Medical Device Maintenance System

• US 20130268890A1
• Filed: 04/05/2012
• Published: 10/10/2013
• 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
• Granted Patent: US 9,092,762 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/825
• 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 system for maintaining medical devices, the system comprising:

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.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the maintenance alert module of the user interface further includes, for each of the medical devices listed, a device name, a date upon which maintenance is due, and an indication of the type of maintenance due.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the user interface further comprises a connection module providing a summary of a state of connection of the medical devices;

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the user interface further comprises an update module providing a summary of firmware and software updates for the medical devices;

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the user interface further comprises a filter pane allowing a user to filter the list of the medical devices based on device type or location.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the user interface allows a user to approve a firmware or software upgrade to be applied to one or more of the medical devices in the list.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the type of maintenance includes replacement of components associated with the medical devices.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the type of maintenance needed includes upgrading of firmware or software of the medical devices.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the computing device is located outside a network of the medical devices.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the user interface further comprises device information including:

a replacement schedule module providing information about replacement of components associated with a given medical device; and

a calibration module providing information about calibration of components associated with the given medical device.

11. A method for providing maintenance information for a plurality of medical devices, the method 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; 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

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

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the summary further includes a summary of a state of connection of the medical devices;

13. The method of claim 11, the summary further includes a summary of firmware and software updates for the medical devices;

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising filtering the list of the medical devices based on a device type or a location.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising allowing a user to approve a firmware or software upgrade to be applied one or more of the medical devices on the list.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising notifying the medical devices to update the firmware or software.

17. The method of claim 11, 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.

18. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

providing information about replacement of components associated with a given medical device; and

providing information about calibration of components associated with the given medical device.

19. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

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

removing the given medical device from the list.

20. A 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;

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; 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;

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

removing the given medical device from the list.