Bed exit warning system

1. A bed exit warning system for monitoring a user on a bed including a mattress, the system comprising:

a base station configured to issue a warning that the user is about to get out of the bed;

one or more sensors placed in a position selected from one of beneath the mattress and in the mattress, and configured to continuously and directly measure one or more physiological characteristics of the user; and

a processor configured

to determine a likelihood that the user is about to get out of the bed from changes in the measured one or more physiological characteristics, and

to notify the base station of the likelihood,

wherein the processor is configured to determine the likelihood by comparing the changes in the measured one or more physiological characteristics to previously collected one or more physiological characteristics during which bed exits by the user occurred.

2. The bed exit warning system as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a transmitter configured to transmit a signal to notify the base station of the likelihood, wherein the base station includes a receiver configured to receive the signal, and wherein the processor comprises a first processor connected to the one or more sensors and the transmitter, and a second processor connected to the base station and the receiver.

3. The bed exit warning system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the measured one or more physiological characteristics comprise at least one of heart rate, pulse rate, breathing rate, temperature, blood pressure and heart rate variability.

4. The bed exit warning system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine the likelihood by comparing the changes in the measured one or more physiological characteristics to a plurality of predetermined thresholds for the measured one or more physiological characteristics.

5. The bed exit warning system as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising an absence sensor configured to detect the presence or absence of the user on the bed.

6. The bed exit warning system as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the absence sensor is one of the one or more sensors configured to continuously measure the one or more physiological characteristics.

7. The bed exit warning system as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the absence sensor comprises at least one of a pressure sensor and strain gauge.

8. The bed exit warning system as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the warning is issued when the absence sensor indicates that the user is absent from the bed.

9. The bed exit warning system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the changes in the measured one or more physiological characteristics are determined using a bed exit prediction algorithm.

10. The bed exit warning system as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the bed exit prediction algorithm is updated based on a comparison between the determined likelihood and an indication of the user is subsequently getting out of the bed.

11. The bed exit warning system as claimed in claim 9 , wherein a supervised classification algorithm implements the bed exit prediction algorithm.

12. A method of predicting a likelihood of a user getting out of bed including a mattress, the method comprising the acts of:

placing one or more sensors in a position selected from one of beneath the mattress and in the mattress, and continuously and directly measuring one or more physiological characteristics of the user;

determining the likelihood that the user is about to get out of the bed from changes in the measured one or more physiological characteristics; and

issuing a notification of the likelihood,

wherein the determining act determines the likelihood by comparing the changes in the measured one or more physiological characteristics to previously collected one or more physiological characteristics during which bed exits by the user occurred.

13. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer code that, when executed on a computer performs a method of predicting a likelihood of a user getting out of bed including a mattress, the method comprising acts of:

causing one or more sensors placed in a position selected from one of beneath the mattress and in the mattress to continuously and directly measure one or more physiological characteristics of the user ;

determining the likelihood that the user is about to get out of the bed from changes in the measured one or more physiological characteristics; and

issuing a notification of the likelihood,

wherein the determining act determines the likelihood by comparing the changes in the measured one or more physiological characteristics to previously collected one or more physiological characteristics during which bed exits by the user occurred.