System And Method Of Generating A User Interface Display Of Patient Parameter Data

1 . An apparatus that displays at least one user interface display image including patient parameter data, the apparatus comprising:

an acquisition processor that selectively acquires, from a storage repository, at least one type of patient medical parameter data associated with at least one patient acquired over a period of time;

a display processor that generates a display including at least one display image representing at least a portion of the acquired patient medical parameter data and a navigation bar associated with the at least one display image including a user selectable window identifying a range of acquired patient medical parameter data to be displayed within the display image, the user selectable window being linked with the at least one display image, the navigation bar including an event indicator corresponding to at least one clinically significant event in the acquired patient medical parameter data; and

a controller electrically coupled to the acquisition processor and the display processor that, controls navigating through the patient medical parameter data and adjustment of the user selectable window, and causes the display processor to modify the generated at least one display image.

2 . The apparatus as recited in claim 1 , wherein

the controller enables navigation through patient medical parameter data by moving the user selectable window along the navigation bar to modify a period of acquired patient medical parameter data being displayed and controls the display processor to modify the generated at least one display image to include updated patient medical parameter data corresponding to the modified period.

3 . The apparatus as recited in claim 1 , wherein

the range of the user selectable window is one of (a) increased; or (b)

decreased by the controller in response to user selection.

4 . (canceled)

5 . The apparatus as recited in claim 1 , wherein

the controller causes the display processor to modify the at least one

display image to include the acquired patient medical parameter data associated with the at least one clinically significant event in response to detecting user input at a position within the navigation bar within a predefined range surrounding the event indicator.

6 . The apparatus as recited in claim 5 , wherein

the controller causes the display processor to move the user selectable

window to include the event indicator therein in response to the user selection.

7 . The apparatus as recited in claim 6 , wherein

the user selectable window is automatically moved to a position having the event indicator at substantially a center time thereof.

8 . The apparatus as recited in claim 1 , wherein

the portion of the acquired patient medical parameter data is at least one of (a) a graphical trend display image; and (b) a tabular trend display image.

9 - 15 . (canceled)

16 . The apparatus as recited in claim 1 , wherein

the navigation bar generated by the display processor includes at least one of

(a) a first region representing a first time period and having a first visual format, the first visual format indicating patient medical parameter data is present during the first time period;

(b) a second region representing a second time period different from the first time period and having a second visual format, the second visual format indicating that patient medical parameter data has not yet been received during the second time period; and

(c) a third region representing a third time period different from the first and second time periods and having a third visual format, the third visual format indicating that patient medical parameter data will never be present during the third time period.

17 . The apparatus as recited in claim 1 , wherein

the at least one display image includes a plurality of data fields each corresponding to an interval of the range acquired patient medical parameter data identified by the user selectable window, and

said display processor generates an event indicator within a current interval data field upon said controller determining that a clinically significant event has occurred at a time between a current interval and a previous interval, the event indicator being simultaneously displayed in the current interval data field with a current patient medical parameter value.

18 . The apparatus as recited in claim 17 , wherein

the event indicator in the current interval data field is visually distinct from the current patient medical parameter.

19 . The apparatus as recited in claim 17 , wherein

the event indicator includes context data that identifies at least one of that identifies at least one of (a) a type of event; (b) an actual time of event occurrence; (c) data describing the event; and (d) a severity indicator indicating the severity of the event.

20 . A method of generating at least one user interface display image including patient parameter data comprising the activities of:

acquiring from a storage repository, via an acquisition processor, at least one type of patient medical parameter data associated with at least one patient acquired over a period of time;

generating, via a display processor, a display including at least one display image representing at least a portion of the acquired patient medical parameter data and a navigation bar associated with the at least one display image including a user selectable window identifying a range of acquired patient medical parameter data to be displayed within the display image, the user selectable window being linked with the at least one display image;

generating, by the display processor, an event indicator for inclusion in the navigation bar, the event indicator corresponding to at least one clinically significant event in the acquired patient medical parameter data; and

controlling, via a controller, navigating through the patient medical parameter data and adjusting the user selectable window, and causing the display processor to modify the generated at least one display image.

21 . The method as recited in claim 20 , wherein the activity of controlling further includes

navigating through patient medical parameter data by moving the user selectable window along the navigation bar to modify a period of acquired patient medical parameter data being displayed; and

modifying the generated at least one display image to include updated patient medical parameter data corresponding to the modified period.

22 . The method as recited in claim 20 , further comprising

at least one of (a) increasing the range of the user selectable window

and (b) decreasing the range of the user selectable window by the controller in response to user selection.

23 . (canceled)

24 . The method as recited in claim 20 , further comprising the activity of

detecting user input at a position within the navigation bar within a predefined range surrounding the event indicator; and

modifying, the at least one display image to include the acquired patient medical parameter data associated with the at least one clinically significant event.

25 . The method as recited in claim 24 , further comprising

moving the user selectable window to include the event indicator therein in response to the user selection.

26 . The method as recited in claim 25 , wherein the activity of moving further comprises

moving the user selectable window to a position having the event indicator at substantially a center time thereof.

27 . The method as recited in claim 20 , wherein the activity of generating the at least one display image includes

at least one of (a) generating a graphical trend display image; and (b) generating a tabular trend display image.

28 .- 31 . (canceled)

32 . The method as recited in claim 20 , wherein the activity of generating the navigation bar includes at least one of

(a) defining a first region representing a first time period having a first visual format, the first visual format indicating patient medical parameter data is present during the first time period;

(b) defining a second region representing a second time period different from the first time period having a second visual format, the second visual format indicating that patient medical parameter data has not yet been received during the second time period; and

(c) defining a third region representing a third time period different from the first and second time periods having a third visual format, the third visual format indicating that patient medical parameter data will never be present during the third time period.

33 . The method as recited in claim 20 , wherein

the at least one display image includes a plurality of data fields each corresponding to an interval of the range acquired patient medical parameter data identified by the user selectable window, and further comprises

generating an event indicator within a current interval data field upon said controller determining that a clinically significant event has occurred at a time between a current interval and a previous interval, the event indicator being simultaneously displayed in the current interval data field with a current patient medical parameter value.

34 .- 35 . (canceled)