Patent Publication Number: US-2011077470-A1

Title: Patient Monitor Symmetry Control

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     The present disclosure relates generally to patient monitors, and, more particularly, to customizable patient monitor user interfaces. 
     This section is intended to introduce the reader to aspects of the art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art. 
     In the field of medicine, doctors often desire to monitor certain physiological characteristics of their patients. Accordingly, a wide variety of devices have been developed for monitoring many such characteristics of a patient. Such devices provide doctors and other healthcare personnel with the information they need to provide the best possible healthcare for their patients. As a result, such monitoring devices have become an indispensable part of modern medicine. 
     Patient monitors include medical devices that facilitate measurement and observation of patient physiological data. For example, pulse oximeters are a type of patient monitor. A typical patient monitor cooperates with a sensor to detect and display a patient&#39;s vital signs (e.g., temperature, pulse rate, respiratory rate) and/or other physiological measurements (e.g., water content of tissue, blood oxygen level) for observation by a user (e.g., clinician). For example, pulse oximeters are generally utilized with related sensors to detect and monitor a patient&#39;s functional oxygen saturation of arterial hemoglobin (i.e., SpO2) and pulse rate. Other types of patient monitors, such as blood pressure monitors, may be utilized to detect and monitor other physiological parameters. Further, the patient monitors may be incorporated into other types of medical devices, such as mechanical ventilators and anesthesia machines, among others. 
     A patient monitor may include a screen that displays information relating to operation and use of the patient monitor. A typical patient monitor screen may display operational data that is instructive and that facilitates operation of the monitor by a user. For example, the operational data may include status indicators and instructional data relating to the monitor itself and/or monitor applications (e.g., a power indicator, an alarm silenced icon, and a battery low indicator). The screen may also display measurement data from a patient being monitored. For example, the measurement data may include information relating to a physiological feature of the patient being monitored. Specifically, the screen may display a graph or trend (e.g., a pulse rate trend, and/or a plethysmographic waveform) of data relating to particular measured physiological parameters. 
     A patient caretaker may navigate through various screens of a patient monitor using input devices, such as buttons, to view operational data and/or to change operating parameters, such as alarm limits, of the patient monitor. However, due to the location of the input devices, a caretaker may reach across the screen to access the input devices, which may obstruct portions of the screen. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Advantages of the disclosure may become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an embodiment of a patient monitor that may employ a symmetry control feature; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the patient monitor of  FIG. 1  displaying a screen after activation of the symmetry control feature; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the patient monitor of  FIG. 1  displaying another embodiment of a screen after activation of the symmetry control feature; 
         FIG. 4  is a block diagram of an embodiment of the patient monitor of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of another embodiment of a patient monitor that may employ a symmetry control feature; and 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the patient monitor of  FIG. 5  after activation of the symmetry control feature. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     One or more specific embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below. In an effort to provide a concise description of these embodiments, not all features of an actual implementation are described in the specification. It should be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, as in any engineering or design project, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developers&#39; specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which may vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it should be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of design, fabrication, and manufacture for those of ordinary skill having the benefit of this disclosure. 
     The present disclosure relates to customization of user interfaces for medical devices, such as patient monitors. According to certain embodiments, the patient monitors may include a symmetry control feature that adjusts the position of touch sensitive inputs shown on a display of the patient monitor. The symmetry control feature may allow a user to move the touch sensitive inputs from one side of the display to another to allow a user to access the touch sensitive inputs without blocking a portion of the display that displays patient physiological data. In certain embodiments, the symmetry control feature may be designed to accommodate left-handed and right-handed users. 
     The patient monitors may include a graphical user interface with a graphical element that may be selected to activate the symmetry control feature and move the touch sensitive inputs to an opposite side of the display. Through the graphical user interface, a user also may enter user preferences that specify the location of the touch sensitive inputs for that user. For example, a right-handed user may enter preferences specifying that the touch sensitive inputs should be displayed on the right-hand side (from a user&#39;s perspective) of the patient monitor. In another example, a left-handed user may enter preferences specifying that the touch sensitive inputs should be displayed on the left-hand side (from a user&#39;s perspective) of the patient monitor. In certain embodiments, the patient monitors may include one or more communication interfaces for receiving user identification information. Upon receiving user identification information, the symmetry control feature may retrieve user preferences associated with the user identification information and may display the touch sensitive inputs in the locations specified by the user preferences. 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an embodiment of a patient monitor  10 . For example, the patient monitor  10  may be a pulse oximeter, such as those available from Nellcor Puritan Bennett LLC of Boulder, Colo. As shown, the patient monitor  10  is a pulse oximeter designed to detect and monitor blood oxygen saturation levels, pulse rate, and so forth. However, in other embodiments, the symmetry control feature may be employed in other types of patient monitors, such as vital signs monitors, critical care monitors, obstetrical care monitors, or blood pressure monitors, among others. Further, the patient monitor  10  may be part of a therapeutic medical device, such as a mechanical ventilator, or anesthesia machine, among others. 
     The patient monitor  10  may includes a front panel  12  coupled to a body  14  of the patient monitor  10 . The front panel  12  may include a display  16  that operates in conjunction with a touch screen. In certain embodiments, the display  16  may include a cathode ray tube or liquid crystal display that has a touch screen positioned in front or behind the display. Further, in certain embodiments, the touch screen may be integrated with the display  16 . 
     The display  16  may display touch sensitive inputs  18  that may be selected by a caretaker to operate the patient monitor  10 . For example, the touch sensitive inputs  18  may include graphical elements that may be pressed to change information shown on one or more screens  20  of a graphical user interface. For example, screen  20  may include a patient monitoring screen that shows processed physiological data and/or other data received through a medical device interface  22 , from a patient sensor  24 , or other suitable medical device, such as a therapy device. As shown, the medical device interface  22  includes a cable connection port. However, in other embodiments, the medical device interface  22  may be any suitable type of interface for connecting to a medical device. For example, in certain embodiments, the medical device interface  22  may include a wireless interface. 
     According to certain embodiments, the display  16  may be used to display a plethysmographic (“pleth”) waveform  26 , an oxygen saturation  28 , and/or a pulse rate  30 . The oxygen saturation  28  may be a functional arterial hemoglobin oxygen saturation measurement displayed as units of percentage SpO 2 . The pulse rate  30  may indicate a patient&#39;s pulse rate in beats per minute. The display  16  also may be used to show topic-specific screens related to the physiological data, such as a “blip” display that includes pulse amplitude blips, a real-time trend display, and an alarm limit and monitoring mode display. Moreover, the display  16  may be used to display user interface options, such as a setup and/or a configuration screen for adjusting parameters such as alarm volume, display scales, and touch sensitive input locations, among others. 
     In addition to displaying physiological information, the patient monitor  10  may also display information related to alarms and monitor settings on the display  16 . For example, in some embodiments, the patient monitor  10  may employ SatSeconds™ by Nellcor™ to detect alarms and manage nuisance alarms. SatSeconds™ may include activation of an alarm based on limits that may include the integral of time and depth of a desaturation event and may include an indicator  32  that may serve to inform the caretaker that an SpO 2  reading has been detected outside of the limit settings. The display  16  may also include an alarm status indicator (not shown), such as a bell that flashes when an alarm condition is present. One of the touch sensitive inputs  18 , such as an alarm silence graphical element  34 , may be selected to silence the alarm and display an alarm silence indicator, such as a slash through an alarm symbol, on the alarm silence graphical element  34 . The alarm silence graphical element  34  may then be selected again to un-silence the alarm and remove the alarm silence indicator from the graphical element  34 . 
     In general, the touch sensitive inputs  18  may be used to control operational functions of the patient monitor  10 . The touch sensitive inputs  18  may include graphical elements, such as the alarm silence graphical element  34 , arrows  36 , and a power key  38 . For example, the arrows  36  may be selected to adjust alarm limits and/or to vary the physiological information shown on the display  16 . In another example, the power key  38  may be selected to turn the monitor  10  on and off. 
     The touch sensitive inputs  18  also may include graphical elements  40  that may be selected to navigate through menus of the monitor  10 . For example, each of the four graphical elements  40 A,  40 B,  40 C, and  40 D may be selected to display corresponding menus governing operation of the monitor  10 . For example, the graphical element  40 A may be pressed to display “LIMITS” information, while the graphical element  40 B may be pressed to display “TREND” information. In certain embodiments, the graphical elements  40  may be selected to display operating information such as alarm limits, historic trends, setup menus, and alarm volume settings, among others. Moreover, a caretaker may select the graphical elements  40  to display various operating menus, and then may select the arrows  36  to adjust operating parameters. 
     The touch sensitive inputs  18  also may include a symmetry control graphical element  42  for varying the position of the touch sensitive inputs  18  on the display  16 . For example, a left-handed user may prefer that the arrows  36  and the alarm silence graphical element  34  be included on the left-hand side of the display  16  to reduce blockage of the display  16  during selection of the touch sensitive inputs  34  and  36 . A user may select the symmetry control graphical element  42  to move some, or all, of the touch sensitive inputs  18  to an opposite side of the display  16 . Further, in certain embodiments, the locations designated for the touch sensitive inputs and the touch sensitive inputs affected by selection of the symmetry control graphical element  42  may be customized through menus of the patient monitor  10 . 
     In addition to the touch sensitive inputs  18 , the display  16  may include various status indicators  44  (e.g., display screen graphics) that facilitate operation of the monitor  10 . For example, the status indicators  44  may include an A/C power indicator, a low battery indicator, an alarm silence indicator, a mode indicator, and so forth. The front panel  12  also includes a speaker  46  for emitting audible indications (e.g., alarms). In certain embodiments, the speaker  46  and/or the status indicators  44  may be located at other locations of the patient monitor  10  or on an external device. 
     Multiple caretakers may be responsible for a patient&#39;s care, and accordingly, several different caretakers may operate the patient monitor  10 . For example, nurses may rotate based on hospital shifts. Further, the patient monitor  10  may be employed in different environments, such as a patient&#39;s hospital room, a patient&#39;s home, or an operating room. Depending on the environment, various locations of the touch sensitive inputs  18  may be desired. For example, in an operating room, it may be desirable to include touch sensitive inputs  18  on a side of the monitor that is easy to access. In another example, a left-handed user may prefer that the arrows  36  and the alarm silence button  34  be included on the left-hand side of the display  16  to reduce blockage of information, such as the physiological data  26 ,  28 ,  30 , and  32  and/or the indicators  44 , shown on the display  16  during selection of the touch sensitive inputs  34  and  36 . Accordingly, the symmetry control graphical element  42  may be selected to vary the location of the touch sensitive inputs  18 . 
     For example, as shown in  FIG. 1 , the screen  20  is setup for operation by a right-handed user, with the touch sensitive inputs  34 ,  36 , and  42  located on the right-hand side of the display  16  to allow a user to select the touch sensitive inputs  34 ,  36 , and  42  without reaching across the display  16 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , the status indicators  44  are located on the left-hand side of the display  16 . In response to selection of the symmetry control graphical element  42 , the patient monitor  10  may display some, or all, of the touch sensitive inputs  18  on an opposite side of the display  16 . 
       FIG. 2  depicts an embodiment of the patient monitor  10  after selection of the symmetry control graphical element  42 . In response to selection of the symmetry control graphical element  42 , the patient monitor  10  may display a new screen  50  that interchanges the positions of the touch sensitive inputs  18  and the indicators  44 . Specifically, as shown on the screen  50 , the touch sensitive inputs  34 ,  36 , and  42 , are located on the left-hand side of the display  16  while the indicators  44  are located on the right-hand side of the display  16 . In certain embodiments, the screen  50  may be designed to facilitate use by a left-handed user by allowing a user to select the touch sensitive inputs  34 ,  36 , and  42  without reaching across the display  16 . 
       FIG. 3  depicts another screen  51  that may be displayed on the patient monitor  10  in response to selection of the symmetry control graphical element  42 . From the screen  20 , shown in  FIG. 1 , a user may select the symmetry control graphical element  42  to display the screen  51  that interchanges the positions of the physiological data  26 ,  28 ,  30 , and  32  and the touch sensitive inputs  18 . As shown on the screen  51 , the indicators  44  may remain in the same position, while the touch sensitive inputs  18  are moved to the left-hand side of the display  16  to a position in between the indicators  44  and the physiological data  26 ,  28 ,  30 , and  32 . The menu graphical elements  40  have also been moved, along with the physiological data  26 ,  28 ,  30 , and  32 , to the right-hand side of the display  16 . 
     In other embodiments, the relative locations of the touch sensitive inputs  18  and/or the number of touch sensitive inputs  18  moved to an opposite side of display  16  in response to selection of the symmetry control graphical element  42  may vary. For example, in certain embodiments, only the arrows  36  may move to another location, in another example, the menu graphical elements  40  may remain in a constant location. Further, other items shown on the display  16 , such as the indicators  44 , may be moved in response to selection of the symmetry control graphical element  42 . 
       FIG. 4  is a block diagram of the embodiment of the patient monitor  10  shown in  FIGS. 1-3 . The patient monitor  10  generally includes a microprocessor  52  connected to an internal bus  54 . A sensor interface  56  may be connected to the bus  54  and may allow the patient monitor  10  to communicate with and receive physiological data from the sensor  24  ( FIG. 1 ). In certain embodiments, the sensor interface  56  may include components, such as a decoder for decoding signals from the sensor, algorithms or lookup tables for identifying physiological parameters, drive circuits, and signal-processing equipment, such as filters, analog to digital converters, amplifiers, queued serial modules, and time processing units, among others. 
     In general, the sensor interface  56  may be designed to receive input from the sensor  24  and transmit signals to the microprocessor  52  in a form that the microprocessor  52  may use to calculate and/or to determine physiological parameters, for example, based on algorithms or look-up tables stored in a memory  58 . In certain embodiments, the microprocessor  52  may use the information from the sensor interface  56  to determine physiological parameters, such as SpO 2 , pulse rate, respiratory effect, and so forth. The physiological parameters may then be displayed on the display  16 . For example, as shown in  FIG. 1 , the physiological parameters, such as the pleth waveform  26 , the oxygen saturation  28 , and the pulse rate  30 , may be shown on the display  16 . The microprocessor  52  also may execute code associated with the symmetry control feature to vary the locations of the touch sensitive inputs  18 . In certain embodiments, code, software, algorithms, or the like, for the symmetry control feature may be stored within the memory  58 . 
     The memory  58  may include volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM) and/or non-volatile memory, such as read-only memory (ROM), and the like. The memory  58  also may store components, such as layers, windows, screens, templates, elements, or other components that may be shown on the display  16 . In certain embodiments, the components may be part of a graphical user interface (“GUI”) that enables a caretaker to operate the monitor  10  through a touch screen  60 . For example, the GUI may include the touch sensitive inputs  18  ( FIG. 1 ) that are shown on the display  16  and that are selectable through the touch screen  60 . The touch screen  60  may receive input from a caretaker&#39;s or object&#39;s touch and may send the information to the microprocessor  52 , which may interpret the touch event and perform a corresponding action. The touch screen  60  may employ any suitable type of touch screen technology, such as resistive, capacitive, infrared, surface acoustic wave, electromagnetic, or near field imaging, among others. 
     In certain embodiments, the memory  58  may store data representing user preferences  62 . For example, the user preferences  62  may include preferred display locations for the touch sensitive inputs  18  ( FIG. 1 ). The user preferences  62  may be entered by a user through the patient monitor  10 , for example, by navigating through menus using the touch sensitive inputs  18 . Upon entry, a user may save the user preferences  62  to the memory  58 . Further, in certain embodiments, the symmetry control feature may store previously selected locations for the touch sensitive inputs  18  as user preferences  62 . 
     In addition to specifying the locations for the touch sensitive inputs  18 , the user preferences  62  may specify which touch sensitive inputs  18  are moved to the other side of the display  16  in response to selection of the symmetry control graphical element  42  ( FIG. 1 ). Further, the user preferences  62  may specify the location of the touch sensitive inputs  18  based on another type of input in addition to, or instead of, selection of the symmetry control graphical element  42 . For example, the user preferences  62  may store touch sensitive input locations associated with user identification information that may be received through the GUI and/or from an external device connected to the patient monitor  10  through a communication interface  64 . In certain embodiments, a user may change the display language to a language written from right-to-left, such as an Arabic language, and, in response to receiving this selection, the symmetry control feature may move one or all of the touch sensitive inputs  18  to the left-hand side of the display. In another example, the patient monitor  10  may receive login information for a caretaker, and, in response to receiving the login information, the symmetry control feature may move the touch sensitive inputs  18  to locations stored as user preferences  62  corresponding to the received login information. Further, in certain embodiments, the user preferences  62  may store sizes, shapes, and/or layouts for the touch sensitive inputs  18 . 
     The user preferences  62  also may include preferred display formats for the patient physiological data, such as display views (e.g., whether a pleth waveform or a blip bar is shown), default trend displays (e.g., whether the trend display defaults to a oxygen saturation display, a pulse rate display, a dual display, or a histogram), the display scale (e.g., the time range or amplitude range for the pleth waveform), and the display locations (e.g., where the physiological data is located on the display  16 ). The user preferences  62  also may include preferred operating parameters, such the pulse beep volume, the alarm volume and/or duration, the alarm limits, and the response mode, among others. Further, the user preferences  62  may include preferred user interface display formats, such as the preferred display language, icon size or symbol set, and the size of display areas and/or the touch sensitive inputs  18 , among others. 
     The patient monitor  10  also may include the communication interface  64  that enables communication with external devices, such as a monitoring station  66 . For example, the communication interface  64  may include network connections enabling wired or wireless network communications. According to certain embodiments, the monitoring station  66  may display physiological data from one or more connected patient monitors  10 . The monitoring station  66  may allow a caretaker to monitor the physiological data from several patients in a single location. 
     In certain embodiments, login information from the monitoring station  66  may be transmitted to the monitor  10  through the communication interface  64 . The microprocessor  52  may use the login information to retrieve and apply user preferences  62  associated with the login information. For example, each caretaker may have associated user preferences  62  determining the location of the touch sensitive inputs  18  on the display  16 . In certain embodiments, the symmetry control feature may adjust the location of the touch sensitive inputs  18  in response to receiving the login information. However, in other embodiments, the patient monitor  10  may wait to apply the touch sensitive input locations associated with the user preferences  62  until selection of a touch sensitive input  18 , such as the symmetry control graphical element  42 . 
     The communication interface  64  also may include other types of communication interfaces allowing communication with external devices. For example, in certain embodiments, the communication interface  64  may include a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader that reads information from RFID tags. Through the communication interface  64 , the patient monitor  10  may read RFID tags to retrieve user identification information associated with individual caregivers. The symmetry control feature may then use the user identification information to retrieve touch sensitive input locations stored as user preferences  62 . As described below with respect to  FIGS. 5 and 6 , the patient monitor  10  may then display the touch sensitive inputs  18  in the locations specified by the user preferences  62 . 
       FIG. 5  depicts an embodiment of a patient monitor  10  with an RFID reader  68 . As shown, the RFID reader  68  is located within the body  14 . However, in other embodiments, the RFID reader  68  may be located within the front panel  12 . As described above with respect to  FIG. 4 , the RFID reader  68  may be used to receive user identification information associated with user preferences  62 . In response to receiving user identification information, the patient monitor  10  may retrieve the corresponding user preferences  62  and may vary the locations of the touch sensitive inputs  18  to correspond to the locations stored within the user preferences  62 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 5 , the patient monitor  10  displays a screen  70  with the touch sensitive inputs  34  and  36  shown on the right-hand side of the display  16 . The screen  70  may be generally similar to the screen  20  shown in  FIG. 1 ; however, the symmetry control graphical element  42  may be omitted. In response to receiving user identification information through RFID reader  68 , the patient monitor  10  may retrieve the user preferences  62  ( FIG. 4 ) associated with the user identification information and determine a location for one or more of the touch sensitive inputs  18 . The patient monitor  10  may then display a new screen  72 , as shown in  FIG. 6 , that displays the touch sensitive inputs  18  in the locations associated with the user identification information. For example, the screen  72  now shows the touch sensitive inputs  34  and  36  on the left-hand side of the screen. 
     In certain embodiments, the user preferences  62  ( FIG. 4 ) also may specify different shapes, sizes, and/or layouts for some or all of the touch sensitive inputs  18 . For example, as seen by comparing  FIGS. 5 and 6 , the menu graphical elements  40 A,  40 B,  40 C, and  40 D have been replaced by one large menu graphical element  74 . In certain embodiments, the larger size may facilitate selection of the graphical element  74  by a user wearing gloves. Moreover, in other embodiments, the patient monitor  10  may vary other settings, such as the display formats described above with respect to  FIG. 4 , in addition to varying the location of the touch sensitive inputs  18 . 
     As may be appreciated, the symmetry control features described above with respect to  FIGS. 1-6  may be employed within various types of patient monitors employing touch screens. As noted above, the symmetry control features may be employed to vary the display location of one or more touch sensitive inputs  18 . Further, the symmetry control feature may vary the display location of other elements shown on the display  16 , such as the status indicators  44  and the physiological data  26 ,  28 ,  30 , and  32 , to accommodate the adjusted locations for the touch sensitive inputs  18 . Moreover, the relative sizes, shapes, numbers, and geometries of the GUI features, such as the status indicators, the touch sensitive inputs  18 , the screens, the displays, and the windows, may vary.