Abstract:
A method and system that allows healthcare providers, hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and other persons to monitor disabled, elderly or other high-risk individuals to prevent or reduce falls and/or mitigate the impact of a fall by delivering automated notification of “at risk” behavior and falls by such an individual being monitored where assistance is required.

Description:
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/543,816, filed Jul. 7, 2012, which claimed priority to and the benefit of U.S. Application Ser. No. 61/507,088, filed Jul. 12, 2011 and this application also claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Application Ser. No. 61/798,964, filed Mar. 15, 2013, all of the above applications are incorporated by reference in their entireties. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is generally directed to patient monitoring systems and particularly to a system and method for monitoring patients in a manner which prevents or reduces patient falls. 
     BACKGROUND 
     According to recent studies, falls are a leading cause of death among people over the age of 65 years and 10% of the fatal falls for patients over 65 years of age occur in a hospital setting. For the general population, studies estimate that patient falls occur in 1.9 to 3% of all acute care hospitalizations. Of these hospital-based falls, approximately 30% will result in a serious injury with the cost to care for these injuries estimated to reach $54.9 billion per year by 2020. Current technologies that exist to assist in the prevention of falls are limited in their capabilities. These include pressure pads on the bed that trigger an alert when no pressure is detected on the pad, pressure pads on the floor and light beams that create a perimeter with alarms going off upon interruption of the beam. The pressure pads are ineffective as they do not prevent the fall but rather alert after the fact when it is too late. Additionally they are prone to false positive alerts. The light beams are also prone to false alerts when the patient or visitor simply reaches through it or the caregiver breaks the beam while delivering medication, food, drink or conducting a procedure on the patient. The present invention is directed to addressing these above-described shortcomings with current technology. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
     Generally disclosed is a novel method and system that allows healthcare providers, hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and other persons to monitor disabled, elderly or other high-risk individuals and utilize the described technology to prevent or reduce falls and/or mitigate the impact of a fall by delivering automated notification of “at risk” behavior and falls by such an individual being monitored where assistance is required. 
     The following non-limiting definitions are provided as aid in understanding the disclosed novel method and system: 
     
       
         
               
               
             
           
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                 3D Camera, Motion 
                 An electronic device that contains one or more  
               
               
                 and Sound Sensor 
                 cameras capable of recording video and  
               
               
                   
                 identifying individual objects, people and  
               
               
                   
                 motion regardless of lighting conditions and  
               
               
                   
                 which can also include one or more microphones  
               
               
                   
                 to detect audio. 
               
               
                 Computerized Virtual 
                 A computer system specifically designed and pro- 
               
               
                 Safety Rail Monitoring  
                 grammed to create virtual safety rails around a  
               
               
                 System 
                 specific object such as a hospital bed and which  
               
               
                   
                 monitors activity based on information received  
               
               
                   
                 from the 3D Camera, Motion and Sound sensor. 
               
               
                 Computerized 
                 A computer system specifically designed and  
               
               
                 Communication  
                 programmed to facilitate communication between  
               
               
                 System 
                 the monitored patient and computerized  
               
               
                   
                 monitoring system in the event the virtual  
               
               
                   
                 safety rails are crossed. 
               
               
                 System Database 
                 A computer database that stores records of all  
               
               
                   
                 alerts generated, confirmation requests, responses,  
               
               
                   
                 and reconfirmation requests. 
               
               
                 Video Monitoring 
                 A monitor that displays a video feed and alerts  
               
               
                 System 
                 from one or multiple 3D Camera, Motion and  
               
               
                   
                 Sound Sensors. 
               
               
                 Caregiver 
                 A relative, friend, individual, company or facility  
               
               
                   
                 whose purpose is to provide assistance in daily  
               
               
                   
                 living activities for individuals who are disabled,  
               
               
                   
                 elderly or otherwise in needs of assistance. 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a virtual safety rails configuration, monitoring and alerting system and method in accordance with the present invention; and 
         FIG. 2  is a non-limiting example of a centralized video monitoring system that can be used with the system and method shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a block diagram for the virtual safety rails configuration, monitoring and alerting system and method of the present invention. Specifically,  FIG. 1  shows the workflow for monitoring an individual&#39;s status through the use of one or more 3D Camera, Motion and Sound sensors. 
     At step F 1   a , one or more 3D Camera, Motion and/or Sound sensors can be installed in the patient&#39;s or individual&#39;s room. At step F 1   b , the one or more 3D Motion and Sound sensors can be configured to recognize the individual using biometric identifiers such as height, distance between points on the body, etc. Virtual safety rails can also be calibrated at this time. At step F 1   c , data from the 3D Motion and Sound sensors can be sent to a Computerized Virtual Safety Rail Monitoring System. At step F 1   d , a continuous video feed can be sent to the central Video Monitoring System. 
     At step F 1   e , if the computerized virtual safety rail monitoring system detects that the patient or any part of the patient has crossed outside of the designated perimeter (beyond the virtual safety rail), the monitoring system will alert the computerized communication system. A record can also be entered in a database to record the incident. If other individuals such as a caregiver are also detected at the time the virtual safety rail threshold is crossed, the system can be designed or programmed such that no alert is generated and it will continue to monitor the data being sent from the 3D camera, motion and sound sensor. Additionally, the system can be programmed to be capable of detecting pre-programmed hand, arm, leg and body gestures from the patient/individual and/or another person in the room to initiate an alert to the computerized communication system. As a non-limiting example, a particular hand gesture could be used as a signal to send medical assistance or that the individual needs to use the restroom. Further examples are numerous. 
     At step F 1   f , the computerized communication system preferably can first issue a verbal warning to the patient that they have crossed the virtual safety rail threshold. This verbal warning can be a pre-recorded message, including, but not limited to, a pre-recorded message from any caregiver, and will advise the patient to return to within the perimeter of the virtual safety rails. At step F 1   g , should the patient fail to return to within the perimeter of the virtual safety rails in a timely manner, an alert can be generated on the central Video Monitoring System (see  FIG. 2 ). The system database can also be updated to reflect actions taken. The system can be designed to provide visual and/or audio alerts. 
     At step F 1   h , the computerized communication system can notify caregivers or other designated persons that the individual requires assistance. Notification of caregivers can be made through phone call, text messaging, speakerphone systems, pagers, email, or other electronic means of communication if so desired and configured. At step F 1   i , if the individual returns within the perimeter of the virtual safety rails, the system database can be updated to reflect such. Additionally, the system will continue to monitor the patient and store all data in the system database. 
       FIG. 2  shows a non-limiting example of a centralized video monitoring system that can be used with the system and method. The window highlighted in red is a non-limiting example of an alert that can be generated when the patient fails to return to within the perimeter of the virtual safety rails. 
     In one non-limiting embodiment, for operation the present invention can use the following components:
         1. One or more 3D Camera, Motion and/or Sound Sensors   2. A Computerized Virtual Safety Rail Monitoring System   3. A Computerized Communication System   4. A Centralized Video Monitoring System; and   5. Database
 
The various components can be in electrical and/or wireless communication with each other.
       

     The automatic detection of an individual leaving a prescribed virtual perimeter will provide significant administrative and clinical benefits to caregivers and individuals alike, including the following non-limiting public benefits:
     1. Automation of determination of perimeter violation and automated notification of caregivers or other designated entities.   2. Ability to alert patients and caregivers in time to prevent patient from getting out of bed   3. Reduction in response time for individuals who have fallen and require assistance.   4. Increased survival rate for individuals who have experienced a fall   5. Reduction in costs for hospitalization and medical care related to complications from a fall   6. Ability to distinguish multiple individuals and prevent false positives   7. Ability to distinguish direction of motion of prevent false positives   8. Ability to provide video feed of patient under all lighting conditions to the central video monitoring system   9. Audio and gesture based recognition to allow multiple forms of communication with patient.   

     Any computer/server/electronic database system (collectively “Computer System”) capable of being programmed with the specific steps of the present invention can be used and is considered within the scope of the invention. Once programmed such Computer System can preferably be considered a special purpose computer limited to the use of two or more of the above particularly described combination of steps (programmed instructions) performing two or more of the above particularly described combination of functions. 
     All components of the present invention system and their locations, electronic communication methods between the system components, electronic storage mechanisms, etc. discussed above or shown in the drawings, if any, are merely by way of example and are not considered limiting and other component(s) and their locations, electronic communication methods, electronic storage mechanisms, etc. can be chosen and used and all are considered within the scope of the invention. 
     Unless feature(s), part(s), component(s), characteristic(s) or function(s) described in the specification or shown in the drawings for a claim element, claim step or claim term specifically appear in the claim with the claim element, claim step or claim term, then the inventor does not consider such feature(s), part(s), component(s), characteristic(s) or function(s) to be included for the claim element, claim step or claim term in the claim when and if the claim element, claim step or claim term is interpreted or construed. Similarly, with respect to any “means for” elements in the claims, the inventor considers such language to require only the minimal amount of features, components, steps, or parts from the specification to achieve the function of the “means for” language and not all of the features, components, steps or parts describe in the specification that are related to the function of the “means for” language. 
     While the invention has been described and disclosed in certain terms and has disclosed certain embodiments or modifications, persons skilled in the art who have acquainted themselves with the invention, will appreciate that it is not necessarily limited by such terms, nor to the specific embodiments and modification disclosed herein. Thus, a wide variety of alternatives, suggested by the teachings herein, can be practiced without departing from the spirit of the invention, and rights to such alternatives are particularly reserved and considered within the scope of the invention.