in CPR for resuscitating a victim under an emergency condition, the computer program being stored on a media readable by a general purpose computer, for configuring the computer upon being read and executed by the computer to perform functions comprising:

displaying image or text on the display corresponding at least to characteristics of said victim relevant to proper performance of CPR techniques;

producing information signals based upon image or text selected by rescue personnel with said interactive display input, wherein said information signals are representative of said characteristics corresponding to said selected image or text;

providing output signals representative of proper steps to be taken in resuscitating said victim in response to said information signals; and

providing guidance signals representative of proper steps to be taken by said rescue personnel in resuscitating said victim in response to said information signal, said guidance signals comprising audible speech signals.

32. The computer program of claim 31, wherein said guidance signals further comprise visible signals on a display representative of said proper steps to be taken by said rescue personnel in resuscitating said victim in response to said information signal.

33. The computer program of claim 32, wherein said functions further comprise synchronizing the audible speech signals with the visible signals.

34. The computer program of claim 32, wherein the visible signals include a pictorial representation of rescue personnel practicing said proper steps upon a victim.

35. The computer program of claim 34, wherein said functions further comprise animating said pictorial representation.

36. The computer program of claim 32, wherein said functions further comprise causing the computer to store a record of a sequence of the information signals and the output signals.

37. The computer program of claim 32, wherein the information signal is further representative of the number of rescue personnel.

38. The computer program of claim 32, wherein said functions further comprise:

receiving a language selection signal indicative of a spoken language selected from a plurality of spoken languages; and

causing the computer to produce the audible speech signals in the selected spoken language in response to the language selection signal.

39. A method for use in cardiopulmonary resuscitation with a general purpose computer system configured for providing guidance to rescue personnel trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for resuscitating a victim under an emergency condition, the computer system comprising a computer terminal having an input and an output, a processing unit responsive to the input, the output being responsive to the processor and including a display and an electroacoustical transducer, the input including an interactive display input, the method including:

displaying image or text on the display corresponding at least to characteristics of said victim relevant to proper performance of CPR techniques;

producing information signals based upon image or text selected by rescue personnel with said interactive display input, wherein said information signals are representative of said characteristics corresponding to said selected image or text;

processing said information signals, including providing output signals representative of proper steps to be taken in resuscitating said victim;

converting said output signals into signals corresponding to speech signals representative of the proper steps to be taken by said rescue personnel in resuscitating said victim; and

applying said signals corresponding to speech signals to the electroacoustical transducer to provide audible speech guidance signals representative of the proper steps to be taken by said rescue personnel in resuscitating said victim.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein said computer terminal further comprises an electroacoustical transducer responsive to said output signals, and wherein said method further comprises converting said output signals to signals corresponding to visible signals representative of the proper steps to be taken by said rescue personnel in resuscitating said victim, and applying said signals corresponding to visible signals to said display to provide visible guidance signals representative of the proper steps to be taken by said rescue personnel in resuscitating said victim synchronized with said audible speech guidance signals.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein said visible guidance signals include an animated sequence of images of a rescue personnel practicing said proper steps upon a victim.

42. The method of claim 40, wherein said input, processor and output of said computer system comprise a personal computer in a network of computers, including a router, linked to each other.

43. The method of claim 40, wherein said method further includes storing a record of said information signals on a storage medium.