Monitoring a patient's body using radar

文档序号：56064 发布日期：2021-10-01 浏览：32次中文

阅读说明：本技术 使用雷达监测患者身体 (Monitoring a patient's body using radar ) 是由 S·D·贝克 D·A·塞姆 F·E·索塞尔 T·科萨罗 M·彻瑞拉 K·R·史密斯 E· 于 2021-03-30 设计创作，主要内容包括：一个或多个雷达传感器可用于在各种不同的环境和实施例中监测患者。在一个实施例中,雷达传感器可用于监测患者的运动,包括在病床上的运动和围绕房间的运动。在另一实施例中,可以监测病床中的患者位置,该患者位置可用作为控制病床气囊的反馈。本文还描述了其他实施例。(One or more radar sensors may be used to monitor a patient in a variety of different environments and embodiments. In one embodiment, the radar sensor may be used to monitor patient movement, including movement on the bed and movement around the room. In another embodiment, the patient position in the bed may be monitored, which may be used as feedback for controlling the bed bladder. Other embodiments are also described herein.)

1. A system for monitoring motion of a patient, the system comprising:

one or more radar sensors configured to:

transmitting a radar signal to a patient on a patient bed; and is

Receiving a reflection of said radar signal from the patient, an

A circuit configured to:

receiving data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of the reflection of the radar signal from the patient, and

determining a position parameter of a patient based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, wherein the position parameter is indicative of a position or orientation of the patient on a patient's bed.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to:

Determining whether the patient should be rotated based on the position parameter of the patient.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein determining whether the patient should be rotated includes determining whether the patient should be rotated to prevent pressure sores.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein determining whether the patient should turn comprises determining whether the patient should turn to prevent laryngopharyngeal reflux.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein determining whether the patient should rotate comprises determining whether the patient should rotate to elevate the patient's lungs.

6. The system of claim 2, wherein determining whether the patient should turn comprises determining that the patient has not turned for at least a threshold amount of time.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to:

determining a subset of a plurality of rotating bladders of a patient bed to be inflated to rotate a patient based on the position parameters, and

sending a signal to inflate the subset of the plurality of turning bladders.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to:

determining a subset of a plurality of rotating bladders of the patient bed to inflate to move the patient toward a center of the patient bed based on the position parameters, and

Sending a signal to inflate the subset of the plurality of turning bladders.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to:

determining a subset of a plurality of percussive and vibratory P & V balloons of a patient bed to be inflated to percussive and vibratory P & V treatment of the patient based on the location parameters, wherein the selected subset of the plurality of P & V balloons is a P & V balloon below a current location of the patient; and is

Transmitting a signal to inflate the subset of the plurality of P & V airbags.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the circuitry is further configured to:

transmitting, by the one or more radar sensors, additional radar signals to a patient during the P & V treatment;

receiving, by the one or more radar sensors, a reflection of the additional radar signal from the patient;

receiving additional data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of the reflection of the additional radar signals from the patient;

determining a vibration amplitude of the patient caused by the P & V treatment based on the additional data from the one or more radar sensors; and is

Adjusting the signals sent to inflate the subset of the plurality of P & V balloons based on the amplitude of vibration of the patient.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the circuitry is further configured to:

determining a subset of a plurality of rotating bladders of a patient bed to inflate to move a patient toward a center of the patient bed based on the location parameters; and is

Sending a signal to inflate the subset of the plurality of rotating bladders to move a patient toward a center of a bed prior to sending the signal to inflate the subset of the plurality of P & V bladders.

12. A method for monitoring motion of a patient, the method comprising:

transmitting a radar signal to a patient on a patient bed via one or more radar sensors;

receiving, by the one or more radar sensors, a reflection of the radar signal from a patient;

receiving, by circuitry, data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of the reflection of the radar signal from a patient; and is

Determining, by the circuitry, a position parameter of the patient based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, wherein the position parameter is indicative of a position or orientation of the patient on a patient's bed.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

determining, by the circuitry, whether the patient should be rotated based on the position parameter of the patient.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein determining whether the patient should be rotated includes determining whether the patient should be rotated to prevent pressure sores.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein determining whether the patient should rotate comprises determining whether the patient should rotate to prevent laryngopharyngeal reflux.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein determining whether the patient should rotate comprises determining whether the patient should rotate to elevate the patient's lungs.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein determining whether the patient should turn comprises determining that the patient has not turned for at least a threshold amount of time.

18. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

determining, by the circuitry, a subset of a plurality of rotating bladders of a patient bed to inflate to rotate a patient based on the location parameters; and is

Sending, by the circuitry, a signal to inflate the subset of the plurality of rotating bladders.

19. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

determining, by the circuitry, a subset of a plurality of rotating bladders of a patient bed to inflate to move a patient toward a center of the patient bed based on the position parameters; and is

Sending, by the circuitry, a signal to inflate the subset of the plurality of rotating bladders.

20. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

determining, by the circuitry based on the location parameters, a subset of a plurality of percussive and vibratory P & V balloons of a patient bed to be inflated to percussive and vibratory P & V treatment of a patient, wherein the subset of the plurality of P & V balloons selected is a P & V balloon below a current location of a patient; and is

Sending, by the circuitry, a signal to inflate the subset of the plurality of P & V airbags.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

transmitting, by the one or more radar sensors, additional radar signals to a patient during the P & V treatment;

receiving, by the one or more radar sensors, a reflection of the additional radar signal from the patient;

receiving, by the circuitry, additional data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of the reflection of the additional radar signals from the patient;

determining, by the circuitry, a vibration amplitude of the patient caused by the P & V treatment based on the additional data from the one or more radar sensors; and is

Adjusting, by the circuitry, the transmitted signal to inflate the subset of the plurality of P & V balloons based on the amplitude of vibration of the patient.

22. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

determining, by the circuitry, a subset of a plurality of rotating bladders of a patient bed to inflate to move a patient toward a center of the patient bed based on the position parameters; and is

Sending, by the circuitry, a signal to inflate the subset of the plurality of rotating bladders to move the patient toward a center of the patient bed prior to sending the signal to inflate the subset of the plurality of P & V bladders.

Background

Continuous or continuous monitoring of patients is often desirable in a clinical setting. The amount of patient movement in the bed may indicate the presence of risks such as pressure sores and pulmonary complications. The movement of the patient around the room may indicate an activity ability but may also lead to a fall. Manual monitoring is time consuming, error prone and in practice cannot be done continuously for long periods of time.

Disclosure of Invention

An apparatus, system or method may include one or more of the features recited in the appended claims and/or the following features, which may alone or in any combination comprise patentable subject matter:

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a system for monitoring a patient includes: one or more radar sensors configured to transmit radar signals to a patient and receive reflections of the radar signals from the patient; and circuitry configured to receive data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of reflections of radar signals from the patient and determine one or more parameters indicative of motion of the patient based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

In some embodiments, determining one or more parameters indicative of motion of the patient comprises determining a body contour of the patient based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

In some embodiments, the circuitry is further configured to determine a Braden score based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

In some embodiments, the circuitry is further configured to determine a risk of a patient developing a pressure sore based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

In some embodiments, the circuitry is further configured to determine a trend of motion of the patient over a period of at least one week based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

In some embodiments, the circuitry is further configured to determine that motion has changed by at least a threshold amount based on the data from the one or more radar sensors and provide an indication to a caregiver that motion has changed by at least a threshold amount.

In some embodiments, the circuitry is further configured to detect a patient's onset based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

In some embodiments, the circuitry is further configured to determine whether the patient is exiting the bed based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a system for monitoring motion of a patient includes: one or more radar sensors configured to transmit radar signals to a patient on a patient bed and receive reflections of the radar signals from the patient; and circuitry configured to receive data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of reflections of radar signals from the patient and determine a position parameter of the patient based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, wherein the position parameter is indicative of a position or direction of the patient on the patient's bed.

In some embodiments, the circuitry is further configured to determine whether the patient should be rotated based on the position parameter of the patient.

In some embodiments, determining whether the patient should be rotated includes determining whether the patient should be rotated to prevent pressure sores.

In some embodiments, determining whether the patient should rotate includes determining whether the patient should rotate to prevent laryngopharyngeal reflux.

In some embodiments, determining whether the patient should be rotated includes determining whether the patient should be rotated to elevate the patient's lungs.

In some embodiments, determining whether the patient should be rotated includes determining that the patient has not been rotated for at least a threshold amount of time.

In some embodiments, the circuitry is further configured to determine a subset of a plurality of rotating bladders of the patient bed to inflate to rotate the patient based on the location parameter, and send a signal to inflate the subset of the plurality of rotating bladders.

In some embodiments, the circuitry is further configured to determine a subset of a plurality of rotating bladders of the patient bed to inflate to move the patient toward a center of the patient bed based on the position parameter, and to transmit a signal to inflate the subset of the plurality of rotating bladders.

In some embodiments, the circuitry is further configured to: determining a subset of a plurality of percussive and vibratory (P & V) balloons of a patient bed to be inflated to percussive and vibratory (P & V) therapy to the patient based on the location parameters, wherein the selected subset of the plurality of P & V balloons is a P & V balloon below a current location of the patient; and transmitting a signal to inflate a subset of the plurality of P & V airbags.

In some embodiments, the circuitry is further configured to transmit additional radar signals to the patient during the P & V therapy through the one or more radar sensors; receiving, by the one or more radar sensors, a reflection of an additional radar signal from the patient; receiving additional data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of reflections of additional radar signals from the patient; determining a vibration amplitude of the patient caused by the P & V treatment based on the additional data from the one or more radar sensors; and adjusting the signals sent to inflate a subset of the plurality of P & V balloons based on the amplitude of the patient's vibrations.

In some embodiments, the circuitry is further configured to determine, based on the position parameter, a subset of a plurality of rotating bladders of the patient bed to inflate to move the patient toward a center of the patient bed; and prior to sending a signal to inflate a subset of the plurality of P & V bladders, sending a signal to inflate a subset of the plurality of rotating bladders to move the patient toward the center of the bed.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a system for monitoring a patient includes: one or more radar sensors configured to transmit radar signals to a patient on a patient bed and receive reflections of the radar signals from the patient; and circuitry configured to receive data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of a reflection of a radar signal from a patient, determine a body part of the patient in contact with a surface of the patient bed based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, determine one or more airbags to be controlled to release pressure from the body part in contact with the surface of the patient bed based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, and control the one or more airbags to release pressure from the body part in contact with the surface of the patient bed.

In some embodiments, the body part in contact with the bed surface is a heel of the patient.

In some embodiments, the body part in contact with the bed surface is a sacrum of the patient.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a system for managing a microclimate of a patient includes: one or more radar sensors configured to transmit radar signals to a patient on a patient bed and receive reflections of the radar signals from the patient; and circuitry configured to receive data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of reflections of radar signals from a patient, determine a target body part of the patient to be microclimated, determine a location of the target body part based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, control airflow to the target body part based on the determined location of the target body part.

In some embodiments, controlling the airflow to the target body part includes controlling the airflow to the target body part based on the moisture level of the target body part.

In some embodiments, controlling the airflow to the target body part includes controlling a humidity of the airflow to the target body part.

In some embodiments, controlling the airflow to the target body part comprises controlling a temperature of the airflow to the target body part.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a system for monitoring a patient includes: one or more radar sensors configured to send radar signals to a patient in the room and receive reflections of the radar signals from the patient; and circuitry configured to receive data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of reflections of radar signals from a patient and determine one or more parameters indicative of patient position based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

In some embodiments, determining one or more parameters indicative of patient position based on the data from the one or more radar sensors comprises: the amount of time a patient is lying on a bed is determined, the amount of time the patient is sitting on the bed is determined, the amount of time the patient is sitting on a chair is determined, and the amount of time the patient is standing or walking is determined.

In some embodiments, the circuitry is further configured to determine whether the patient has gait instability based on the data from the one or more radar sensors and to alert a caregiver in response to determining that the patient has gait instability.

In some embodiments, the circuitry is further configured to determine whether the patient is leaving the room based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, and to issue an alert to a caregiver in response to determining that the patient has left the room.

In some embodiments, the circuitry is further configured to determine whether the patient has fallen to the location based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, and to alert a caregiver in response to determining that the patient has fallen to the location.

In some embodiments, determining whether the patient has fallen includes determining whether the patient has fallen in a second room different from the room having the one or more radar sensors.

In some embodiments, the circuitry is further configured to determine one or more parameters indicative of activity of a caregiver in the room.

In some embodiments, the one or more parameters indicative of caregiver activity in the room are indicative of an amount of caregiver interaction with the patient.

In some embodiments, the one or more parameters indicative of the caregiver's activities in the room indicate whether the caregiver has washed the caregiver's hands.

In some embodiments, the one or more parameters indicative of the caregiver's activities in the room indicate an amount of time that the caregiver is reviewing the patient's medical record.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a system for facilitating physical therapy exercises comprises: circuitry configured to present physical therapy instructions to a patient; and one or more radar sensors configured to transmit radar signals to the patient after the physical therapy instructions are presented and receive reflections of the radar signals from the patient, wherein the circuitry is further configured to transmit radar signals to the patient through the one or more radar sensors after the physical therapy instructions are presented, receive reflections of the radar signals from the patient through the one or more radar sensors, receive data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of the reflections of the radar signals from the patient, determine a motion parameter of the patient based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, and compare the motion parameter of the patient to the physical therapy instructions.

In some embodiments, presenting the physical therapy instructions to the patient comprises presenting the physical therapy instructions on a display, wherein the patient is on a patient bed, and wherein the display is attached to the patient bed.

In some embodiments, presenting the physical therapy instructions to the patient includes presenting the physical therapy instructions on a display, and wherein the display is attached to the mobile physical therapy instruction exercise device.

In some embodiments, the circuitry is further configured to store performance data of the patient during an exercise session associated with the physical therapy instruction, wherein the performance data indicates the patient's response to the physical therapy instruction.

In some embodiments, the circuitry is further configured to determine, based on the performance data, a second physical therapy instruction for a second exercise session different from the first exercise session.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a system for monitoring sleep of a patient includes: one or more radar sensors configured to transmit radar signals to a patient on a patient bed and receive reflections of the radar signals from the patient; and circuitry configured to receive data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of a reflection of a radar signal from a patient, determine an indication of a patient's rising up in the patient's bed based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, determine a pressure parameter for one or more air bags in the patient's bed from the indication of the patient's rising up in the patient's bed, and apply the pressure parameter to the one or more air bags in the patient's bed.

In some embodiments, determining the pressure parameter for the one or more bladders in the patient bed comprises determining the pressure parameter for the one or more bladders in the patient bed using a machine-learning based algorithm.

In some embodiments, the circuitry is further configured to update the machine-learning based algorithm based on the patient rising in the patient bed.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a system for monitoring a patient includes: one or more radar sensors configured to transmit radar signals to a patient in a prone position on a patient bed and receive reflections of the radar signals from the patient; and circuitry configured to receive, by the circuitry, data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of a reflection of a radar signal from the patient, and determine whether a gap exists between the patient's sternum and a surface of the patient bed while the patient is inhaling based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

In some embodiments, the circuitry is further configured to deflate the one or more bladders below the patient's sternum in response to determining that there is no gap between the patient's sternum and the surface of the patient bed when the patient inhales.

In some embodiments, determining whether a gap exists between the patient's sternum and the surface of the patient's bed while the patient inhales includes deflating one or more bladders below the patient's sternum while the patient inhales.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a method for monitoring a patient includes: transmitting a radar signal to a patient via one or more radar sensors; receiving, by the one or more radar sensors, a reflection of the radar signal from the patient; receiving, by circuitry, data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of a reflection of a radar signal from a patient; and determining, by the circuitry, one or more parameters indicative of motion of the patient based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

In some embodiments, determining one or more parameters indicative of motion of the patient comprises determining a body contour of the patient based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

In some embodiments, the method may further include determining a Braden score based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

In some embodiments, the method may further comprise determining a pressure wound risk for the patient based on said data from said one or more radar sensors.

In some embodiments, the method may further comprise determining a trend of motion of the patient over a period of at least one week based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

In some embodiments, the method may further include determining that motion has changed by at least a threshold amount based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, and providing an indication to a caregiver that motion has changed by at least the threshold amount.

In some embodiments, the method may further comprise detecting a patient's onset based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

In some embodiments, the method may further comprise determining whether the patient is leaving a bed based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a method for monitoring motion of a patient includes: transmitting a radar signal to a patient on a patient bed via one or more radar sensors; receiving, by the one or more radar sensors, a reflection of the radar signal from the patient; receiving, by circuitry, data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of a reflection of a radar signal from a patient; and determining, by the circuitry, a position parameter of the patient based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, wherein the position parameter is indicative of a position or orientation of the patient on the patient's bed.

In some embodiments, the method may further include determining, by the circuitry, whether the patient should be rotated based on the position parameter of the patient.

In some embodiments, determining whether the patient should be rotated includes determining whether the patient should be rotated to prevent pressure sores.

In some embodiments, determining whether the patient should rotate includes determining whether the patient should rotate to prevent laryngopharyngeal reflux.

In some embodiments, determining whether the patient should be rotated includes determining whether the patient should be rotated to elevate the patient's lungs.

In some embodiments, determining whether the patient should be rotated includes determining that the patient has not been rotated for at least a threshold amount of time.

In some embodiments, the method may further include determining, by the circuitry, a subset of a plurality of rotating bladders of a patient bed to inflate to rotate a patient based on the location parameter; and sending, by the circuitry, a signal to inflate a subset of the plurality of rotating bladders.

In some embodiments, the method may further include determining, by the circuitry based on the location parameter, a subset of a plurality of rotating bladders of the patient bed to inflate to move the patient toward a center of the patient bed; and sending, by the circuitry, a signal to inflate a subset of the plurality of rotating bladders.

In some embodiments, the method may further include determining, by the circuitry based on the location parameter, a subset of a plurality of percussive and vibratory (P & V) balloons of a patient bed to be inflated to percussive and vibratory (P & V) therapy to the patient, wherein the selected subset of the plurality of P & V balloons is a P & V balloon below a current location of the patient; and sending, by the circuitry, a signal to inflate a subset of the plurality of P & V airbags.

In some embodiments, the method may further comprise transmitting additional radar signals to the patient during the P & V treatment via the one or more radar sensors; receiving, by the one or more radar sensors, a reflection of an additional radar signal from the patient; receiving, by the circuitry, additional data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of reflections of additional radar signals from the patient; determining, by the circuitry, a vibration amplitude of the patient caused by the P & V treatment based on the additional data from the one or more radar sensors; and adjusting, by the circuitry, the transmitted signals to inflate a subset of the plurality of P & V balloons based on the amplitude of vibration of the patient.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a method for monitoring a patient includes: transmitting a radar signal to a patient on a patient bed via one or more radar sensors; receiving, by the one or more radar sensors, a reflection of the radar signal from the patient; receiving, by circuitry, data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of a reflection of a radar signal from a patient; determining, by the circuitry, a body part of a patient in contact with a surface of a patient bed based on the data from the one or more radar sensors; determining, by the circuitry, based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, one or more airbags to be controlled to release pressure from a body part in contact with a bed surface; and controlling, by the circuitry, the one or more bladders to release pressure from a body part in contact with the bed surface.

In some embodiments, the body part in contact with the bed surface is a heel of the patient.

In some embodiments, the body part in contact with the bed surface is a sacrum of the patient.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a method for managing a microclimate of a patient includes: transmitting a radar signal to a patient on a patient bed via one or more radar sensors; receiving, by the one or more radar sensors, a reflection of the radar signal from the patient; receiving, by circuitry, data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of a reflection of a radar signal from a patient; determining, by the circuitry, a target body part of the patient for microclimate management; determining, by the circuitry, a location of the target body part based on the data from the one or more radar sensors; and controlling, by the circuitry, airflow to the target body part based on the determined location of the target body part.

In some embodiments, controlling the airflow to the target body part includes controlling the airflow to the target body part based on the moisture level of the target body part.

In some embodiments, controlling the airflow to the target body part includes controlling a humidity of the airflow to the target body part.

In some embodiments, controlling the airflow to the target body part comprises controlling a temperature of the airflow to the target body part.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a method for monitoring a patient includes: transmitting, by one or more radar sensors, a radar signal to a patient in a room; receiving, by the one or more radar sensors, a reflection of the radar signal from the patient; receiving, by circuitry, data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of a reflection of a radar signal from a patient; and determining, by the circuitry, one or more parameters indicative of patient position based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

In some embodiments, determining, by the circuitry, one or more parameters indicative of patient position based on the data from the one or more radar sensors comprises: determining, by the circuitry, an amount of time that the patient is lying on the patient bed; determining, by the circuitry, an amount of time that the patient is sitting in the patient's bed; determining, by the circuit, an amount of time that the patient is seated on the chair; and determining, by the circuitry, an amount of time that the patient is standing or walking.

In some embodiments, the method may further include determining, by the circuitry, whether the patient is gait unstable based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, and alerting, by the circuitry, a caregiver in response to determining that the patient is gait unstable.

In some embodiments, the method may further include determining, by the circuitry, whether the patient is leaving the room based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, and issuing, by the circuitry, an alert to a caregiver in response to determining that the patient has left the room.

In some embodiments, the method may further include determining, by the circuitry, whether the patient has fallen to the location based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, and alerting, by the circuitry, a caregiver in response to determining that the patient has fallen to the location.

In some embodiments, determining whether the patient has fallen includes determining whether the patient has fallen in a second room different from the room having the one or more radar sensors.

In some embodiments, the method may further include determining, by the circuitry, one or more parameters indicative of activity of a caregiver in the room.

In some embodiments, the one or more parameters indicative of the caregiver's activities in the room are indicative of the amount of caregiver interaction with the patient.

In some embodiments, the one or more parameters indicative of the caregiver's activities in the room indicate whether the caregiver has washed the caregiver's hands.

In some embodiments, the one or more parameters indicative of the caregiver's activities in the room indicate an amount of time that the caregiver is reviewing the patient's medical record.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a method for facilitating physical therapy exercises comprises: presenting, by the circuitry, the physical therapy instructions to the patient; transmitting, by one or more radar sensors, a radar signal to the patient after presenting the physical therapy instructions; receiving, by the one or more radar sensors, a reflection of the radar signal from the patient; receiving, by the circuitry, data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of a reflection of a radar signal from a patient; determining, by the circuitry, a motion parameter of a patient based on the data from the one or more radar sensors; and, comparing, by the circuitry, the patient's motion parameters to the physical therapy instructions.

In some embodiments, the method may further include storing, by the circuitry, performance data of the patient during an exercise session associated with the physical therapy instruction, wherein the performance data indicates the patient's response to the physical therapy instruction.

In some embodiments, the method may further include determining, by the circuitry, a second physical therapy instruction for a second exercise session different from the first exercise session based on the performance data.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a method for monitoring sleep of a patient includes: transmitting a radar signal to a patient on a patient bed via one or more radar sensors; receiving, by the one or more radar sensors, a reflection of the radar signal from the patient; receiving, by circuitry, data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of a reflection of a radar signal from a patient; determining, by the circuitry, an indication of a patient's rising up in a patient's bed based on the data from the one or more radar sensors; determining, by the circuitry, a pressure parameter of one or more balloons in a patient bed based on the indication of the patient rising up in the patient bed; applying, by the circuitry, the pressure parameter to one or more balloons in the patient bed.

In some embodiments, determining the pressure parameter of the one or more bladders in the patient bed comprises determining the pressure parameter of the one or more bladders in the patient bed using a machine-learning based algorithm.

In some embodiments, the method may further comprise updating the machine-learning based algorithm based on the patient rising up in the patient's bed.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a method for monitoring a patient includes: transmitting a radar signal to a patient in a prone position on a patient bed by one or more radar sensors; receiving, by the one or more radar sensors, a reflection of the radar signal from the patient; receiving, by circuitry, data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of a reflection of a radar signal from a patient; determining, by the circuitry, based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, whether a gap exists between a sternum of the patient and a surface of a patient bed while the patient inhales.

In some embodiments, the method may further include deflating, by the circuitry, the one or more bladders below the patient's sternum in response to determining that there is no gap between the patient's sternum and the surface of the patient bed upon patient inhalation.

In some embodiments, determining whether a gap exists between the patient's sternum and the surface of the patient's bed upon patient inhalation includes deflating, by the electrical circuitry, one or more air bladders below the patient's sternum upon patient inhalation.

In some embodiments, determining one or more parameters indicative of motion of the patient comprises determining a body contour of the patient based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

In some embodiments, the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to determine a Braden score based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

In some embodiments, the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to determine a risk of a patient developing a pressure sore based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

In some embodiments, the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to determine a trend of motion of the patient over a period of at least one week based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

In some embodiments, the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to determine that motion has changed by at least a threshold amount based on the data from the one or more radar sensors and provide an indication to a caregiver that motion has changed by at least a threshold amount.

In some embodiments, the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to detect a patient's onset based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

In some embodiments, the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to determine whether a patient is exiting a patient bed based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

According to one aspect of the disclosure, one or more computer-readable media comprise a plurality of instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a computing device to transmit a radar signal to a patient on a patient bed through one or more radar sensors; receiving, by the one or more radar sensors, a reflection of the radar signal from the patient; receiving data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of a reflection of a radar signal from a patient; determining a position parameter of a patient based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, wherein the position parameter is indicative of a position or orientation of the patient on a patient's bed.

In some embodiments, the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to determine whether the patient should be rotated based on the position parameter of the patient.

In some embodiments, determining whether the patient should be rotated includes determining whether the patient should be rotated to prevent pressure sores.

In some embodiments, determining whether the patient should rotate includes determining whether the patient should rotate to prevent laryngopharyngeal reflux.

In some embodiments, determining whether the patient should be rotated includes determining whether the patient should be rotated to elevate the patient's lungs.

In some embodiments, determining whether the patient should be rotated includes determining that the patient has not been rotated for at least a threshold amount of time.

In some embodiments, the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to determine a subset of a plurality of rotating bladders of a patient bed to inflate to rotate a patient based on the location parameters and send signals to inflate the subset of the plurality of rotating bladders.

In some embodiments, the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to determine, based on the location parameter, a subset of a plurality of rotating bladders of the patient bed to inflate to move the patient toward a center of the patient bed, and send a signal to inflate the subset of the plurality of rotating bladders.

In some embodiments, the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to determine, based on the location parameter, a subset of a plurality of taps and vibrations (P & V) of a patient bed to inflate in order to tap and vibrate (P & V) the patient, wherein the selected subset of the plurality of P & V bladders is a P & V bladder below a current location of the patient; and, transmitting a signal to inflate a subset of the plurality of P & V airbags.

In some embodiments, the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to transmit additional radar signals to the patient through the one or more radar sensors during the P & V treatment; receiving, by the one or more radar sensors, a reflection of an additional radar signal from the patient; receiving additional data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of reflections of additional radar signals from the patient; determining a vibration amplitude of the patient caused by the P & V treatment based on the additional data from the one or more radar sensors; and adjusting the transmitted signals that inflate a subset of the plurality of P & V balloons based on the amplitude of the patient's vibrations.

In some embodiments, the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to determine, based on the location parameter, a subset of a plurality of turning bladders of the patient bed to inflate to move the patient toward a center of the patient bed; transmitting a signal to inflate a subset of the plurality of rotating bladders to move the patient toward the center of the bed prior to transmitting a signal to inflate a subset of the plurality of P & V bladders.

According to one aspect of the disclosure, one or more computer-readable media comprise a plurality of instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a computing device to transmit a radar signal to a patient on a patient bed through one or more radar sensors; and receiving, by one or more radar sensors, a reflection of the radar signal from the patient; receiving data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of a reflection of a radar signal from a patient; determining a body part of a patient in contact with a surface of a patient bed based on the data from the one or more radar sensors; determining, based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, one or more airbags to be controlled to release pressure from a body part in contact with a bed surface; and, controlling the one or more bladders to release pressure from the body part in contact with the bed surface.

In some embodiments, the body part in contact with the bed surface is a heel of the patient.

In some embodiments, the body part in contact with the bed surface is a sacrum of the patient.

According to one aspect of the disclosure, one or more computer-readable media comprise a plurality of instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a computing device to transmit a radar signal to a patient on a patient bed through one or more radar sensors; receiving, by the one or more radar sensors, a reflection of the radar signal from the patient; receiving data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of a reflection of a radar signal from a patient; determining a target body part of a patient for microclimate management; determining a location of the target body part based on the data from the one or more radar sensors; controlling airflow to the target body part based on the determined position of the target body part.

In some embodiments, controlling the airflow to the target body part includes controlling the airflow to the target body part based on the moisture level of the target body part.

In some embodiments, controlling the airflow to the target body part includes controlling a humidity of the airflow to the target body part.

In some embodiments, controlling the airflow to the target body part comprises controlling a temperature of the airflow to the target body part.

In some embodiments, determining one or more parameters indicative of patient position based on the data from the one or more radar sensors comprises: determining an amount of time a patient is lying on a patient bed; determining an amount of time a patient is sitting in a patient's bed; determining an amount of time a patient is sitting in a chair; and, the amount of time the patient stands or walks is determined.

In some embodiments, the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to determine whether the patient has gait instability based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, and send an alert to a caregiver in response to determining that the patient has gait instability.

In some embodiments, the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to determine whether the patient is leaving the room based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, and send an alert to a caregiver in response to determining that the patient has left the room.

In some embodiments, the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to determine whether the patient has fallen to the location based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, and send an alert to a caregiver in response to determining that the patient has fallen to the location.

In some embodiments, determining whether the patient has fallen includes determining whether the patient has fallen in a second room different from the room having the one or more radar sensors.

In some embodiments, the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to determine one or more parameters indicative of activity of a caregiver in the room.

In some embodiments, the one or more parameters indicative of the caregiver's activities in the room are indicative of the amount of caregiver interaction with the patient.

In some embodiments, the one or more parameters indicative of the caregiver's activities in the room indicate whether the caregiver has washed the caregiver's hands.

In some embodiments, the one or more parameters indicative of the caregiver's activities in the room indicate an amount of time that the caregiver is reviewing the patient's medical record.

According to one aspect of the disclosure, one or more computer-readable media comprise a plurality of instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a computing device to present physical therapy instructions to a patient; transmitting, by one or more radar sensors, a radar signal to the patient after presenting the physical therapy instructions; receiving, by the one or more radar sensors, a reflection of the radar signal from the patient; receiving data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of a reflection of a radar signal from a patient; determining a motion parameter of a patient based on the data from the one or more radar sensors; and, the patient's motion parameters are compared to the physical therapy instructions.

In some embodiments, the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to store performance data of the patient during an exercise session associated with the physical therapy instruction, wherein the performance data indicates the patient's response to the physical therapy instruction.

In some embodiments, the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to determine, based on the performance data, a second physical therapy instruction for a second exercise session different from the first exercise session.

According to one aspect of the disclosure, one or more computer-readable media comprise a plurality of instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a computing device to transmit a radar signal to a patient on a patient bed through one or more radar sensors; receiving, by the one or more radar sensors, a reflection of the radar signal from the patient; receiving data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of a reflection of a radar signal from a patient; determining an indication of a patient's rising in bed based on the data from the one or more radar sensors; determining a pressure parameter of one or more bladders in a patient bed from the indication of the patient's rising up in the patient bed; and applying the pressure parameter to the one or more balloons in the patient bed.

In some embodiments, the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to update the machine-learning based algorithm based on the patient rising up in the patient's bed.

According to one aspect of the disclosure, one or more computer-readable media comprise a plurality of instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a computing device to transmit, by one or more radar sensors, a radar signal to a patient in a prone position on a patient bed; receiving, by the one or more radar sensors, a reflection of the radar signal from the patient; receiving, by circuitry, data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of a reflection of a radar signal from a patient; determining whether a gap exists between a patient's sternum and a patient bed surface when the patient inhales based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

In some embodiments, the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to deflate one or more bladders below the patient's sternum in response to determining that there is no gap between the patient's sternum and the surface of the patient bed when the patient inhales.

In some embodiments, determining whether a gap exists between the patient's sternum and the surface of the patient's bed when the patient inhales includes deflating one or more bladders below the patient's sternum when the patient inhales.

Drawings

Detailed description of the preferred embodimentwith particular reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a system for monitoring a patient using one or more radio detection and ranging (radar) sensors;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of circuitry associated with the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view of a system for monitoring a patient using one or more radar sensors;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an environment that may be established by some or all of the circuitry of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of one embodiment of a method for monitoring patient motion in one of the systems of FIGS. 1-3;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a system for monitoring a patient using one or more radar sensors;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a system for monitoring a patient exiting a bed using one or more radar sensors;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an environment that may be established by some or all of the circuits of FIG. 6 or FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of one embodiment of a method for monitoring patient exit from bed in one of the systems of FIG. 6 or FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a system for monitoring a patient using one or more radar sensors;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a system for monitoring a patient using one or more radar sensors;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a system for monitoring the rotation of a patient by a caregiver using one or more radar sensors;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a system for monitoring a patient rotating through a bladder of a hospital bed using one or more radar sensors;

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of an environment that may be established by some or all of the circuits of FIGS. 10-13;

FIG. 15 is a flow chart of one embodiment of a method for monitoring patient rotation in one of the systems of FIGS. 10-13;

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a system for monitoring a patient using one or more radar sensors;

FIG. 17 is a side view of a system for monitoring a patient using one or more radar sensors;

FIG. 18 is a side view of a system for monitoring a patient and controlling a bladder on a surface of a hospital bed using one or more radar sensors;

FIG. 19 is a side view of a system for microclimate management and tapping and vibration (P & V) treatment of hospital bed surfaces using one or more radar sensors;

FIG. 20 is a block diagram of an environment that may be established by some or all of the circuits of FIGS. 16-19;

FIG. 21 is a flow chart of one embodiment of a method for relieving pressure on certain portions of a patient in one of the systems of FIGS. 16 and 17;

FIG. 22 is a flow chart of one embodiment of a method for performing P & V treatment on a patient in the system of FIG. 19;

FIG. 23 is a flow diagram of one embodiment of a method for performing microclimate management in the system of FIG. 19;

FIG. 24 is a perspective view of a system for monitoring a patient on a hospital bed using one or more radar sensors;

FIG. 25 is a perspective view of a system for monitoring a patient seated in a room using one or more radar sensors;

FIG. 26 is a perspective view of a system for monitoring a patient walking in a room using one or more radar sensors;

FIG. 27 is a perspective view of a system for monitoring a patient on a floor of a room using one or more radar sensors;

FIG. 28 is a perspective view of a system for monitoring a patient leaving a room using one or more radar sensors;

FIG. 29 is a perspective view of a system for monitoring a patient on a bathroom floor using one or more radar sensors;

FIG. 30 is a block diagram of an environment that may be established by some or all of the circuits of FIGS. 24-29;

FIG. 31 is a flow chart of one embodiment of a method for monitoring patient motion in the system of FIGS. 24-29;

FIG. 32 is a perspective view of a system for monitoring a patient undergoing physical therapy in bed using one or more radar sensors;

FIG. 33 is a perspective view of a system for monitoring a patient undergoing physical therapy in bed using one or more radar sensors;

FIG. 34 is a perspective view of a system for monitoring a patient undergoing physical therapy using one or more radar sensors;

FIG. 35 is a perspective view of a system for monitoring a patient undergoing physical therapy using one or more radar sensors;

FIG. 36 is a block diagram of an environment that may be established by some or all of the circuits of FIGS. 32-35;

FIG. 37 is a flow chart of one embodiment of a method for monitoring a patient undergoing physical therapy in the system of FIGS. 32-35;

FIG. 38 is a perspective view of a system for monitoring a patient sleeping in a bed using one or more radar sensors;

FIG. 39 is a perspective view of a system for monitoring a patient sleeping in a bed using one or more radar sensors;

FIG. 40 is a block diagram of an environment that may be established by some or all of the circuits of FIGS. 38 and 39;

FIG. 41 is a flow chart of one embodiment of a method for monitoring a sleeping patient in the system of FIGS. 38 and 39;

FIG. 42 is a perspective view of a system for monitoring a patient in a prone position using one or more radar sensors;

FIG. 43 is a perspective view of a system for monitoring a patient in a prone position using one or more radar sensors;

FIG. 44 is a block diagram of an environment that may be established by some or all of the circuits of FIGS. 42 and 43;

FIG. 45 is a flow chart of one embodiment of a method for monitoring a patient in a prone position in the system of FIGS. 42 and 43;

FIG. 46 is a perspective view of a system for determining a patient's weight using one or more radar sensors;

FIG. 47 is a block diagram of an environment that may be established by some or all of the circuitry of FIG. 46; and

FIG. 48 is a flow chart of one embodiment of a method for determining a patient's weight in the system of FIG. 46.

Detailed Description

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, one or more radio detection and ranging (radar) devices are integrated into a system such as a patient support system, a hospital ward, and a physical therapy system. Radar devices are used to monitor patients, for example by monitoring position, orientation and movement.

Although all types of systems that implement the disclosed techniques are contemplated herein, some examples of patient support systems include stand-alone mattress systems, mattress covers, hospital beds with integrated mattress systems, operating tables, examination tables, imaging tables, stretchers, chairs, wheelchairs, and patient lifts, to name a few. Patient support surfaces contemplated herein include air mattresses, foam mattresses, combination air and foam mattresses, mattress covers, table pads and mattresses, stretcher pads and mattresses, chair pads, wheelchair pads, and patient lift harnesses and cushions, to name a few.

While the concepts of the present disclosure are susceptible 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. It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the concepts of the disclosure to the specific forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives consistent with the disclosure and the appended claims.

References in the specification to "one embodiment," "an illustrative embodiment," etc., indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may or may not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that: it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to implement such features, structures or characteristics in connection with other embodiments whether explicitly described or not. Additionally, it should be understood that an item included in the list in the form of "at least one of A, B, and C" may represent (A); (B) (ii) a (C) (ii) a (A and B); (B and C); (A and C); or (A, B and C). Similarly, an item listed as "at least one of a, B, or C" may represent (a); (B) (ii) a (C) (ii) a (A and B); (B and C); (A and C); or (A, B and C).

In some cases, the disclosed embodiments may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or any combination thereof. The disclosed embodiments may also be implemented as instructions carried or stored by one or more transitory or non-transitory machine-readable (e.g., computer-readable) storage media, which may be read and executed by one or more processors. A machine-readable storage medium may be implemented as any storage device, mechanism or other physical structure for storing or transmitting information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a volatile or non-volatile memory, a media disk or other medium).

In the drawings, some structural or methodical features may be shown in a particular arrangement and/or order. However, it is to be understood that this particular arrangement and/or order is not required. Rather, in some embodiments, the features may be arranged in a manner and/or order different from that shown in the illustrative figures. Moreover, the inclusion of a structural feature or a methodological function in a particular figure does not imply that this feature is required in all embodiments, and in some embodiments may not be included or may be combined with other features.

Referring now to fig. 1, patient support system 100 includes a patient bed 102, a radar support stand 104, an abdominal radar sensor 106, a left radar sensor 108, a right radar sensor 110, and control circuitry 112. The radar sensors 106, 108, 110 monitor a patient 114 on the patient bed 102. As discussed in more detail below, the radar sensors 106, 108, 110 may monitor the position, orientation, motion, etc. of the patient.

Each radar sensor 106, 108, 110 may be any suitable radar sensor. In the illustrative embodiment, each radar sensor 106, 108, 110 is a millimeter wave sensor operating at 30-300 GHz. Each radar sensor 106, 108, 110 may operate in a frequency range such as 60-64GHz or 76-81 GHz. Each radar sensor 106, 108, 110 has one or more transmitters and one or more receivers. For example, each radar sensor 106, 108, 110 may include one or more of an AWR1843, AWR1642, AWR1443, AWR1243, IWR6843AoP, IWR6843, IWR1843, IWR1642, and/or IWR1443 chip of Texas Instruments (TI). In some embodiments, radar sensors 106, 108, 110 may include two or more radar chips cascaded together such that they operate in synchronization, thereby providing improved target detection and resolution. Additionally or alternatively, the radar sensors 106, 108, 110 may be cascaded together.

In use, each radar sensor 106, 108, 110 emits radio waves, such as millimeter waves. Radar sensors 106, 108, 110 may transmit a single frequency, a series of pulses, shaped pulses, chirped pulses, or any other suitable wave. The waves propagate from the radar sensors 106, 108, 110 and are reflected back to the radar sensors 106, 108, 110 by the patient 114. As used herein, a reflected radar signal or reflection of a radar signal refers to a radar signal that has undergone scattering, coherent reflection, incoherent reflection, partial reflection, and the like. The reflected signals may be processed to determine a distance from the radar sensors 106, 108, 110 to one or more locations of the patient 114, such as by determining a time of flight or phase of the reflected signals. Multiple portions of the patient 114 may be detected as multiple reflected signals. The location of the site where the wave is reflected can be determined by the difference of the reflected signals of the different receivers. Additionally or alternatively, the velocity of certain portions of the patient 114 that reflected the waves may be determined based on the Doppler shift of the reflected waves. In this manner, the radar sensors 106, 108, 110 may be used to map the position and contour of the patient 114. In the illustrative embodiment, abdominal radar sensor 106 maps the outline of the location of patient 114 located at the center of bed 102, and left and right radar sensors 110 and 110 map the location of patient 114 located in the right and left portions of bed 102, respectively. Additionally or alternatively, any of the radar sensors 106, 108, 110 may be used to map any portion of the patient 114 in any portion of the patient bed 102, or to monitor the movement or position of the patient or other persons in the region of the patient bed 102.

In some embodiments, multiple transmit antennas from some or all of radar sensors 106, 108, 110 may operate with controlled phase differences, allowing for beamforming. Beamforming may be used to detect a particular region of the patient 114, the patient bed 102, or a room.

It should be appreciated that in some embodiments, the radio waves may penetrate some materials, such as clothing, blankets, sheets, allowing the patient 114 under the blanket to be monitored without contact.

In the illustrative embodiment, the radar support stand 104 extends above the patient bed 102. The radar support stand 104 may be attached to the patient bed 102 or may form part of a standalone radar monitoring unit. It should be understood that in some embodiments, radar sensors 106, 108, 110 may be positioned differently than the configuration shown in FIG. 1. For example, some or all of the radar sensors 106, 108, 110 may be positioned on a side of the patient 114, on a wall of a room, embedded in the patient bed 102, and/or any other suitable location relative to the patient 114.

The radar sensors 106, 108, 110 may be connected to the control circuitry 112 in any suitable manner. In the illustrative embodiment, one or more wires connect radar sensors 106, 108, 110 to control circuitry 112. Additionally or alternatively, the radar sensors 106, 108, 110 may be connected to the control circuit 112 using optical fibers or wireless signals. In some embodiments, the control circuitry 112 may be in close proximity to one or more of the radar sensors 106, 108, 110 and/or may be integrated into the radar sensors 106, 108, 110. In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 1, some or all of the control circuitry 112 may be located in the radar support stand 104. Additionally or alternatively, some or all of the control circuitry 112 may be located in any suitable location, such as in the base of the patient bed 102, in a separate component near the patient bed 102, in a remote location, or the like.

Control circuitry 112 may be implemented as any circuitry capable of performing the functions described herein. For example, the control circuitry 112 may be implemented as, or otherwise included in, an embedded computing system, a system on a chip (SoC), a multiprocessor system, a processor-based system, a consumer electronics device, a smartphone, a cellular telephone, a desktop computer, a server computer, a tablet, a laptop, a network appliance, a router, a switch, a networked computer, a wearable computer, a cell phone, a messaging device, a camera device, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), and/or any other computing device without limitation. Control circuitry 112 may include one or more processors, memory, one or more data storage devices, communication circuitry, and/or any other suitable components. In some embodiments, one or more components of the control circuitry 112 may be incorporated into, or otherwise form part of, another component. For example, in some embodiments, memory or portions thereof may be incorporated in the processor. Although the control circuitry 112 is described as being integrated into the patient bed 102, it should be understood that some or all of the hardware and/or functionality of the control circuitry 112 may be implemented in a different location, such as in a computing device or circuitry in a different room or building than the patient bed 102. For example, in some embodiments, some or all of the hardware and/or functionality of the control circuitry 112 may be implemented in a local server, a remote server, a cloud server, or the like.

Still referring to fig. 1, the patient bed 102 includes a frame 116, which frame 116 in turn includes a lower frame or base 118, an upper frame assembly 120, and a lift system 122 connecting the upper frame assembly 120 to the base 118. The system 122 is operable to raise, lower, and tilt the upper frame assembly 120 relative to the base 118. The bed 102 has a head end 124 and a foot end 126. The bed 102 also includes a footboard 128 at the foot end 126 and a headboard 130 at the head end 124. The headboard 130 is connected to a riser 132 of the base 118. In the illustrative example, a bed footboard 128 is coupled to the foot end 126 of the upper frame assembly 120 in the example. In other embodiments, the footboard 128 is attached to a telescoping portion of the foot portion of the mattress support platform 134 of the upper frame assembly 120. Base 118 includes wheels or casters 136 that roll along the floor as cot 102 is moved from one location to another. A set of foot pedals 138 are connected to base 118 and are used to brake and release casters 136 as is known in the art. The base 118 also supports a housing 119 for housing portions of the control circuitry (e.g., some or all of the control circuitry 112 described herein).

As shown in fig. 1, an exemplary hospital bed 102 has four side rail assemblies connected to an upper frame assembly 120. The four side rail assemblies include a pair of head side rail assemblies 140 (sometimes referred to as head rails) and a pair of foot side rail assemblies 142 (sometimes referred to as foot rails). Each of the side rail assemblies 140, 142 is movable between a raised position (as shown by the two head rails 140 and the right foot rail 142 in fig. 1) and a lowered position (as shown by the left foot rail 142 in fig. 1). The side rail assemblies 140, 142 are sometimes referred to herein simply as side rails 140, 142. Each side rail 140, 142 includes a baffle 144 and a link 146. Each link 56 is connected to the upper frame assembly 120 and is configured to guide the stop plate 144 during movement of the side rails 140, 14 between the respective raised and lowered positions.

The mattress support platform 134 of the upper frame assembly 120 supports a mattress 148, which mattress 148 in turn supports the patient 114. A mattress support platform 134 is positioned above the upper frame of the upper frame assembly 120. In some embodiments, the mattress support platform 134 includes articulating platform portions, such as a head portion that supports the head and torso regions of the patient 114, a seat portion that supports the buttocks and sacral regions of the patient 114, a thigh portion that supports the patient's thighs, and a foot portion that supports the patient's 114 calves and feet. One or more platform portions are movable relative to the upper frame of the upper frame assembly 120. For example, the head portion may be pivotally raised and lowered relative to the seat portion, while the foot portion may be pivotally raised and lowered relative to the thigh portion. In addition, the thigh section is hinged relative to the seat section. Also, in some embodiments, the foot portion is telescoping to change the overall length of the foot portion and thus the overall length of the mattress support platform 134. Additional details of suitable embodiments of the bed 102 can be found, for example, in U.S. patent application publication No.2018/0161225a1, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference herein to the extent they do not contradict the present disclosure, the conflict should be controlled to be any inconsistency.

As described above, bed 102 includes radar support 104, which radar support 104 in turn supports radar sensors 106, 108, 110. In the illustrated example, the radar support stand 104 includes a generally vertically oriented mast or mast 104a and a generally horizontally oriented arm 104b, the arm 104b extending in a cantilevered manner from an upper end of the mast 104a so as to cover the mattress 148 of the bed 102 and the patient 114 supported thereon. Arm 104b has a distal region 104c to which radar sensor 106 is connected. The arm 104b is located generally vertically above the longitudinal centerline of the bed 102. Radar support boom 104 also includes a right arm 104d and a left arm 104e, which right arm 104d and left arm 104e extend in a cantilevered manner from the right and left sides, respectively, of arm 104 b. The arms 104b, including their distal end regions 104c, and the arms 104d, 104e resemble a cross when viewed from above.

In some embodiments, radar sensors 106, 108, 110 may be moved along respective arms 104b, 104d, 104e such that the trajectory of the radar beam from sensors 106, 108, 110 may be adjusted by a greater or more significant amount than may be possible using beamforming techniques. For example, in some contemplated embodiments, a clamp or lock associated with each of the sensors 106, 108, 110 may be manually locked and released to allow the sensors 106, 108, 110 to be manually repositioned along a track, guide, rod, bar, or the like included in the respective arm 104b, 104d, 104 e. Alternatively, the sensors 106, 108, 110 may be mounted to nuts that run along lead screws that are manually turned by a crank handle or knob and included in the arms 104b, 104d, 104 e. With respect to the manner in which the position of the sensors 106, 108, 110 is adjusted relative to the arms 104b, 104d, 104e, the present disclosure also contemplates automatic or motorized control of lead screws of the type that use motors. The present disclosure also contemplates other automatic adjustment mechanisms for repositioning the sensors 106, 108, 110 on the carriage 104, such as linear actuators, motorized sprocket and chain arrangements, motorized belt and pulley arrangements, and the like. The following embodiments also fall within the scope of the present disclosure: wherein the arms 104d, 104e are repositionable along the arm 104b in the longitudinal dimension of the arm 104b to move the arms 104d, 104e closer to, and further from, the distal region 104c of the arm 104 b. Manual and/or automatic repositioning mechanisms similar to those described above may be used for this purpose.

In some embodiments, the lower end of the mast 104a of the stand 104 is connected to the head end 124 of the upper frame assembly 120 of the bed 102. Thus, in such embodiments, radar support stand 104 and the radar sensors 106, 108, 110 supported thereby may be raised, lowered, and tilted relative to base 118 as upper frame assembly 120 is raised, lowered, and tilted, respectively, via lift system 122. In other embodiments, the lower end of the mast 104a is connected to the head end of the base 118 of the bed 102. In such embodiments, the rack 104 and sensors 106, 108, 110 remain stationary as the upper frame assembly 120 is raised, lowered, and tilted relative to the base 118 by the lift system 122. As described above, in still other embodiments, the gantry 104 comprises a freestanding frame, e.g., a frame with casters for movement, which is moved into position over the bed 102, for example.

In some embodiments, the mast 104a of the stand 104 is telescopic so as to lengthen and shorten in a generally vertical direction. Thus, the extended mast 104a telescopically raises the arms 104b, 104d, 104e and associated radar sensors 106, 108, 110 relative to the mattress 148 and the patient 114 thereon, while the retracted mast 104a telescopically lowers the arms 104b, 104d, 104e and associated radar sensors 106, 108, 110 relative to the mattress 148 and the patient 114 thereon. In such an embodiment, mast 104a includes at least a first mast section and a second mast section that are retractable relative to one another, e.g., using one or more linear actuators, lead screw drives (manual or automatic), and the like, if no greater number is contemplated. Optionally, the arm 104b of the stand 104 is telescopic to move the distal region 104c and the arms 104d, 104e integrally over the mattress 148 and the patient 114 in a generally horizontal direction defined by the longitudinal dimension of the arm 104 b. In such embodiments, if no greater number is contemplated, the arm 104b includes at least a first arm segment and a second arm segment that are retractable relative to one another, for example, using one or more linear actuators, lead screw drives (manual or automatic), or the like. As described above, the positional adjustability of the sensors 106, 108, 110 in both the vertical and horizontal directions allows the disclosed patient monitoring system using the radar sensors 106, 108, 110 to account for different sizes of patients and for the specific location of the patient 114 on the bed 102 between the head end 124 and the foot end 126.

The present disclosure contemplates that, in some embodiments, the portion of control circuitry 112 for controlling the movement of portions of bed 102 communicates with the portion of circuitry 112 for controlling the operation of radar sensors 106, 108, 110 to alter the operation of radar sensors 106, 108, 110 under certain conditions. For example, if the head portion of the mattress support platform 134 is pivotally elevated above a threshold amount of a head of bed (HOB) angle, say, about 15 degrees to about 30 degrees (only any threshold range given), the circuitry 112 may disable the use of the radar sensors 106, 108, 110 in some embodiments. This is because the patient's torso being tilted at such steep angles may negatively impact the ability of the sensors 106, 108, 110 and circuitry 112 to accurately sense the patient's heart rate, breathing rate and/or position. In this regard, it will be understood that the bed 102 includes an angle sensor, such as an accelerometer, inclinometer, rotary potentiometer, string potentiometer, ball switch, mercury switch, or the like, coupled to the circuitry 112 and used to sense the HOB angle of the head portion of the mattress support platform 134 of the bed 102. As another example, if the circuitry 112 analyzes the image intensity (e.g., light or dark) of various regions of the images generated by the radar sensors 106, 108, 110 and compares the light intensity to various threshold intensities to determine the patient's position, orientation, motion, health, etc., it may be desirable to use different light intensity thresholds depending on the proximity of the patient to the radar sensors 106, 108, 110. Thus, in some embodiments, the circuitry 112 analyzes the height and/or tilt of the upper frame assembly 120 relative to the base 118 and/or the amount of extension or retraction of the mast 104a, and then adjusts the image intensity threshold accordingly.

Referring now to fig. 2, a system 200 for monitoring a patient using radar sensors includes radar sensors 106, 108, 110, control circuitry 112, and a display 202. The control circuitry 112 may be connected to additional components, such as an electronic medical record server 206, a nurse call system 208, a status board 210, a communication system 212, and one or more mobile computing devices 214 via the network 204. In use, the control circuitry 112 may communicate the patient's monitoring information to other components of the system 200. For example, the control circuitry 112 can monitor the location of the patient 114 and send the location of the patient 114 to the electronic medical record server 206 for storage as part of a medical record. The control circuitry 112 may also transmit the location of the patient 114 to the nurse call system 208, allowing the location to be presented on the status board 210 and/or transmitted to a mobile computing device 214 carried by the nurse.

The display 202 may be local to the control circuitry 112, such as a display on one or more side bars 140, 142 of the patient bed 102. The display 202 may be any suitable display, such as an LCD display, an LED display, a laser display, or the like. In some embodiments, display 202 is operable under control of circuitry 112 to display information sensed by radar sensors 106, 108, 110 including image data. Further, in some embodiments, the display 202 includes a Graphical User Interface (GUI) that may also be used to display user inputs for controlling various features and functions of the bed 102, including control of components associated with the mattress 148 and control of movable portions of the frame 116.

The network 204 may be any suitable network. In the illustrative embodiment, network 204 is an ethernet network. Additionally or alternatively, network 204 may be implemented asA network,Networks, WiMAX networks, Near Field Communication (NFC) networks, and the like.

It should be understood that the radar sensors 106, 108, 110 may be configured at locations above the patient 114 that are not the patient bed 102. For example, in fig. 3, a patient bed 300 includes a radar sensor 302 positioned on or attached to a left side rail 304 of the patient bed 300 to monitor a patient 306. Additionally or alternatively, the patient bed may include radar sensors 302 located on or attached to the right side rail 308, headboard 310, footboard 312, or the like. The radar sensor 302 is connected to a control circuit, which may be located in any suitable location, such as in the left side rail 304, below the patient 306, such as on the lower frame or base 314 of the bed 300. Sensor 302 (and other radar sensors discussed throughout this disclosure) may be similar to radar sensors 106, 108, 110, and the control circuitry associated with radar sensor 302 (and other circuitry discussed throughout this disclosure) may be similar to control circuitry 112. For clarity, those components and similar components described throughout this disclosure will not be described again. It should be appreciated that the radar sensor 302 provides a side view, rather than a top view, of the patient 306. This view provides different measurement data compared to the radar sensors 106, 108, 110. It should be appreciated that any combination of radar sensor 302 and radar sensors 106, 108, and 110 may be used in various embodiments. In some embodiments, radar sensor 302 may be used in conjunction with some or all of radar sensors 106, 108, 110, for example, to measure the same parameter, such as patient profile, from two different angles.

Referring now to FIG. 4, in an illustrative embodiment, the control circuit 112 establishes an environment 400 during operation. Exemplary environment 400 includes a radar controller 402, a body contour mapper 404, a limb movement tracker 406, a bed depth monitor 408, a Braden score calculator 410, and a communication controller 412. The various modules of environment 400 may be implemented as hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof. For example, the various modules, logic, and other components of the environment 400 may form part of, or be established by, a processor, memory, or other hardware component of the control circuit 112. Accordingly, in some embodiments, one or more modules of the environment 400 may be implemented as a circuit or collection of electrical devices (e.g., radar controller circuit 402, body contour mapper circuit 404, bed depth monitor circuit 406, etc.). It should be appreciated that in such embodiments, one or more circuits (e.g., radar controller circuit 402, body contour mapper circuit 404, bed depth monitor circuit 406, etc.) may form part of one or more of the processor, memory, data storage, and/or other components of the control circuit 112. Additionally, in some embodiments, one or more illustrative modules may form a portion of another module, and/or one or more illustrative modules may be independent of each other. Further, in some embodiments, one or more modules of the environment 400 may be implemented as virtualized hardware components or emulated architectures, which may be established and maintained by a processor or other component of the control circuitry 112.

Radar controller 402 is configured to interface with radar sensors 106, 108, 110, 302, radar controller 402 may be implemented as hardware, firmware, software, virtualized hardware, simulation architecture, and/or combinations thereof, as described above. Radar controller 402 may send commands to radar sensors 106, 108, 110, 302, configure radar sensors 106, 108, 110, 302, and receive data from radar sensors 106, 108, 110, 302. In the illustrative embodiment, radar controller 402 receives an indication of the signals received by radar sensors 106, 108, 110, 302, such as the strength, phase, electric field, etc., received at each receiver of radar sensors 106, 108, 110. In some embodiments, radar sensors 106, 108, 110, 302 may perform some preprocessing prior to sending data to radar controller 402, such as processing received data to determine the location and/or velocity of objects that reflected waves to radar sensors 106, 108, 110, 302.

The body contour mapper 404 is configured to map a body contour of a patient, the body contour mapper 404 may be implemented as hardware, firmware, software, virtualized hardware, simulation architecture, and/or combinations thereof as described above. The body contour mapper 404 may generate a 2D or 3D map of the patient's body, which 2D or 3D map may be used to determine the patient's position, orientation, and motion.

The limb motion tracker 406 is configured to track the motion of a limb of a patient, and the limb motion tracker 406 may be implemented as hardware, firmware, software, virtualized hardware, emulation architecture, and/or combinations thereof, as described above. The limb motion tracker 406 may track the patient's arms, legs, and head. In some embodiments, the limb motion tracker 406 may track the motion of individual fingers of the patient.

The limb motion tracker 406 can monitor the patient for lack of motion and movement over a certain time range. The limb movements of the patient, as well as the overall movement of the patient, may be compared to a baseline of "normal" persons and/or to the "normal" behavior of the patient. If the movement is a certain percentage above or below the baseline, an alert may be sent to the caregiver. Lack of movement may potentially represent a higher risk of skin wounds, urinary tract infections, pneumonia, etc. Excessive movement may be indicative of Periodic Limb Movement Disorder (PLMD) or other conditions that may require treatment. In some embodiments, the limb motion tracker 406 may detect the patient's onset and alert the caregiver accordingly. The limb movement tracker 406 may monitor the patient for an extended period of time, such as days or months, in a long-term care facility. The limb-motion tracker 406 may determine a baseline amount of motion for the patient and may track trends in motion changes over days, weeks, or months. Changes in patient motion trends may indicate changes in patient condition.

The bed depth monitor 408 is configured to monitor the bed depth of the patient, which bed depth monitor 408 may be implemented as hardware, firmware, software, virtualized hardware, simulation architecture, and/or combinations thereof as described above. In the illustrative embodiment, the bed depth monitor 408 may determine bed depths for multiple sites of the patient (e.g., back, sacrum, legs, and heel). Additionally or alternatively, bed depth monitor 408 may determine an overall or average bed depth.

Braden score calculator 410 is configured to determine a Braden score for a patient, and Braden score calculator 410 may be implemented as hardware, firmware, software, virtualized hardware, simulation architecture, and/or combinations thereof, as described above. The Braden score may be based at least in part on data from radar sensors 106, 108, 110, 302. For example, Braden score calculator 410 may determine a physical activity level of the patient, an activity ability of the patient, and friction and shear forces experienced by the patient based on data from radar sensors 106, 108, 110, 302. In some embodiments, Braden score calculator 410 may determine a Braden score based at least in part on caregiver input, such as the patient's ability to respond to pressure related discomfort, the degree of skin exposure to moisture, and food intake patterns. As used herein, the phrase "based on" includes both "based in part on" and "based entirely on".

The communication controller 412 is configured to communicate with other devices, such as the electronic medical record server 206 or the nurse call system 208. As described above, the communication controller 412 may be implemented, for example, via Ethernet,WiMAX, Near Field Communication (NFC), etc. communicate directly or indirectly with other devices.

Referring now to fig. 5, in use, a method 500 of monitoring a patient using radar may be performed. In some embodiments, some or all of method 500 may be performed by control circuitry 112. Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, the control circuit 112 may provide data such as patient movement frequency, and a caregiver may monitor the data from the control circuit 112 to determine, for example, a Braden score for the patient. The method 500 begins at block 502 where the control circuitry 112 receives signals from one or more radar sensors 106, 108, 110 for monitoring the position, orientation, and/or motion of a patient in block 502. Control circuitry 112 may receive raw signals received by the antennas of radar sensors 106, 108, 110. In some embodiments, radar sensors 106, 108, 110 may perform some preprocessing prior to sending data to control circuitry 112, such as processing received data to determine the location and/or velocity of objects that have reflected waves toward radar sensors 106, 108, 110.

In block 504, the control circuitry 112 analyzes the radar signals to perform body contour mapping of the patient. The control circuitry 112 may generate a 2D or 3D map of the patient's body, which 2D or 3D map may be used to determine the patient's position, orientation and motion.

In block 506, the control circuitry 112 performs limb tracking, and may track the patient's arms, legs, and head. In some embodiments, the control circuitry 112 may track the movement of the individual fingers of the patient.

In block 508, the control circuitry 112 monitors the bed depth of the patient. In an illustrative embodiment, the control circuitry 112 may determine bed depths for multiple sites (e.g., back, sacrum, legs, and heel) of the patient. Additionally or alternatively, the control circuitry 112 may determine an overall or average bed depth.

In block 510, the control circuit 112 determines the Braden score for the patient. The Braden score may be based at least in part on data from radar sensors 106, 108, 110, 302. For example, the control circuitry 112 may determine the physical activity level of the patient, the mobility of the patient, and the friction and shear forces experienced by the patient based on data from the radar sensors 106, 108, 110, 302. In some embodiments, the control circuit 112 may determine the Braden score based at least in part on caregiver input (e.g., the patient's ability to respond to pressure related discomfort, the degree of skin exposure to moisture, and food intake patterns).

In block 512, the control circuitry 112 determines a pressure wound risk. The control circuitry 112 may determine the risk of pressure sores based on various factors such as the Braden score, the bed depth of a particular part of the patient's body, how long a particular part of the patient's body is under pressure, and the like. In some embodiments, the control circuitry 112 may determine the pressure wound risk using a machine learning based algorithm based on some or all of these factors. Such machine-learning based algorithms may be trained based on past patient data from radar sensors similar to radar sensors 106, 108, 110, 302. The data from the patient, in combination with the indicia of the presence or absence of pressure sores based on caregiver assessment, can be used as labeled training data based on a machine learning algorithm. The machine-learning based algorithm may be trained by the control circuitry 112 or any other suitable computing device.

In block 514, the control circuit 112 stores patient movement data and/or additional data such as Braden score and pressure sore risk. In block 516, the control circuitry 112 may store the patient data locally, which may then be used to determine, for example, whether a change in the patient's rate of motion has occurred. Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, the control circuitry 112 may send the patient data to an electronic medical record server in block 518 and/or to a nurse call system in block 520. Method 500 then loops back to block 502 to receive additional data from radar sensors 106, 108, 110.

In another configuration, as shown in fig. 6, a patient bed 602 may have one or more radar sensors 604 connected to a control circuit 606, the one or more radar sensors being located over the center of a patient 608 without any radar sensors on the sides. The bed 602 of fig. 6 is substantially the same as the bed 102 of fig. 1, and therefore the above discussion of the bed 102 applies equally to the bed 602. In addition, the radar support stand 610 is attached to the bed 602 in the same manner as discussed above with respect to the stand 104 and bed 102. Accordingly, the above discussion of the rack 104, including all variations thereof, applies equally to the rack 610. Thus, for example, the rack 610 includes a generally vertically oriented mast or mast and a generally horizontal arm having a distal region connected to the radar sensor 604. The above discussion of mast 104a applies equally to the mast herein, while the above discussion of boom 104b applies equally to the boom herein. It should be appreciated that in some embodiments, the frequency used by the radar sensor 604 may pass through certain materials, such as blankets, which allows for clear monitoring of the patient's motion even when the patient is covered by the blanket.

As shown in fig. 7, the radar sensor 604 may monitor a patient exiting the patient bed 602. The control circuitry 606 may be used to monitor the patient before and during exit from the bed, and may predict that an exit from the bed may occur and alert the caregiver, as described in detail below.

Referring now to FIG. 8, in an illustrative embodiment, control circuitry 606 establishes environment 800 during operation. Exemplary environment 800 includes a radar controller 802, a location detector 804, an out-of-bed detector 806, and a communications controller 808. The various modules of environment 800 may be implemented as hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof. For example, the various modules, logic, and other components of environment 800 may form part of, or be otherwise established by, a processor, memory, or other hardware component of control circuitry 606. Thus, in some embodiments, one or more modules of environment 800 may be implemented as a circuit or collection of electrical devices (e.g., radar controller circuit 802, location detector circuit 804, exit bed detector circuit 806, etc.). It should be appreciated that in such embodiments, one or more circuits (e.g., radar controller circuit 802, position detector circuit 804, off-bed detector circuit 806, etc.) may form part of one or more of the processor, memory, data storage, and/or other components of control circuit 606. Additionally, in some embodiments, one or more illustrative modules may form a portion of another module, and/or one or more illustrative modules may be independent of each other. Further, in some embodiments, one or more modules of environment 800 may be implemented as virtualized hardware components or emulated architectures, which may be established and maintained by a processor or other component of control circuitry 606.

The radar controller 802 is configured to interface with the radar sensor 604, the radar controller 802 may be implemented as hardware, firmware, software, virtualized hardware, emulated architecture, and/or combinations thereof, as described above. Radar controller 802 may send commands to radar sensor 604, configure radar sensor 604, and receive data from radar sensor 604. In the illustrative embodiment, the radar controller 802 receives an indication of the signal received by the radar sensor 604, such as the strength, phase, electric field, etc., received at each receiver of the radar sensor 604. In some embodiments, the radar sensor 604 may perform some preprocessing prior to sending data to the radar controller 802, such as processing the received data to provide an indication of the patient's position or motion.

The position detector 804 is configured to determine the position of the patient, which position detector 804 may be implemented as hardware, firmware, software, virtualized hardware, simulation architecture, and/or combinations thereof as described above. The position detector 804 may determine 2D or 3D positions of various parts of the patient (e.g., torso, arms, legs, head, etc.).

The exit-bed detector 806 is configured to detect or predict that the patient is about to exit the bed, and the exit-bed detector 806 may be implemented as hardware, firmware, software, virtualized hardware, emulation architecture, and/or combinations thereof, as described above. For example, in some embodiments, the out-of-bed detector 806 may determine that the patient is moving in a manner consistent with an attempt to get out of bed immediately, such as pulling the patient's knees toward the patient's chest and turning to one side of the bed. Detecting that a patient is out of the bed may be useful in alerting a caregiver to assist the patient, alerting a caregiver to monitor that the patient is out of the bed, alerting a caregiver when the patient is out of the bed for an extended period of time, etc.

The communication controller 808 is configured to communicate with other devices, such as the electronic medical record server 206 or the nurse call system 208. The communication controller 808 may be implemented via, for example, Ethernet,WiMAX, Near Field Communication (NFC), etc. communicate directly or indirectly with other devices. The communication controller 808 may transmit data indicative of the patient's position. The communication controller 808 may send an alert or notification to, for example, the electronic medical record server 206 or the nurse call system 208 that the patient is about to, or is predicted to, leave the bed.

Referring now to fig. 9, in use, a method 900 of monitoring a patient using radar may be performed. In some embodiments, some or all of method 900 may be performed by control circuitry 606. The method 900 begins at block 902, where the control circuitry 606 receives signals from one or more radar sensors 604 monitoring the position of a patient in block 902. The control circuit 606 may receive raw signals received by the antenna of the radar sensor 640. In some embodiments, radar sensor 604 may perform some preprocessing prior to sending data to control circuitry 606.

In block 904, the control circuitry 606 determines the position of the patient. The control circuitry 606 may determine 2D or 3D positions of various parts of the patient (e.g., torso, arms, legs, head, etc.).

In block 906, the control circuitry 606 determines whether an exit from the bed is detected and/or whether an imminent exit from the bed is predicted. For example, in some embodiments, the control circuitry 606 may determine that the patient is moving in a manner consistent with an attempt to get out of bed immediately, such as pulling the patient's knee toward the patient's chest and turning to one side of the bed.

In block 906, if leaving the bed is not detected, the method 900 loops back to block 902 to continue monitoring the patient. If bed exit is detected, the method 900 continues to block 910 where the control circuit 606 alerts the caregiver, such as by sending a message to the nurse call station 208 or the status board 210, in block 910. Detecting that a patient is out of a bed may be useful in several situations, such as alerting a caregiver to assist the patient, alerting a caregiver to monitor that the patient is out of bed, alerting a caregiver when the patient is out of bed for an extended period of time, etc. The method 900 then loops back to block 902 to continue monitoring the patient.

Referring now to fig. 10-13, in one embodiment, a patient bed 1002 includes one or more radar sensors 1004 connected to a control circuit 1006. In the illustrative example, a radar support 1008 is used to support one or more radar sensors 1004 and circuitry 1006. The rack 610 is discussed above in connection with fig. 6, and the discussion is equally applicable to the rack 1008 used with the bed 1002 of fig. 10-13.

In use, the control circuitry 1006 may be configured to monitor the position of the patient using the radar sensor 1004 and determine when the patient is required to turn around. The radar sensor 1004 may be used to determine both when the patient is moving and where the patient is. For example, the radar sensor 1004 may be used to determine that the patient 1010 is lying on the back as shown in fig. 10, and may be used to determine that the patient 1010 is lying on the side as shown in fig. 11.

If the patient 1010 has not turned over within a certain time period (e.g., within the past two hours), the control circuitry 1006 may alert the caregiver 1012 and the caregiver 1012 may then manually allow the patient to turn over, as shown in FIG. 12. The control circuit 1006 detects the patient's turn by restarting a timer for when the patient should turn using the radar sensor 1004. In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 13, the control circuitry 1006 may inflate the air turning bladder 1014 to turn the patient from the supine position to the side of the patient (or deflate the air turning bladder 1014 to turn the patient back to the supine position). In some embodiments, the control circuitry 1006 may be configured to determine the position of the patient on the bed using the radar sensor 1004 and then inflate the rotating bladder 1014 that would cause the greatest rotation, for example, if the patient were to be rotated to the left side, inflating the rotating bladder 1014 below the patient's right side, as shown in fig. 13. Additionally or alternatively, the rotating bladder 1014 may be used to reposition the patient to a desired position.

Referring now to FIG. 14, in an illustrative embodiment, the control circuitry 1006 establishes an environment 1400 during operation. Exemplary environment 1400 includes a radar controller 1402, a patient orientation monitor 1404, a patient position monitor 1406, a rotating capsule controller 1408, and a communication controller 1410. The various modules of environment 1400 may be implemented as hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof. For example, the various modules, logic, and other components of the environment 1400 may form part of, or be established by, a processor, memory, or other hardware component of the control circuit 1400. Accordingly, in some embodiments, one or more modules of the environment 1400 may be implemented as a circuit or collection of electrical devices (e.g., radar controller circuit 1402, patient orientation monitor circuit 1404, patient position monitor circuit 1406, etc.). It should be appreciated that in such embodiments, one or more circuits (e.g., radar controller circuit 1402, patient orientation monitor circuit 1404, patient position monitor circuit 1406, etc.) may form part of one or more of a processor, memory, data storage, and/or other components of control circuit 1006. Additionally, in some embodiments, one or more illustrative modules may form a portion of another module, and/or one or more illustrative modules may be independent of each other. Further, in some embodiments, one or more modules of the environment 1400 may be implemented as virtualized hardware components or emulated architectures, which may be established and maintained by the processor or other components of the control circuitry 1006.

A radar controller 1402 is configured to interface with the radar sensor 1004, the radar controller 1402 may be implemented as hardware, firmware, software, virtualized hardware, emulated architecture, and/or combinations thereof. Radar controller 1402 sends commands to radar sensor 1004, configures radar sensor 1004, and receives data from radar sensor 1004. In the illustrative embodiment, the radar controller 1402 receives an indication of the signal received by the radar sensor 1004, such as the strength, phase, electric field, etc., received at each receiver of the radar sensor 1004. In some embodiments, the radar sensor 1004 may perform some pre-processing prior to sending data to the radar controller 1402, such as processing the received data to provide an indication of patient position or motion.

The patient orientation monitor 1404 is configured to monitor the orientation of a patient on a patient's bed through the use of one or more radar sensors, which patient orientation monitor 1404 may be implemented as hardware, firmware, software, virtualized hardware, simulation architecture, and/or combinations thereof, as described above. Patient orientation monitor 1404 can monitor whether the patient is lying on his back, prone, on his side, etc. The patient orientation monitor 1404 saves patient orientation data over time, allowing a determination of how long the patient has been lying in the same orientation. The orientation determined by the patient orientation monitor 1404 may be used as feedback for controlling the rotation of the bladder 1014.

The patient position monitor 1406 is configured to monitor the position of the patient on the patient's bed by using one or more radar sensors, the patient position monitor 1406 may be implemented as hardware, firmware, software, virtualized hardware, simulation architecture, and/or combinations thereof as described above. The patient position monitor 1406 can monitor the position of the patient, such as where the patient is located on a patient bed and where the patient is located relative to the rotating bladder 1014. The position determined by the patient position monitor 1406 may be used as feedback for controlling the rotation of the bladder 1014.

The rotating bladder controller 1408 is configured to control the rotating bladder 1014, and the rotating bladder controller 1408 may be implemented as hardware, firmware, software, virtualized hardware, emulated architecture, and/or combinations thereof, as described above. The rotating bladder controller 1408 may determine when rotation is required, for example, by determining that the patient has been lying on the same side for more than a threshold amount of time. The threshold may be any suitable value, such as any time between 30 minutes and 5 hours. In an illustrative embodiment, the threshold is 2 hours. Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, the capsule controller 1408 may determine whether the patient should rotate to prevent laryngo pharyngeal reflux and/or whether the patient should rotate to prevent pulmonary complications. For example, in some embodiments, the rotating bladder controller 1408 may control the rotating bladder 1014 to alternately raise one lung relative to another.

In some embodiments, the rotating bladder controller 1408 may determine the patient's position on the patient's bed and control the rotating bladder 1014 that will cause the patient to rotate from its current position. For example, the rotating bladder controller 1408 may inflate a rotating bladder below the right side of the patient. In some embodiments, the rotating bladder controller 1408 may control the rotating bladder 1014 to cause the patient to move position, which may be accomplished, for example, to position the patient on a desired portion of the rotating bladder 1014.

The communication controller 1410 is configured to communicate with other devices, such as the electronic medical record server 206 or the nurse call system 208. The communication controller 140 may be connected via, for example, an ethernet network,WiMAX, Near Field Communication (NFC), etc. communicate directly or indirectly with other devices. The communications controller 1410 may be used to transmit data on patient position and orientation. The communication controller 1410 may send an alert or notification to, for example, the electronic medical record server 206 or the nurse call system 208 that the patient needs to be turned or has been turned.

Referring now to fig. 15, in use, a method 1500 for rotating a patient may be performed. In some embodiments, some or all of the method 1500 may be performed by the control circuitry 1006. Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, certain portions of method 1500 may be performed by a person, such as a caregiver of the patient. For example, the control circuitry 1006 may indicate that the patient has changed direction for a certain period of time, and the caregiver may turn the patient in response to the indication. In another example, the caregiver may determine that the patient requires rotation and may initiate rotation via the control circuitry 1006. The method 1500 begins at block 1502, where the control circuitry 1006 monitors the position and orientation of the patient in block 1502. The control circuitry 1006 may monitor whether the patient is lying on his or her back, stomach, side, etc. The control circuitry 1006 may monitor the position of the patient, such as where the patient is on the patient's bed and where the patient is relative to the rotating bladder 1014.

In block 1504, the control circuitry 1006 determines whether the patient should be rotated. In block 1506, the control circuitry 1006 determines whether the patient should be turned to prevent pressure sores based on whether the patient changed direction within a predetermined period of time (e.g., the last two hours). In block 1508, the control circuitry 1006 may determine whether the patient should be rotated to prevent laryngo pharyngeal reflux. In block 1510, the control circuitry 1006 may determine whether the patient should be rotated to prevent pulmonary complications. For example, in some embodiments, the control circuitry 1006 may control the rotation bladder 1014 to alternately raise one lung relative to another.

In block 1512, if the patient is not being rotated, the method 1500 loops back to block 1502 to continue monitoring the position and orientation of the patient. If the patient is to be rotated, the method proceeds to block 1514 where the rotating bladder 1014 beneath one side of the patient is inflated in block 1514. The rotating bladder 1014 to be inflated may be selected based on a patient position that can be determined based on one or more radar sensors. It should be appreciated that in some embodiments, the patient may be rotated by deflating the rotary bladder 1014, for example, when the patient has been rotated by inflation of the rotary bladder 1014.

In block 1516, the patient's rotation is monitored. In some embodiments, one or more radar sensors are used to monitor the rotation of the patient. In block 1518, if the rotation is not complete, the method 1500 proceeds to block 1520 to continue the rotation by controlling the rotation bladder 1014. If the rotation is complete, the method 1500 proceeds to block 1522 where the patient orientation data is stored in block 1522. The method 1500 then loops back to block 1502 to determine whether the patient should be rotated.

Referring now to fig. 16-19, in one embodiment, a patient bed 1602 includes one or more radar sensors 1604 connected to a control circuit 1606. In the illustrative example, a radar support 1608 is used to support one or more radar sensors 1604 and circuitry 1606. The rack 610 is discussed above in connection with fig. 6, and the discussion is equally applicable to the rack 1608 used with the bed 1602 of fig. 16-19.

In use, the control circuitry 1606 may be configured to monitor the position of the patient using the radar sensor 1604, and in particular, the depth of certain parts of the body of the patient 1610 in the mattress may be monitored. In some embodiments, the hospital bed 1602 may include a radar sensor 1612 in a side rail 1614, as shown in fig. 17. Control circuitry 1606 may control bladder 1616 to relieve pressure from certain parts of the body of patient 1610, as shown in fig. 18. For example, the control circuit 1606 can deflate the balloon 1618 under the sacrum of the patient and deflate the balloon 1620 under the heel of the patient. It should be appreciated that the control circuit 1606 can use the radar sensors 1604, 1612 to determine which bladders are under the heel, sacrum, or other portion of the patient.

In some embodiments, the hospital bed includes one or more airflow controllers, such as airflow controller 1622 that controls airflow to the sacrum of patient 1610 and airflow controller 1624 that controls airflow to the heel of the patient, thereby providing microclimate management for these locations. Airflow controllers 1622, 1624 may include fans and pumps to facilitate air flow, humidity control, and air temperature control. The airflow controllers 1622, 1624 may control the air flow rate, humidity, and temperature of the target area to reduce skin moisture and improve patient comfort. The position of the provided airflow may be directed at certain parts of the patient's body that may be located using the radar sensors 1604, 1612.

Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, the patient bed 1602 may include a knock and vibration (P & V) bladder 1626, as shown in fig. 19. The P & V balloon 1626 may be rapidly inflated and deflated, causing tapping and vibration (P & V) of the patient's site above the P & V balloon 1626. P & V therapy can be used to relax and expel secretions that accumulate in the lungs of patients with lung disease. The radar sensor 1604 may be used to monitor the position of the patient and a P & V balloon 1626 under the patient's chest may be selected for P & V treatment. Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, the radar sensor 1604 may monitor the amplitude of vibration of the patient's chest caused by the P & V balloon 1626. The amplitude of the vibration of the P & V balloon 1626 may be adjusted to cause an optimal vibration level of the patient's chest. In some embodiments, the patient bed 1602 may include a P & V bladder 1626 and a rotating bladder 1014 (see fig. 13). The rotating bladder 1014 may be used to properly position the patient over the P & V balloon 1626 for P & V treatment.

Referring now to fig. 20, in an illustrative embodiment, control circuit 1606 establishes environment 2000 during operation. Exemplary environment 2000 includes a radar controller 2002, a heel pressure monitor 2004, a heel pressure releaser 2006, a sacral pressure monitor 2008, a sacral pressure releaser 2010, a microclimate manager 2012, a P & V controller 2014, and a communication controller 2016. The various modules of environment 2000 may be implemented as hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof. For example, the various modules, logic, and other components of the environment 2000 may form part of, or be established by, a processor, memory, or other hardware component of the control circuit 2000. Thus, in some embodiments, one or more modules of environment 2000 may be implemented as a circuit or collection of electrical devices (e.g., radar controller circuit 2002, heel-pressure monitor circuit 2004, heel-pressure release circuit 2006, etc.). It should be appreciated that in such embodiments, one or more circuits (e.g., radar controller circuit 2002, heel-pressure monitor circuit 2004, heel-pressure release circuit 2006, etc.) may form a portion of one or more of a processor, memory, data storage, and/or other components of control circuit 1606. Additionally, in some embodiments, one or more illustrative modules may form a portion of another module, and/or one or more illustrative modules may be independent of each other. Further, in some embodiments, one or more modules of environment 2000 may be implemented as virtualized hardware components or emulated architectures, which may be established and maintained by a processor or other component of control circuitry 1606.

Radar controller 2002 is configured to interface with radar sensors 1604, 1612, and radar controller 2002 may be implemented as hardware, firmware, software, virtualized hardware, emulated architecture, and/or combinations thereof, as described above. The radar controller 2002 may send commands to the radar sensor 1604, configure the radar sensor 1604, and receive data from the radar sensor 1604. In the illustrative embodiment, the radar controller 2002 receives an indication of the signal received by the radar sensor 1604, such as the strength, phase, electric field, etc., received at each receiver of the radar sensor 1604. In some embodiments, the radar sensor 1604 may perform some pre-processing prior to sending the data to the radar controller 2002, such as processing the received data to provide an indication of the patient's position or motion.

Heel pressure monitor 2004 is configured to monitor pressure on the heel of the patient, and heel pressure monitor 2004 may be implemented as hardware, firmware, software, virtualized hardware, emulated architectures, and/or combinations thereof, as described above. Heel pressure monitor 2004 may monitor heel pressure based on the depth of the heel in bed 1602 or based on any other suitable parameter.

Heel-pressure release 2006 is configured to release pressure from a patient's heel, and heel-pressure release 2006 may be implemented as hardware, firmware, software, virtualized hardware, emulated architectures, and/or combinations thereof, as described above. In some embodiments, heel-pressure release 2006 may release pressure from the heel if the patient does not move the patient's heel for at least a threshold amount of time (e.g., any time from 30 minutes to 4 hours). Heel-pressure release 2006 can release pressure from the patient's heel by inflating a bladder under the patient's lower leg or ankle, deflating a bladder under the heel, or both. Heel-pressure release 2006 may use radar sensors 1604, 1612 to position appropriate air cells to inflate or deflate. In some embodiments, heel-pressure release 2006 can vary the pressure on the heel, thereby relieving pressure from other parts of the patient (e.g., the lower leg).

The sacral pressure monitor 2008 is configured to monitor pressure on the sacrum of the patient, the sacral pressure monitor 2008 may be implemented as hardware, firmware, software, virtualized hardware, simulation architecture, and/or combinations thereof as described above. The sacral pressure monitor 2008 may monitor the sacral pressure based on a depth of the sacrum in the patient bed 1602 or based on any other suitable parameter. In some embodiments, the sacral pressure monitor 2008 may identify the ischial tuberosities of the patient and use the location of the ischial tuberosities of the patient to determine the sacral pressure of the patient.

The sacral pressure release 2010 is configured to release pressure from the sacrum of the patient, and the sacral pressure release 2010 can be implemented as hardware, firmware, software, virtualized hardware, simulated architecture, and/or combinations thereof. In some embodiments, the sacral pressure releaser 2010 may release pressure from the sacrum if the patient has not moved the patient's sacrum for at least a threshold amount of time (e.g., any time from 30 minutes to 4 hours). The sacral pressure release 2010 may release pressure from the sacrum of the patient by inflating a balloon under the back or thighs of the patient, deflating a balloon under the sacrum, or both. The sacral pressure release 2010 can use the radar sensors 1604, 1612 to position the appropriate balloon to inflate or deflate. In some embodiments, the sacral pressure release 2010 can alter pressure on the sacrum, thereby relieving pressure from other parts of the patient (e.g., the thighs).

The microclimate manager 2012 is configured to control airflow to one or more body parts of the patient (e.g., heel, sacrum, and/or back), and the microclimate manager 2012 may be implemented as hardware, firmware, software, virtualized hardware, simulation architecture, and/or combinations thereof as described above. The microclimate manager 2012 interfaces with airflow controllers, such as airflow controllers 1622, 1624, to control fans and/or pumps, humidity controllers, and/or temperature controllers. In this way, the microclimate manager 2012 can control the air flow rate, humidity, and temperature of the target area to reduce skin moisture and improve patient comfort. The position of the provided airflow may be directed at certain parts of the patient's body that can be located using the radar sensors 1604, 1612.

The P & V controller 2014 is configured to control the P & V bladder 1626, and the P & V controller 2014 may be implemented as hardware, firmware, software, virtualized hardware, emulated architecture, and/or combinations thereof. The P & V controller 2014 may determine when P & V therapy is needed, for example, by determining that the patient has not received P & V therapy for an amount of time exceeding a threshold amount of time. The threshold may be any suitable value, such as any time between 30 minutes and 24 hours. In an illustrative embodiment, the threshold is 2 hours. In some embodiments, the time threshold may be determined based on the patient's symptoms. In some embodiments, P & V treatment may be determined to be necessary based on the patient's symptoms. P & V treatment may be initiated based on the patient's symptoms and/or a threshold time for performing P & V treatment may be set based on the patient's symptoms.

To perform the P & V therapy, the P & V controller 2014 monitors the position of the patient. The P & V controller 2014 may move the patient over the P & V balloon 1626 if desired. Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, the P & V controller 2014 may select the P & V balloon 1626 located below the current position of the patient. The P & V controller 2014 may then perform the P & V therapy by inflating and deflating the selected P & V bladder 1626. In some embodiments, the P & V controller 2014 may monitor the patient's vibration amplitude, for example, by using a radar sensor. The magnitude of inflation and deflation of the P & V balloon 1626 may be controlled based on the measured amplitude of the patient's vibrations, forming a "closed loop" for the P & V therapy.

The communication controller 2016 is configured to communicate with other devices, such as the electronic medical record server 206 or the nurse call system 208. The communication controller 2016 may be connected via, for example, an Ethernet network,WiMAX, Near Field Communication (NFC), etc. communicate directly or indirectly with other devices. The communication controller 2016 may transmit data indicative of heel pressure, data indicative of sacral pressure, microclimate data, and data associated with P&V-related data. The communication controller 2016 may send an alert or notification to, for example, the electronic medical record server 206 or the nurse call system 208 that the patient needs to unload pressure from the patient's heel, the patient needs to unload pressure from the patient's sacrum, the patient's microclimate needs to be adjusted, and/or that P needs to be performed&And V, treating.

Referring now to fig. 21, in use, a method 2100 for rotating a patient may be performed. In some embodiments, some or all of method 2100 may be performed by control circuitry 1606. Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, certain portions of method 2100 may be performed by a person, such as a caregiver of the patient. For example, the control circuitry 1606 can indicate that the sacral pressure of the patient should be reduced, and a caregiver can reduce the sacral pressure by inflating the balloon or rotating the patient. The method 2100 begins at block 2102 where the control circuitry 1606 monitors the pressure on the patient's heel in block 2102. The control circuit 1606 may monitor the pressure of the heel based on the depth of the heel in the bed 1602 or based on any other suitable parameter.

In block 2104, if control circuit 1606 is to release heel pressure, method 2100 proceeds to block 2106 where control circuit 1606 signals one or more bladders to inflate or deflate to release pressure from the patient's heel in block 2106. In some embodiments, if the patient has not moved the patient's heel for at least a threshold amount of time (e.g., anywhere from 30 minutes to 4 hours), the control circuitry 1606 may determine that pressure should be released from the heel. The control circuit 1606 may release pressure from the patient's heel by inflating the bladder under the patient's calf or ankle, deflating the bladder under the heel, or both. The heel control circuit 1606 may use the radar sensors 1604, 1612 to position the appropriate air cells for inflation or deflation.

Returning to block 2104, if the control circuitry 1606 is not releasing heel pressure, the method proceeds to block 2108 where the control circuitry 1606 monitors the sacral pressure of the patient in block 2108. In block 2110, the control circuitry 1606 can monitor the sacrum's immersion into the patient bed 1602. In block 2112, the control circuitry 1606 monitors the ischial tuberosities of the patient and uses the position of the ischial tuberosities of the patient to determine the sacral pressure of the patient.

In block 2114, if the control circuit 1606 is not releasing sacral pressure, the method 2100 loops back to block 2102 to monitor the pressure of the patient's heel. If the control circuitry 1606 is to release the sacral pressure, the method 2100 proceeds to block 2116 where the control circuitry 1606 signals one or more balloons to inflate or deflate to release the pressure from the sacrum of the patient in block 2116. In some embodiments, the control circuitry 1606 can determine that pressure should be released from the sacrum if the patient has not moved the sacrum of the patient for at least a threshold amount of time (e.g., any time from 30 minutes to 4 hours). The control circuit 1606 can release pressure from the sacrum of the patient by inflating a balloon on the back or under the thighs of the patient, deflating a balloon under the sacrum, or both. Control circuitry 1606 may use radar sensors 1604, 1612 to position the appropriate air cells for inflation or deflation. The method 2100 then loops back to block 2102 to monitor the pressure on the patient's heel.

Referring now to fig. 22, in use, a method 2200 for P & V treatment of a patient may be performed. In some embodiments, some or all of method 2200 may be performed by control circuitry 1606. Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, certain portions of method 2200 may be performed by a person, such as a patient caregiver. For example, the caregiver may determine that a P & V therapy should be performed, and then the caregiver may instruct the control circuitry 1606 to perform the P & V therapy. The method 2200 begins at block 2202, where the control circuitry 1606 determines whether to perform a P & V therapy at block 2202. Control circuitry 1606 may determine whether to perform P & V therapy by determining that the patient has not performed P & V therapy for an amount of time that exceeds a threshold amount of time. The threshold may be any suitable value, such as any time between 30 minutes and 24 hours. In an illustrative embodiment, the threshold is 2 hours. In some embodiments, the threshold may be determined based on the patient's symptoms. In some embodiments, P & V treatment may be determined to be necessary based on the patient's symptoms. P & V treatment may be initiated based on the patient's symptoms and/or a threshold time for performing P & V treatment may be set based on the patient's symptoms.

In block 2204, if no P & V therapy should be performed, the method 2200 loops back to block 2202 to determine whether a P & V therapy should be performed. If a P & V treatment is to be performed, the method 2200 continues to block 2206 where the control circuitry 1606 receives signals from a radar sensor monitoring the patient's position at block 2206. In block 2208, the control circuitry 1606 determines whether the patient should be repositioned for P & V treatment. For example, the control circuitry 1606 may determine that the patient should be seated over the P & V balloon 1626 prior to initiating P & V therapy.

In block 2210, if the patient is to be repositioned, the method proceeds to block 2212 to reposition the patient over the P & V balloon 1626. In an illustrative embodiment, other balloons such as a rotating balloon 1014 may be used to reposition the patient.

After the patient is repositioned, or if repositioning is not required, the method 2200 proceeds to block 2214 where the control circuitry 1606 performs a P & V treatment in block 2214. The control circuit 1606 performs the P & V therapy by rapidly inflating and deflating the P & V balloon 1626. In some embodiments, the control circuit 1606 may monitor the amplitude of the patient's vibrations, for example, by using a radar sensor. The magnitude of inflation and deflation of the P & V balloon 1626 may be controlled based on the measured amplitude of the patient's vibrations, forming a "closed loop" for the P & V therapy. After performing the P & V treatment, the method loops back to block 2202 to determine whether further P & V treatment is needed.

Referring now to fig. 23, in use, a method 2300 for microclimate management may be performed. In some embodiments, some or all of method 2300 may be performed by control circuitry 1606. Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, certain portions of method 2300 may be performed by a person, such as a patient caregiver. For example, a caregiver can determine that the moisture level on the sacrum of the patient should be reduced, and then the caregiver can instruct the control circuit 1606 to control the flow of air to reduce the moisture at the sacrum of the patient. The method 2300 begins at block 2302, where the control circuitry 1606 monitors a position of the patient, such as a position of the heel, sacrum, and back of the patient, in block 2302. In some embodiments, the control circuitry 1606 can also monitor temperature, humidity, and/or moisture levels in certain areas of the patient (e.g., the patient's heel, sacrum, and back).

In block 2304, the control circuitry 1606 determines the desired temperature and moisture levels for one or more sites of the patient's body. The control circuitry 1606 may make the determination based on any suitable factors such as the duration that a body part of the patient has been in contact with the surface of the patient bed 1602, the temperature of the room, the previously measured or observed moisture level of the patient, the willingness of the patient to indicate, the caregiver's input, etc.

In block 2306, the control circuitry 1606 performs microclimate management on one or more parts of the patient's body. In block 2308, the control circuitry 1606 controls the rate of airflow to one or more sites of the patient's body. In block 2310, the control circuitry 1606 controls the temperature of the airflow to the one or more sites of the patient's body. In block 2312, the control circuitry 1606 controls the airflow humidity level to one or more locations of the patient's body. The method 2300 then loops back to block 2302.

Referring now to fig. 24-29, in one embodiment, the hospital bed 2402 includes one or more radar sensors 2404 connected to a control circuit 2406. In the illustrative example, a radar support bracket 2408 is used to support one or more radar sensors 2404 and a control circuit 2406. The rack 610 is discussed above in connection with fig. 6, and the discussion is equally applicable to the rack 2408 to be used with the bed 2402 of fig. 24-28.

In use, the control circuit 2406 may be configured to monitor the position of the patient using the radar sensor 2404, and in particular, may monitor the position of the patient in a room in which the hospital bed 2402 is located. For example, the control circuitry 2406 may monitor the position of the patient on the bed 2402 (e.g., lying down or sitting up, as shown in fig. 24), or the control circuitry 2406 may monitor the position of the patient near the bed 2402 (e.g., sitting in a chair 2412 as shown in fig. 25). In some embodiments, one or more radar sensors may be positioned near the patient bed 2402, such as radar sensor 2414 on a wall near the patient bed 2402.

The control circuitry 2406 may monitor the patient 2410 for several potentially dangerous activities or conditions. For example, as shown in fig. 26, the control circuit 2406 may determine that there is gait instability and assistance with the patient 2410 walking around the room. As shown in fig. 27, the control circuitry 2406 may detect that the patient 2410 falls on the floor and alert the caregiver. As shown in fig. 28, the control circuit 2406 may detect a patient leaving the room and alert the caregiver accordingly.

Referring now to fig. 29, in some embodiments, a bathroom 2902 may include one or more radar sensors 2904 connected to control circuitry 2406. A radar sensor 2904 may be used to monitor that the patient 2906 has fallen in the bathroom 2902. In some embodiments, the radar sensor 2404 in the bed 2402 or other radar sensor 2412 outside of the bathroom 2902 may be used to monitor the patient in the bathroom 2902 because certain frequencies used by the radar sensors 2404, 2412 may pass through the walls of the bathroom 2902.

Referring now to FIG. 30, in an illustrative embodiment, control circuit 2406 establishes environment 3000 during operation. Illustrative environment 3000 includes radar controller 3002, bed position monitor 3004, patient chair position monitor 3006, patient fall monitor 3008, patient gait monitor 3010, and caregiver monitor 3012. The various modules of environment 3000 may be implemented as hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof. For example, the various modules, logic, and other components of environment 3000 may form part of, or be established by, a processor, memory, or other hardware component of control circuitry 2406. Thus, in some embodiments, one or more modules of environment 3000 may be implemented as a circuit or collection of electrical devices (e.g., radar controller circuit 3002, bed position monitoring circuit 3004, patient seat position monitoring circuit 3006, etc.). It should be appreciated that in such embodiments, one or more circuits (e.g., radar controller circuit 3002, bed position monitoring circuit 3004, patient seat position monitoring circuit 3006, etc.) may form part of one of the processor, memory, data storage, and/or other components of control circuit 2406. Additionally, in some embodiments, one or more of the illustrative modules may form a portion of another module, and/or one or more of the illustrative modules may be independent of each other. Further, in some embodiments, one or more modules of environment 3000 may be implemented as virtualized hardware components or emulation architectures that may be established and maintained by a processor or other component of control circuitry 2406.

Radar controller 3002 is configured to interface with radar sensors 2404, 2414, and radar controller 3002 may be implemented as hardware, firmware, software, virtualized hardware, emulated architecture, and/or combinations thereof, as described above. Radar controller 2002 may send commands to radar sensors 2404, 2414, configure radar sensors 2404, 2414, and receive data from radar sensors 2404, 2414. In an illustrative embodiment, the radar controller 3002 receives an indication of the signals received by the radar sensors 2404, 2414, such as, for example, the intensity, phase, electric field, etc., received at each receiver of the radar sensors 2404, 2412. In some embodiments, the radar sensors 2404, 2414 may perform some pre-processing prior to sending the data to the radar controller 3002, such as processing the received data to provide an indication of the patient's position or motion.

The bed position monitor 3004 is configured to monitor the position of a patient in a bed, the bed position monitor 3004 may be implemented as hardware, firmware, software, virtualized hardware, emulation architecture, and/or combinations thereof, as described above. The bed position monitor 3004 can determine whether the patient is lying, sitting, or in another position.

The patient seat position monitor 3006 is configured to monitor the position or presence of a patient in the seat 2412, and the patient seat position monitor 3006 may be implemented as hardware, firmware, software, virtualized hardware, emulated architecture, and/or combinations thereof, as described above. Patient seating monitor 3006 can monitor the patient during sitting, while the patient is sitting, and while the patient is standing up.

The patient fall monitor 3008 is configured to monitor falls of a patient, the patient fall monitor 3008 may be implemented as hardware, firmware, software, virtualized hardware, emulated architecture and/or combinations thereof as described above. The patient fall monitor 3008 can monitor falls of patients in the same room as the bed 2402 and/or can monitor falls of patients in a different room (e.g., a bathroom) than the bed 2402.

The patient gait monitor 3010 is configured to monitor the gait of the patient, and the patient gait monitor 3010 may be implemented as hardware, firmware, software, virtualized hardware, emulated architecture, and/or combinations thereof, as described above. If the patient gait monitor 3010 determines that the patient's gait is unstable, the patient gait monitor 3010 may send an alert to the caregiver that the patient may require some support.

Caregiver monitors 3012 are configured to monitor a caregiver or other person in the same room as hospital bed 2402, caregiver monitors 3012 may be implemented as hardware, firmware, software, virtualized hardware, emulated architecture, and/or combinations thereof, as described above. Caregiver monitor 3012 can monitor contact between the patient and the caregiver, monitor whether the caregiver or other person has washed their hands, how long the caregiver or other person is in the room, how long the caregiver is looking up medical records, and the like.

The communication controller 3014 is configured to communicate with other devices such as the electronic medical record server 206 or the nurse call system 208. The communication controller 3014 may be connected via, for example, an Ethernet network,WiMAX, Near Field Communication (NFC), etc. communicate directly or indirectly with other devices. The communication controller 3014 may transmit data indicative of the patient's position (e.g., in bed, in chair, on foot, etc.). The communication controller 3014 may send an alert or notification to, for example, the electronic medical record server 206 or the nurse call system 208 that the patient has fallen, has gait instability, or is leaving the room.

Referring now to fig. 31, in use a method 3100 for monitoring a patient in a room may be performed. In some embodiments, some or all of method 3100 may be performed by control circuitry 2406. Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, certain portions of method 3100 may be performed by a person, such as a patient caregiver. Method 3100 begins at block 3102 where control circuitry 2406 monitors the position and motion of the patient at block 3102. In block 3104, the control circuitry 2406 may monitor the position of the patient in the hospital bed 2402, such as monitoring whether the patient is lying, sitting, etc. In block 3106, the control circuitry 2406 may monitor the position of the patient in the chair. The control circuitry 2406 may monitor the patient during sitting, while the patient is sitting, and while the patient is standing. In block 3108, the control circuitry 2406 may monitor the gait of the patient. In block 3110, the control circuit 2406 monitors for a patient fall. The control circuit 2406 may monitor for falls of patients in the same room as the bed 2402 and/or may monitor for falls of patients in a different room (e.g., a bathroom) than the bed 2402.

In block 3112, if a patient fall is not detected, the method 3100 transitions to block 3116 to determine whether gait instability is detected. If a patient fall is detected, the method proceeds to block 3114 where the control circuit 2406 alerts the caregiver, for example, by sending a message to the nurse call system 208. Method 3100 then jumps to block 3120 to monitor the activities of others in the room.

Returning to block 3112, if a patient fall is not detected, the method 3100 skips to block 3116. At block 3116, if gait instability is not detected, the method 3100 transitions to block 3120 to monitor activity of others in the room. If gait instability is detected, the method 3100 proceeds to block 3118 and, in block 3118, the control circuit 2406 alerts the caregiver that the patient may need assistance, such as by sending a message to the nurse call system 208.

Method 3100 then proceeds to block 3120 to monitor activity of others in the room. The control circuit 2406 may monitor a caregiver or other person in the same room as the hospital bed 2402. The control circuitry 2406 can monitor contact between the patient and the caregiver, monitor whether the caregiver or other person has washed his or her hands, how long the caregiver or other person is in the room, how long the caregiver is reviewing medical records, and the like.

In block 3122, the control circuit 2406 stores data relating to the patient's movements and data relating to the movements of other people, such as caregivers. Method 3100 then loops back to block 3102 to continue monitoring the position and motion of the patient in the room.

Referring now to fig. 32-35, in one embodiment, a patient bed 3202 includes one or more radar sensors 3204 connected to a control circuit 3206. In the illustrative example, a radar support bracket 3208 is used to support one or more radar sensors 3204 and control circuitry 3206. The rack 610 is discussed above in connection with fig. 6, and the discussion is equally applicable to the rack 3208 used with the beds 3202 of fig. 32 and 33. Hospital bed 3202 also has a display 3212, and display 3212 is positioned on footboard 3214 at foot end 3216 of bed 3202, visible to patient 3210.

In use, the control circuit 3206 executes a program for assisting the patient in performing physical therapy, such as by presenting a physical therapy exercise on the display 3206 for execution by the patient. The physical therapy may be any exercise suitable for the patient to perform in bed, such as exercises for extending arms, raising legs, etc. For example, in one embodiment, display 3212 may display instructions for the patient to lift her arm from the first position shown in fig. 32 to the second position shown in fig. 33. The motion of the patient may be monitored using the radar sensor 3204, allowing feedback to be provided to the control circuit 3206. In some embodiments, the physical therapy workout may be "playable," for example, by allowing the user to win points or achievements based on the time taken to perform the workout or the results obtained. The physical therapy may be performed while the patient is supine, sitting, or in any other suitable position.

It should be understood that the use of radar sensors as feedback in performing physical therapy exercises is not limited to patients being in the bed. For example, as shown in fig. 34, in one embodiment, a radar sensor 3402 and a display 3404 are mounted on a mobile physical therapy device 3406, allowing a patient to be physically treated in any suitable location while standing, sitting, etc. The mobile physical therapy device 3406 includes a wheeled base 3408 having casters 3410 coupled thereto. The mobile physical therapy device 3406 also includes a generally vertically oriented pole or mast 3412 extending upwardly from the base 3408. A pivotable arm 3414 extends from an upper region 3416 of the rod 3412, and a radar sensor 3402 is mounted to a distal end of the arm 3414 in a spaced-apart relationship with the rod 3412. The arm 3414 is pivotable upward and downward with respect to the rod 3412 to adjust the height at which the radar sensor 3402 is supported on the floor.

In some embodiments, the arm 3414 is vertically movable along the rod 3412 to provide further adjustment of the vertical position of the radar sensor 3402 relative to the floor. For example, a lockable and releasable collar may be connected to the rod 3412 and the arm 3414 may extend from the collar. When released, the collar can be moved up and down the rod 3412 and then locked in the desired position. In some embodiments, a clamp, lock, thumb screw, or similar releasable locking device is provided for locking the collar relative to the rod 3412.

In use, the ambulatory physical therapy device 3406 may be used to instruct the patient 3418 to perform physical therapy in a similar manner as discussed with respect to fig. 32-33. For example, the ambulatory physical therapy device 3406 may instruct the patient 3418 to place his arm on his side as shown in fig. 34, and then instruct the patient 3418 to raise his arm as shown in fig. 35. Of course, it should be understood that certain exercises may not be possible on hospital bed 3202, and that these exercises may be performed while standing, such as walking exercises.

Referring now to fig. 36, in an illustrative embodiment, control circuit 3206 establishes environment 3600 during operation. Illustrative environment 3600 includes a radar controller 3602, a communication controller 3604, and a video-based physiotherapy module 3606. The various modules of environment 3600 may be implemented as hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof. For example, the various modules, logic, and other components of the environment 3600 may form part of, or be otherwise established by, a processor, memory, or other hardware component of the control circuit 3206. Thus, in some embodiments, one or more modules of environment 3600 may be implemented as a circuit or collection of electrical devices (e.g., radar controller circuit 3602, communication controller circuit 3604, video-based physiotherapy circuit 3606, etc.). It should be appreciated that in such embodiments, one or more circuits (e.g., radar controller circuit 3602, communication controller circuit 3604, video-based physiotherapy circuit 3606, etc.) may form part of one or more of the processor, memory, data storage, and/or other components of control circuit 3206. Additionally, in some embodiments, one or more illustrative modules may form a portion of another module, and/or one or more illustrative modules may be independent of each other. Further, in some embodiments, one or more modules of environment 3600 may be implemented as virtualized hardware components or emulated architectures, which may be established and maintained by a processor or other component of control circuitry 3206.

Radar controller 3602 is configured to interface with radar sensors 3204, 3402, radar controller 3602 may be implemented as hardware, firmware, software, virtualized hardware, emulated architecture, and/or combinations thereof, as described above. The radar controller 3602 may send commands to the radar sensors 3204, 3402, configure the radar sensors 3204, 3402, and receive data from the radar sensors 3204, 3402. In the illustrative embodiment, radar controller 3602 receives indications of signals received by radar sensors 3204, 3402, such as received strength, phase, electric field, etc., at each receiver of radar sensors 3204, 3402. In some embodiments, the radar sensors 3204, 3402 may perform some preprocessing prior to sending data to the radar controller 3602, such as processing the received data to provide an indication of the patient's position or motion.

The communication controller 3604 is configured to communicate with other devices, such as the electronic medical record server 206 or the nurse call system 208. The communication controller 3604 may be implemented via, for example, an ethernet network,WiMAX, Near Field Communication (NFC), etc. communicate directly or indirectly with other devices. The communication controller 3604 may transmit data related to the physical therapy workout, such as previous patient performance data, instructions for the physical therapy to be performed, and current patient performance data.

The video-based physiotherapy module 3606 is configured to provide video instructions for a physiotherapy exercise to a patient, the video-based physiotherapy module 3606 can be implemented as hardware, firmware, software, virtualized hardware, simulation architecture, and/or combinations thereof, as described above. The physical therapy exercise may be any suitable exercise, such as a range of motion exercise, a muscle building exercise, a coordination and balance exercise, a walking exercise, a general adjustment exercise, and the like. The video-based physiotherapy module 3606 can monitor patient motion during a physiotherapy exercise. The video-based physiotherapy module 3606 can track the motion of a patient's limb, torso, or other body part. The video-based physiotherapy module 3606 may compare the patient's actions to the actions indicated by the video-based physiotherapy module 3606. In some embodiments, the physical therapy workout may be "playable," e.g., allowing a user to win points or achievements based on the time taken to perform the workout or the results obtained. The physical therapy may be performed while the patient is supine, sitting, or in any other suitable position. The video-based physiotherapy module 3606 can select a physiotherapy workout for a patient based on, for example, workouts selected by the patient or caregiver, previous performance data of the patient, a predetermined physiotherapy routine, and the like.

Referring now to fig. 37, in use, a method 3700 for facilitating monitored physical therapy exercises performed by a patient may be performed. In some embodiments, some or all of method 3700 may be performed by control circuitry 3206. Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, certain portions of method 3700 may be performed by a person, such as a caregiver of the patient. For example, a caregiver may determine which physical therapy exercises should be performed and configure control circuit 3206 to instruct the patient to perform those physical therapy exercises. The method 3700 begins at block 3702 where the control circuit 3206 determines a physical therapy exercise for the patient at block 3702. The control circuit 3206 may determine the physical therapy exercise in any suitable manner, such as based on the medical condition of the patient, the configuration of the caregiver, and so forth. In some embodiments, in block 3704, the control circuit 3206 may determine the exercise based on the patient's past performance. For example, if the patient previously successfully completed a 10 minute physiotherapy exercise, the control circuitry 3206 may determine that a 12 minute physiotherapy exercise should be performed.

In block 3706, control circuit 3206 presents one or more instructions for the exercise to the patient. For example, a video of a person or avatar may be presented on a display, such as display 3212 or display 3404, and the user may be instructed to follow the arm up, down, and so on. In block 3708, the control circuit 3206 monitors the patient undergoing the physical therapy exercise based on, for example, data acquired by the radar sensor 3204 or the radar sensor 3402. It should be appreciated that in the illustrative embodiment, the control circuitry 3206 provides patient performance as feedback. For example, if the patient does not lift his arms high enough, the control circuitry 3206 may notify the patient and instruct the patient how to properly perform the physical therapy exercises. In some embodiments, such a notification appears on display 3212 or display 3404.

In block 3710, the control circuit 3206 saves patient performance data for the physical therapy exercise. Patient performance data may be used to monitor a patient's condition, develop a treatment plan, determine future physical therapy exercises, and the like.

Referring now to fig. 38 and 39, in one embodiment, the patient bed 3802 includes one or more radar sensors 3804 connected to a control circuit 3806. In the illustrative example, the radar support 3808 is used to support one or more radar sensors 3804 and a control circuit 3806. The rack 610 is discussed above in connection with fig. 6, and the discussion is equally applicable to the rack 3808 used with the bed 3802 of fig. 38 and 39.

In use, the control circuit 3806 monitors a patient 3810 that is sleeping or resting. The control circuit 3806 monitors certain actions of the patient 3810 for indicating patient comfort, such as whether the patient is rising in bed (push up), as shown in fig. 39. The control circuit 3806 may control certain parameters of the bed in response to patient movement, thereby increasing patient comfort. In an illustrative embodiment, the control circuit 3806 may vary the pressure in one or more bladders of the surface of the patient bed 3802, such as a bladder that supports the upper body of the patient, a bladder that supports the sacrum of the patient, and/or a bladder that supports the legs of the patient. Additionally or alternatively, the control circuit 3806 may vary a pressure ratio of the two or more air bags. In some embodiments, data from multiple patients in multiple beds is aggregated and analyzed to determine appropriate pressure settings for different patients.

Referring now to fig. 40, in an illustrative embodiment, the control circuit 3806 establishes the environment 4000 during operation. Illustrative environment 4000 includes a radar controller 4002, a communication controller 4004, and a patient sleep monitor 4006. The various modules of environment 4000 may be implemented as hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof. For example, the various modules, logic, and other components of environment 4000 may form part of, or be established by, the processor, memory, or other hardware components of control circuit 3806. Accordingly, in some embodiments, one or more modules of the environment 4000 may be implemented as a circuit or collection of electrical devices (e.g., a radar controller circuit 4002, a communication controller circuit 4004, a patient sleep monitor circuit 4006, etc.). It should be appreciated that in such embodiments, one or more circuits (e.g., radar controller circuit 4002, controller circuit 4004, patient sleep monitor circuit 4006, etc.) may form part of one or more of the processor, memory, data storage, and/or other components of the control circuit 3806. Additionally, in some embodiments, one or more illustrative modules may form a portion of another module, and/or one or more illustrative modules may be independent of each other. Further, in some embodiments, one or more modules of environment 4000 may be implemented as virtualized hardware components or emulated architectures, which may be established and maintained by the processor or other components of control circuitry 3806.

The radar controller 4002 is configured to interface with the radar sensor 3806, and the radar controller 4002 may be implemented as hardware, firmware, software, virtualized hardware, emulated architecture, and/or combinations thereof, as described above. The radar controller 4002 may send commands to the radar sensor 3806, configure the radar sensor 3806, and receive data from the radar sensor 3806. In an illustrative embodiment, the radar controller 4002 receives indications of signals received by the radar sensor 3806, such as the strength, phase, electric field, etc., received at each receiver of the radar sensor 3806. In some embodiments, the radar sensor 3806 may perform some pre-processing prior to sending the data to the radar controller 4002, such as processing the received data to provide an indication of the patient's position or motion.

The communication controller 4004 is configured to communicate with other devices, such as the electronic medical record server 206 or the nurse call system 208. The communication controller 4004 may be connected via, for example, an Ethernet network,WiMAX, Near Field Communication (NFC), etc. communicate directly or indirectly with other devices. The communication controller 4004 can transmit data related to the patient's movements while sleeping (e.g., while the patient is rising in bed).

Patient sleep monitor 4006 is configured to monitor the patient while the patient sleeps, and patient sleep monitor 4006 may be implemented as hardware, firmware, software, virtualized hardware, emulation architecture, and/or combinations thereof, as described above. The patient sleep monitor 4006 comprises a patient rise monitor 4008, a surface parameter adjuster 4010, and a machine learning based algorithm in block 4012.

The patient rise monitor 4008 is configured to monitor the patient rising up in bed. The patient's rising up in bed can be an indication that: parameters such as the surface of the balloon may be improved to provide a more comfortable experience for the patient.

The surface parameter adjuster 4010 is configured to adjust a parameter of the surface to improve patient comfort. For example, the surface parameter adjuster 4010 may vary the pressure in one or more bladders on the surface of the bed 3802, such as bladders that support the upper body of the patient, bladders that support the sacrum of the patient, and/or bladders that support the legs of the patient. Additionally or alternatively, the surface parameter adjuster 4010 may change a pressure ratio of the two or more airbags.

The machine learning based algorithm 4012 is configured to determine parameters for the patient bed 3802 using the machine learning based algorithm. The machine learning based algorithm 4012 may take as input patient parameters such as patient movement, patient position, patient weight, patient height, etc. The appropriate pressure settings for the one or more airbags are provided as output based on a machine learning algorithm 4012. It should be appreciated that in some embodiments, patient parameters (including motion data corresponding to various bladder pressures) may be aggregated and used as training data to improve the machine-learning based algorithm 4012.

Referring now to fig. 41, in use, a method 4100 for monitoring sleep movement of a patient may be performed. In some embodiments, some or all of the method 4100 may be performed by the control circuit 3806. Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, certain portions of method 4100 may be performed by a person, such as a patient caregiver. The method 4100 begins at block 4102, where the control circuit 3806 monitors the patient's sleep movement, such as the frequency with which the patient rises in bed.

In block 4104, the control circuit 3806 determines appropriate bed parameters based on the patient's sleep movement. For example, the control circuit 3806 may vary the pressure in one or more bladders on the surface of the patient bed 3802, such as a bladder that supports the upper body of the patient, a bladder that supports the sacrum of the patient, and/or a bladder that supports the legs of the patient. Additionally or alternatively, the control circuit 3806 may vary a pressure ratio of the two or more air bags. In some embodiments, the control circuit 3806 may employ a machine learning based algorithm to determine appropriate bed parameters based on the patient's sleep movement. After determining the appropriate bed parameters, the control circuit 3806 then applies those parameters.

In block 4106, the control circuit 3806 stores the patient's sleep movement data. It should be appreciated that in some embodiments, the patient's sleep motor data may be aggregated and used as training data based on machine learning algorithms, or the patient's sleep motor data may be analyzed to determine appropriate baseline bed parameters for the new patient.

Referring now to fig. 42 and 43, in one embodiment, a patient bed 4200 includes one or more radar sensors 4202 connected to a control circuit 4204. In the illustrative example, a radar support shelf 4206 is used to support one or more radar sensors 4202 and a control circuit 4204. The rack 610 is discussed above in connection with fig. 6, and the discussion is equally applicable to the rack 4206 used with the bed 4200 of fig. 42 and 43. In an illustrative embodiment, one or more additional radar sensors 4208 may be located in the side rail or below the patient 4210.

In use, the control circuit 4204 monitors the breathing of a patient 4210 lying in a prone position. In particular, the control circuit 4204 monitors whether the surface of the patient bed 4200 is restricting the patient's breathing. If there is a gap between the patient's sternum and the surface of the bed 4200 when the patient 4210 inhales, the surface of the bed 4200 does not restrict the patient's breathing. The control circuit 4204 may monitor the gap between the patient's sternum and the surface of the patient bed 4200 in any suitable manner. For example, in one embodiment, the control circuit 4204 may directly monitor the clearance using the radar sensor 4208. Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, the control circuit 4204 may deflate the balloon below the sternum as the patient inhales, as shown in fig. 43. If there is still no gap between the patient's sternum and the surface of the patient bed 4200, the balloon should be deflated more.

Referring now to fig. 44, in an illustrative embodiment, the control circuit 4204 establishes the environment 4400 during operation. The illustrative environment 4400 includes a radar controller 4402 and a patient prone position monitor 4404. The various modules of the environment 4400 may be implemented as hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof. For example, the various modules, logic, and other components of environment 4400 may form part of, or be otherwise established by, the processor, memory, or other hardware components of control circuit 4204. Thus, in some embodiments, one or more modules of the environment 4400 can be implemented as a circuit or collection of electrical devices (e.g., the radar controller circuit 4402, the patient prone posture monitor circuit 4404, etc.). It should be appreciated that in such embodiments, one or more circuits (e.g., radar controller circuit 4402, patient prone posture monitor circuit 4404, etc.) may form part of one or more of the processors, memories, data memories, and/or other components of the control circuit 4204. Additionally, in some embodiments, one or more illustrative modules may form a portion of another module, and/or one or more illustrative modules may be independent of each other. Further, in some embodiments, one or more modules of the environment 4400 may be implemented as virtualized hardware components or emulated architectures, which may be established and maintained by a processor or other component of the control circuitry 4204.

Radar controller 4402 is configured to interface with radar sensors 4202, 4208, and radar controller 4402 may be implemented as hardware, firmware, software, virtualized hardware, emulated architectures, and/or combinations thereof, as described above. Radar controller 4402 may send commands to radar sensors 4202, 4208, configure radar sensors 4202, 4208, and receive data from radar sensors 4202, 4208. In the illustrative embodiment, radar controller 4402 receives an indication of the signals received by radar sensors 4202, 4208, such as the strength, phase, electric field, etc., received at each receiver of radar sensors 4202, 4208. In some embodiments, the radar sensors 4202, 4208 may perform some pre-processing prior to sending data to the radar controller 4402, such as processing the received data to provide an indication of patient position or motion.

The patient prone posture monitor 4404 is configured to monitor a sleeping patient, and the patient prone posture monitor 4404 may be implemented as hardware, firmware, software, virtualized hardware, emulated architectures, and/or combinations thereof, as described above. In particular, the patient prone posture monitor 4404 monitors whether the surface of the patient bed 4200 is restricting the patient's breathing. If there is a gap between the patient's sternum and the surface of the bed 4200 when the patient 4210 inhales, the surface of the bed 4200 does not restrict the patient's breathing. The patient prone position monitor 4404 may monitor the gap between the patient's sternum and the surface of the patient bed 4200 in any suitable manner. For example, in one embodiment, the patient prone posture monitor 4404 may directly monitor the gap using the radar sensor 4208. Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, the patient prone position monitor 4404 may deflate the balloon below the sternum as the patient inhales. If there is still no gap between the patient's sternum and the surface of the patient bed 4200, the balloon should be deflated more. The surface parameter adjuster 4406 of the patient prone posture monitor 4404 is configured to adjust a parameter of the surface to allow the patient the necessary space to breathe, for example by deflating a balloon under the patient's sternum. In some embodiments, if the gap between the patient's sternum and the surface of the patient bed 4200 is too large, the surface parameter adjuster 4406 may inflate a balloon under the patient's sternum.

Referring now to fig. 45, a method 4500 for monitoring a patient in a prone position may be performed in use. In some embodiments, some or all of the method 4500 may be performed by the control circuit 4204. Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, certain portions of method 4500 may be performed by a person, such as a caregiver of the patient. The method 4500 begins at block 4502, where the control circuit 4204 monitors a patient lying in a prone position at block 4502. In block 4504, the control circuitry 4204 may monitor for the presence of a gap between the sternum of the patient and the surface of the patient bed 4200. Additionally or alternatively, the control circuit 4204 may decrease the balloon pressure below the sternum as the patient inhales in block 4506 to monitor whether a gap exists in block 4504.

In block 4508, the control circuitry 4204 determines bed parameters for the patient in the prone position based on the patient monitoring. For example, if there is no gap between the patient's sternum and the surface of the patient bed 4200, the control circuit 4204 may determine that the pressure of the bladder below the patient's sternum should be reduced. If the gap is too large, the control circuit 4204 may determine that the pressure of the bladder below the patient's sternum should be increased.

In block 4510, the control circuitry 4204 applies bed parameters, for example, by inflating or deflating one or more bladders. The method 4500 then loops back to block 4502 to continue monitoring the patient in the prone position.

Referring now to fig. 46, in one embodiment, a patient bed 4602 includes one or more radar sensors 4604 connected to a control circuit 4606. In the illustrative example, a radar support shelf 4608 is used to support one or more radar sensors 4604 and a control circuit 4606. The frame 610 is discussed above in connection with fig. 6, and the discussion is equally applicable to the support frame 4608 used with the bed 4600 of fig. 46. In some embodiments, one or more additional radar sensors may be located in the side rail or below the patient 4610.

In use, the control circuit 4608 estimates the weight of the patient 4610 based, at least in part, on data from the one or more radar sensors 4604. For example, the control circuit 4608 may measure the contours of the patient and/or perform a 3D scan of the patient. The control circuit 4608 can thus determine the volume of the patient, estimate the average density of the patient, and thus estimate the weight of the patient.

Referring now to fig. 47, in an illustrative embodiment, control circuit 4606 establishes environment 4700 during operation. The illustrative environment 4700 includes a radar controller 4702 and a remote weight sensor 4704. The various modules of the environment 4700 may be implemented as hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof. For example, the various modules, logic, and other components of the environment 4700 may form part of, or be otherwise established by, a processor, memory, or other hardware component of the control circuit 4606. Thus, in some embodiments, one or more modules of the environment 4700 may be implemented as a circuit or collection of electrical devices (e.g., the radar controller circuit 4702, the remote weight sensor circuit 4704, etc.). It should be appreciated that in such embodiments, one or more circuits (e.g., the radar controller circuit 4702, the remote weight sensor circuit 4704, etc.) may form part of one or more of the processor, memory, data storage, and/or other components of the control circuit 4606. Further, in some embodiments, one or more illustrative modules may form a portion of another module, and/or one or more illustrative modules may be independent of each other. Further, in some embodiments, one or more modules of environment 4700 may be implemented as virtualized hardware components or emulated architectures, which may be established and maintained by a processor or other component of control circuitry 4606.

The radar controller 4702 is configured to interface with the radar sensors 4604, and the radar controller 4702 may be implemented as hardware, firmware, software, virtualized hardware, emulated architecture, and/or combinations thereof, as described above. The radar controller 4702 may send commands to the radar sensors 4604, configure the radar sensors 4604, and receive data from the radar sensors 4604. In an illustrative embodiment, the radar controller 4702 receives an indication of the signal received by the radar sensor 4604, such as the strength, phase, electric field, etc., received at each receiver of the radar sensor 4604. In some embodiments, the radar sensor 4604 may perform some preprocessing prior to sending data to the radar controller 4702, such as processing the received data to provide an indication of patient position or motion.

The remote weight sensor 4704 is configured to estimate the weight of the patient in the patient bed 4602, the remote weight sensor 4704 may be implemented as hardware, firmware, software, virtualized hardware, simulation architecture, and/or combinations thereof as described above. The remote weight sensor 4704 includes an upper body contour mapper 4706, a side body contour mapper 4708, a volume estimator 4710, and a weight estimator 4712.

The upper body contour mapper 4706 is configured to map the contour or 3D surface of the patient using radar sensors positioned above the patient 4610. The side body contour mapper 4708 is configured to map the contour or 3D surface of the patient using radar sensors positioned on the side of the patient 4610. It should be appreciated that in some embodiments, the radar signal may pass through clothing, blankets, and bed sheets, which allows the estimated patient weight to be determined even when the patient is covered.

The volume estimator 4710 is configured to estimate a volume of a patient. The volume estimator 4710 may use upper body and/or side body contour mapping to estimate the volume of the patient.

The weight estimator 4712 is configured to estimate the weight of the patient 4610 based on the estimated patient volume. The weight estimator 4712 may estimate the patient's density or may use input from a caregiver, such as a measured percentage of body fat.

Referring now to fig. 48, in use, a method 4800 for estimating a patient's weight may be performed. In some embodiments, some or all of method 4800 may be performed by control circuit 4606. Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, certain portions of method 4800 may be performed by a person, such as a patient caregiver. The method 4800 begins at block 4802 where the control circuit 4606 performs upper body contour mapping at block 4802. In block 4804, control circuit 4606 performs silhouette mapping.

In block 4806, the control circuit 4606 estimates the volume of the patient. The control circuit 4606 may use upper body and/or side body contour maps to estimate the volume of the patient. In block 4808, the control circuit 4606 estimates the weight of the patient 4610 based on the estimated patient volume. The control circuit 4606 may estimate the patient's density or may use input from the caregiver, such as the measured percentage of body fat.

Unless otherwise noted, the discussion of bed 102 and its various components (including radar sensors 106, 108, 110 and control circuit 112) of fig. 1 applies equally to beds 300, 602, 1002, 1602, 2402, 3202, 3802, 4200, 4602 of fig. 3, 6, 10, 16, 24, 32, 38, 42 and 46, respectively.

Embodiments of the present invention may be described with reference to the following numbered clauses:

1. a system for monitoring a patient, the system comprising: one or more radar sensors configured to: transmitting a radar signal to the patient and receiving a reflection of the radar signal from the patient; and circuitry configured to: data indicative of reflections of radar signals from the patient is received from the one or more radar sensors, and one or more parameters indicative of motion of the patient are determined based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

2. The system of clause 1, wherein the determining one or more parameters indicative of motion of the patient comprises determining a body contour of the patient based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

3. The system of clause 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to determine a Braden score based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

4. The system of clause 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to determine a risk of the patient developing a pressure sore based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

5. The system of clause 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to determine a trend of motion of the patient over a period of at least one week based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

6. The system of clause 5, wherein the circuitry is further configured to determine that motion has changed by at least a threshold amount based on the data from the one or more radar sensors and provide an indication to a caregiver that motion has changed by at least a threshold amount.

7. The system of clause 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to detect a patient's onset based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

8. The system of clause 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to determine whether the patient is exiting the bed based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

9. A system for monitoring motion of a patient, the system comprising: one or more radar sensors configured to: transmitting a radar signal to a patient on a patient bed and receiving a reflection of the radar signal from the patient; and circuitry configured to: data indicative of reflections of radar signals from the patient is received from the one or more radar sensors, and a position parameter of the patient is determined based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, wherein the position parameter is indicative of a position or orientation of the patient on the patient's bed.

10. The system of clause 9, wherein the circuitry is further configured to determine whether the patient should be rotated based on the patient's position parameters.

11. The system of clause 10, wherein determining whether the patient should rotate comprises determining whether the patient should rotate to prevent pressure sores.

12. The system of clause 10, wherein determining whether the patient should rotate comprises determining whether the patient should rotate to prevent laryngopharyngeal reflux.

13. The system of clause 10, wherein determining whether the patient should rotate comprises determining whether the patient should rotate to elevate the patient's lungs.

14. The system of clause 10, wherein determining whether the patient should turn comprises determining that the patient has not turned for at least a threshold amount of time.

15. The system of clause 9, wherein the circuitry is further configured to determine a subset of a plurality of rotating bladders of a patient bed to inflate to rotate a patient based on the position parameters and to send a signal to inflate the subset of the plurality of rotating bladders.

16. The system of clause 9, wherein the circuitry is further configured to determine a subset of a plurality of rotating bladders of the patient bed to inflate to move the patient toward a center of the patient bed based on the location parameters and to transmit a signal to inflate the subset of the plurality of rotating bladders.

17. The system of clause 9, wherein the circuitry is further configured to: determining a subset of a plurality of percussive and vibratory (P & V) balloons of a patient bed to be inflated to percussive and vibratory (P & V) therapy to the patient based on the location parameters, wherein the selected subset of the plurality of P & V balloons is a P & V balloon below a current location of the patient; and transmitting a signal to inflate a subset of the plurality of P & V airbags.

18. The system of clause 17, wherein the circuitry is further configured to: transmitting, by the one or more radar sensors, additional radar signals to the patient during the P & V treatment; receiving, by the one or more radar sensors, a reflection of an additional radar signal from the patient; receiving additional data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of reflections of additional radar signals from the patient; determining a vibration amplitude of the patient caused by the P & V treatment based on the additional data from the one or more radar sensors; and adjusting the signals sent to inflate a subset of the plurality of P & V balloons based on the amplitude of the patient's vibrations.

19. The system of clause 17, wherein the circuitry is further configured to: determining a subset of a plurality of rotating bladders of a patient bed to inflate to move a patient toward a center of the patient bed based on the location parameters; and prior to sending a signal to inflate a subset of the plurality of P & V bladders, sending a signal to inflate a subset of the plurality of rotating bladders to move the patient toward the center of the bed.

20. A system for monitoring a patient, the system comprising: one or more radar sensors configured to: transmitting a radar signal to a patient on a patient bed and receiving a reflection of the radar signal from the patient; and circuitry configured to: receiving data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of a reflection of a radar signal from a patient, determining a body part of the patient in contact with a surface of a patient bed based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, determining one or more airbags to be controlled to release pressure from the body part in contact with the surface of the patient bed based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, and controlling the one or more airbags to release pressure from the body part in contact with the surface of the patient bed.

21. The system of clause 20, wherein the body part in contact with the bed surface is a heel of the patient.

22. The system of clause 20, wherein the body part in contact with the bed surface is a sacrum of the patient.

23. A system for managing a microclimate of a patient, the system comprising: one or more radar sensors configured to transmit radar signals to a patient on a patient bed and receive reflections of the radar signals from the patient; and circuitry configured to: receiving data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of reflections of radar signals from a patient, determining a target body part of the patient to be microclimated, determining a position of the target body part based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, controlling airflow to the target body part based on the determined position of the target body part.

24. The system of clause 23, wherein controlling the airflow to the target body part comprises controlling the airflow to the target body part based on the moisture level of the target body part.

25. The system of clause 23, wherein controlling the flow of air to the target body part comprises controlling the humidity of the flow of air to the target body part.

26. The system of clause 23, wherein controlling the airflow to the target body part comprises controlling a temperature of the airflow to the target body part.

27. A system for monitoring a patient, the system comprising: one or more radar sensors configured to: sending radar signals to a patient in the room and receiving reflections of the radar signals from the patient; and circuitry configured to: data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of reflections of radar signals from a patient is received, and one or more parameters indicative of patient position are determined based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

28. The system of clause 27, wherein determining one or more parameters indicative of patient position based on the data from the one or more radar sensors comprises: the amount of time a patient is lying on a bed is determined, the amount of time the patient is sitting on the bed is determined, the amount of time the patient is sitting on a chair is determined, and the amount of time the patient is standing or walking is determined.

29. The system of clause 27, wherein the circuitry is further configured to determine whether the patient has gait instability based on the data from the one or more radar sensors and to alert a caregiver in response to determining that the patient has gait instability.

30. The system of clause 27, wherein the circuitry is further configured to determine whether the patient is leaving the room based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, and to alert a caregiver in response to determining that the patient has left the room.

31. The system of clause 27, wherein the circuitry is further configured to determine whether the patient has fallen to the place based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, and to alert a caregiver in response to determining that the patient has fallen to the place.

32. The system of clause 27, wherein determining whether the patient has fallen includes determining whether the patient has fallen in a second room different from the room having the one or more radar sensors.

33. The system of clause 27, wherein the circuitry is further configured to determine one or more parameters indicative of activity of a caregiver in the room.

34. The system of clause 33, wherein the one or more parameters indicative of caregiver activity in the room are indicative of an amount of caregiver interaction with the patient.

35. The system of clause 33, wherein the one or more parameters indicative of the activity of a caregiver in the room indicate whether the caregiver has washed the caregiver's hands.

36. The system of clause 33, wherein the one or more parameters indicative of the caregiver's activities in the room indicate an amount of time for the caregiver to review the patient's medical record.

37. A system for facilitating physical therapy exercises, the system comprising: circuitry configured to present physical therapy instructions to a patient; and one or more radar sensors configured to: transmitting a radar signal to the patient after presenting the physical therapy instruction and receiving a reflection of the radar signal from the patient, wherein the circuitry is further configured to: transmitting a radar signal to a patient through one or more radar sensors after presentation of a physical therapy instruction, receiving a reflection of the radar signal from the patient through the one or more radar sensors, receiving data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of the reflection of the radar signal from the patient, determining a motion parameter of the patient based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, and comparing the motion parameter of the patient to the physical therapy instruction.

38. The system of clause 37, wherein presenting physical therapy instructions to the patient comprises presenting physical therapy instructions on a display, wherein the patient is on a patient bed, and wherein the display is attached to the patient bed.

39. The system of clause 37, wherein presenting the physical therapy instructions to the patient comprises presenting the physical therapy instructions on a display, and wherein the display is attached to the mobile physical therapy instruction exercise device.

40. The system of clause 37, wherein the circuitry is further configured to store performance data of the patient during an exercise session related to the physical therapy instructions, wherein the performance data indicates the patient's response to the physical therapy instructions.

41. The system of clause 40, wherein the circuitry is further configured to determine, based on the performance data, a second physical therapy instruction for a second exercise session different from the first exercise session.

42. A system for monitoring sleep of a patient, the system comprising: one or more radar sensors configured to transmit radar signals to a patient on a patient bed and receive reflections of the radar signals from the patient; and circuitry configured to: receiving data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of a reflection of a radar signal from a patient, determining an indication of a patient's rising in a bed based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, determining a pressure parameter for one or more bladders in the bed from the indication of the patient's rising in the bed, and applying the pressure parameter to the one or more bladders in the bed.

43. The system of clause 42, wherein determining the pressure parameter for the one or more bladders in the patient bed comprises determining the pressure parameter for the one or more bladders in the patient bed using a machine-based learning algorithm.

44. The system of clause 42, wherein the circuitry is further configured to update the machine-learning based algorithm based on the patient rising in the patient bed.

45. A system for monitoring a patient, the system comprising: one or more radar sensors configured to transmit radar signals to a patient in a prone position on a patient bed and receive reflections of the radar signals from the patient; and circuitry configured to: receiving, by the circuitry, data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of a reflection of a radar signal from the patient, and determining whether a gap exists between the patient's sternum and a surface of the patient bed while the patient inhales based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

46. The system of clause 45, wherein the circuitry is further configured to deflate the one or more bladders below the patient's sternum in response to determining that there is no gap between the patient's sternum and the surface of the patient bed upon patient inhalation.

47. The system of clause 45, wherein determining whether a gap exists between the patient's sternum and the surface of the patient bed upon patient inhalation comprises deflating one or more bladders below the patient's sternum upon patient inhalation.

48. A method for monitoring a patient, the method comprising: transmitting a radar signal to a patient via one or more radar sensors; receiving, by the one or more radar sensors, a reflection of the radar signal from the patient; receiving, by circuitry, data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of a reflection of a radar signal from a patient; and determining, by the circuitry, one or more parameters indicative of motion of the patient based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

49. The method of clause 48, wherein determining one or more parameters indicative of motion of the patient comprises determining a body contour of the patient based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

50. The method of clause 48, further comprising: determining a Braden score based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

51. The method of clause 48, further comprising: determining a patient's pressure wound risk based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

52. The method of clause 48, further comprising determining a trend in motion of the patient over a period of at least one week based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

53. The method of clause 52, further comprising: determining that motion has changed by at least a threshold amount based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, and providing an indication to a caregiver that motion has changed by at least a threshold amount.

54. The method of clause 48, further comprising detecting a patient's onset based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

55. The method of clause 48, further comprising determining whether the patient is exiting a patient bed based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

56. A method for monitoring motion of a patient, the method comprising: transmitting a radar signal to a patient on a patient bed via one or more radar sensors; receiving, by the one or more radar sensors, a reflection of the radar signal from the patient; receiving, by circuitry, data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of a reflection of a radar signal from a patient; and determining, by the circuitry, a position parameter of the patient based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, wherein the position parameter is indicative of a position or orientation of the patient on the patient's bed.

57. The method of clause 56, further comprising: determining, by the circuitry, whether the patient should be rotated based on the position parameter of the patient.

58. The method of clause 57, wherein determining whether the patient should rotate comprises determining whether the patient should rotate to prevent pressure sores.

59. The method of clause 57, wherein determining whether the patient should rotate comprises determining whether the patient should rotate to prevent laryngopharyngeal reflux.

60. The method of clause 57, wherein determining whether the patient should rotate comprises determining whether the patient should rotate to elevate the patient's lungs.

61. The method of clause 57, wherein determining whether the patient should turn comprises determining that the patient has not turned for at least a threshold amount of time.

62. The method of clause 56, further comprising: determining, by the circuitry, a subset of a plurality of rotating bladders of a patient bed to inflate to rotate a patient based on the location parameters; and sending, by the circuitry, a signal to inflate a subset of the plurality of rotating bladders.

63. The method of clause 56, further comprising: determining, by the circuitry, a subset of a plurality of rotating bladders of a patient bed to inflate to move a patient toward a center of the patient bed based on the position parameters; and sending, by the circuitry, a signal to inflate a subset of the plurality of rotating bladders.

64. The method of clause 56, further comprising: determining, by the circuitry based on the location parameter, a subset of a plurality of percussive and vibratory (P & V) balloons of a patient bed to be inflated to percussive and vibratory (P & V) treatment of the patient, wherein the selected subset of the plurality of P & V balloons is a P & V balloon below a current location of the patient; and sending, by the circuitry, a signal to inflate a subset of the plurality of P & V airbags.

65. The method of clause 64, further comprising: transmitting, by the one or more radar sensors, additional radar signals to the patient during the P & V treatment; receiving, by the one or more radar sensors, a reflection of an additional radar signal from the patient; receiving, by the circuitry, additional data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of reflections of additional radar signals from the patient; determining, by the circuitry, a vibration amplitude of the patient caused by the P & V treatment based on the additional data from the one or more radar sensors; and adjusting, by the circuitry, the transmitted signals to inflate a subset of the plurality of P & V balloons based on the amplitude of vibration of the patient.

66. The method of clause 64, further comprising: determining, by the circuitry, a subset of a plurality of rotating bladders of a patient bed to inflate to move a patient toward a center of the patient bed based on the position parameters; and sending, by the circuitry, a signal to inflate a subset of the plurality of rotating bladders to move the patient toward the center of the bed prior to sending the signal to inflate the subset of the plurality of P & V bladders.

67. A method for monitoring a patient, the method comprising: transmitting a radar signal to a patient on a patient bed via one or more radar sensors; receiving, by the one or more radar sensors, a reflection of the radar signal from the patient; receiving, by circuitry, data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of a reflection of a radar signal from a patient; determining, by the circuitry, a body part of a patient in contact with a surface of a patient bed based on the data from the one or more radar sensors; determining, by the circuitry, based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, one or more airbags to be controlled to release pressure from a body part in contact with a bed surface; and controlling, by the circuitry, the one or more bladders to release pressure from a body part in contact with the bed surface.

68. The method of clause 67, wherein the body part in contact with the bed surface is a heel of a patient.

69. The method of clause 67, wherein the body part in contact with the hospital bed surface is a sacrum of the patient.

70. A method for managing a microclimate of a patient, the method comprising: transmitting a radar signal to a patient on a patient bed via one or more radar sensors; receiving, by the one or more radar sensors, a reflection of the radar signal from the patient; receiving, by circuitry, data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of a reflection of a radar signal from a patient; determining, by the circuitry, a target body part of the patient for microclimate management; determining, by the circuitry, a location of the target body part based on the data from the one or more radar sensors; and controlling, by the circuitry, airflow to the target body part based on the determined location of the target body part.

71. The method of clause 70, wherein controlling the airflow to the target body part comprises controlling the airflow to the target body part based on the moisture level of the target body part.

72. The method of clause 70, wherein controlling the flow of air to the target body part comprises controlling the humidity of the flow of air to the target body part.

73. The method of clause 70, wherein controlling the airflow to the target body part comprises controlling a temperature of the airflow to the target body part.

74. A method for monitoring a patient, the method comprising: transmitting, by one or more radar sensors, a radar signal to a patient in a room; receiving, by the one or more radar sensors, a reflection of the radar signal from the patient; receiving, by circuitry, data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of a reflection of a radar signal from a patient; and determining, by the circuitry, one or more parameters indicative of patient position based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

75. The method of clause 74, wherein determining, by the circuitry, one or more parameters indicative of patient position based on the data from the one or more radar sensors comprises: determining, by the circuitry, an amount of time that the patient is lying on the patient bed; determining, by the circuitry, an amount of time that the patient is sitting in the patient's bed; determining, by the circuit, an amount of time that the patient is seated on the chair; and determining, by the circuitry, an amount of time that the patient is standing or walking.

76. The method of clause 74, further comprising: determining, by the circuitry, whether the patient is gait unstable based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, and alerting a caregiver in response to determining that the patient is gait unstable.

77. The method of clause 74, further comprising: determining, by the circuitry, whether the patient is leaving the room based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, and issuing, by the circuitry, an alert to a caregiver in response to determining that the patient has left the room.

78. The method of clause 74, further comprising: determining, by the circuitry, whether the patient has fallen to the location based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, and alerting, by the circuitry, a caregiver in response to determining that the patient has fallen to the location.

79. The method of clause 74, wherein determining whether the patient has fallen includes determining whether the patient has fallen in a second room different from the room having the one or more radar sensors.

80. The method of clause 74, further comprising: one or more parameters indicative of activity of a caregiver in the room are determined by the circuitry.

81. The method of clause 80, wherein the one or more parameters indicative of the caregiver's activities in the room are indicative of the amount of caregiver interaction with the patient.

82. The method of clause 80, wherein the one or more parameters indicative of the caregiver's activities in the room indicate whether the caregiver has washed the caregiver's hands.

83. The method of clause 80, wherein the one or more parameters indicative of the caregiver's activities in the room indicate an amount of time for the caregiver to review the patient's medical record.

84. A method for facilitating physical therapy exercise, the method comprising: presenting, by the circuitry, the physical therapy instructions to the patient; transmitting, by one or more radar sensors, a radar signal to the patient after presenting the physical therapy instructions; receiving, by the one or more radar sensors, a reflection of the radar signal from the patient; receiving, by the circuitry, data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of a reflection of a radar signal from a patient; determining, by the circuitry, a motion parameter of a patient based on the data from the one or more radar sensors; and, comparing, by the circuitry, the patient's motion parameters to the physical therapy instructions.

85. The method of clause 84, wherein presenting physical therapy instructions to the patient comprises presenting physical therapy instructions on a display, wherein the patient is on a patient bed, and wherein the display is attached to the patient bed.

86. The method of clause 84, wherein presenting the physical therapy instructions to the patient comprises presenting the physical therapy instructions on a display, and wherein the display is attached to the mobile physical therapy instruction exercise device.

87. The method of clause 84, further comprising: storing, by the circuitry, performance data of the patient during an exercise session associated with the physical therapy instruction, wherein the performance data indicates the patient's response to the physical therapy instruction.

88. The method of clause 87, further comprising: determining, by the circuitry, a second physical therapy instruction for a second exercise session different from the first exercise session based on the performance data.

89. A method for monitoring sleep of a patient, the method comprising: transmitting a radar signal to a patient on a patient bed via one or more radar sensors; receiving, by the one or more radar sensors, a reflection of the radar signal from the patient; receiving, by circuitry, data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of a reflection of a radar signal from a patient; determining, by the circuitry, an indication of a patient's rising up in a patient's bed based on the data from the one or more radar sensors; determining, by the circuitry, a pressure parameter of one or more balloons in a patient bed based on the indication of the patient rising up in the patient bed; applying, by the circuitry, the pressure parameter to one or more balloons in the patient bed.

90. The method of clause 89, wherein determining the pressure parameter of the one or more bladders in the patient bed comprises determining the pressure parameter of the one or more bladders in the patient bed using a machine-learning based algorithm.

91. The method of clause 89, further comprising: updating the machine learning based algorithm based on the patient's rising up in the patient's bed.

92. A method for monitoring a patient, the method comprising: transmitting a radar signal to a patient in a prone position on a patient bed by one or more radar sensors; receiving, by the one or more radar sensors, a reflection of the radar signal from the patient; receiving, by circuitry, data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of a reflection of a radar signal from a patient; determining, by the circuitry, based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, whether a gap exists between a sternum of the patient and a surface of a patient bed while the patient inhales.

93. The method of clause 92, further comprising: deflating, by the circuitry, the one or more bladders below the patient's sternum in response to determining that there is no gap between the patient's sternum and the surface of the patient bed when the patient inhales.

94. The method of clause 92, wherein determining whether a gap exists between the patient's sternum and the surface of the patient's bed upon patient inhalation comprises deflating, via the electrical circuit, one or more air bladders below the patient's sternum upon patient inhalation.

95. One or more computer-readable media comprising a plurality of instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a computing device to: transmitting a radar signal to a patient via one or more radar sensors; receiving, by the one or more radar sensors, a reflection of the radar signal from the patient; receiving data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of a reflection of a radar signal from a patient; and determining one or more parameters indicative of motion of the patient based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

96. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 95, wherein determining one or more parameters indicative of motion of the patient comprises determining a body contour of the patient based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

97. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 95, wherein the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to: determining a Braden score based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

98. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 95, wherein the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to: determining a risk of a patient developing a pressure sore based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

99. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 95, wherein the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to: determining a trend of motion of the patient over a period of at least one week based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

100. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 99, wherein the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to: determine that motion has changed by at least a threshold amount based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, and provide an indication to a caregiver that motion has changed by at least a threshold amount.

101. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 95, wherein the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to: detecting a patient's onset based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

102. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 95, wherein the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to: determining whether a patient is exiting a bed based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

103. One or more computer-readable media comprising a plurality of instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a computing device to: transmitting a radar signal to a patient on a patient bed via one or more radar sensors; receiving, by the one or more radar sensors, a reflection of the radar signal from the patient; receiving data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of a reflection of a radar signal from a patient; determining a position parameter of a patient based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, wherein the position parameter is indicative of a position or orientation of the patient on a patient's bed.

104. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 103, wherein the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to: determining whether the patient should be rotated based on the position parameter of the patient.

105. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 104, wherein determining whether the patient should rotate comprises determining whether the patient should rotate to prevent pressure sores.

106. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 104, wherein determining whether the patient should rotate comprises determining whether the patient should rotate to prevent laryngo pharyngeal reflux.

107. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 104, wherein determining whether the patient should rotate comprises determining whether the patient should rotate to elevate the patient's lungs.

108. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 104, wherein determining whether the patient should turn comprises determining that the patient has not turned for at least a threshold amount of time.

109. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 103, wherein the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to: a subset of a plurality of rotating bladders of a patient bed to be inflated to rotate a patient is determined based on the position parameters and a signal is sent to inflate the subset of the plurality of rotating bladders.

110. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 103, wherein the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to: a subset of a plurality of rotating bladders of the patient bed to be inflated to move the patient toward a center of the patient bed is determined based on the position parameters and a signal is transmitted to inflate the subset of the plurality of rotating bladders.

111. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 103, wherein the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to: determining a subset of a plurality of taps and vibrations (P & V) of a patient bed to inflate for tap and vibration (P & V) treatment of the patient based on the location parameters, wherein the selected subset of the plurality of P & V bladders is a P & V bladder below a current location of the patient; and, transmitting a signal to inflate a subset of the plurality of P & V airbags.

112. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 111, wherein the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to: transmitting additional radar signals to the patient during the P & V treatment by the one or more radar sensors; receiving, by the one or more radar sensors, a reflection of an additional radar signal from the patient; receiving additional data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of reflections of additional radar signals from the patient; determining a vibration amplitude of the patient caused by the P & V treatment based on the additional data from the one or more radar sensors; and adjusting the transmitted signals that inflate a subset of the plurality of P & V balloons based on the amplitude of the patient's vibrations.

113. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 111, wherein the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to: determining a subset of a plurality of rotating bladders of a patient bed to inflate to move a patient toward a center of the patient bed based on the location parameters; transmitting a signal to inflate a subset of the plurality of rotating bladders to move the patient toward the center of the bed prior to transmitting a signal to inflate a subset of the plurality of P & V bladders.

114. One or more computer-readable media comprising a plurality of instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a computing device to: transmitting a radar signal to a patient on a patient bed via one or more radar sensors; and receiving, by one or more radar sensors, a reflection of the radar signal from the patient; receiving data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of a reflection of a radar signal from a patient; determining a body part of a patient in contact with a surface of a patient bed based on the data from the one or more radar sensors; determining, based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, one or more airbags to be controlled to release pressure from a body part in contact with a bed surface; and, controlling the one or more bladders to release pressure from the body part in contact with the bed surface.

115. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 114, wherein the body part in contact with the bed surface is a heel of a patient.

116. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 114, wherein the body part in contact with the bed surface is a sacrum of the patient.

117. One or more computer-readable media comprising a plurality of instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a computing device to: transmitting a radar signal to a patient on a patient bed via one or more radar sensors; receiving, by the one or more radar sensors, a reflection of the radar signal from the patient; receiving data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of a reflection of a radar signal from a patient; determining a target body part of a patient for microclimate management; determining a location of the target body part based on the data from the one or more radar sensors; controlling airflow to the target body part based on the determined position of the target body part.

118. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 117, wherein controlling the airflow to the target body part comprises controlling the airflow to the target body part based on the moisture level of the target body part.

119. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 117, wherein controlling the airflow to the target body part comprises controlling a humidity of the airflow to the target body part.

120. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 117, wherein controlling the airflow to the target body part comprises controlling a temperature of the airflow to the target body part.

121. One or more computer-readable media comprising a plurality of instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a computing device to: transmitting, by one or more radar sensors, a radar signal to a patient in a room; receiving a reflection of the radar signal from the patient; receiving data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of a reflection of a radar signal from a patient; and determining one or more parameters indicative of patient position based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

122. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 121, wherein determining one or more parameters indicative of patient position based on the data from the one or more radar sensors comprises: determining an amount of time a patient is lying on a patient bed; determining an amount of time a patient is sitting in a patient's bed; determining an amount of time a patient is sitting in a chair; and, the amount of time the patient stands or walks is determined.

123. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 121, wherein the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to: determining whether the patient has gait instability based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, and sending an alert to a caregiver in response to determining that the patient has gait instability.

124. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 121, wherein the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to: determining whether the patient is leaving the room based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, and sending an alert to a caregiver in response to determining that the patient has left the room.

125. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 121, wherein the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to: determining whether the patient has fallen to the location based on the data from the one or more radar sensors, and sending an alert to a caregiver in response to determining that the patient has fallen to the location.

126. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 121, wherein determining whether the patient has fallen over comprises: determining whether the patient has fallen to the ground in a second room different from the room having the one or more radar sensors.

127. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 121, wherein the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to: one or more parameters indicative of activity of a caregiver in the room are determined.

128. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 127, wherein the one or more parameters indicative of the caregiver's activities in the room are indicative of an amount of caregiver interaction with the patient.

129. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 127, wherein the one or more parameters indicative of the activity of a caregiver in the room indicate whether the caregiver has washed the caregiver's hands.

130. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 127, wherein the one or more parameters indicative of the activity of the caregiver in the room indicate an amount of time that the caregiver will review the medical record of the patient.

131. One or more computer-readable media comprising a plurality of instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a computing device to: presenting physical therapy instructions to the patient; transmitting, by one or more radar sensors, a radar signal to the patient after presenting the physical therapy instructions; receiving, by the one or more radar sensors, a reflection of the radar signal from the patient; receiving data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of a reflection of a radar signal from a patient; determining a motion parameter of a patient based on the data from the one or more radar sensors; and, the patient's motion parameters are compared to the physical therapy instructions.

132. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 131, wherein presenting physical therapy instructions to the patient comprises presenting physical therapy instructions on a display, wherein the patient is on a patient's bed, and wherein the display is attached to the patient's bed.

133. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 131, wherein presenting the physical therapy instructions to the patient comprises presenting the physical therapy instructions on a display, and wherein the display is attached to the mobile physical therapy instruction exercise device.

134. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 131, wherein the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to: storing performance data of the patient during an exercise session associated with the physical therapy instruction, wherein the performance data indicates the patient's response to the physical therapy instruction.

135. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 134, wherein the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to: a second physical therapy instruction for a second exercise session different from the first exercise session is determined based on the performance data.

136. One or more computer-readable media comprising a plurality of instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a computing device to: transmitting a radar signal to a patient on a patient bed via one or more radar sensors; receiving, by the one or more radar sensors, a reflection of the radar signal from the patient; receiving data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of a reflection of a radar signal from a patient; determining an indication of a patient's rising in bed based on the data from the one or more radar sensors; determining a pressure parameter of one or more bladders in a patient bed from the indication of the patient's rising up in the patient bed; and applying the pressure parameter to the one or more balloons in the patient bed.

137. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 136, wherein determining the pressure parameter of the one or more bladders in the patient bed comprises determining the pressure parameter of the one or more bladders in the patient bed using a machine-learning based algorithm.

138. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 136, wherein the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to: the machine learning based algorithm is updated based on the patient's rising up in the patient's bed.

139. One or more computer-readable media comprising a plurality of instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a computing device to: transmitting a radar signal to a patient in a prone position on a patient bed by one or more radar sensors; receiving, by the one or more radar sensors, a reflection of the radar signal from the patient; receiving, by circuitry, data from the one or more radar sensors indicative of a reflection of a radar signal from a patient; determining whether a gap exists between a patient's sternum and a patient bed surface when the patient inhales based on the data from the one or more radar sensors.

140. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 139, wherein the plurality of instructions further cause the computing device to: the one or more air bladders below the patient's sternum are deflated in response to determining that there is no gap between the patient's sternum and the surface of the patient bed when the patient inhales.

141. The one or more computer-readable media of clause 139, wherein determining whether a gap exists between the patient's sternum and the surface of the patient bed while the patient inhales comprises deflating one or more bladders below the patient's sternum while the patient inhales.

Although certain illustrative embodiments have been described in detail above, variations and modifications exist within the scope and spirit of the disclosure as described and as defined in the appended claims.

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Monitoring a patient&#39;s body using radar

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Monitoring a patient's body using radar