Electronic fall monitoring system

Inventors

Carr, Roy Seizo • Humphrey, Glen Holt • Coatney, Drew Deem • Patel, Himanshu • McHale, Lisa • Young, Brian N. • Thomas, Justin K.

Assignees

Tidi Products LLC

Abstract

The present invention provides an improved electronic fall monitoring system comprising a device having multiple sensor ports for flexibly monitoring various sensors associated with a single patient without requiring repeated connections and disconnections of sensors. With several sensors simultaneously connected at different locations, a processor can execute to ensure that only one sensor, corresponding to one patient, is monitored at any given time, including by triggering an alarm when a second sensor is triggered while a first sensor is in use. Accordingly, the system can provide a “one step transfer” in which a caregiver may simply press hold once to transfer a patient from one sensed area to another. In addition, the caregiver can simply actuate a single input with only a momentary press to allow suspension of monitoring for a shorter duration (hold) or a longer press to allow suspension of monitoring for a longer duration (extended hold).

Core Innovation

The electronic fall monitoring system includes first and second sensor ports, each operable to connect to a patient sensor for detecting an activation indicating a physical presence at the patient sensor and a deactivation indicating a loss of physical presence at the patient sensor. A processor executing a program stored in a non-transient medium selects among a plurality of modes and controls indication outputs accordingly. The system includes a first indicator and a second indicator that are activated based on the selected mode and a power condition.

The program defines a monitor mode in which a sensor port connected to the patient sensor is monitored for the deactivation, an alarm mode in which an alarm is active following the deactivation detected in the monitor mode, and a standby mode in which the alarm is held inactive. Selection of the monitor mode monitors one of the first and second sensor ports for the deactivation of the patient sensor while monitoring the other of the first and second sensor ports for activation.

The disclosure further describes multiple sensor connections and virtual/physical port architecture, including wireless sensor connectivity with NFC out-of-band pairing to establish Bluetooth/BLE/RFID connections. It also describes audio cue behaviors using a microphone and speaker with minimum-duration recording for alarm messages, and escalation/failsafe behaviors such as low battery indications and reconnect-sensor alerts on lost sensor signals.

Claims Coverage

The independent claim set provided includes one independent claim. It covers monitor, alarm, and standby mode selection with two-port monitoring logic, plus indicator activation tied to the selected mode and a power condition.

Across the provided independent claim, the core coverage is directed to an electronic fall monitoring system that uses first and second sensor ports with concurrent activation and deactivation monitoring in monitor mode, combined with processor-controlled monitor, alarm, and standby behavior and indicator activation tied to both mode and a power condition.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications