Techniques for transporting autonomous patient support apparatuses and medical equipment to an incident scene

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11929157-B2
Application number	US-201916671723-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 1, 2019
Priority date	Nov 2, 2018
Publication date	Mar 12, 2024
Grant date	Mar 12, 2024

Abstract

A method of transporting equipment modules to an incident scene with an comprises: determining an initial location of the incident scene; dispatching an ambulance loaded with the autonomous mobile response unit and a plurality of equipment modules to the initial location; determining a refined location of the incident scene; selecting a first equipment module; dispensing the first equipment module from the ambulance onto the autonomous mobile response unit; deploying the autonomous mobile response unit from the ambulance at the initial location; communicating the refined location of the incident scene to the autonomous mobile response unit; generating, with the navigation system, a drive path from the initial location to the refined location; and driving, with the drive system, the autonomous mobile response unit loaded with the first equipment module based on the drive path such that the autonomous mobile response unit travels from the initial location to the refined location.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
an autonomous patient support apparatus including a navigation system, a base supporting a plurality of caster wheels, a support frame disposed above the base, a patient support surface coupled to the support frame for supporting a patient, a lift mechanism to move the support frame relative to the base between a plurality of vertical configurations, and a drive system fixed to the base and having at least one auxiliary wheel arranged between the plurality of caster wheels to drive the autonomous patient support apparatus;
a remote dispatch center configured to:
dispatch a first responder to an initial location of an incident scene, and
dispatch an ambulance loaded with the autonomous patient support apparatus to the initial location;

an unloading system configured to unload the autonomous patient support apparatus from the ambulance at the initial location, the unloading system including a trolley and a track, wherein the patient support apparatus is configured to couple to the trolley and the trolley is configured to move along the track; and
a communication system configured to communicate a refined location of the incident scene to the navigation system of the autonomous patient support apparatus; and
wherein the navigation system of the autonomous patient support apparatus is configured to generate a drive path between the initial location and the refined location for the drive system to drive the autonomous patient support apparatus along from the initial location to the refined location with the at least one auxiliary wheel.

2. The system as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the communication system is further defined as a first communication system and wherein the system further comprises a second communication system configured to receive an emergency call at a public safety answering point.

3. The system as set forth in claim 2 , wherein the second communication system is further configured to relay the initial location from the public safety answering point to the remote dispatch center in communication with the navigation system of the autonomous patient support apparatus.

4. The system as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the communication system comprises at least one of a radio communication device and a mobile phone, the at least one of the radio communication device and the mobile phone being configured to transmit a voice command to communicate the refined location of the incident scene to the navigation system.

5. The system as set forth in claim 4 , wherein the at least one of the radio communication device and the mobile phone is further configured to transmit the voice command to a remote dispatch center.

6. The system as set forth in claim 1 , further comprising a tracker equipped to the first responder, the tracker being configured to determine the refined location of the incident scene based on the first responder traveling from the initial location and establishing patient contact at the refined location.

7. The system as set forth in claim 6 , wherein the tracker comprises at least one of a GPS tracker configured to determine the location of the tracker based on a GPS signal, a cellular tracker configured to determine the location of the tracker based on a cellular signal, and a WiFi tracker configured to determine the location of the tracker based on a WiFi signal.

8. The system as set forth in claim 6 , wherein the communication system comprises a mobile computing device, wherein the tracker is coupled to the mobile computing device, and wherein the mobile computing device is configured to transmit data associated with a location of the tracker to the navigation system of the autonomous patient support apparatus.

9. The system as set forth in claim 8 , wherein the mobile computing device is further configured to transmit the data associated with the location of the tracker to the navigation system of the autonomous patient support apparatus via the remote dispatch center.

10. The system as set forth in claim 6 , wherein the communication system comprises the tracker, and wherein the tracker comprises a tracker user interface configured to transmit data associated with a location of the tracker to the navigation system of the autonomous patient support apparatus in response to being actuated.

11. The system as set forth in claim 10 , wherein the tracker user interface is further configured to transmit data to the navigation system of the autonomous patient support apparatus via the remote dispatch center.

12. The system as set forth in claim 6 , wherein the tracker is further configured to generate a tracker path based on movement of the first responder away from the initial location, the tracker path comprising a plurality of locations associated with the tracker.

13. The system as set forth in claim 12 , wherein the navigation system is further configured to:
generate the drive path based on the tracker path generated based on the movement of the first responder; and
navigate the drive system based on the drive path.

14. The system as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the navigation system is further configured to navigate the drive system based on the drive path.

15. The system as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the system further comprises:
an obstruction detection system configured to:
detect a presence of an obstruction at an obstruction location; and
interrupt operation of the drive system in response to detecting the obstruction at the obstruction location.

16. The system as set forth in claim 15 , wherein the navigation system is further configured to generate, with the navigation system, an alternate drive path for the autonomous patient support apparatus between the obstruction location and the refined location; and
wherein the drive system is further configured to drive the autonomous patient support apparatus from the obstruction location to the refined location along the alternate drive path.

17. The system as set forth in claim 15 , wherein the obstruction detection system is further configured to:
determine that the autonomous patient support apparatus cannot reach the refined location with the drive system; and
generate an alarm with the autonomous patient support apparatus to indicate that the obstruction cannot be traversed without intervention.

18. The system as set forth in claim 15 , wherein the obstruction detection system is further configured to communicate an intervention request related to the presence of the obstruction to at least one of the remote dispatch center and the first responder; and
wherein the drive system is further configured to drive the autonomous patient support apparatus from the obstruction location to the refined location along the drive path after the obstruction communicated via the intervention request is rectified.

Assignees

• Stryker Corp

Inventors

• Naber Brandon David
• Zufall Scott
• Dunfee Ii Jeffrey S

Classifications

• A61G3/001

  Vehicles provided with medical equipment to perform operations or examinations · CPC title

• G05D1/646

  Following a predefined trajectory, e.g. a line marked on the floor or a flight path · CPC title

• G05D1/695

  for maintaining a fixed relative position of the vehicles, e.g. for convoy travelling or formation flight · CPC title

• G16H40/20

  for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms · CPC title

• G16H20/13 Primary

  delivered from dispensers · CPC title