US 11,812,936 B2
Apparatus and methods for monitoring a sleeping subject
Zvika Shinar, Binyamina (IL); Guy Meger, Haifa (IL); and Avner Halperin, Ramat Gan (IL)
Assigned to Hill-Rom Services, Inc., Batesville, IN (US)
Filed by Hill-Rom Services, Inc., Batesville, IN (US)
Filed on Nov. 28, 2018, as Appl. No. 16/202,586.
Application 16/202,586 is a continuation of application No. 14/843,021, filed on Sep. 2, 2015, granted, now 10,172,593.
Application 14/843,021 is a continuation in part of application No. 14/726,706, filed on Jun. 1, 2015, granted, now 10,575,829.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/152,902, filed on Apr. 26, 2015.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/102,031, filed on Jan. 11, 2015.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/088,697, filed on Dec. 8, 2014.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/057,250, filed on Sep. 30, 2014.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/045,237, filed on Sep. 3, 2014.
Prior Publication US 2019/0090860 A1, Mar. 28, 2019
Int. Cl. G06F 15/00 (2006.01); A61B 10/00 (2006.01); A61B 5/00 (2006.01); A61B 5/024 (2006.01); A61B 5/08 (2006.01); G16H 40/20 (2018.01); A61B 5/02 (2006.01); A61B 5/01 (2006.01); A61B 5/11 (2006.01)
CPC A61B 10/0012 (2013.01) [A61B 5/02405 (2013.01); A61B 5/0816 (2013.01); A61B 5/4343 (2013.01); A61B 5/4809 (2013.01); A61B 5/6892 (2013.01); A61B 5/7282 (2013.01); G16H 40/20 (2018.01); A61B 5/01 (2013.01); A61B 5/02 (2013.01); A61B 5/024 (2013.01); A61B 5/08 (2013.01); A61B 5/11 (2013.01); A61B 5/4812 (2013.01); A61B 5/6891 (2013.01); A61B 5/7267 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
 
1. An apparatus for use with a plurality of patients requiring respective care-provision tasks, the apparatus comprising:
a plurality of sleep sensors automatically monitoring a plurality of patients and generating a plurality of signals in response thereto, without contacting the respective patients;
a plurality of location sensors identifying respective locations of a plurality of care-providers, and generating location-sensing signals in response thereto;
a controllable mechanism adjustable to alter a patient's environment to improve the a sleep quality of at least one of the plurality of patients;
a user interface, and
a care-provision prioritization control unit receiving the signals from the plurality of sleep sensors, receiving location-sensing signals from the plurality of location sensors, and providing control signals to control the operation of the controllable mechanism, the care-provision prioritization control unit analyzing the signals from the sleep sensors to ascertain respective sleep stages of the patients, controlling the controllable mechanism to alter a patient's environment to improve the sleep quality for at least a first patient of the plurality of patients if the care-provision prioritization control unit determines that the sleep of the first patient of the plurality of patients is to be prioritized over sleep of a second patient of the plurality of patients, analyzing the location-sensing signals to determine a prioritization of at least one of the care-provision tasks of the first patient of the plurality of patients over at least one other of the care-provision tasks of the second patient of the plurality of patients based on the sleep stage of each of the respective patients and the respective locations of the plurality of care-providers, and
generating an output to a care-giver indicating the prioritization of the care-provision tasks,
wherein the output is communicated to the user interface.