Medical device maintenance system

• US 9,092,762 B2
• Filed: 04/05/2012
• Issued: 07/28/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/05/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Welch Allyn Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Welch Allyn Incorporated
• Inventors: Jensen, Eric P., DiFraia, Jason Paul, Ehrhart, Michael Allan
• Primary Examiner(s): Chow, Dennis
• Assistant Examiner(s): TRAN, TAM T
• Application Number:
  US13/440,571
• Publication Number:
  US 20130268890A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,209 Days
• Field of Search: 715/825, 715/764, 715/771
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/20 Administration of product repair or maintenance
• 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 40/40 for the management of medical equipment or devices, e.g. scheduling maintenance or upgrades
• CPC Class Codes: G16Z 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other main groups of this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/045 for graphical visualisation of monitoring data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/065 related to network devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/025 for remote control or remote monitoring of applications

Abstract

A system for maintaining medical devices includes: a computing device including memory and a processor that, when executing instructions stored on the memory, creates a user interface including: a health module providing a summary of a maintenance status of the medical devices; a location module providing a summary of a location of the medical devices; and a maintenance alert module providing a list of the medical devices needing maintenance, the list including a type of maintenance needed for each of the medical devices in the list.

Claims

1. A method for providing maintenance information for a plurality of medical devices, the method comprising:

receiving maintenance information from the medical devices;

providing an interface including a summary of the maintenance information, the summary including;

a summary of a maintenance status of the medical devices;

a summary of a location of the medical devices, the location including a facility and a floor;

a summary of a state of connection of the medical devices, the state of connection indicating whether each medical device is currently communicating with a server and a duration for the current state; and

a list of the medical devices needing maintenance, the list including a type of maintenance needed for each of the medical devices in the list and an icon indicating the type of maintenance;

providing access to the summary of the maintenance information outside a network associated with the medical devices;

providing a replacement schedule, including an estimated replacement date, cycle counts, expected life, and average usage;

providing information about replacement of components associated with one of the medical devices;

providing information about calibration of components associated with one of the medical devices;

receiving an indication that maintenance for a given medical device has been performed;

removing the given medical device from the list; and

providing a wireless report including a list of wireless-related data per device, the wireless report including wireless drop-out rates for one or more of the medical devices.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the summary further includes a summary of a state of connection of the medical devices.

3. The method of claim 1, the summary further includes a summary of available firmware and software upgrades for the medical devices.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising allowing a user to approve the firmware or software upgrade to be applied one or more of the medical devices on the list.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising notifying the medical devices to upgrade the firmware or software.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising filtering the list of the medical devices based on a device type or a location.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the type of maintenance needed includes replacement of components associated with the medical devices, and upgrade of firmware or software of the medical devices.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoding instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform steps comprising:

receiving maintenance information from the medical devices;

providing a summary of the maintenance information, the summary including;

a summary of a maintenance status of the medical devices;

a summary of a location of the medical devices, the location including a facility and a floor;

a list of the medical devices needing maintenance, the list including a type of maintenance needed for each of the medical devices in the list;

a summary of a state of connection of the medical devices, the state of connection indicating whether each medical device is currently communicating with a server and a duration for the current state;

a replacement module comprising a replacement schedule, an estimated replacement date, cycle counts, expected life, and average usage; and

a summary of firmware and software updates for the medical devices;

filtering the list of the medical devices based on device or location;

allowing a user to approve the firmware or software upgrade to be applied one or more of the medical devices on the list;

notifying the medical devices to update the firmware or software;

providing information about replacement of components associated with one of the medical devices;

providing information about calibration of components associated with one of the medical devices;

receiving an indication that maintenance for a given medical device has been performed;

removing the given medical device from the list; and

providing a wireless report including a list of wireless-related data for one or more medical devices, the wireless report including wireless drop-out rates for one or more of the medical devices.