A patient/nurse communication method (10) for a hospital includes patient stations (18) capable of generating hospital calls and a remote master station (32) which prioritizes and stores the calls. Hall units (28) outside patient rooms (14) identify the rooms (14) from which the calls originate and the type of call. Each patient station (18) allows selective retrieval and display of unanswered calls, and the system (10) further permits audio interconnection between any two of the stations (18, 32). Nurse-worn badges (26) transmit pulse-coded infrared signals which are received by receivers (121) at the patient stations (18) and in response, the system (10) generates identity and location signals which are stored at the master station (32). The nurse location and identity information may also be retrieved and displayed at any patient station (18). Receipt of a nurse's (11) infrared signal at a room station (18) automatically cancels a patient call origination from the room (14) and display thereof by the respective hall unit (28), while actuating a display (122) to indicate nurse (11) presence. By using the nurse call button (22), the patient can establish telephonic communications between the patient station (18) and a wireless telephone (64) being carried by a remotely located nurse.

A patient/nurse communication method (10) for a hospital includes patient stations (18) capable of generating hospital calls and a remote master station (32) which prioritizes and stores the calls. Hall units (28) outside patient rooms (14) identify the rooms (14) from which the calls originate and the type of call. Each patient station (18) allows selective retrieval and display of unanswered calls, and the system (10) further permits audio interconnection between any two of the stations (18, 32). Nurse-worn badges (26) transmit pulse-coded infrared signals which are received by receivers (121) at the patient stations (18) and in response, the system (10) generates identity and location signals which are stored at the master station (32). The nurse location and identity information may also be retrieved and displayed at any patient station (18). Receipt of a nurse's (11) infrared signal at a room station (18) automatically cancels a patient call origination from the room (14) and display thereof by the respective hall unit (28), while actuating a display (122) to indicate nurse (11) presence. By using the nurse call button (22), the patient can establish telephonic communications between the patient station (18) and a wireless telephone (64) being carried by a remotely located nurse.

The invention relates to

• a patient/nurse call system for a hospital comprising:
• a plurality of transmitters, each transmitter adapted to periodically transmit a pulse-coded infrared signal;
• a plurality of patient stations, each patient station being located in a patient room in the hospital and including a receiver to receive and validate a pulse-coded infrared signal from any of the transmitters and generate a corresponding transmitters identification signal;
• a signal processor operatively connected to the patient stations to receive each of the transmitter identification signals and to generate a signal pair comprising the transmitter identification signal and a respective location identification signal, the location identification signal being representative of the location of the patient station which received the transmitter identification signal;
• a master station operatively connected to the signal processor and adapted to receive and store the signal pairs in a memory so that at any time the signal pairs can be retrieved from memory to determine the locations of the transmitter; and
• a recorder operatively connected to the master station for generating reports on the locations of the transmitters over an extended period of time, whereby the master station continues to store each transmitter at a location which corresponds to the last received and validated pulse-coded signals from that transmitter, until a subsequent pulse-coded signal from that transmitter is received and validated at a different patient station.

A robotic arm 1 moves a cranked spoon 2 under control of a control unit 3 to scoop food from a dish 6 and transfer it to an eating position E adjacent to the mouth of a user. A display screen 4 has a series of columns representing adjacent strips of the dish, and the control unit 3 moves a cursor to each of the columns in turn. A switch 5 enables a user to select the column concurrently associated with the cursor and the control unit 3 then moves the arm 1 to remove a scoop of food from the corresponding area of the dish and transfer it to the eating position. The columns are further divided into segments and the arm removes food from each of the segments in turn, always starting at the same position in each column. Instead of a display screen a box carrying a series of sequentially illuminated lamps can be placed adjacent to the dish, and the switch can be operated to select the appropriate strip in similar manner.

Es wird ein Bediengerät (1) zur manuellen Steuerung einer Vielzahl von Funktionen unterschiedlicher Geräte, insbe­sondere für Krankenhäuser oder Hotels, beschrieben. Das Bediengerät (1) ist in Modulbauweise erstellt und weist einen kastenförmigen Hauptmodul (2) sowie mindestens einen leisten­förmigen Nebenmodul (3, 4, 8, 9) auf. Im bzw. am Hauptmodul (2) selbst ist mindestens ein Gerät angeordnet, dessen Funktion durch manuelle Tastenbedienung gesteuert wird. In den Nebenmodu­len (3, 4, 8, 9) können Zusatzgeräte untergebracht sein. Das Gerät (1) zeichnet sich durch eine bequeme Handhabung und große Viel­seitigkeit aus.

Die Erfindung bezieht sich auf eine Vorrichtung zur Erfassung von Körperfunktionen von Patienten, insbesondere von Säuglingen, in Verbindung mit mechanischen Einwirkungen auf eine Lagerstaff für den Patienten, die mittels Kraftsignalgeber und zugeordneten Verarbeitungsgliedern erfaßbar sind. Es sind Überwachungsvorrichtungen bekannt, bei denen ein Kraftsignalgeber in ein Bein eines üblichen Klinikbettes eingebaut ist. Derartige Überwachungsvorrichtungen sind nur begrenzt einsetzbar. Gemäß der Erfindung ist die Lagerstattfürden Patienten aus einem Unterteil (1) und einem darauf gelagerten Oberteil (7) mit Liegefläche (8) für den Patienten gebildet, wobei die Lagerelemente (4 bis 6) zwischen Unterteil (1) und Oberteil (7) in wenigstens einem Einzelelement als Kraftsignalgeber (14,15) ausgebildet sind, und beinhaltet die Lagerstatt Mittel zur Unterdrückung von außen einwirkender, nicht vom Patienten verursachter Kräfte.