Patent ID: 7871394

Claim:
A system for optimizing control over a PCA device configured to deliver medication, comprising: a medication delivery request device with which a request signal for delivery of the medication is provided; a physiological device configured to provide a physiological signal representative of physiological data; a first controller that receives the physiological signal, processes the physiological signal and provides a first alarm signal according to a first rule; a first alarm device that communicates the first alarm signal; and a second controller, separate from the first controller, that receives the request signal, receives the physiological signal, processes the request signal and the physiological signal and controls the operation of the PCA device according to the processing to deliver medication in accordance with a second rule, wherein the second rule is different from the first rule; wherein the second rule comprises a first limit and a second limit greater than the first limit; wherein, if a value of the physiological signal falls below the second limit, then the second controller generates a second alarm signal; wherein, if the value of the physiological signal falls below the first limit, then the second controller controls the PCA device to a non-delivery mode in which the PCA device does not deliver medication; wherein the first rule is more sensitive to transient, short term physiological and electrical artifacts in the physiological signal than the second rule, thereby resulting in the second controller controlling the PCA device to the non-delivery mode less frequently than the first controller generating the first alarm signal according to the first rule.