Wireless telecommunications system adaptable for patient monitoring

• US 9,986,911 B2
• Filed: 10/10/2008
• Issued: 06/05/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/19/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Smiths Medical ASD, Inc. (Smiths Group International Holdings Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Smiths Medical ASD, Inc. (Smiths Group International Holdings Ltd.)
• Inventors: Smith, Guy A., Oswald, Matthew T., Brown, Matthew L., Ellis, Matthew E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Downey, John R
• Assistant Examiner(s): JIAN, SHIRLEY XUEYING
• Application Number:
  US12/285,663
• Publication Number:
  US 20100094098A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,525 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/002 Monitoring the patient using a local or closed circuit, e.g. in a room or building A61B5/0017 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0836 Measuring rate of CO2 production
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14551 for measuring blood gases
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation

Abstract

A wireless network having an architecture that resembles a peer-to-peer network has two types of nodes, a first sender type node and a second receiver/relay type node. The network may be used in a medical instrumentation environment whereby the first type node may be wireless devices that could monitor physical parameters of a patient such as for example wireless oximeters. The second type node are mobile wireless communicators that are adapted to receive the data from the wireless devices if they are within the transmission range of the wireless devices. After an aggregation process involving the received data, each of the node communicators broadcasts or disseminates its most up to date data onto the network. Any other relay communicator node in the network that is within the broadcast range of a broadcasting communicator node would receive the up to date data. This makes it possible for communicators that are out of the transmitting range of a wireless device to be apprized of the condition of the patient being monitored by the wireless device. Each communicator in the network is capable of receiving and displaying data from a plurality of wireless devices.

Claims

1. A mobile communicator adapted to wirelessly receive and transmit data in a communications network environment that has a plurality of transmitting and receiving devices including other mobile communicators, the mobile communicator and any one of the other mobile communicators are movable relative to each other so as to be either in or out of communication range with each other, comprising:

a transceiver having a predetermined reception range and a predetermined broadcast range adapted to receive from a wireless sensor device data of a patient relating to at least one physical attribute of the patient measured by the sensor device if the sensor device is within the predetermined reception range of the communicator, the transceiver further adapted to transmit signals out to the predetermined broadcast range of the communicator;

a memory for storing data of the patient received by the transceiver from the sensor device, the memory adapted to store previously received data of the patient;

processing means operationally working with the memory to update the data of the patient in the memory by comparing the data of the patient received by the transceiver with data of the patient, if any, previously stored in the memory, the newer of the data of the patient received and the data of the patient previously stored is stored in the memory as updated data of the patient;

the processing means operationally controlling the transceiver to transmit the updated data of the patient to the broadcast range of the communicator which moves with the movement of the communicator so that the updated data of the patient is received by the any one of the other mobile communicators not in direct communication with the wireless sensor device but the relative movement between the mobile communicator and the any one of the other mobile communicators is such that the any one of the other mobile communicators is within the broadcast range of the mobile communicator.

2. The communicator of claim 1, wherein the communicator is adapted to receive patient data from any one of the other mobile communicators when the any one of the other mobile communicators is movably located within the reception range of the communicator so as to be in communication range with the communicator.

3. The communicator of claim 1, wherein the memory is adapted to store the data of the patient received at different times.

4. The communicator of claim 1, further comprising a display adapted to display the data of the patient.

5. The communicator of claim 1, further comprises a display adapted to display patient data and text messages;

wherein the communicator is adapted to receive text messages to be displayed on the display and to transmit the received text messages to the broadcast range of the communicator, the text messages being received by any one of the other mobile communicators that is within the broadcast range of the communicator;

wherein the communicator is adapted to direct a particular text message to a given mobile communicator not in communication range with the communicator for display only by the given mobile communicator by transmitting the particular text message to at least one of the other mobile communicators in communication range with the communicator, the at least one of the other mobile communicators re-transmitting the particular text message to the given mobile communicator when the at least one of the other mobile communicators and the given mobile communicator are moved to within communication range of each other.

6. The communicator of claim 1, wherein the communicator is adapted to be carried by a user and is adapted to receive and inform the user of a signal of an alarm condition relating to the patient or multiple patients, the communicator adapted to transmit the received alarm condition out to the broadcast range of the communicator.

7. The communicator of claim 1, wherein the communicator is adapted to receive an alarm condition and a text message accompanying the alarm condition, the communicator including text message means to enable the text message to be displayed on a display of the communicator, the communicator adapted to transmit the received alarm condition and the accompanying text message out to the broadcast range of the communicator for reception by any one of the other mobile communicators located within the broadcast range of the communicator.

8. The communicator of claim 1, wherein the memory comprises a memory table adapted to store respective data of a plurality of patients;

wherein the processing means operationally works with the memory to update the data received by the transceiver from each patient of the plurality of patients by comparing the data of the each patient received with data of the each patient, if any, previously stored in the memory table, the newer of the data of the each patient received and the data of the each patient previously stored is stored in a corresponding memory in the memory table for the each patient;

wherein the processing means operationally controls the transceiver to transmit the updated data of the each patient out to the broadcast range of the communicator.

9. The communicator of claim 8, further comprising a display adapted to display the respective updated data of the plurality of patents stored in the memory table.

10. The communicator of claim 1, wherein the wireless sensor device comprises any one of oximeters, heart rate monitors, capnographs or CO2 monitors and pumps including at least a transmitter for monitoring particular physical attributes of the patient, the wireless sensor device adapted to transmit the sensed physical attributes of the patient to a transmission area of the wireless sensor device;

and

wherein the communicator is adapted to receive the sensed physical attributes of the patient transmitted by the wireless sensor device when the communicator is movably located relative to the wireless sensor device so that the reception range of the communicator is within the transmission range of the wireless sensor.

11. The communicator of claim 1, wherein the communicator and the other mobile communicators operate under a time slotted communication schedule, the communicator being assigned a given time period to transmit the updated data of the patient out to its broadcast range for reception by those other mobile communicators that are located within the broadcast range of the communicator.

12. The communicator of claim 1, wherein the communicator is adapted to act as a node of a network of mobile communicators by receiving respective data of different patients from those other mobile communicators that are within its reception range and transmitting the respective data of the patients out to its broadcast range.

13. A mobile communicator adapted to wirelessly receive and transmit data in a communications network environment that has a plurality of transmitting and receiving devices including other mobile communicators, the mobile communicator and the other mobile communicators movable relative to each other so as to be either in or out of communication range with each other, comprising:

a transceiver having a predetermined reception range and a predetermined broadcast range adapted to wirelessly receive from a sensor device data of a patient relating to at least one physical attribute of the patient measured by the sensor device if the sensor device is within the predetermined reception range of the communicator, the transceiver adapted to wirelessly receive data from other mobile communicators if the other mobile communicators each are within the predetermined reception range of the communicator, the transceiver further adapted to wirelessly transmit signals out to the predetermined broadcast range of the communicator;

a memory for storing data of the patient received by the transceiver from the sensor device and from the other mobile communicators, the memory adapted to store previously received data of the patient;

processing means operationally working with the memory to update the data of the patient in the memory by comparing the data of the patient received by the transceiver with data of the patient, if any, previously stored in the memory, the newer of the data of the patient received and the data of the patient previously stored is stored in the memory as updated data of the patient;

the processing means operationally controlling the transceiver to transmit the updated data of the patient out to the broadcast range of the communicator, the broadcast range of the communicator staying constant relative to the location of the communicator while the location of the communicator is changeable relative to at least one of the other mobile communicators so that the communicator and the at least one of the other mobile communicators are adapted to move into and out of communication range with each other.

14. The communicator of claim 13, wherein there are multiple other sensor devices, the other mobile communicators each adapted to receive the data of patients measured by selective ones of the multiple sensor devices;

wherein the communicator is adapted to receive data of patients from any one of the other sensor devices and the other mobile communicators if the any one of the other sensor devices and the other mobile communicators is within the reception range of the communicator, and the any one of the other mobile communicators is adapted to receive the data of the patient transmitted by the communicator if the any one of the other mobile communicators is within the broadcast range of the communicator.

15. The communicator of claim 13, wherein so long as a remote communicator is within the broadcast range of the communicator and the communicator had received the data of the patient from either the sensor device or another communicator, the data of the patient transmitted out to the broadcast range of the communicator is received by the remote communicator so that the data of the patient is adapted to be displayed on a display of the remote communicator.

16. The communicator of claim 13, further comprises a display adapted to display patient data and text messages;

wherein the communicator includes text message means adapted to enable received text messages to be displayed on the display and wherein the transceiver is adapted to transmit the received text messages to the broadcast range of the communicator for reception by any one of the other mobile communicators that movably locates within the broadcast range of the communicator;

wherein the communicator is adapted to transmit out to its broadcast range a particular text message directed to a given mobile communicator for display only by the given mobile communicator.

17. The communicator of claim 13, wherein the communicator is adapted to be carried by a user and is adapted to receive and inform the user of a signal of an alarm condition relating to the patient or multiple patients, the communicator adapted to transmit the received alarm condition out to the broadcast range of the communicator.

18. The communicator of claim 13, wherein the communicator is adapted to receive an alarm condition and a text message accompanying the alarm condition, the communicator including text message means to enable the text message to be displayed on a display of the communicator, the communicator adapted to transmit the received alarm condition and the accompanying text message out to the broadcast range of the communicator for reception by any one of the other mobile communicators located within the broadcast range of the communicator.

19. The communicator of claim 13, wherein the memory comprises a memory table adapted to store respective data of a plurality of patients;

wherein the processing means operationally works with the memory to update the data received by the transceiver from each patient of the plurality of patients by comparing the data of the each patient received with data of the each patient, if any, previously stored in the memory table, the newer of the data of the each patient received and the data of the each patient previously stored is stored in a corresponding memory in the memory table for the each patient;

wherein the processing means operationally controls the transceiver to transmit the updated data of the each patient out to the broadcast range of the communicator.