JP7638129B2 - Nurse Call System - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a nurse call system, and more specifically to a nurse call system equipped with a self-propelled robot.

In a nurse call system, when a patient operates a nurse call handset to call a nurse (nurse call), a call signal is sent to the nurse call master unit as well as to a mobile terminal carried by the nurse to make the call. Meanwhile, the nurse call handset that initiated the call sounds a call confirmation sound and lights up a lamp (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2014-165533 A

With the conventional nurse call system described above, patients could know that a call had been made by a confirmation sound or the lighting of a lamp. However, this form of notification was not easy to recognize. It was particularly difficult for patients with impaired eyesight or hearing to understand, and some patients became anxious about whether a call had been made or when a nurse would come.

In view of these problems, the present invention aims to provide a nurse call system that has the functionality to reliably notify a patient who has called a nurse that a call has been made.

In order to solve the above problem, the invention of claim 1 is a nurse call system having a nurse call handset for a patient to call a nurse, a nurse call master unit for responding to calls from patients, a portable terminal carried by a nurse to respond to calls from patients, and a controller for controlling communication between the devices, the system comprising a location information transmitter that is installed at an appropriate location within a hospital and transmits location information, a self-propelled robot that determines its own location based on information transmitted by the location information transmitter and moves within a specified area within the hospital, a plurality of relay means that enable wireless communication between the controller and the self-propelled robot, a location notification terminal carried by the nurse that receives a signal from the location information transmitter and transmits its own location information, and a nurse location management device that manages the location of the nurse based on information transmitted by the location notification terminal, the self-propelled robot having a robot communication unit that communicates with the controller, an alarm unit that sounds a message, a voice alarm unit that sounds a message, a voice alarm unit that sounds a message when the self-propelled robot moves within a specified area within the hospital, The control unit has an area information memory unit that stores map information of A and a movement control unit that performs movement toward a specific bed, while the control unit has a map information memory unit that stores map information within the hospital, and when a call from a nurse call handset is answered on a mobile terminal, it obtains the location of the responding nurse from a nurse position management device, and further refers to the map information memory unit based on the caller information to calculate the time it will take for the nurse to move to the bed that originated the call, and notifies the self-propelled robot of the calculated movement time, and when a call is made from a nurse call handset, it notifies the self-propelled robot of the caller information included in the call signal, and the self-propelled robot that has received the caller information identifies the bed location from the caller information and approaches it, if the call is from a patient within a specified area, sounds a specified message, and notifies the patient of the obtained movement time .
With this configuration, when a patient calls the nurse call handset, the self-propelled robot recognizes this, approaches the calling patient, and sounds a predetermined message. Therefore, the patient can be assured that a call has been made by the operation of the self-propelled robot, and can feel at ease.

In addition, the self-propelled robot informs the patient of the time it will take for the nurse to arrive, allowing the patient to wait without worrying. Also, when a call is answered using a mobile device, the self-propelled robot notifies the patient, allowing the nurse to go to the patient without talking to them, allowing for smooth response.

The invention of claim 2 is characterized in that, in the configuration described in claim 1 , the control machine obtains the position of a nurse approaching the patient in response to a patient's call from the nurse position management device, and when it determines that the nurse has entered the patient's room, it notifies the self-propelled robot of its arrival, and the self-propelled robot, having received the arrival notification, returns to its standby position.
According to this configuration, the self-propelled robot returns to a standby position when the nurse arrives at the patient's location, so the self-propelled robot does not get in the way when the nurse is treating the patient.

The invention of claim 3 is characterized in that, in the configuration described in claim 1 or 2 , the specified area is a specific hospital room, the self-propelled robot moves within the hospital room, and when successive calls occur, notifies patients of the call status in the order of the calls.
With this configuration, the self-propelled robot moves around a specific hospital room to respond to calls from patients, so it can always be close to the patient making the call and respond smoothly. In addition, since calls are answered in the order of calls regardless of the situation, patients can feel at ease.

According to the present invention, when a patient calls a nurse call handset, a self-propelled robot recognizes this, approaches the calling patient, and sounds a specified message. Therefore, the operation of the self-propelled robot allows the patient to be sure that a call has been made, giving them peace of mind.

1 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a nurse call system according to the present invention. FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a self-propelled robot. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an IMES management device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a nurse call system according to the present invention;
The system includes a nurse call handset (hereinafter simply referred to as the "handset") 1 that is installed in each bed and allows patients to call a nurse, a corridor light 2 that is installed in each hospital room and displays calls from patients in the room and also displays patient information, a nurse call master unit (hereinafter simply referred to as the "master unit") 3 that is installed in the nurse's station and notifies and responds to calls made by the handset 1, a portable terminal 4 such as a smartphone that each nurse carries to respond to calls, a controller 5 that controls communications between devices, a self-propelled robot 6 that moves by itself, a base station 7 such as an access point through which the portable terminal 4 and the self-propelled robot 6 communicate with the controller, a switchboard 8 consisting of an IP-PBX that controls communications between the portable terminal 4 and the base station 7 as well as communications between the self-propelled robot 6 and the base station 7, and an IMES management unit 9 that manages the locations of nurses and provides location information to the self-propelled robot 6.

The IMES management unit 9 is composed of an IMES transmitter 11 that transmits an IMES signal, which is a signal of its own location, by applying IMES (Indoor MEssaging System) technology, a location notification terminal 12 that receives the IMES signal from the IMES transmitter 11 and transmits its own location information, and an IMES management device 13 that manages the transmission signals of each IMES transmitter 11. The IMES transmitters 11 are installed at appropriate positions in the hospital, for example, in each patient room, the nurse's station, appropriate positions in the corridors, lounges, etc. Note that N stands for nurse, and the location notification terminal 12 is carried by the nurse.

Under the control of the IMES management device 13, the IMES transmitter 11 transmits an IMES signal (position signal) in a signal format common to position information signals transmitted from GPS satellites.
Reference numeral 14 denotes a management PC, which is installed to operate the nurse call system and the IMES management unit 9 in cooperation with each other.

The corridor light 2, the parent unit 3, the control unit 5, and the management PC 14 are connected to one another by a LAN line L1 via a HUB 15. Moreover, the child unit 1 is connected to the corridor light 2 for each hospital room via a transmission line L2. Meanwhile, the IMES transmitter 11 and the IMES management device 13 are connected to one another by a communication line L4, and the management PC 14 and the IMES management device 13 are connected to one another by a communication line L5.
Incidentally, the communication line L4 may be integrated with the LAN wiring L1.

The main equipment is explained below. The handset 1 consists of a call grip button 1a placed on the bed and a plate handset 1b that is installed on the wall and to which the call grip button 1a is connected. The plate handset 1b incorporates a call section (not shown) equipped with a microphone and speaker.

The corridor light 2 is installed in each patient room and has a patient information display 2a and an indicator light 2b that indicates when a call has been made. When the handset 1 in the patient room is operated to make a call (nurse call), this is indicated by the blinking of the indicator light 2b, etc.

The base unit 3 is equipped with a first display unit 3a that displays various information including a list of patient information, a second display unit 3b that displays caller information when a call is received, and a handset 3c for making calls.

Fig. 2 shows a block diagram of the controller 5. As shown in Fig. 2, the controller 5 includes a patient information storage unit 51 that stores information about a patient and the relationship between the bed and the patient, a nurse in charge information storage unit 52 that stores information about the nurse in charge of the patient and the relationship between the nurse and the mobile terminal 4, a map information storage unit 53 that stores map information within the hospital, a controller CPU 54 that controls the controller 5, a controller communication IF 55 that communicates with the corridor light 2, the parent unit 3, the self-propelled robot 6, and the IMES management device 13, etc.
The controller CPU 54 also functions as a time calculation unit that obtains distance information between two specific locations from the information in the map information storage unit 53 and calculates the time it takes to travel that distance on foot.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram of self-propelled robot 6. As shown in Fig. 3, self-propelled robot 6 is equipped with a camera 61, an area information storage unit 62 that stores map information within a particular hospital room, such as bed arrangement information in the hospital room, a speaker 63 for reporting audio messages, a message storage unit 64 that stores the messages to be reported, a self-propelled robot CPU 65 that controls self-propelled robot 6, a drive unit 66 that drives moving means such as the legs or wheels, a power supply unit 67 equipped with a storage battery, a receiver unit 68 that receives a signal from IMES transmitter 11, and a self-propelled robot communication unit 69 that wirelessly communicates with controller 5 via base station 7.
The self-propelled robot CPU 65 controls the robot to grasp its own position from information from the IMES transmitter 11, and when approaching a bed, it controls its movement by recognizing the bed and the patient from the image captured by the camera 61. It also controls the sound of messages to be reported.

The position notification terminal 12 has a function of receiving radio waves from the IMES transmitter 11 and transmitting its own position information. Specifically, it receives radio waves from the IMES transmitter 11 to identify its own position, and transmits the identified position information with its own ID added. This transmission signal is received by the base station 7 and transmitted to the IMES management device 13 via the management PC 14, and the IMES management device 13 manages the position of the position notification terminal 12. The position notification terminal 12 is worn by each nurse who carries the mobile terminal 4.
It is assumed here that the movement area of self-propelled robot 6 is set within a specific hospital room.

Figure 4 shows a block diagram of the IMES management device 13. As shown in Figure 4, the IMES management device 13 includes a location notification terminal information storage unit 131 that stores the acquired location information of the location notification terminal 12 and the relationship between the location notification terminal 12 and nurse N, a location storage unit 132 that stores the association between the location information of the location notification terminal 12 and locations within the hospital, an IMES management device CPU 133 that controls the IMES management device 13, and an IMES management device communication IF 134 that communicates with the IMES transmitter 11 and the management PC 14.

The operation of the nurse call system configured as above will be described below. However, since the operation of making a nurse call by operating the handset 1, answering the call with the base unit 3 and talking to the patient, and the operation of answering the call with the mobile terminal 4 are the same as in the past, the explanation will be omitted. Here, the operation of the self-propelled robot 6 in response to a patient who has made a nurse call will be mainly described.
When a nurse call is made, a call signal is transmitted from the handset 1 to the control unit 5 via the corridor light 2.
This call signal includes caller information such as hospital room information (hospital room number) and bed information (bed number), and the controller 5 transmits this call signal to the self-propelled robot 6. The controller 5 also transmits the call signal to the base unit 3 and a specific mobile terminal 4 with further caller patient information attached.
Specifically, a specific mobile terminal 4 is selected by referring to the information in the nurse in charge information memory unit 52, and the mobile terminal 4 associated with the calling handset 1, i.e., the nurse in charge of the calling patient, is selected, and a call signal is sent to the mobile terminal 4 carried by this nurse.

The self-propelled robot 6 that receives the call signal knows its own position from the information of the IMES transmitter 11, and identifies the location of the bed of the caller based on the bed information of the caller contained in the received call signal, the map information stored in the area information storage unit 62, and the image information captured by the camera 61, and approaches the bed.
Then, a predetermined message notifying the fact that a call has been made is sounded from the speaker 63. At this time, for example, "A nurse is being called. Please wait" is sounded.

Meanwhile, the mobile terminal 4 that received the call signal rings and displays the caller information and patient information. When the nurse responds to the call by operating the mobile terminal 4, a response signal is sent back to the controller 5, and a communication path is formed between the handset 1 and the mobile terminal 4 under the control of the controller CPU 54, enabling communication.

In addition, when the control unit 5 receives a response signal from the mobile terminal 4, under the control of the control unit CPU 54, it obtains the location information of the responding nurse (location information of the location notification terminal 12) from the IMES management device 13, and based on the obtained location information of the nurse and the bed information (hospital room information) of the caller information, it obtains the distance between the two from the map information memory unit 53 and calculates the time required for the nurse to arrive at the patient.
The calculated time information is transmitted to self-running robot 6 via base station 7 and is announced by speaker 63. Thus, for example, "We will arrive in three minutes."

Therefore, the nurse who can respond using the mobile terminal 4 and immediately head to the patient does not need to use the call path created by the response operation to talk to the patient and ask about the requirements. They can simply confirm the patient who made the nurse call from the caller information displayed on the mobile terminal 4 and then turn it off without talking. However, if the call is answered using the parent unit 3, the self-propelled robot 6 will only sound a message informing the patient that the first call has been made.

The control device 5 continues to obtain the nurse's subsequent location information from the IMES management device 13, and when the nurse arrives at the target patient's hospital room, it transmits an arrival signal to the self-propelled robot 6. Upon receiving this arrival signal, the self-propelled robot 6 ends the notification operation via the speaker 63 and moves to a designated waiting position.

Here, we will explain the case where multiple nurse calls occur almost simultaneously in a patient room. In this case, the self-propelled robot 6 will operate in the order in which the call signals are sent from the control unit 5, regardless of whether the nurse responds or not. In other words, it will first move to the patient who made the first nurse call and announce that a call is being made, and then move to the patient who made a delayed nurse call and similarly announce that a call is being made.

In this way, when a patient calls the nurse call handset 1, the self-propelled robot 6 recognizes it, approaches the calling patient, and sounds a predetermined message. Therefore, the operation of the self-propelled robot 6 allows the patient to know for sure that a call has been made, and gives them peace of mind.
The patient can wait with peace of mind because the self-propelled robot 6 informs the patient of the time it will take for the nurse to arrive after answering the call. In addition, the self-propelled robot 6 informs the patient of the response operation on the mobile terminal 4, so the nurse can go directly to the patient after answering the call without having to talk to the patient, which allows for a smooth response.
Furthermore, when a nurse or patient approaches, the self-propelled robot 6 returns to its standby position, so that the self-propelled robot 6 does not get in the way of the nurse treating the patient.
In addition, the self-propelled robot 6 moves around a specific hospital room and responds to calls from patients, so it can always be close to the patient making the call and respond smoothly. Also, since calls are answered in the order they are made, regardless of the situation, patients can feel at ease.

In the above embodiment, the movement area of the self-propelled robot 6 is a specific hospital room, but the movement area may be an area consisting of multiple hospital rooms. In this case, the area information storage unit 62 stores map information for the corresponding area.

1: Nurse call handset, 2: Corridor light, 3: Nurse call master, 4: Mobile terminal, 5: Controller, 6: Self-propelled robot, 7: Base station (relay means), 9: IMES management unit, 11: IMES transmitter (location information transmitter), 12: Location notification terminal, 13: IMES management device (nurse location management device), 53: Map information storage unit, 54: Controller CPU (time calculation unit), 62: Area information storage unit, 63: Speaker (alarm unit), 65: Self-propelled robot CPU (movement control unit), 69: Self-propelled robot communication unit (robot communication unit), 131: Location notification terminal information storage unit, 133: IMES management device CPU.

Claims (3)

A nurse call system having a nurse call handset for a patient to call a nurse, a nurse call master for responding to calls from patients, a mobile terminal carried by a nurse for responding to calls from patients, and a controller for controlling communication between the devices,
A location information transmitter that is installed at an appropriate location in the hospital and transmits location information;
a self-propelled robot that grasps its own location based on the transmitted information of the location information transmitter and moves around a predetermined area in the hospital;
a plurality of relay means for enabling wireless communication between the controller and the self-propelled robot;
The present invention includes a location notification terminal carried by a nurse, which receives a signal from the location information transmitter and transmits the nurse's location information, and a nurse location management device that manages the location of the nurse from the transmitted information of the location notification terminal,
The self-propelled robot has a robot communication unit that communicates with the control device, an audio reporting unit that reports a message, an area information storage unit that stores map information of the specified area, and a movement control unit that performs movement to approach a specific bed,
the control device has a map information storage unit which stores map information within the hospital, and a time calculation unit which, when a call from the nurse call slave is answered by the mobile terminal, obtains the location of the responding nurse from the nurse position management device, and further refers to the map information storage unit based on the call origin information to calculate the time required for the nurse to move to the bed that originated the call, and notifies the self-propelled robot of the calculated travel time, and, when a call is made by the nurse call slave, notifies the self-propelled robot of the call origin information included in the call signal,
The self-propelled robot, upon receiving the call origin information, if the call is from a patient within the specified area, identifies the bed location from the call origin information, approaches the bed, sounds a specified message, and notifies the patient of the travel time obtained . The control machine obtains the position of a nurse approaching the patient in response to the patient's call from the nurse position management device, and notifies the self-propelled robot of its arrival when it determines that the nurse has entered the patient's hospital room.
2. The nurse call system according to claim 1 , wherein the self-propelled robot, upon receiving a notification of the arrival, returns to a standby position. The predetermined area is a specific hospital room,
3. The nurse call system according to claim 1 , wherein the self-propelled robot moves within the patient room, and when successive calls occur, notifies the patients of the call status in the order of the calls.

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