Information processing apparatus, method, and information processing system for inferring a movement destination of a person by utilizing a wireless device

An information processing apparatus includes a processor, in communication with a memory, executing a process including acquiring identification information of a wireless device and information for identifying a position of the wireless device; storing a learned model generated by performing machine learning by using a training dataset including a position of a person to which the wireless device is attached and a movement destination of the person to which the wireless device is attached; inferring the movement destination of the person to which the wireless device is attached from the position of the wireless device, based on the learned model; and reporting the inferred movement destination.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is based on and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to Japanese Patent Application No. 2019-103981, filed on Jun. 3, 2019, and Japanese Patent Application No. 2020-082848, filed on May 8, 2020, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a method, and an information processing system.

2. Description of the Related Art

In the related art, there is a known technique for managing position information of medical staff such as nurses (also referred to as “healthcare professionals”) within a medical facility such as a hospital. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for centrally managing position information of persona involved in medical care (e.g., a patient, a physician, a nurse, etc.) and the medical information of a patient.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus including a processor, in communication with a memory, executing a process including acquiring identification information of a wireless device and information for identifying a position of the wireless device; storing a learned model generated by performing machine learning by using a training dataset including a position of a person to which the wireless device is attached and a movement destination of the person to which the wireless device is attached; inferring the movement destination of the person to which the wireless device is attached from the position of the wireless device, based on the learned model; and reporting the inferred movement destination.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In medical facilities such as hospitals, etc., medical staff need to know which patient room to go to next after completing work at the present position, in order to efficiently move among patient rooms, etc. However, in Patent Document 1, although the patient's medical information and the present position of the medical staff member and the like can be centrally managed, it has not been possible to present the destination of movement (movement destination) of the medical staff member and the like.

A problem to be addressed by an embodiment of the present invention is to predict the movement destination of a person, such as a medical staff member, to which a wireless device is attached (a person wearing or carrying a wireless device).

Hereinafter, each embodiment will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the present specification and the drawings, for the elements having substantially the same functional configuration, overlapping descriptions are omitted by denoting the same elements by the same reference numerals.

FIG. 1is a diagram of the entire configuration of a prediction system1(an example of an information processing system) according to an embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated inFIG. 1, the prediction system1includes a prediction apparatus10(an example of an information processing apparatus), a radio frequency identifier (RFID) tag20, an RFID receiver30, a Gateway40, and a report terminal50. The prediction apparatus10may receive data from the RFID receiver30via the Gateway40via any network60. The prediction apparatus10can transmit data to the report terminal50via any network60. Each of these elements will be described below.

It is assumed that the RFID tag20is attached to a medical staff member21(that the medical staff member21is wearing or carrying the RFID tag20).

The prediction apparatus10acquires the present position of the medical staff member21and predicts the position of the next movement destination (i.e., the next position) to which the medical staff member21is to go. The prediction apparatus10can report, to the report terminal50, the information of the position of the movement destination (the location of the destination). With reference toFIG. 3, the prediction apparatus10will be described in detail later.

The RFID tag20, the RFID receiver30, and the Gateway40perform processes to acquire the present position of the medical staff member21.

The RFID tag20is embedded with identification information (hereinafter referred to as a tag ID) for identifying the RFID tag20. As noted above, the RFID tag20is attached to the medical staff member21.

The RFID receiver30is provided with identification information (hereinafter, referred to as an antenna ID) for identifying the RFID receiver30. For example, the RFID receiver30is located on the ceiling or the like of each patient room or the like in the hospital. The RFID receiver30receives the tag ID from the RFID tag20via Near Field Communication. The RFID receiver30also transmits the tag ID and antenna ID to the Gateway40.

The Gateway40transmits collected data from the RFID receiver30to the prediction apparatus10. For example, the Gateway40receives tag IDs and antenna IDs from the RFID receivers30installed in a plurality of patient rooms or the like and transmits the tag IDs and antenna IDs to the prediction apparatus10.

The method for acquiring the present position of the medical staff member21is not limited to the method using the RFID as described above, but may be any method such as the method using a beacon. That is, any relevant method may be used as long as it is possible to acquire information (e.g., an antenna ID) for identifying the position of any wireless device (e.g., the RFID tag20) attached to the medical staff member21.

The report terminal50acquires the information of the position of the movement destination of the medical staff member21, from the prediction apparatus10, and presents the information to the medical staff member21or the like. For example, the report terminal50may be a digital signage, a smartphone, a tablet, a personal computer, a wearable device worn by the medical staff member21, or the like, installed within the hospital. The report terminal50may display the information of the position of the movement destination on the screen or may output the information of the position of the movement destination by voice sound.

Note that the group of devices described in the embodiment are merely indicative of one of a plurality of computing environments for carrying out the embodiments described herein. For example, the prediction apparatus10may be implemented by a plurality of computers.

FIG. 2is a hardware configuration diagram of the prediction apparatus10according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2is a diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of the prediction apparatus10. As illustrated inFIG. 2, the prediction apparatus10is constructed by a computer and includes a central processing unit (CPU)101, a read-only memory (ROM)102, a random access memory (RAM)103, a hard disk (HD)104, a hard disk drive (HDD) controller105, a display106, an external device connection I/F108, a network I/F109, a bus line110, a keyboard111, a pointing device112, a Digital Versatile Disk Rewritable (DVD-RW) drive114, and a medium I/F116as illustrated inFIG. 2.

Among these, the CPU101controls the operation of the entire prediction apparatus10. The ROM102stores a program used to drive the CPU101, such as an IPL. The RAM103is used as the work area of the CPU101. The HD104stores various kinds of data such as programs. The HDD controller105controls the reading or writing of various kinds of data to the HD104in accordance with the control of the CPU101. The display106displays various kinds of information such as cursors, menus, windows, characters, or images. The external device connection I/F108is an interface for connecting various external devices. In this case, the external device may be, for example, a USB memory or a printer. The network I/F109is an interface for performing data communication using a communication network. The bus line110is an address bus, data bus, or the like for electrically connecting components such as the CPU101illustrated inFIG. 2.

The keyboard111is a type of input unit including a plurality of keys for input of characters, numbers, various indications, and the like. The pointing device112is a type of input means for selecting and executing various instructions, selecting a processing target, moving a cursor, and the like. The DVD-RW drive114controls the reading or writing of various kinds of data to a DVD-RW113as an example of a removable recording medium. The recording medium is not limited to a DVD-RW, but may be a DVD recordable (DVD-R), etc. The medium I/F116controls the reading or writing (storage) of data to a recording medium115, such as a flash memory.

FIG. 3is a functional block diagram of the prediction apparatus10according to an embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated inFIG. 3, the prediction apparatus10may include a present position acquiring unit201, a training dataset storage unit202, a machine learning unit203, a learned model storage unit204, an inference unit205, and a reporting unit206. The prediction apparatus10can function as the present position acquiring unit201, the machine learning unit203, the inference unit205, and the reporting unit206by executing a program. Each of the functions will be described below.

The present position acquiring unit201acquires a tag ID of the RFID tag20and an antenna ID of the RFID receiver30from the RFID receiver30via the Gateway40. The present position acquiring unit201converts data of the acquired tag ID and antenna ID. Hereinafter, the conversion of data will be described with reference to FIG.FIGS. 4A and 4B.

FIGS. 4A and 4Bare diagrams for describing pre-conversion data (data before conversion) and post-conversion data (data after conversion) according to an embodiment of the present invention. The pre-conversion data illustrated inFIG. 4is the data acquired by the present position acquiring unit201. As illustrated inFIG. 4A, the pre-conversion data includes the tag ID of the RFID tag20, the antenna ID of the RFID receiver30that has read the RFID tag20, and the date and time when the RFID receiver30has read the RFID tag20. The post-conversion data inFIG. 4Bis data after the present position acquiring unit201has converted the pre-conversion data ofFIG. 4A. As illustrated inFIG. 4B, the post-conversion data includes information (e.g., name) for identifying the medical staff member21associated with the tag ID (i.e., the medical staff member21to which the RFID tag20is attached), information (e.g., a room number) for identifying the area associated with the antenna ID (i.e., the patient room in which the RFID receiver30is installed, etc.), and the date and time when the RFID receiver30has read the RFID tag20.

The a training dataset storage unit202stores training dataset used for machine learning. The training dataset in the training dataset storage unit202is data converted into a predetermined format (that is, the post-conversion data ofFIG. 4B) using the position information data acquired by the present position acquiring unit201for a certain period of time and accumulated therein. Hereinafter, the data stored in the training dataset storage unit202will be described with reference toFIG. 5.

FIG. 5illustrates an example of data stored in the training dataset storage unit202according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, “date time” represents the date and time of acquisition of the RFID tag20acquired by the present position acquiring unit201. “Person” represents the medical staff member21(nurse A) wearing the RFID tag20. A vector representing the area where the medical staff member21is located at each date and time (e.g., a vector representing a room number) is expressed as “101,102, . . .505”. A training dataset including a plurality of pieces of the above-described time series data is stored in the training dataset storage unit202.

Returning toFIG. 3, the machine learning unit203generates a learned model for deriving the position (i.e., the next position) of the movement destination of the RFID tag20, from the position of the RFID tag20attached to the medical staff member21. Specifically, the machine learning unit203performs machine learning using a training dataset, in which the area where the medical staff member21is located (e.g., a room number) is set as input data, and the area where the medical staff member21is located next (e.g., a room number) is set as output data, thereby generating a learned model. The machine learning unit203stores the generated learned model in the learned model storage unit204.

The learned model storage unit204stores the learned model generated by the machine learning unit203.

In the <learning phase>, in addition to position information, information of the time at which the medical staff member21has been located at the corresponding position may also be learned. Specifically, the machine learning unit203performs machine learning using the training dataset in which the area where the medical staff member21is located (e.g., a room number) and the time at which the medical staff member21has been located in the corresponding area are set as input data, and the area where the medical staff member21is located next (e.g., a room number) is set as output data, thereby generating a learned model. In this case, it is possible to learn the movement according to the time period (for example, during daytime, the medical staff member21often moves from room101to room102, but during nighttime, the medical staff member21often moves from room101to room103, etc.).

The inference unit205acquires the present position of the RFID tag20attached to the medical staff member21and infers the position of the movement destination (i.e., the next position) to which the RFID tag20will move.

Specifically, the inference unit205acquires, from the present position acquiring unit201, information (e.g., name) for identifying the medical staff member21and information (e.g., room number) for identifying the area where the medical staff member21is located. Further, the inference unit205inputs the “area where the medical staff member21is located (e.g., the room number)” into the learned model in the learned model storage unit204and causes the learned model to output the “area where the medical staff member21will be located next (e.g., the room number)”.

A model according to one embodiment of the present invention will now be described. In one embodiment of the invention, a model is constructed using Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM). Hereinafter, specific network configurations will be described with reference toFIG. 13, and specific parameters will be described with reference toFIG. 14.

FIG. 13is a model structure of LSTM according to an embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated inFIG. 13, in the intermediate layer, a three-layer structure of a ReLU function, Batch Normalization, and Dropout=0.2 is applied to the activation function. Further, immediately before the output layer, a softmax function is used.

FIG. 14indicates operation parameters in an LSTM model according to an embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated inFIG. 14, the “number of steps” is 3, 5, 10, the “mini batch size” is 128, and the “number of times of learning” is 25.

In the <inference phase>, in addition to position information, information of the time at which the medical staff member21has been located at the present position may also be input to the learned model. Specifically, the inference unit205inputs “the area where the medical staff member21is located (e.g., the room number)” and “the date and time when the RFID receiver30has read the RFID tag20” into the learned model in the learned model storage unit204, and causes the learned model to output “the area where the medical staff member21will be located next (e.g., the room number)”. In this case, it is possible to infer the movement according to the time period (for example, during daytime, the medical staff member21often moves from room101to room102, but during nighttime, the medical staff member21often moves from room101to room103, etc.).

FIG. 6is a diagram for describing the inference phase according to an embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated inFIG. 6, when the learned model in the learned model storage unit204generated by the machine learning unit203accepts input of information of the present area (i.e., the present position of the RFID tag20) where the medical staff member21is located (the present time may be added), the learned model outputs information of the area where the medical staff member21is to move to (i.e., the next position of the RFID tag20).

<<Prediction of Flow Line>>

In the above <learning phase> and <inference phase>, a plurality of positions to move to next (i.e., a flow line) may be learned and inferred, rather than only the next immediate position to which the medical staff member moves. Specifically, the machine learning unit203performs machine learning by using a training dataset in which the area where the medical staff member21is located (e.g., a room number) is set as input data, and a plurality of areas where the medical staff member21is to move to next (i.e., the next area, the area after next, . . . ) are set as output data, thereby generating a learned model. The inference unit205inputs the “area where the medical staff member21is located (e.g., the room number)” into the learned model in the learned model storage unit204, and causes the learned model to output a “plurality of areas where the medical staff member21is to move to (i.e., the next area, the area after next, . . . ).”

<<Prediction of Position and Action>

In the above <learning phase> and <inference phase>, in addition to position information, information about the action of the medical staff member21may be learned and inferred. Specifically, the machine learning unit203performs machine learning using a training dataset, in which the area where the medical staff member21is located (e.g., a room number) is set as input data, and the area where the medical staff member21is located next (e.g., a room number) and the action in the next area are set as output data, thereby generating a learned model. The inference unit205inputs the “area where the medical staff member21is located (e.g., room number)” into the learned model in the learned model storage unit204, and causes the learned model to output “an area (e.g., room number) where the medical staff member21will be located next (e.g., room number) and information about the action (action information) at the next position”. For example, action information may include at least one of information of the action that the medical staff member21is to perform in an area such as a patient room, and information of what is needed to perform the action. In this case, the training dataset may be generated based on a diary and the like of the medical staff member21.

Any combination of the above-described <<present time>>, <<prediction of flow line>>, and <<prediction of position and action>> is possible.

Here, the data format of the input data and output data according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described. Referring toFIGS. 15A and 15B, the case of inferring the area to which the medical staff member21is to move (i.e., the next position of the RFID tag20) will be described, and referring toFIGS. 16A and 16B, the case of inferring the area to which the medical staff member21is to move (i.e., the next position of the RFID tag20) and the information of the action at the next position, will be described.

FIGS. 15A and 15Billustrate data formats of input data and output data according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The input data includes the date and time (“date time” inFIG. 15A) and the area where the medical staff member21is located at the corresponding date and time (“101,102, . . . ,505” inFIG. 15A). In the example ofFIG. 15A, room102at 12:10 on Nov. 1, 2019, room101at 12:15 on Nov. 1, 2019, and room102at 12:20 on Nov. 1, 2019 are used as input data.

The output data includes the date and time (the “date time” inFIG. 15B) and the area where the medical staff member21is to move to at the date and time (the “101,102, . . . ,505” inFIG. 15B; note that the area with the highest probability is set as the next movement destination). In the example ofFIG. 15B, it is inferred, from the above input data, that the medical staff member21is to move to room101at 12:25 on Nov. 1, 2019.

Note that when predicting a plurality of movement destinations (that is, when predicting a flow line), the prediction is performed again using, as input data, the prediction result (output data ofFIG. 15B) and a predetermined number of pieces of data from the most recent data among the input data (data at 12:15 and data at 12:20 in the example ofFIG. 15A).

FIGS. 16A and 16Billustrate data formats of input data and output data according to an embodiment of the present invention

The input data includes the date and time (date time inFIG. 16A), the medical staff member21(person inFIG. 16A), and the area where the medical staff member21is located at the corresponding date and time (“101,102, . . . ,505” inFIG. 16A). In the example ofFIG. 16A, 12:10 on Nov. 1, 2019 and nurse A and room102; 12:15 on Nov. 1, 2019 and nurse A and room101; and 12:20 on Nov. 1, 2019 and nurse A and room102, are used as the input data.

The output data includes the date and time (date time inFIG. 16B), the medical staff member21(person inFIG. 16B), and the area where the medical staff member21is to move to at the date and time (the “101,102, . . . ,505” inFIG. 16B; note that the area with the highest probability is set as the next movement destination), and information about the action at the next location (action inFIG. 16B). In the example ofFIG. 16B, it is inferred, from the above input data, that the medical staff member21(nurse A) is to move to room101at 12:25 on Nov. 1, 2019 to perform an action related to a medical examination.

Note that when predicting a plurality of movement destinations (that is, predicting a flow line), the same method as that illustrated inFIGS. 15A and 15Bis used.

The reporting unit206reports, to the report terminal50, the result inferred by the inference unit205(that is, the area (e.g., room number) to which the medical staff member21is to move). As described above, the reporting unit206may send a report such that the report terminal50displays the report on a screen or may send a report such that the report terminal50outputs the report by voice sound. In addition to reporting the next position, the reporting unit206may be configured to report the information about the action to be performed at the next position.

Hereinafter, functions that can be added to the above-described embodiments will be described.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the prediction apparatus10may further include an aberration detecting unit that deletes data, in which an aberration is detected, from the data acquired by the present position acquiring unit201during a certain period of time in the past, and then sets the resulting data as the training dataset. Hereinafter, the aberration detection will be described with reference toFIG. 7.

FIG. 7is an example of a neural network for detecting aberrations according to an embodiment of the present invention. The neural network is used in the data processing that is the pre-process of generating the training dataset to be stored in the training dataset storage unit202ofFIG. 3. The neural network includes an encoder unit which outputs the next position as a prediction result when a movement history (position information history) of the medical staff member21of a certain period of time in the past is input, and a decoder unit which outputs a movement history in the past from the output next position.

When the difference between the input vector input to the encoder unit (a vector representing the area where the medical staff member21is located, such as a room number) and the output vector output from the decoder unit, is greater than or equal to a predetermined reference, the corresponding data is deleted from the candidate of a training dataset.

In this way, among the information of the position of the RFID tag20attached to the medical staff member21, data relating to the information of a position determined to be aberrant (e.g., information of an irregular movement of the medical staff member21) is deleted from the candidate of a training dataset. Then, the cleansed data is used for predicting the movement and the action, and, therefore, it is possible to improve the accuracy of the training dataset.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the medical staff members21may be clustered based on movement patterns so as to predict the movement destination and the action of the medical staff member21for each cluster (i.e., to generate a learned model for each cluster). Specifically, a learned model according to the attributes common to the medical staff members21belonging to the cluster is used. Accordingly, it is possible to improve the accuracy in the prediction of the movement and the action of the medical staff member21.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the predicted movement destination and action may be matched with the schedule of the medical facility or the medical staff member21to eliminate inappropriate prediction results (e.g., unrealistic prediction results in view of the schedule of the medical facility or the medical staff member21).

A method of the learning process and the inference process will be described below.

FIG. 8is a flowchart of a learning process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In step S11, the present position acquiring unit201acquires the tag ID of the RFID tag20and the antenna ID of the RFID receiver30that has read the RFID tag20.

In step S12, the present position acquiring unit201converts the tag ID and the antenna ID acquired in step S11into information (e.g., name) for identifying the medical staff member21associated with the tag ID and information (e.g., room number) for identifying the area associated with the antenna ID, respectively.

In step S13, the machine learning unit203performs machine learning using the post-conversion data of step S12(that is, time series data of the vector representing the area where the medical staff member21is located (for example, a vector representing the room number)) as the training dataset. Specifically, the machine learning unit203performs machine learning using the training dataset in which the area where the medical staff member21is located (e.g., the room number) is set as the input data and the area where the medical staff member21is to be located next (e.g., the room number) is set as the output data, thereby generating a learned model.

In step S14, the machine learning unit203stores the learned model generated in S13in the learned model storage unit204.

FIG. 9is a flowchart of an inference process according to one embodiment of the present invention.

In step S21, the present position acquiring unit201acquires the tag ID of the RFID tag20and the antenna ID of the RFID receiver30that has read the RFID tag20.

In step S22, the present position acquiring unit201converts the tag ID and the antenna ID acquired in S21to information (e.g., name) for identifying the medical staff member21associated with the tag ID and information (e.g., room number) for identifying the area associated with the antenna ID, respectively.

In step S23, the inference unit205inputs the “area (e.g., room number) where the medical staff member21is located” of step S22to the learned model in the learned model storage unit204, and causes the learned model to output the “area (e.g., room number) where the medical staff member21will be located next”.

In step S24, the reporting unit206reports, to the report terminal50, the result inferred by the inference unit205in step S23.

FIGS. 10 and 11are examples of a screen displayed on the report terminal50according to an embodiment of the present invention. For example, as illustrated inFIG. 10, the next immediate position (e.g., patient room, treatment room, nurse station, etc.) to which each of the one or more medical staff members21moves, may displayed on the screen of the report terminal50. Alternatively, for example, as illustrated inFIG. 11, a flow line indicating a plurality of positions (e.g., patient room, treatment room, nurse station, etc.) to which one or more medical staff members21are to move next, may displayed on the screen of the report terminal50.

Other Embodiments

In an embodiment of the present invention, the report terminal50or a computer connected to the report terminal50(e.g., a computer installed in a hospital) may include some or all of the functions of the prediction apparatus10. For example, in the example ofFIG. 12, the prediction apparatus10includes the machine learning unit203and the report terminal50includes the inference unit205. The machine learning unit203of the prediction apparatus10performs the above-described <learning phase>, and the inference unit205of the report terminal50performs the above-described <inference phase>. Specifically, the prediction apparatus10performs a process of machine learning to generate a learned model. The report terminal50performs a process of inference using the learned model generated by the prediction apparatus10.

<Application to Other Fields>

While the embodiments have been described in the context of a medical setting relating to medical staff members, the prediction system, apparatus, method, and program of the present invention may be utilized for applications other than medical staff members in the medical setting. For example, it is possible to predict the movement and action of patients in medical facilities such as hospitals and residents in nursing homes, and to predict the movement and action of employees in plant production lines, and to predict the movement and action of tourists.

Thus, in one embodiment of the present invention, the movement destination (i.e., the next position) can be predicted based on the present position of the medical staff member or the like. In the prediction, movements of medical staff members, etc., according to time periods, can be taken into account. Therefore, it is possible to predict the movement destination depending on the hospital situation and the medical staff member's work schedule.

The functions of each of the embodiments described above may be implemented by one or more processing circuits. As used herein, a “processing circuit” includes a processor programmed to execute each function by software such as a processor implemented in an electronic circuit; or devices such as an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) a digital signal processor (DSP), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), and a conventional circuit module, designed to execute each function as described above.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to predict the movement destination of a person, such as a medical staff member, to which a wireless device is attached.

The information processing apparatus, the method, and the information processing system are not limited to the specific embodiments described in the detailed description, and variations and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.