Communications: electrical – Continuously variable indicating – Combined
Patent
1996-08-02
1998-06-09
Zimmerman, Brian
Communications: electrical
Continuously variable indicating
Combined
34082536, 604 31, 604 65, H04Q 900
Patent
active
057641595
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an installation for remote monitoring of a plurality of controllable equipments, in particular equipments usable in hospitals, such as pumps for perfusion or for administering medication.
More precisely, the invention relates to an installation for remote and secure monitoring of equipments, in particular hospital equipments for administering liquids injectable into patients, which installation makes it possible simultaneously to verify continuously and remotely the modes of operation of said equipments and the operating stages thereof, and also, preferably but not necessarily, to control them remotely.
It will be understood that in a hospital, the various equipments to be verified, in particular pumps for administering medication, are situated in different premises and are intended for different patients, with a single person being responsible for verifying that they are operating properly. It is therefore advantageous to provide the person in charge of verifying operation of the equipments with means making it possible at all times to know the operating status of each of the equipments.
It is also possible for the possibility of access to controlling the equipment, optionally to modify the programming to be strictly limited to the person in charge of operation, or to be limited at least to a small number of authorized people.
In this type of remote control installation it is also desirable to be able, in the event of an error in programming or control of an equipment that has given rise to damaging consequences, e.g. for a patient, to know which particular person in the staff of the hospital is responsible for the wrong programming.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a device for remote monitoring of a plurality controllable equipments, in particular equipment encountered in a hospital or the like, enabling progress in the operation of the equipments to be monitored continuously and remotely, and preferably ensuring that the possibility of programming or modifying the programming of the equipments is restricted to authorized people.
According to the invention, this object is achieved by an installation for remote monitoring of a plurality of controllable equipments which is characterized in that it comprises: to each equipment in association with information identifying said equipment, said sequence of information including information representative of the operating duration of said equipment; effectively being controlled, thereby obtaining elapsed time information; and information and for issuing an alarm signal as a function of the result of said comparison.
Preferably, the installation further includes means for authorizing a sequence of operating information to be input into an equipment only in response to a specific item of information.
It will be understood that by means of such a remote monitoring installation, any person responsible for using the equipments is continuously informed by the portable device he or she holds about the time during which an equipment or each equipment has been in operation and thus about the operating time remaining. Further, such people are informed when the equipment comes to the end of its operation, thereby enabling them to go and verify visually that the equipment has stopped and possibly take required action with the patient. It should also be specified that the term "information representative of the duration of equipment operation" should be understood as meaning either information concerning actual operating duration, e.g. for a pump, or else, e.g. for drip feed equipment, information concerning a volume to be administered which will have been converted to an equivalent time by an initial measurement of the operation of the drip feed equipment.
In a first embodiment, the control means of each equipment include means for transmitting the sequence of information for controlling operation and said portable device includes means for re
REFERENCES:
patent: 3767859 (1973-10-01), Doering et al.
patent: 4551122 (1985-11-01), Zegers
patent: 4570640 (1986-02-01), Barsa
patent: 4619653 (1986-10-01), Fischell
patent: 5078683 (1992-01-01), Sancoff
patent: 5104374 (1992-04-01), Bishko
patent: 5319363 (1994-06-01), Welsh
patent: 5376070 (1994-12-01), Purvis
patent: 5429602 (1995-07-01), Hauser
patent: 5573506 (1996-11-01), Vasko
Toward a Totally Integrated Hospital Information System: Infusion Pump Link to Patient Data Management System, Subramanian et al. IEE 9th Annual Conf., Nov. 13-16, 1987.
International Search Report issued for PCT/FR95/00175.
Written Opinion issud for PCT/FR95/00175 dated Nov. 15, 1995.
Notification de Transmission du Raport d'Examen Preliminaire International, issued for PCT/FR95/00175, (an English translation will follow).
Response A La Opinion Ecrite, filed Dec. 19, 1995.
Debiotech S.A.
Wong Albert K.
Zimmerman Brian
LandOfFree
Apparatus for remotely monitoring controllable devices does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Apparatus for remotely monitoring controllable devices, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Apparatus for remotely monitoring controllable devices will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2205167