Systems and methods for video-based monitoring of a patient
The present invention relates to the field of medical monitoring, and in particular non-contact monitoring and communication with other medical monitoring devices. Systems and methods are described for receiving a video signal of a medical monitoring device that is outputting a light signal, identifying the light signal emitted by the medical monitoring device from the video signal, decoding information from the light signal, and determining a communication from the decoded information related to a patient being monitored or the medical monitoring device itself.
1. A video-based method of monitoring a patient, comprising:
receiving, from a video camera having a field of view exposed to light emitted by a pulse oximeter, a video signal including a light signal corresponding to the light emitted by the pulse oximeter, wherein the light signal comprises encoded information;
identifying, using a processor, the light signal in the video signal;
decoding, using the processor, the encoded information of the light signal, wherein decoding the encoded information yields decoded information; and
determining, using the processor, from the decoded information a first communication related to a patient associated with the pulse oximeter, wherein the first communication comprises a unique identifier associated with the patient.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the encoded information is encoded using frequency modulation.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the encoded information is encoded using pulse width modulation.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the unique identifier is a first unique identifier, and wherein the method further comprises determining, using the processor, a second unique identifier associated with the patient from the video signal.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first communication further comprises a vital sign measurement of the patient.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining, using the processor, from the decoded information a second communication, wherein the second communication comprises an alert condition of the pulse oximeter.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining, using the processor, from the decoded information a second communication, wherein the second communication comprises equipment identifying information of the pulse oximeter.
8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising associating, using the processor, the unique identifier associated with the patient with the equipment identifying information of the pulse oximeter.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the light emitted by the pulse oximeter is used by the pulse oximeter to measure a vital sign of the patient.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the light emitted by the pulse oximeter is a dedicated light for sending the encoded information.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the dedicated light is at an outer portion of a probe of the pulse oximeter, at a cable of the pulse oximeter, or at a base of the pulse oximeter.
12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising identifying from the video signal at a first time, using the processor, a first position within the field of view of the video camera at which the light is emitted by the pulse oximeter.
13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising identifying from the video signal at a second time, using the processor, a second position at which the light is emitted by the pulse oximeter.
14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising determining, using the processor, that the first position is different from the second position by a threshold amount.
15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising determining based on the threshold amount, using the processor, that the pulse oximeter has moved beyond the field of view of the video camera or has moved a predetermined distance within the field of view of the video camera.
16. The method of claim 13 , further comprising associating, using the processor, at least one of the first position and the second position with at least one of a bed identifier, a room identifier, a floor identifier, and a facility identifier.
17. The method of claim 12 , further comprising sending, using the processor, a video camera control signal instructing the video camera to change its field of view.
18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the video camera control signal instructs the video camera to at least one of: focus the field of view at the first position; zoom in the field of view at the first position; and center the field of view at the first position.
19. A method of communicating information from a patient monitoring device, comprising:
determining, using a processor, a patient identifier associated with a pulse oximeter;
encoding the patient identifier according to a transmission scheme; and
emitting, from the pulse oximeter, a light signal with the encoded patient identifier according to the transmission scheme, wherein the light signal is emitted in a field of view of a video camera.
20. A system for video-based monitoring of a patient, comprising:
a video camera having a field of view and configured to capture a video signal;
a pulse oximeter configured to:
determine information related to at least one of the pulse oximeter and a patient associated with the pulse oximeter;
encode the information according to a transmission scheme; and
emit, from the pulse oximeter, a light signal with the encoded information according to the transmission scheme, wherein the light signal is emitted within the field of view of the video camera; and
a video processing device in communication with the camera configured to:
receive, from the video camera, the video signal comprising the light signal as captured by the video camera;
identify the light signal emitted by the pulse oximeter in the video signal; and
decode the encoded information of the light signal emitted by the pulse oximeter, wherein decoding the encoded information yields decoded information.