PROCESS AND CONTROL UNIT FOR COORDINATING ACOUSTIC SIGNALS OUTPUT BY DIFFERENT MEDICAL DEVICES

Abstract

A process coordinates the acoustic alarm signals output by different medical devices (1). A first medical device (1a) outputs, at a time interval before an output of a n acoustic alarm signal, a pre-signal which differs from the acoustic alarm signal with respect to at least one property. A further device receives the pre-signal output by the first medical device (1a) and carries out an analysis of the received pre-signal. As a function of a result of the analysis of the pre-signal, an alarm signal output unit (4) of a second medical device (1b) is driven in such a way that, as a function of the result of the analysis, at least one property of an alarm signal which is currently being output or will be output by the alarm signal output unit (4) is at least temporarily changed and/or a pre-signal is transmitted by the second medical device (1b).

Claims

1. A process for coordinating acoustic alarm signals output by different medical devices, the process comprising the steps of: with a first medical device, outputting, at a time interval before an output of an acoustic alarm signal, a pre-signal which differs from the acoustic alarm signal with respect to at least one characteristic, with a second medical device or an external control device, receiving the pre-signal output by the first medical device; analyzing the received pre-signal in an evaluation unit of the second medical device or the external control device; and controlling an alarm signal output unit of the second medical device as a function of a result of the analysis of the pre-signal such that, as a function of the result, at least one characteristic of an alarm signal which is currently being output by the alarm signal output unit or will be output by the alarm signal output unit is at least temporarily changed and/or a pre-signal is output by the second medical device.

2. A process according to claim 1, wherein the pre-signal is configured as an acoustic, optical and/or electrical signal.

3. A process according to claim 1, wherein the pre-signal is transmitted via a wired and/or wireless network.

4. A process according to claim 1, wherein the pre-signal is transmitted directly from the first medical device to the second medical device.

5. A process according to claim 1, wherein a volume, a frequency, a modulation, a pitch, a tone type, an alarm type and/or a melody of the alarm signal is changed depending on the result of the analysis.

6. A process according to claim 1, wherein, depending on the result of the analysis, the alarm signal currently or in the future output by the alarm signal output unit is interrupted at least temporarily.

7. A process according to claim 1, wherein a prioritization of events underlying the output of an alarm signal is taken into account in the analysis of the pre-signal.

8. A process according to claim 1, wherein at least one patient-specific parameter and/or parameter specific to at least one of the medical devices is taken into account when determining the result on which the activation of an alarm signal evaluation unit is based.

9. A process according to claim 1, wherein: an environment of the medical devices is monitored for a presence of persons; and controlling the output of a pre-signal and/or an alarm signal is at least partly based on a result of the environment monitoring.

10. A process according to claim 1, wherein a result of the analysis for a standby period is stored in a data memory and is taken into account in the analysis of a further pre-signal and/or for the control of the alarm signal output unit.

11. A process according to claim 1, wherein when determining the result of the analysis of the pre-signal on which the actuation of an alarm signal output unit is based, a result of an analysis of an alarm signal and/or a pre-signal of a further medical device is taken into account.

12. A process according to claim 1, wherein at least one characteristic of the alarm signal output from the first medical device is changed based on a pre-signal output from the second medical device.

13. A process according to claim 1, wherein a noise load characteristic value is determined on the basis of alarm and pre-signals detected in a room and is made available for further use in the medical devices and/or a central unit for data storage, data processing and/or control of medical devices.

14. A process according to claim 13, wherein the noise load characteristic value is taken into account in determining the result on which the activation of an alarm signal evaluation unit is based.

15. A control unit of a medical device or a central monitoring system for coordinating acoustic alarm signals output by different medical devices, the control unit comprising: an input configured to receive a pre-signal output from a first medical device at a time interval before an output of an acoustic alarm signal, the pre-signal differing from the acoustic alarm signal with respect to at least one characteristic; an output; and an evaluation unit configured to: analyze the received pre-signal; and output a control signal to an alarm signal output unit of a second medical device to at least temporarily change an alarm signal which is currently being output by the alarm signal output unit or will be output by the alarm signal output unit as a function of a result of the analysis of the pre-signal and/or to output a second medical device pre-signal by the second medical device.

16. A control unit according to claim 15, wherein a volume, a frequency, a modulation, a pitch, a tone type, an alarm type and/or a melody of the alarm signal is changed depending on the result of the analysis.

17. A control unit according to claim 15, wherein, depending on the result of the analysis, the alarm signal currently or in the future output by the alarm signal output unit is interrupted at least temporarily.

18. A control unit according to claim 15, wherein a prioritization of events underlying the output of an alarm signal is taken into account in the analysis of the pre-signal.

19. A control unit according to claim 15, wherein: an environment of the medical devices is monitored for a presence of persons; and outputting the control signal to control the output of a pre-signal and/or the alarm signal is at least partly based on a result of the environment monitoring.

20. A medical device or central monitoring system comprising: an alarm signal output unit; and a control unit, the control unit comprising: an input configured to receive a pre-signal output from another medical device at a time interval before an output of an acoustic alarm signal, the pre-signal differing from the acoustic alarm signal with respect to at least one characteristic; an evaluation unit configured to: analyze the received pre-signal; and output a control signal to the alarm signal output unit to at least temporarily change an alarm signal which is currently being output by the alarm signal output unit or will be output by the alarm signal output unit as a function of a result of the analysis of the pre-signal and/or to output another medical device pre-signal from the medical device.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0038] In the drawings:

[0039] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the arrangement of a plurality of medical devices at a bedside for the treatment and monitoring of a patient; and

[0040] FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of two treatment stations arranged in one room, each allowing separate monitoring and treatment of a patient.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0041] Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 schematically shows the arrangement of a plurality of medical devices 1 for treating and monitoring a patient A, which are arranged in the area of the patient's bed. The number and type of medical devices 1 used can vary considerably, in particular due to the disease to be treated and the state of health of a patient. The medical devices 1 arranged in the area of the patient bed according to FIG. 1 are a ventilator A1, a patient monitor A2, a syringe pump A3 and an EIT device A4. The various medical devices 1 monitor a variety of physiological parameters of patient A, referred to as patient condition values. In the individual medical devices 1 and/or in a central monitoring unit 7, permissible minimum and maximum threshold values are defined for various physiological parameters of the patient A, the violation of which, i.e. exceeding or falling below, results in an acoustic alarm signal being output by the respective medical device 1 arranged at the bedside, in particular an alarm signal output unit 4. In accordance with the relevance of the individual limit violations triggering an acoustic alarm signal for the patient's state of health, suitable priorities are assigned to these, which are also stored in the medical devices 1 or the higher-level monitoring unit 7.

[0042] According to the invention, the medical devices 1 are configured in such a way that, before an acoustic alarm signal is output, the planned output of an acoustic alarm signal is announced by transmitting a pre-signal, in this case a non-audible ultrasonic signal. The pre-signal is configured with regard to its frequency, frequency sequence, frequency characteristic, amplitude and/or phase according to the characteristic of the alarm signal to be announced or the threshold value violation underlying the alarm. In addition, a corresponding pre-signal is transmitted via another transmission path, in particular via a network 5, such as a WLAN network, to which the other medical devices 1 are also connected.

[0043] At least one of the other medical devices 1 arranged in the area of the patient bed or in a room 6 in which the patient bed is located and also provided for acoustic alarming are configured to receive and analyze the transmitted pre-signal directly or indirectly. Irrespective of whether the analysis of the pre-signal takes place in an evaluation unit 2 arranged in the medical devices 1 or in an external control unit 3, on the basis of the result of the analysis of the pre-signal output by a first medical device 1a, an alarm signal output currently being executed, planned or already announced by at least a second medical device 1b is changed or adapted and/or a pre-signal is also output by the second medical device 1b. In this way, in particular, the volume, the tone sequence or the frequency of the acoustic alarm signals output via the alarm signal output units 4 of the various medical devices 1 is adapted to the prioritization, i.e. relevance, of the respective alarm for the patient's state of health. Likewise, acoustic alarm signals with lower importance of the underlying alarm or other device messages may be output not continuously but intermittently.

[0044] The pre-signal is coded in such a way that the relevant information is decoded in the evaluation unit of another medical device 1 or an external control unit 3. The information can take the form of an additional audio signal coding as an impressed or modulated audio signal, for example in the form of a burst or chirp. In any case, the pre-signal is configured in such a way that it does not interfere with the interpretation of the simultaneously output acoustic alarm signals by the treatment personnel.

[0045] According to the embodiment example described here, a pre-signal is an acoustic signal with a frequency in a range that is usually no longer audible by humans, in particular above 27 kHz. In order to be able to receive such a pre-signal, the medical devices 1 and the external control unit 3 have suitable ultrasonic transducers with a piezo element, which convert the acoustic signal into an electrical measurement signal. As already explained, other forms of pre-signals, such as light signals in the infrared frequency range, radio-telemetric signals or other wired or wirelessly transmitted signals can also be used.

[0046] As soon as corresponding pre-signals and thus patient-related data are at least partially transmitted via a network 5, additional security measures, in particular encryption via https, S/MIME or VPN, are advisable, especially to protect the data transmission from manipulation.

[0047] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, information about the device type, the alarm type, i.e. the event underlying the announced alarm, the priority, in particular whether it is an emergency alarm warning or an operational message, the type of alarm signal sequence and the repetition rate of the announced alarm signal are output with the pre-signal. The other medical devices 1 located at the bedside or in the same room 6 and, if applicable, the external control unit 3 receive either directly or indirectly the outputted pre-signal, analyze it and are finally able to initiate the following measures as required by appropriately triggering their alarm signal output unit 4: [0048] Control and adaptation of the acoustic alarm signal preferably taking into account the priorities of different alarms, for example by means of a time delay (alarm delay), so that, as far as possible, an acoustic superimposition of its own alarm signal with the alarm signal announced by another medical device 1 is avoided, [0049] Evaluation of the situation, in particular analysis of the own alarm situation in comparison to the medical device 1 which has announced the output of an acoustic alarm signal and, if necessary, output of a pre-signal, for example if a medical device's own alarm has to be output which has a higher priority than the one announced by another medical device 1, [0050] Changing the volume of an output audible alarm signal if at least one other medical device 1 simultaneously emits an audible alarm signal, as well as [0051] Forwarding of the pre-signal and/or at least one piece of information contained therein to a further device, e.g. a control or output unit on the hospital corridor, and/or to a central monitoring unit, in order to ensure comprehensive information or the initiation of further measures (locked door scenario).

[0052] FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a further exemplary embodiment of the invention, in which there are two patients in a room, of whom patient A is connected to four medical devices, namely A1, A2, A3 and A4, and patient B, to three medical devices, in this case B1, B2 and B3. Devices A1 and B1 are each ventilators, devices A2 and B2 are patient monitors, device A3 is a syringe pump, device A4 is an EIT device, and device B3 is a feeding tube. According to this embodiment, three-level alarm prioritization is provided, as shown in the following table:

TABLE-US-00001 Device Name Device Type Alarm Type Alarm Priority A1 Ventilator MV low, MV high I VT low, VT high II f high II P high I FiO2 low I etCo2 high I A2 Physiological Monitor (EKG, Spo2 low I HR, NIBP, SPO2, IBP, BP low, BP high II etCO2, Tcore) HR low, HR high I Arythmia etCo2 high II tcore low, tcore high III A3 Syringe Pump Infusion amount used up II Occlusion II A4 EIT Device Inflection rate III

TABLE-US-00002 Device Name Device Type Alarm Type Alarm Priority B1 Ventilator MV low, MV high I VT low, VT high II f high II P high I FiO2 low I etCo2 high I B2 Physiological Monitor (EKG, Spo2 low I HR, NIBP, SPO2, IBP, BP low, BP high II etCO2, Tcore) HR low, HR high I Arythmia etCo2 high II tcore low, tcore high III B3 Peristaltic Pump/Feeding tube Metered quantity reached III Occlusion II Empty supply III Disconnect III

[0053] Where: [0054] MV: Minute volume [0055] VT: Tidal volume [0056] f: Frequency [0057] P: Print [0058] FiO2: Inspiratory oxygen concentration [0059] etCO2: endtidal carbon dioxide content [0060] SPO2: Oxygen saturation of the blood [0061] BP: BP (Blood pressure) [0062] HR: Pulse (heart rate) [0063] NIBP: Non-Invasive Blood Pressure [0064] tcore: Core temperature [0065] EIT: Electrical impedance tomography

[0066] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the priorities for an alarm are set to the same for the same medical devices on both patients. Alternatively, it is conceivable that different prioritizations are provided depending on the patient's clinical picture and constitution. For example, the parameter HRhigh, i.e., the upper threshold value for the pulse, could be set with a different alarm priority for a patient with a stable constitution (stronger physical state). Alternatively, the upper threshold value HRhigh could be shifted further up.

[0067] Furthermore, the system described in connection with FIG. 2 for monitoring two patients A, B with a plurality of medical devices 1 arranged in one room has the option of issuing a so-called super alarm. As soon as an alarm signal is output for a longer period of time without being confirmed by a treatment person or without appropriate measures being taken, the priority of noise prevention is deliberately overridden and an alarm is issued by all medical devices 1. In this case, all medical devices 1 in the room 6, in particular the respective alarm signal output units 4, are controlled in such a way that a synchronized output of acoustic alarm signals takes place in order to very strongly increase the sound pressure level in the room 6. This results in an alarm amplification. In addition, information about the alarm is forwarded to at least one higher-level monitoring unit 7 and/or mobile output devices of the treatment personnel, such as pagers, tablets or cell phones.

[0068] It is further provided that all pre-alarm and alarm signals occurring in the room 6 are received by a special receiver module 8, prioritization is carried out and then the alarm with the highest priority is forwarded wirelessly or wired via a network 5 to an alarm output unit in a hospital corridor and/or at a central monitoring unit 7. Corresponding additional alarms are in turn issued acoustically and/or visually, for example via a display.

[0069] If, despite prioritization, at least two alarm signals have to be output simultaneously in the room 6 at least some of the time, the frequency position of the different alarm signals is adjusted, for example in the case of identical alarms output by different medical devices, to an audible difference of about 200 Hz. The adaptation again takes into account the analysis of the received pre-signals. It is essential in this case that, in particular, alarm signals output by different devices or types of devices in room 6 can be clearly distinguished from one another. Alternatively or in addition, a change or adaptation of the tone sequence, the change of single tones to chords or to five-tone sequences, as also provided for in the relevant standard, can be used to distinguish between device types.

[0070] While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the principles of the invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.