Low-power signaling for medical devices and medical device personnel

• US 10,387,830 B2
• Filed: 12/27/2017
• Issued: 08/20/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/24/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Zoll Medical Corporation (Asahi Kasei Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Zoll Medical Corporation (Asahi Kasei Corporation)
• Inventors: Johnson, Guy Robert, Freeman, Gary A., Herken, Ulrich
• Primary Examiner(s): Bolourchi, Nader
• Application Number:
  US15/854,954
• Publication Number:
  US 20180189723A1
• Time in Patent Office: 601 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/3904 External heart defibrillators [EHD]
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/3993 User interfaces for automatic external defibrillators
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders

Abstract

Aspects of the present disclosure are directed toward apparatuses, systems, and methods that include at least one medical device having a device transceiver configured to wirelessly broadcast a device signal including at least unique identifier data and an information system is configured to maintain an active list of medical device inventory associated with a particular emergency response vehicle, and the processor is configured to automatically determine presence of the at least one medical device.

Claims

1. A medical device system, comprising:

at least one defibrillator having a device transceiver configured to wirelessly transmit a device signal including unique identifier data; and

an information system comprising a mobile transceiver, at least one display device, at least one processor, and at least one database, wherein the information system is configured to maintain an active list of medical device inventory associated with a particular emergency, and the at least one processor is configured to;

automatically determine presence of the at least one defibrillator in response to the mobile transceiver receiving the device signal;

measure a signal strength of the device signal;

estimate a distance between the at least one defibrillator and the mobile transceiver based on the measured signal strength;

provide an indication on the at least one display device if the at least one defibrillator is present, and

provide an indication of the estimated distance between the at least one defibrillator and the mobile transceiver.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to alter the indication on the at least one display device based on the estimated distance.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the device signal includes calibration data; and

the at least one processor estimates the distance between the at least one defibrillator and the mobile transceiver based on the calibration data.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the calibration data comprises an expected signal strength of the device signal at a known distance.

5. The system of claim 1,

wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine whether the at least one defibrillator is in one of at least three location-based conditions based on the estimated distance, and

wherein the at least three location-based conditions include an out-of-range condition, a pairing condition, and an intermediate condition.

6. The system of claim 2, wherein altering the indication on the at least one display device comprises providing an indication of the location-based condition of the at least one defibrillator.

7. The system of claim 2, wherein altering the indication on the at least one display device comprises providing an indication when the at least one defibrillator transitions between one or more of the at least three location-based conditions.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the active list of medical device inventory is associated with a particular emergency response vehicle.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the mobile transceiver is arranged with at least one member of a crew for a particular emergency response vehicle configured to wirelessly broadcast a crew signal that includes unique crew identifier data, and

wherein the at least one processor is configured to display the active list of medical device inventory on the at least one display device in response to the device transceiver receiving the crew signal.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the mobile transceiver is provided with a smart watch, smart phone, or tablet.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine a location of the at least one defibrillator based on the estimated distance.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the indication on the at least one display device comprises an alert indicating presence of the at least one defibrillator.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to update the information system with an updated list of medical device inventory.

14. The system of claim 1, further comprising a mobile device in communication with the information system and configured to receive information associated with the at least one defibrillator from the information system.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the information comprises at least one of a location of the at least one defibrillator, status of at least one defibrillator, and capabilities of the at least one defibrillator.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the mobile device is configured to provide CPR instruction to medical device personnel.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the mobile device is configured to provide CPR data to the information system.

18. The system of claim 14, wherein the mobile device comprises a smart watch, smart phone, or tablet.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one defibrillator comprises a plurality of defibrillators.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the at least one processor is configured to provide a separate indication for each defibrillator that is determined to be present.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the at least one processor is configured to update the active list of medical device inventory based on each defibrillator that is determined to be present.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the at least one processor is configured to communicate the updated active list of medical device inventory to a networked computer.

23. The system of claim 19, wherein the information system is configured to receive an updated inventory list from a networked computer, and update the active list of medical device inventory based on the received updated inventory list.

24. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one defibrillator is an automatic external defibrillator, a patient monitoring device, and a wearable cardioverter defibrillator.

25. The system of claim 1, wherein the indication of the estimated distance comprises an amount of a distance between the at least one defibrillator and the mobile transceiver.

26. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one defibrillator is a plurality of defibrillators, and wherein the indication of the estimated distance comprises a ranking of relative distances between the mobile transceiver and each of the plurality of defibrillators.