Patient monitoring systems having two-way communication

• US 6,870,484 B1
• Filed: 03/24/1999
• Issued: 03/22/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/24/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: GE Marquette Medical Systems, Inc. (General Electric Company)
• Original Assignee: GE Marquette Medical Systems, Inc. (General Electric Company)
• Inventors: Steinike, Michael F., Brinsfield, James
• Primary Examiner(s): Holloway, III, Edwin C.
• Application Number:
  US09/275,205
• Time in Patent Office: 2,190 Days
• Field of Search: 340/286.07, 340/825.49, 340/2.1, 340/3.1, 340/5.1, 340/7.1, 340/10.1, 340/286.7, 340/870.11, 340/539, 340/870.07, 340/539.12, 128/903, 128/904, 379/106.07, 600/300
• US Class Current: 340/8.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 9/10 using single different frequencies

Abstract

A patient monitoring system comprising a central station for analyzing and displaying patient data; a system receiver connected to the central station; and an antenna array connected to the system receiver and including a plurality of antennae, each having connected thereto a respective transmitter.

Claims

1. A radio frequency patient monitoring system comprising:

a central station for analyzing and displaying physiological patient data;

a system receiver connected to the central station;

a plurality of antennas connected to the system receiver, each antenna operable to transmit a unique location code in a transmission range, wherein the transmission range of each antenna does not overlap; and

a portable patient monitor including a transceiver, a microphone, and a speaker, the patent monitor operable to only receive the location code of the antenna associated with the transmission range in which the patient monitor is located, the patient monitor operable to acquire physiological patient data and to transmit the physiological patient data and the location code to the central station via the antenna associated with the transmission range in which the patient monitor is located, the patient monitor operable to receive voice data from and transmit voice data to the central station via the antenna associated with the transmission range in which the patient monitor is located, the central station being operable to process and convert the location code to a displayable form.

2. A patient monitoring system as set forth in claim 1 wherein each antenna includes a transmitter.

3. A patient monitoring system as set forth in claim 2 wherein each of the respective antennas includes a circuit board and wherein the respective transmitter is mounted on the circuit board.

4. A patient monitoring system as set forth in claim 3 wherein the respective antennas are discrete components from the respective transmitters.

5. A patient monitoring system comprising:

a central station operable to analyze and display physiological patient data;

a system receiver adapted to be connected to the central station;

a plurality of antennas adapted to be connected to the system receiver, each antenna being assigned a unique location code and being operable to transmit the unique location code within a transmission range, wherein the transmission range of each antenna is non-overlapping; and

a portable patient monitor operable to acquire the physiological patient data, the portable patient monitor including a transceiver operable to receive the unique location code when the portable patient monitor is within the transmission range and to combine the unique location code and the physiological patient data, and wherein the transceiver is operable to transmit the unique location code and the physiological patient data to the central station, wherein the central station is operable to process and convert the location code to a displayable form to determine the location of the patient.

6. A method of locating a portable patient monitor relative to an antenna array within a patient monitoring system, wherein the patient monitoring system includes a portable patient monitor operable to acquire physiological patient data and having a portable transmitter and receiver, a central station to analyze and display the physiological patient data and operable to be connected to the antenna array, the antenna array including a plurality of antennas and each antenna having connected thereto a respective antenna transmitter, the method comprising the acts of:

generating an address specific to each antenna, and each antenna having a transmission range, wherein each transmission range is non-overlapping;

each antenna transmitter transmitting its address using a low power carrier signal within its respective transmission range;

when the portable patient monitor is within one of the transmission ranges, the portable receiver receiving the address of the antenna associated with that transmission range;

the portable receiver combining the physiological patient data and the address into a second carrier signal;

the portable transmitter transmitting the second carrier signal back to the respective antenna for transmission to the central station; and

the central station processing and converting the second carrier signal to a displayable form to determine the location of the patient based on the address of the antenna.

7. A method as set forth in claim 6 wherein each antenna has a respective location, and wherein the method further comprises the act of programming the respective locations of the antenna into the central station.

8. A method as set forth in claim 6 and further comprising the act of transmitting data from the central station to the antenna array.

9. A method as set forth in claim 8 wherein the act of transmitting data from the central station to the antenna array includes the act of transmitting a header address unique to each portable patient monitor.

10. A method as set forth in claim 8 wherein the data is voice data.

11. A patient monitoring system comprising:

a plurality of antennas, each antenna including a receiver circuit and an antenna transmitter, each of the antennas assigned a unique address, each of the antenna transmitters operable to transmit its respective unique address in a transmission range, wherein each transmission range is non-overlapping;

a portable transmitter adapted to be connected to a patient and operable to acquire physiological data from the patient, the portable transmitter including a transceiver operable to receive the unique address and to transmit the physiological data and the unique address to the plurality of antennas;

a central station operable to generate an address header unique to the portable transmitter and encode a digital signal, the central station operable to combine the address header and the encoded digital signal and transmit the address header and the encoded signal to the plurality of antennas, wherein the plurality of antennas transmit the address header and the encoded signal to the portable transmitter identified by the address header.

12. A patient monitoring system as set forth in claim 11, and further comprising a system receiver connected to the central station, and wherein the system receiver transmits data from the antenna to the central station and transmits data from the central station to the antenna transmitter.

13. A patient monitoring system as set forth in claim 11 wherein the portable transmitter includes a microphone connected to the transmitter circuit to allow the transmission of voice data from the patient to the central station, and a speaker connected to the receiver circuit to allow the transmission of voice data from the central station to the patient.

14. A patient monitoring system as set forth in claim 11 wherein the antenna transmitter is operable to generate a location code unique to each of the antennas, and wherein the physiological data acquired by the portable transmitter is combined with the location code before being transmitted to the central station.

15. A patient monitoring system as set forth in claim 11 wherein each of the antennas includes a circuit board and wherein each of the antenna transmitters is mounted on the circuit board.

16. A patient monitoring system as set forth in claim 11 wherein the antenna is a discrete component from the antenna transmitter.

17. A method of locating a portable patient monitor relative to an antenna array, the method comprising:

storing antenna location information for a plurality of antennas in a central station, wherein each antenna location is unique;

each antenna transmitter transmitting its antenna location information in an antenna range, wherein each antenna range does not overlap;

the portable patient monitor receiving the antenna location information of the antenna associated with the antenna range in which the portable patient monitor is located;

the portable patient monitor acquiring physiological patient data;

the portable patient monitor combining the physiological patient data with the received antenna location information to generate a radio frequency signal;

the portable patient monitor transmitting the radio frequency signal to the central station via the plurality of antennas; and

the central station processing and converting the radio frequency signal to a displayable form to determine the location of the portable patient monitor and to display the physiological patient data.

18. A method as set forth in claim 17 further comprising establishing communication with a patient connected to the portable patient monitor.

19. A method as set forth in claim 18 wherein establishing communication with a patient connected to the portable patient monitor, the method further comprises,

each antenna transmitter switching to a communication mode,

each antenna transmitter transmitting an encoded signal in its antenna range, and

the portable patient monitor receiving the encoded signal and responding to the encoded signal.

20. A method as set forth in claim 19 wherein the encoded signal includes a header address that is unique to the portable patient monitor.

21. A patient monitoring system comprising:

means for acquiring physiological data from a patient;

means for analyzing and displaying the physiological patient data, the analyzing and displaying means storing a plurality of location codes;

means for receiving data, the receiving means adapted to be connected to the analyzing and displaying means;

first means for generating one of the location codes and transmitting the location code to a first predetermined range;

second means for generating one of the location codes different than the location code generated by the first means and transmitting the location code to a second predetermined range different than the first predetermined range, the acquiring means operable to only receive the location code associated with the predetermined range in which the acquiring means is located, the acquiring means operable to combine the physiological data and the received location code to generate a radio frequency signal, the acquiring means operable to transmit the radio frequency signal to the analyzing and displaying means, wherein the analyzing and displaying means is operable to receive and process the radio frequency signal to determine the location of the acquiring means.

22. A patient monitoring system as set forth in claim 21 wherein the acquiring means includes a first means for receiving the location code and a second means for transmitting the radio frequency signal.

23. A patient monitoring system as set forth in claim 22 wherein the second means for transmitting the radio frequency signal is operable to transmit the radio frequency signal to the receiving means.

24. A method of monitoring a patient, the method comprising:

acquiring physiological patient data from the patient with a patient monitor positioned on the patient;

periodically transmitting a plurality of unique location codes via radio frequency carrier signals, each code corresponding to a non-overlapping predefined area;

detecting the code when the patient is in the area corresponding to that code;

generating a second radio frequency carrier signal by combining the code with the physiological patient data;

periodically transmitting the second radio frequency carrier signal to a central station; and

determining the location of the patient based on the code.

25. A method of communicating with a patient in a remote location, the method comprising:

positioning a patient monitor on the patient, the patient monitor including a speaker;

periodically transmitting a plurality of unique location codes via radio frequency carrier signals, each code corresponding to a non-overlapping predefined area;

encoding a digital signal with a header address that is unique to the patient monitor;

transmitting the encoded signal to all of the predefined areas; and

the patient monitor identified by the header address, detecting and decoding the encoded signal to produce an audible signal through the speaker.