Abstract:
A system and method to allow for connectivity of a plurality of medical devices in a health care setting and the delivery of data from those medical devices to an individual to utilize the information received is provided. In typical medical devices, the reporting of data is distinct and hard to interpret. The present invention provides a set of graphical tools that allow the interpretation of different data from different medical devices. Additionally, the present invention provides a set of software tools that allows the data received from a plurality of different medical devices to be separated into more appropriate fields based on pre-determined configuration to assign specific flagged data to specific devices. This information allows the user to receive data whereby the data is previously interpreted to determine from what medical device the information has been received and how to interpret the data for further processing. The present invention also allows for interpreted data received from a plurality of medical devices to be sent to a health care information system department for further processing and analysis.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application is related to and claims priority from PCT International Patent Application No. PCT/US2011/050880 filed Sep. 8, 2011, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/381,016 filed Sep. 8, 2010. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to managing healthcare related information and more particularly to providing graphical tools that enable processing and interpreting healthcare related information generated by medical devices. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    The number of network-connected devices has grown dramatically over the last decade. Such growth is expected to continue far into the future, causing enormous problems of integration for consumers, companies, and governments. One significant problem is the inclusion of many legacy devices that were never intended to be connected to a network. Further, many network enabled devices have inadequate monitoring and control capabilities. These problems are pervasive and may involve various types of equipments ranging from, for example, fax machines, printers, copiers and other office equipment, to specialized devices found in manufacturing plants, home appliances, hand-held electronics and medical devices. Some of these equipments may have network capability but may not be part of an integrated network. This problem is particularly acute for the administrators, who often find them spending a great deal of money and time bridging heterogeneous management systems. Some of these equipments may not contain state information and can be even more difficult to manage. A more homogeneous management environment can save time and money, but numerous vendors have many valid business and technical reasons for avoiding homogeneous management systems. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    Some embodiments of the invention employ a system and method to allow for connecting a plurality of medical devices in a health care setting and delivering data from those medical devices to a Hospital or Clinical Information System (H/CIT) to utilize the information received. Some embodiments of the invention provide a set of graphical tools that allow the interpretation of different data from different medical devices. Some embodiments of the invention provide a set of software tools that allows the data received from a plurality of different medical devices to be separated into more appropriate fields based on pre-determined configuration to assign specific flagged data to specific devices. This information allows the user to receive data whereby the data is previously interpreted to determine from what medical device the information has been received and how to interpret the data for further processing. Some embodiments of the invention allow for interpreted data received from a plurality of medical devices to be sent to a health care information system for further processing and analysis. 
         [0005]    An exemplary embodiment of the present invention, it is contemplated that the system for collecting and interpreting data to be used in a hospital or clinical environment, the system comprising: a first set of medical devices configured to generate data in different formats; and a first device server coupled with the first set of medical devices and configured to include a data interpretation module to identify data associated with each medical device in the first set, interpret the data associated with each medical device in the first set, and identify type of data associated with each medical device in the first set, wherein the first device server is to transmit the interpreted data to a hospital or clinical information system (H/CIT). 
         [0006]    In another exemplary embodiment, the first device server further includes a conduit manager configured to operate with one or more different communication protocols to accommodate communication protocols specific to each of the plurality of medical devices in the first set. 
         [0007]    In another exemplary embodiment, the first device server is further configured to present a graphical user interface to present the interpreted data to a user. 
         [0008]    In another exemplary embodiment, the plurality of medical devices in the first set are located within a healthcare facility. 
         [0009]    In another exemplary embodiment, a device server manager coupled with the first device server and configured to receive management information from the first device server. 
         [0010]    In another exemplary embodiment, the first device server is connected to a first network and the device server manager is connected to a second network. 
         [0011]    In another exemplary embodiment, the device server manager is coupled to a second device server connected to a third network and to a second set of medical devices separate from the first set of medical devices connected to the first device server. 
         [0012]    In another exemplary embodiment, the second device server is configured to receive data from the medical devices in the second set, generate interpreted data associated with the medical devices in the second set, and transmit that interpreted data to the H/CIT. 
         [0013]    In another exemplary embodiment, the second network is a wide area network (WAN), and wherein communication between the device server manager and the first or the second device server is carried out using transmission control protocol/Internet (TCP/IP) protocol. 
         [0014]    In another exemplary embodiment, the first and second device servers create their own connection to the device server manager by periodically authenticating themselves to the device server manager, and the connection is kept open for bi-directional communication. 
         [0015]    In an exemplary embodiment, a computer implemented method for collecting and interpreting data from different medical devices, the method comprising: establishing a connection to each of a plurality of medical devices associated with a hospital network, wherein each of the medical devices is configured to generate data in a different format; receiving the data generated by each of the medical devices via the corresponding connection; interpreting the data of each of the medical devices to generated interpreted data; associated the interpreted data with their medical devices along with type of data; and transmitting the interpreted data along with information about the medical devices and type of data to a hospital or clinical information system (H/CIT). 
         [0016]    In another exemplary embodiment, interpreting the data comprises separating the data into fields based on pre-determined configuration to assign specific flagged data to a specific medical device. 
         [0017]    In another exemplary embodiment, generating a user interface to enable a user to view the interpreted data along with the information about the medical devices and type of data. 
         [0018]    In another exemplary embodiment, transmitting the interpreted data along with the information about the medical devices and type of data to a department information system for analysis. 
         [0019]    In another exemplary embodiment, establishing a connection with a device server manager for authentication. 
         [0020]    In another exemplary embodiment, the device server manager is connected to a wide area network (WAN), and wherein the connection with the device server manager is based on transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP). 
         [0021]    In another exemplary embodiment, establishing a connection with a remote system administrator station and to transmit management information to the system administrator station. 
         [0022]    In an exemplary embodiment, a computer-readable media that stores instructions, which when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising: establishing a connection to each of a plurality of heterogeneous medical devices associated with a hospital network; receiving the data generated by each of the medical devices via the corresponding connection; interpreting the data of each of the medical devices to generated interpreted data; generating a user interface to enable a user to view the interpreted data; and transmitting the interpreted data to a hospital or clinical information system (H/CIT). 
         [0023]    In another exemplary embodiment, associating the interpreted data with their medical devices along with type of data; transmitting the interpreted data along with the information about the medical devices and type of data to a department information system for analysis; and establishing a connection with a device server manager for authentication. 
         [0024]    In another exemplary embodiment, each of the medical devices is configured to generate data in a different format, and wherein interpreting the data comprises of separating the data into fields based on pre-determined configuration to assign specific flagged data to a specific medical device. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
         [0025]    The multiple drawings refer to the embodiments of the invention. 
           [0026]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating an example device server configured with a device interpretation tool, in accordance with some embodiments. 
           [0027]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating an example device server configured with a conduit manager, in accordance with some embodiments. 
           [0028]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram illustrating an example device server configured to transmit device management information to a remote system administrator station, in accordance with some embodiments. 
           [0029]      FIG. 4  is a block diagram illustrating an example of multiple device servers configured to communicate with a device server manager, in accordance with some embodiments. 
           [0030]      FIG. 5A  is a flow diagram illustrating an example process that may be performed by a device server, in accordance with some embodiments. 
           [0031]      FIG. 5B  is a flow diagram illustrating another example process that may be performed by a device server, in accordance with some embodiments. 
           [0032]      FIG. 6  is a system diagram of an example computer system, in accordance with some embodiments. 
       
    
    
       [0033]    While the invention is subject to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. The invention should be understood to not be limited to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0034]    In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth, such as examples of specific voltages, named components, connections, types of circuits, etc., in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well known components or methods have not been described in detail but rather in a block diagram in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present invention. Further specific numeric references such as a first device server, a second device server, etc. may be made. However, the specific numeric reference should not be interpreted as a literal sequential order but rather interpreted that the first device server is different than the second device server. Thus, the specific details set forth are merely exemplary. The specific details may be varied from and still be contemplated to be within the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
       Overview 
       [0035]    Device management functionality comes in many different forms depending on the administrator&#39;s needs and the capabilities of the target device. Common management functions include monitoring the device&#39;s critical information, taking an inventory of the devices sub-systems, logging interesting events that take place, sending alerts to an administrator, recovering the device if the power fails, ensuring the data is secure, asset tracking, or reporting information to an administrator. Administrators also employ more advanced management functions including scripting or programming, aggregating device data from multiple devices, diagnostics, taking action based on the device data content, trending device data, reporting information in a final format including a spreadsheet or graph, or translating from one management format to another. A major area of management functionality includes securing the device through providing confidentiality of data, data integrity, administrator authentication, device authentication, risk mitigation, countermeasures, or protection against hostile environments and threats. 
         [0036]    As an example, various medical devices surrounding a patient&#39;s bed operate independently of each other and include non-standard wires, tubes, and interfaces. One problem is lack of integration between the medical devices. For example, some medical devices generate information in a proprietary format, which is not compatible with other medical devices from different vendors. In another example, a medical device may produce an analog signal for a patient&#39;s vital signs. Because the signal is not digital or recorded, the analog signal must be transcribed onto a piece of paper or else the information is lost. As a result of this lack of integration, health care professionals must pay greater attention to control and monitor many medical devices individually, requiring more personnel to transcribe the data, more time to review the data, and greater potential for lost data and transcription error. Some devices with analog signals may store the data for short periods of time but again, the time must be taken later to review and transcribe the information. Additionally, there is little to no integration between the plurality of medical devices. 
       Device Server 
       [0037]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating an example device server configured with a device interpretation tool, in accordance with some embodiments. Diagram  100  includes a system that allows interpreting data from a plurality of different medical devices which transport different data information to an information technology system. Diagram  100  includes a plurality of medical devices including the medical devices  110 ,  115  and  120 . These medical devices  110 ,  115  and  120  may be included in a hospital or a health care facility  106 . For some embodiments, these medical devices  110 ,  115  and  120  may be different or heterogeneous such that they don&#39;t all conform to a certain standard in terms of how their data is formatted and interpreted and further in terms of how their data is viewed or presented to a user or to any other system. Diagram  100  also includes a device server  103  configured to communicate and receive information generated by the medical devices  110 ,  115  and  120 . The medical devices  110 ,  115  and  120  may be located locally to the device server  103 , or they may be located remotely from the device server  103 . Each of the medical devices  110 ,  115  and  120  may use the communication link  104 ,  108  and  109  respectively to communicate with the device server  103 . 
         [0038]    For some embodiments, the device server  103  may include a device interpretation tool  105  configured to process and interpret the data received from the medical devices  110 ,  115  and  120 . The device interpretation tool  105  may be implemented in hardware, software or a combination of both. The device interpretation tool  105  may generate interpreted data  101  for each of the medical devices  110 ,  115  and  120 . Thus, the device server  103  may communicate, monitor, collect and interpret the data associated with the medical devices  110 ,  115  and  120 . The interpreted data  101  may be transmitted to a user such as an administrator or a hospital or clinical information system (H/CIT)  102  using the communication link  107  for further processing. 
         [0039]    For some embodiments, the device interpretation tool  105  may separate the interpreted data into appropriate fields corresponding to the medical devices that the data is associated with. For example, the device interpretation tool  105  may determine the type of medical device that sent the data and provide the data to a user in such a fashion that enables the user to clearly delineate the type of medically relevant information being viewed. For example, the user may be able to see heart related information generated by the medical device  110 , oxygen related information from the medical device  115 , and temperature related information from the medical device  120 . 
       Conduit Manager 
       [0040]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating an example device server configured with a conduit manager, in accordance with some embodiments. Device server  203  may include a conduit manager  205  to communicate with the medical devices  110 ,  115  and  120 . The conduit manager  205  may operate with one or more different communication protocols (e.g., serial, parallel, universal serial bus (USB), transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP), etc.) to accommodate the communication protocol specific to each of the medical devices  110 ,  115  and  120  using the links  204 ,  298  and  209 , respectively. The conduit manager may process the data received from the medical devices  110 ,  115  and  120  and pass that data to other logics included in the device server  203 . The logics in the device server  203  may include the device interpretation tool  105  illustrated in  FIG. 1 . The interpreted data  201  generated by the device server  203  may then be transmitted to the H/CIT  102  using the communication link  207 . As illustrated, the device server  203 , the medical devices  110 ,  115  and  120  and the H/CIT  102  in this example may be part of a hospital network  210 . 
       System Administrator and Graphical Tools 
       [0041]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram illustrating an example device server configured to transmit device management information to a remote system administrator station, in accordance with some embodiments. Device server  303  may include logic such as the device interpretation tool  105  to interpret the data. Once the device server  303  identifies the type of medical device associated with the data, the device server  303  may then parse the information and present the data to the H/CIT  102  in a manner as to allow the user to select the medical device and the data associated with the medical device. For some embodiments, the device server  303  may further send the data to other information systems associated with various departments so that the data may be further processed, collected and stored for use by other users. 
         [0042]    Device server  303  may include graphical tools  305  configured to graphically display the information received from the medical devices  110 ,  115  and  120 . The graphical tools  305  may separate the data from the medical devices  110 ,  115  and  120  such that a user can identify the information received as relating to a specific type of medical device and can understand the data received from that medical device. The graphical tools  305  may be configured to generate and present a user interface to allow the user to view and manipulate the data received from the medical devices  110 ,  115  and  120 . The user interface may include options to select the type of medical device, the type of information among others. For example, there may be a pull-down menu to display options to select heart information, oxygen information or temperature information. There may be another pull-down menu to display options to select a heart monitoring medical device, an oxygen monitoring medical device, or a temperature monitoring medical device. The user interface may make it easier for the user to understand the data received from the medical devices and may allow the user to perform further analysis using graphical tools or any other tools that may be available using the menus of the user interface. 
         [0043]    For some embodiments, the device server  303  may be communicatively coupled with a system administrator station located remotely using the communication link  307 . This may enable an administrator to monitor the status of the medical devices as well as the communication link established between the device server  303  and the medical devices  110 ,  115  and  120 . The administrator may receive error messages, device data and other information for analysis and review. 
       Device Server Manager and Networks of Device Servers 
       [0044]      FIG. 4  is a block diagram illustrating an example of multiple device servers configured to communicate with a device server manager, in accordance with some embodiments. There may be multiple device servers connected to different networks. For example, device server  405  may be connected to the network  406  and the device server  410  may be connected to the network  411 . The medical device  110  may be communicatively connected to the device server  405  using the link  404 . The medical devices  115  and  120  may be communicatively connected to the device server  410  using the links  408  and  409 , respectively. Each of the device servers  405  and  410  may include logic to interpret the data received from their respected connected medical devices, and each may independently transmit its interpreted data  401  or  402  to the H/CIT  102  using the respective link  403  or  407 . 
         [0045]    For some embodiments, a device server manager  420  may be used to manage the device servers  405  and  410 . The device server manager  420  may be connected to the network  421  but separated from the networks  406  and  411 . For some embodiments, the network  421  may be a wide area network (WAN) and the networks  406  and  411  may be private networks. The device server manager  420  may use TCP/IP links  422  and  423  to communicate with the device servers  405  and  410 . Both the device server  405  and the device server  410  may create their own direct communication tunnel to the device server manager  420  by periodically authenticating themselves to the device server manager  420  and establishing an outgoing TCP/IP connection to the device server manager  420 . The TCP/IP connection may be kept open for future bi-directional communication. 
       Flow Diagrams 
       [0046]      FIG. 5A  is a flow diagram illustrating an example process that may be performed by a device server, in accordance with some embodiments. At block  505 , the data from the medical devices is received by the device server. The medical devices may be heterogeneous such that their data may be formatted differently. At block  510 , the device server may identify the data received and associate the medical device to the data received. At block  515 , the device server may interpret the data received from the medical devices. This may include transforming the data into a data format that can be understood by a user. This may, for example, format the data using graphical tools. At block  520 , the data is presented to a user using a user interface. The user may use pull down menus associated with the user interface to selectively view the data from the various medical devices. 
         [0047]      FIG. 5B  is a flow diagram illustrating another example process that may be performed by a device server, in accordance with some embodiments. At block  525 , the data from the medical devices is received by the device server. At block  530 , the device server may identify the data received and associate the medical device to the data received. At block  535 , the device server may interpret the data received from the medical devices. At block  540 , the device server may determine the type of information that each of the interpreted data represents. For example, the data from the medical device  110  represents heart information, etc. At block  545 , the device server may associate the type of information with the medical device and the corresponding interpreted data. At block  550 , the information generated from the block  545  is transmitted to a H/CIT  102 . The same information may also be transmitted to department information systems, as shown in block  555 . At block  560 , the device server may send management information to a system administrator. The management information may include error messages, and status information from the medical devices, etc. 
       Computer System 
       [0048]      FIG. 6  is a system diagram of an example computer system, in accordance with some embodiments. Computing device  610  may be used to implement a device server, a device server manager or any computing device associated with embodiments of the present invention. The computing device  610  may be a general-purpose computing device and may include, but are not limited to, a processing unit  620  having one or more processing cores, a system memory  630 , and a system bus  621  that couples various system components including the system memory to the processing unit  620 . The system bus  621  may be any of several types of bus structures including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. By way of example, and not limitation, such architectures include Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) locale bus, and Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus. 
         [0049]    Computing device  610  typically includes a variety of computing machine readable media. Computing machine-readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by computing device  610  and includes both volatile and nonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media. By way of example, and not limitation, computing machine-readable mediums uses include storage of information, such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Computer storage mediums include, but are not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by the computing device  610 . Communication media typically embodies computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other transport mechanisms and includes any information delivery media. 
         [0050]    The system memory  630  includes computer storage media in the form of volatile and/or nonvolatile memory such as read only memory (ROM)  631  and random access memory (RAM)  632 . A basic input/output system  633  (BIOS), containing the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within computing device  610 , such as during start-up, is typically stored in ROM  631 . RAM  632  typically contains data and/or program modules that are immediately accessible to and/or presently being operated on by processing unit  620 . By way of example, and not limitation,  FIG. 6  illustrates operating system  634 , application programs  635 , other program modules  636 , and program data  637 . 
         [0051]    The computing device  610  may also include other removable/non-removable volatile/nonvolatile computer storage media. By way of example only,  FIG. 6  illustrates a hard disk drive  641  that reads from or writes to non-removable, nonvolatile magnetic media, a magnetic disk drive  651  that reads from or writes to a removable, nonvolatile magnetic disk  652 , and an optical disk drive  655  that reads from or writes to a removable, nonvolatile optical disk  656  such as a CD ROM or other optical media. Other removable/non-removable, volatile/nonvolatile computer storage media that can be used in the exemplary operating environment include, but are not limited to, USB drives and devices, magnetic tape cassettes, flash memory cards, digital versatile disks, digital video tape, solid state RAM, solid state ROM, and the like. The hard disk drive  641  is typically connected to the system bus  621  through a non-removable memory interface such as interface  640 , and magnetic disk drive  651  and optical disk drive  655  are typically connected to the system bus  621  by a removable memory interface, such as interface  650 . 
         [0052]    The drives and their associated computer storage media discussed above and illustrated in  FIG. 6 , provide storage of computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules and other data for the computing device  610 . In  FIG. 6 , for example, hard disk drive  641  is illustrated as storing operating system  644 , application programs  645 , other program modules  646 , and program data  647 . Note that these components can either be the same as or different from operating system  634 , application programs  635 , other program modules  636 , and program data  637 . Operating system  644 , application programs  645 , other program modules  646 , and program data  647  are given different numbers here to illustrate that, at a minimum, they are different copies 
         [0053]    A user may enter commands and information into the computing device  610  through input devices such as a keyboard  662 , a microphone  663 , and a pointing device  661 , such as a mouse, trackball or touch pad. Other input devices (not shown) may include a joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, or the like. These and other input devices are often connected to the processing unit  620  through a user input interface  660  that is coupled to the system bus, but they may be connected by other interface and bus structures, such as a parallel port, game port or a universal serial bus (USB). A monitor or display  691  or other type of display device is also connected to the system bus  621  via an interface, such as a video interface  690 . In addition to the monitor, computers may also include other peripheral output devices such as speakers  697  and printer  696 , which may be connected through an output peripheral interface  690 . 
         [0054]    The computing device  610  may operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers, such as a remote computer  680 . The remote computer  680  may be a personal computer, a hand-held device, a server, a router, a network PC, a peer device or other common network node, and typically includes many or all of the elements described above relative to the computing device  610 . The logical connections depicted in  FIG. 6  include a local area network (LAN)  671  and a wide area network (WAN)  673 , but may also include other networks. Such networking environments are common in offices, enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets and the Internet. A browser application may be resident on the computing device and stored in the memory. 
         [0055]    When used in a LAN networking environment, the computing device  610  is connected to the LAN  671  through a network interface or adapter  670 . When used in a WAN networking environment, the computing device  610  typically includes a communication module  672  or other means for establishing communications over the WAN  673 , such as the Internet. The communication module  672  may be a modem used for wired, wireless communication or both. The communication module  672  may be internal or external, may be connected to the system bus  621  via the user-input interface  660 , or other appropriate mechanism. In a networked environment, program modules depicted relative to the computing device  610 , or portions thereof, may be stored in the remote memory storage device. By way of example, and not limitation,  FIG. 6  illustrates remote application programs  685  as residing on remote computer  680 . It will be appreciated that the network connections shown are exemplary and other means of establishing a communications link between the computers may be used. 
         [0056]    It should be noted that the present design can be carried out on a computing system such as that described with respect to  FIG. 6 . However, the present design can be carried out on a server, a computer devoted to message handling, or on a distributed system in which different portions of the present design are carried out on different parts of the distributed computing system. 
         [0057]    Another device that may be coupled to bus  611  is a power supply such as a battery and alternating current (AC) adapter circuit. As discussed above, the DC power supply may be a battery, a fuel cell, or similar DC power source that needs to be recharged on a periodic basis. For wireless communication, the communication module  672  may employ a Wireless Application Protocol to establish a wireless communication channel. The communication module  672  may implement a wireless networking standard such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard, IEEE std. 802.11-1999, published by IEEE in 1999. 
         [0058]    Although the foregoing embodiments have been described in some detail for purposes of clarity of understanding, the invention is not limited to the details provided. Functionality of logic blocks may be implemented in software, hardware, active components and/or combinations thereof. There are many alternative ways of implementing the invention using the techniques described. The disclosed embodiments are illustrative and not restrictive.