Abstract:
A robotic nursing system for use with a patient comprises a nursing robot having at least one patient condition sensor, a transmitter, and a receiver mounted therein. A display device for displays data sensed by the patient condition sensor. The display device includes a receiver in communication with the nursing robot. The nursing robot senses patient physiological conditions using the patient condition sensor and transmits the physiological conditions to the display device using the transmitter. The display device then displays the physiological conditions for review by a user. One or another or both. The nursing robot also transmits the physiological conditions to a patient database for storage.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to providing automated nursing care, and more particularly, to an intelligent nurse robot for providing automated nursing care.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The average age of nurses in hospitals and retirement homes is steadily increasing, however, fewer people become nurses every year. Meanwhile, the average age of the population is also increasing and therefore there is a larger demand for nursing services. This has led to an increasing shortage of trained nurses in health systems in almost every industrialized country. Accordingly, there is a need for a solution to this deficiency of the number of working nurses assisting our elderly population.  
         [0003]     One solution is to use a robotic nurse as a remote presence in hospitals and retirement homes. In the past, these robots have been designed to be teleoperated by a qualified person not physically located in the same location as the robot. Essentially, the robot acts as a medium to allow communication between the operator and the patient. This still requires, however, a continuous monitoring presence by the teleoperator as the teleoperator controls the robot and, therefore, many of the same problems still exist (i.e. a shortage of qualified operators). Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved solution to the nursing shortage.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     A robotic nursing system for use with a patient comprises a nursing robot having at least one patient condition sensor, a transmitter, and a receiver mounted therein. A display device for displays data sensed by the patient condition sensor. The display device includes a receiver in communication with the nursing robot. The nursing robot senses patient physiological conditions using the patient condition sensor and transmits the physiological conditions to the display device using the transmitter. The display device then displays the physiological conditions for review by a user.  
         [0005]     Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0006]     The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0007]      FIG. 1  is an exemplary illustration of an intelligent nurse robotic system designed according to the principles of the present invention;  
         [0008]      FIG. 2  is a schematic view of the intelligent nurse robotic system of the present invention; and  
         [0009]      FIG. 3  is an exemplary decision tree used by the intelligent nurse robotic system of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0010]     The following description of the preferred embodiment(s) is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention, its application, or uses.  
         [0011]     With reference to  FIG. 1 , an intelligent nurse robotic system  10  is illustrated in an exemplary environment. The intelligent nurse robotic system  10  generally includes an automated device  12 , for example a robot, in communication with a teleoperator  14 . As will be described below, the robot  12  and the teleoperator  14  work to carry out many of the time consuming tasks required by nursing personnel, such as going from patient to patient in an institution at regular time intervals to measure physiological indicators or responding to non-urgent calls from patients. In this regard, the robot  12  ideally interacts with nurses  16 , doctors  18 , bedridden patients in hospitals  20  and elderly people  22  in retirement homes.  
         [0012]     Turning now to  FIG. 2 , the intelligent nurse robotic system  10  will be described in detail. The robot  12  of the intelligent nurse robotic system  10  generally includes a CPU  24  located therein. The robot  12  further includes a plurality of devices used to interact with a patient  26 . These devices include patient condition sensors  28 , patient voice identification  30 , automatic speech recognition  32 , text and speech synthesis  34  and patient manipulators  36 . The robot  12  also includes a transmitter/receiver  38  used to communicate with third parties, as will be described below.  
         [0013]     The patient condition sensors  28  generally include a plurality of devices used to measure the patient&#39;s  26  physiological indicators. For example, these indicators may include blood pressure, sugar in blood, or temperature. It should be appreciated that various other physiological indicators might also be sensed. These sensed indicators are then processed by the CPU  24 . The robot  12  then makes an internal decision using an algorithm (built with decision trees, neural networks, or other techniques) to decide whether to do further measurements, administer medicine, or alert a nurse or doctor as to the patient&#39;s  26  condition. This independent decision making allows for the robot  12  to be semi-autonomous, as will be described in greater detail below.  
         [0014]     The patient voice identification  30  is used to identify the patient  26  using voice identification. For example, this may be accomplished with a password trained in advance that also identifies the voice of the speaker. This assures that patient confidentiality (as required by HIPAA standards) is assured. In an alternate embodiment, the patient condition sensors  28  are also used to identify various biometric factors to be used in an authentication technique (e.g. fingerprints, blood DNA analyses, etc.) either along with or instead of voice identification. Specifically, the patient condition sensors  28  include a biometric identification module used to sense a physiological condition or characteristic of the patient  26  (e.g., such as a camera for facial recognition or an electronic scanning pad for fingerprint identification). The sensed physiological characteristic is then used to identify or recognize a given patient  26 . If the patient  26  is new to the intelligent nurse robotic system  10 , voice and physiological characteristics may be stored in a patient database  40 . The patient database  40  is a data store stored on a server within the hospital or retirement home, though the patient database  40  may also be located within the robot  12  itself. The CPU  24  is in direct communication with the transmitter/receiver  38  and is able to access the patient database  40  to recognize the patient  26  after initial voice and physiological characteristics specific to the patient  26  have been stored therein. The patient database  40  may also include various information specific to a patient  26 . For example, such information can include the patient&#39;s  26  medical history, the patient&#39;s  26  dialogue related preferences (e.g., language and style of interaction), and any other relevant medical information. As will be discussed below, access to the patient database  40  allows the intelligent nurse robotic system  10  to have a great degree of specialization when interacting with a given patient  26 .  
         [0015]     The automatic speech recognition  32  allows the robot  12  to interact with the patient  26 . In this way, the patient  26  may be instructed to use simple word commands in order to communicate with the robot  12 . Furthermore, the automatic speech recognition  32  may be relayed through the CPU  24  through the transmitter/receiver  38  and to the teleoperator or monitor such that the teleoperator may hear or see written text of the patient&#39;s  26  communications.  
         [0016]     The text speech synthesis  34  is used to communicate with the patient  26  using speech. The robot  12  may then inform the patient  26  of any procedures it is performing or any relevant biometric data using a synthesized voice rather than text messages. Moreover, the teleoperator  14  through the transmitter/receiver  38  and the text speech synthesis  44  may directly communicate with the patient  26  through the robot  12 . Alternatively, text may be displayed on a screen located on the robot  12  for patient&#39;s  26  who are unable to hear or understand audio communication.  
         [0017]     The patient manipulators  36  include the actual physical manipulators used to interact with the patient  26  and any services related thereto. These physical manipulators  36  may include arms, trays, sensors or any other interactive device. For example, in order to take the patient&#39;s  26  blood pressure, the physical manipulators  36  may include a tray having an automated arm compression portion and sensors that determine the blood pressure of the patient  26 .  
         [0018]     In retirement homes, the robot  12  may act as a form of entertainment device and companion, used to interact with the patients  26  in various personalized ways. This may include telling stories or adjusting comfort levels for bedridden patients. Entertainment preferences relating to a given patient  26  may be uploaded into the patient database  40 .  
         [0019]     In the event that the CPU  24  cannot come to a decision or in the event that the CPU  24  determines that further assistance is needed from a human, the robot  12  may communicate directly with a doctor/nurse  16  using the transmitter/receiver  38 . The doctor/nurse  16  may receive information from the robot  12  through a PDA, cellular phone or a similar device. The data stream from the patient condition sensors  28  may also be transmitted directly to a device such as a PDA in the doctor/nurse&#39;s  16  possession such that the doctor/nurse  16  may look at a patient&#39;s  26  physiological measurements in real time or have the robot  12  perform an additional measurement upon request.  
         [0020]     With reference to  FIG. 3 , the robot  12  uses an expert system to act semi-autonomously. For example, a decision tree is illustrated by reference numeral  100 . The decision tree  100  as illustrated is only one of numerous other possible semi-autonomous systems that can be used with the present invention. To begin, the robot  12  senses physiological data of a patient at step  102 . Simultaneously, at step  104 , the robot  12  is communicating with the patient to determine how the patient is feeling, etc. The robot  12  at step  106  then determines if any of the physiological data is above a given threshold. This threshold is based on medical knowledge and is used to determine the medical condition of the patient. If the physiological data does not exceed the threshold, the robot  12  may go on to determine from communicating with the patent at step  104  to determining if the patient is in pain at step  108 .  
         [0021]     If, however, the threshold is exceeded at step  106 , then the robot  12  then determines if the physiological data is consistent with the patient&#39;s medical history by accessing the patent database  40  at step  110 . If the physiological data is consistent, then the robot  12  takes no further action. If, however, the physiological data is not consistent, then the robot  12  decides to contact a physician or nurse at step  112 .  
         [0022]     Similarly, at step  114 , the robot  12  can determine if medication used to decrease the patient&#39;s pain is consistent with the medical history from the patient database  40 . If not consistent, the robot  12  may contact a physician or nurse at step  112 . If, however, medication is consistent with the patient&#39;s medical history and condition, then the robot  12  may autonomously administer medication to the patient at step  116  and update the patient database with the new medical history at step  118 .  
         [0023]     Using the above exemplary decision tree, the robot  12  is able to take over many of the tasks currently performed by nurses. Moreover, the physician can tailor the decision tree by altering the thresholds or adding certain medical markers to watch out for (e.g., for a given patient, the physician may want the robot  12  to contact him/her if the patient&#39;s heart-rate exceeds a given value, regardless of any other factors). The teleoperator  14  may monitor more than one robot  12  at any given time and take over any given robot  12  as the need arises even if the robot  12  has not decided to contact a physician or nurse, thereby providing a backup to the semi-autonomous robot  12 .  
         [0024]     The description of the invention is merely exemplary in nature and, thus, variations that do not depart from the gist of the invention are intended to be within the scope of the invention. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention.