System and method for network monitoring of multiple medical devices

• US 8,038,593 B2
• Filed: 12/06/2004
• Issued: 10/18/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/05/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Carefusion 303 Incorporated (Becton, Dickinson & Co)
• Original Assignee: Carefusion 303 Incorporated (Becton, Dickinson & Co)
• Inventors: Friedman, Gregory S., Ferch, Kraldon
• Primary Examiner(s): Layno; Carl H.
• Assistant Examiner(s): MORALES, JON ERIC C
• Application Number:
  US11/006,116
• Publication Number:
  US 20050137653A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,507 Days
• Field of Search: 607/30, 607/31, 607/59, 600/301
• US Class Current: 600/26
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0002 Remote monitoring of patients using telemetry, e.g. transmission of vital signals via a communication network A61B5/07 takes precedence; transmission systems for measured values G08C; transmission H04B; transmission of digital information H04L; wireless communication networks H04W
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/742 using visual displays A61B5/339 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/1456 with a replaceable reservoir comprising a piston rod to be moved into the reservoir, e.g. the piston rod is part of the removable reservoir
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/17 delivered via infusion or injection
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/20 for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0213 Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/06 Management of faults, events, alarms or notifications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/75 Indicating network or usage conditions on the user display

Abstract

The present invention provides for a system an method of monitoring the status of a plurality of medical devices connected to a central computer or server using a wired or wireless network, and displaying information representative of the status of the medical devices to a user on a display screen using both graphics and text. The system is also capable of determining when a condition or alarm warranting notification of the care giver to correct the condition exists, and displaying information about the condition or alarm on the display, including associating a warning graphic or icon representative of the condition or alarm with an icon representing a specific medical device or portion of a medical device. The system includes a rules data base and decision engine that may be used to determine the existence of conditions that require notification to the care giver.

Claims

1. A medical monitoring system, comprising:

at least one infusion pump comprising at least one removable treatment module capable of delivering a medication to a patient;

a server in communication with the at least one infusion pump;

a display screen; and

a processor in communication with the server and the display, the processor configured to monitor information communicated by the at least one infusion pump representative of a status of the at least one infusion pump, the processor further configured to generate a graphical display for communicating the information to a user, the graphical display including a plurality of portions comprising;

a first portion including at least one icon readily understood by the user to represent the at least one infusion pump,

a second portion not overlapping with the first portion, the second portion including a graphic for a selected icon, the graphic being larger than the icon, depicting the actual physical appearance of the current configuration of at least one infusion pump associated with the selected icon including the specific at least one treatment module included in the at least one infusion pump.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one treatment module is one of the set of an infusion pump, a syringe pump, a patient-controlled anesthesia (PCA) pump, an epidural pump, and an enteral pump.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the graphical display further includes information on the operating settings of the at least one treatment module.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the processor is further configured to compare a value of a parameter associated with the status of the at least one infusion pump with a database of rules to determine if the value of the parameter is within a range of values defined by a rule in the database of rules, and if the value of the parameter is not within the range of values, generate a warning symbol in proximity to the icon representing the at least one infusion pump.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the infusion pump further comprises at least one monitor module capable of monitoring a condition of the patient.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein the monitor module is a pulse oximeter.

7. The system of claim 5 wherein the monitor module is one of the set of a blood pressure monitor, an electrocardiogram (EKG) monitor, an electroencephalogram (EEG) monitor, a heart rate monitor, and an intracranial pressure monitor.

8. A medical device monitoring system, comprising:

an infusion pump comprising;

a central processing unit (CPU);

at least one removable module coupled to the CPU, each module being capable of delivering a medication or sensing a patient condition; and

a computer in communication with the infusion pump, the computer configured to receive information from the infusion pump representative of the status of the at least one coupled module, and generate a visual display of the received information, the visual display having a first portion comprising an icon readily understood by a user to be representative of the infusion pump and a second portion comprising a depiction of the actual physical appearance of the CPU and the at least one coupled module;

wherein the computer further includes means for accessing rules stored in a database of rules, the rules including ranges of values for operating parameters of the infusion pump, and wherein the computer is further configured to compare values of the information received from the infusion pump to the rules stored in the database of rules and generate a warning graphic proximate to the icon representative of the infusion pump if a value of a selected operating parameter of the received information is not within the range of values contained in a selected rule.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the computer is a mobile server capable of moving about a facility wherein the infusion pump is located.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein at least one portion of the display provides a textual description of the status of the infusion pump.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the first portion of the display includes a textual description of the status of the infusion pump.