Data logger
A data logging module and a method of monitoring a medical warming cabinet is disclosed. A temperature of the heating chamber and a state of a door of the heating chamber are sampled at predetermined intervals and recorded as data packets on a memory device. A display may provide a message when the memory device is reaching capacity. Moreover, a selected of the data packets may be analyzed (such as the data packets excluding the data packets when the door is open) for the generation of a report. The data packets from the memory device may be transferred from the memory device to an external memory device as necessary.
1. A method of monitoring a medical warming cabinet employing a computer and a door sensor, the medical warming cabinet including a heating chamber heated by a heating apparatus, access to the heating chamber provided through a door into the heating chamber, and an electronic temperature monitoring system, the method comprising:
receiving an electrical output from the door sensor at the temperature monitoring system indicating that the door into the heating chamber has been moved from a closed position into an open position;
determining a door open time based on receipt of the door open status signal;
receiving a temperature value at the temperature monitoring system from a temperature sensor configured to determine a temperature of the heating chamber at a temperature sensing time;
recording in a data packet on a memory device the temperature value, the temperature sensing time, and the door open time that is proximate and prior to the temperature sensing time;
analyzing a selected plurality of data packets rejecting data packets where the temperature sensing time is within a defined time limit of the door opening time; and
generating a report providing temperature information based on at least one temperature value selected according to the temperature sensing time and the door open time wherein temperature values taken within the defined time limit of the door opening time are rejected to preferentially differentiate temperature values taken when the door is closed.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data packets are stored in a circular memory buffer and, when the memory is full, an oldest of the data packets are overwritten during the step of recording.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the temperature is sampled at a predetermined rate of one sample per hour to generate the temperature value.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the step of sampling further includes sampling a set point for the heating chamber, a warmer type, and an error status.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: transferring the data packets from the memory device to an external memory device.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the step of transferring the data packets from the memory device to an external memory device includes inserting a removable external memory device into a bus port on the medical warming cabinet.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the removable external memory device is a USB flash memory drive.
8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the transfer of the data packets from the memory device to the external memory device occurs automatically upon insertion of the removable memory device into the bus port.
9. The method of claim 5 , wherein the step of transferring the data packets from the memory device to the external memory device further comprises generating a report summary and writing the report summary to the device.
10. A method of monitoring a medical warming cabinet employing a computer and a door sensor, the medical warming cabinet including a heating chamber heated by a heating apparatus, access to the heating chamber provided through a door into the heating chamber, and an electronic temperature monitoring system, the method comprising:
receiving an electrical output from the door sensor at the temperature monitoring system indicating that the door into the heating chamber has been moved from a closed position into an open position;
determining a door open time based on receipt of the door open status signal;
receiving a temperature value at the temperature monitoring system from a temperature sensor configured to determine a temperature of the beating chamber at a temperature sensing time;
recording in a data packet on a memory device the temperature value, the temperature sensing time, and an associated door open time that is proximate and prior to the temperature sensing time;
analyzing a selected plurality of data packets rejecting data packets where the temperature sensing time is within a defined time limit of the door opening time; and
generating a report providing temperature information derived from one or more recorded temperature values from the memory device, the one or more recorded temperature values excluding temperature values having a temperature sensing time that is within a defined time limit of the associated door opening time to preferentially differentiate temperature values taken when the door is closed such that the temperature information would be substantially affected by loss of heat through the opening door.
11. A method of claim 10 , further comprising providing a message indicating the memory device is reaching capacity prior to the memory device reaching capacity.
12. A data logging module for a controller in a medical warming cabinet, the medical warming cabinet including a heating chamber heated by a heating apparatus, access to the heating chamber provided through a door into the heating chamber, the data logging module comprising:
a temperature sensor configured to periodically determine a temperature value for the heating chamber;
a door sensor configured to detect that the door into the heating chamber has been moved from a closed position into an open position;
a memory device; and
an electronic temperature monitoring system configured to
receive an electrical output from the door sensor indicating that the door into the heating chamber has been moved from a closed position into an open position,
generate a door open time when the electrical output is received from the door sensor indicating that the door into the heating chamber has been moved from a closed position into an open position,
periodically generate a temperature value based on data received from the temperature sensor, associate a temperature time with the temperature value, analyze a selected plurality of data packets rejecting data packets where the temperature sensing time is within a defined time limit of the door opening time, and generate a report including the temperature value, the temperature sensing time, and the door open time that is proximate and prior to the temperature sensing time, the report providing temperature information based on at least one temperature value selected according to the temperature sending time and the door open time wherein temperature values taken within the defined time limit of the door opening time are rejected to preferentially differentiate temperature values taken when the door is closed.
13. The data logging module of claim 12 , wherein the memory device has a circular memory buffer.
14. The data logging module of claim 12 , further comprising a bus port for receiving an external memory device for storing the data.
15. The data logging module of claim 14 , wherein the external memory device for storing the data is a USB flash memory drive.
16. The data logging module of claim 14 , wherein the temperature monitoring system is further configure to generate a temperature value report excluding data where the temperature sensing time is within a defined time limit of the door opening time.