A) TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention generally relates to a patient monitoring system and ore particularly relates to an alarm display priority-setting device for patient onitoring system such as central nursing station etc.
) BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1002] Generally the various physiological parameters of an individual are measured iing monitors known as, "vital sign parameter bed side monitor" or "vital sign onitoring systems", to measure heart rate level, blood pressure, artery pressure etc. ne of the important vital signs measured by the healthcare providers is ectrocardiography (EGG), impedance cardio vasography, and non-invasive cardiac itput. The monitored parameters are displayed at a central nursing station (CNS) to lable the medical personnel like doctors, nursing assistants and medical attendants to lonitor the patients under critical conditions or under intensive care to take ediate remedial care during emergency conditions.
)003] The central nursing station (CNS) has different screens to provide an efficient convenient way to display the real-time patient related data as well as trend data f different patients. The central nursing station (CNS) has different display formats ) provide an efficient and convenient way to display the real-time patient related data arresponding to different patients.

[0004] The Alarm levels are indications to the medical personnel to alert them on the critical nature of a sick patient under care in the intensive care unit (ICU). The Alarms are set according to the general health condition of the patient and it is necessary that the alarm levels are patient specific. Generally no two cases are identical and hence we can generalize the alarm levels or symptoms for a measured or monitored physiological parameter only to a certain extent. The general condition of a specified patient is accessed based on the initial tests conducted on the specified patient. The alarm limits for the specified patient are set based on the results of the initial tests conducted on the patient.
[0005] Whenever the monitored physiological parameter exceeds the preset level, an audio alarm and a visual alarm are output to draw the attention of the medical personnel monitoring the patient activity. The generated alarm is registered in an alarm recall system provided in the monitor that detects the patient condition/parameter. The alarm recall system may store only a preset number of alarm conditions. When a new alarm is generated after the saturation of the register in the alarm recall system, the oldest alarm condition stored on the register is easily replaced by the new alarm condition. The alarm recall system is modelled on the lines of First in First out (FIFO) logic circuit so that the oldest alarm may be replaced by the latest alarm. Sometimes the new alarm may be an alarm relating a less important parameter and may replace an alarm related to a more vital parameter that is already stored in the alarm recall system thereby producing a loss of vital parameter alarm condition during the review of the critical patient by the medical personnel.

[0006] Hence a database based on criticality was created. The criticality of a patient may be defined by a group of doctors attending to the particular patient. The critical parameter level for a physiological condition of a patient under critical care is patient specific. Every parameter that is detected and measured by a physiological condition monitoring device will have its corresponding alarm limits set in the monitor so that an alarm will be activated for that parameter whenever the online measured value exceeds the preset value range. Every such alarm might not be a threat to the patient's overall health condition and can be considered irrelevant. So a more critical alarm condition should not be lost from storage on an alarm recall database during the generation of less significant alarm level due to lack of storage space in the alarm recall database.
[0007] The US Patent No. 7 224 281 discloses a patient monitoring and alarm processing system and user interface. The system provides a system for assigning priority to different alarm emerging from a particular monitor based display requirement.
[0008] None of the currently available personnel monitoring system is provided with a device and method to prioritize the alarm condition of a parameter with respect to each patient so that the alarm condition data related more vital parameter is not lost. Hence there is a need to develop a system to prioritize the alarm condition so that the alarm condition related to a vital parameter is not lost during the review of the medical condition of the patients under critical care.

C) OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
[0009] The primary object of the present invention is to develop a system for prioritizing the alarm levels with respect to a specific patient for display in a central nursing station (CNS) to enable the medical personnel to recognise the critical condition of the patients under intensive care to provide a suitable and appropriate medical care to the patients under ICU.
[0010] Another object of the present invention is to develop a system and method for assigning the priority to the alarm levels of a measured physiological parameter with respect to each patient to store the generated alarm condition data in an alarm recall data log for further review and perusal of the critical condition of a patient under intensive care.
[0011] Yet another object of the present invention is to develop a system and a method to prioritize the alarm limits of a monitored physiological parameter with respect to a specific patient so that the monitored critical parameters of a patient under constant monitoring is not lost and is available for review by medical personnel to take suitable countermeasure.
[0012] Yet another object of the present invention is to develop a system and a method to prioritize the alarm limits of a monitored physiological parameter with respect to a specific patient so that the storage space of the alarm recall database is used effectively.

[0013] Yet another object of the present invention is to develop a system and a method to prioritize the alarm limits of a monitored physiological parameter with respect to a specific patient so that the medical personnel is not supplied with the unwanted or less important data to enable the doctor to provide the best medical care thereby improving the efficiency of the treatment given to the patients.
[0014] These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
D) SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0015] The above mentioned shortcomings, disadvantages and problems are addressed herein and will be understood by reading and studying the following specification.
[0016] According to various embodiments of the present invention, a system and method is developed to prioritize the alarm levels for monitored physiological conditions with respect to a patient under constant monitoring and supervision so that the display and storage of the monitored physiological condition is not lost due to the limitation of storage in database and due to the generation of less significant alarm alerts.
[0017] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a dedicated screen is provided to the user to enable the user to set and activate the alarm limits to be set for

a particular patient. They will function specific to the patient's condition and will log 1 alarm alerts on the Alarm recall screen accordingly.
018] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a system is developed assign a priority to each monitored physiological condition of a patient under )servation and critical care so that only the patient specific critical alarms for which nits have been customized and set, are stored and logged on to the alarm recall itabase of a monitor such as Skyline 55. A specially designed screen is provided in e central nursing station to display the alarm levels of the critical condition of a irticular patient under constant monitoring, in addition to the display windows that e provided to indicate the measured physiological condition of the other patients ider intensive care. The alarms may be deactivated on this screen and alarm limits T other parameters may be duly set so that the system is customized with respect to specific patient to display the measured levels of the critical physiological condition ■ the specific patient. The alarm alerts containing both the audio alarm and the sual alarm are generated and activated in the central nursing station (CNS) based ily on the alarms that are set in this screen. Moreover, only the alarms that are set in e specific screen will be logged on the alarm recall database of a patient monitoring ;vice or a physiological condition-monitoring device such as Skyline 55.
1019] A dedicated screen is provided to the user so that the user may decide the arm limits to be set for a particular patient and an alarm is activated and output ised on the set alarm limits in the dedicated screen with respect to a specific patient, he alarm levels are generated based on specific patient condition and the alarm alerts •e logged on the Alarm recall screen of a patient condition-monitoring device ^cordingly.

[0020] The alarm alerts are stored in the alarm recall data log according to the criticality of the alarm. All the alarms are displayed as and when they occur, but they are not logged on the alarm recall data log unless the generated alarm alert falls under the preset category defined by the doctors. Thus the system will help us to store only important alarm alerts and not unrelated unnecessary data that will only cause a space constraint.
[0021] The alarms being recorded in a monitoring station are optimized. Only the critical alarms of all patients are stored in the database and the unnecessary alarms are ignored thereby utilizing the storage space in the alarm recall database optimally and loss of critical alarm condition of a patient is prevented.
[0022] The system thus restricts the display of alarm alerts only to critical condition and parameter of a specific patient so that the medical personnel monitoring the patient may ignore the unwanted alerts that are displayed on the screen of the monitoring station. The information that are required most in an emergency and critical condition of a patient are supplied to the medical professional without fail thereby improving the efficiency of the medical service and care delivered to the patients under critical care.
[0023] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the CNS is provided with a dedicated screen to enable the user to set alarm limits for the measured physiological parameters with respect to a specific patient, based on the estimated eeneral condition of a soecific patient. Whenever the measured physiological

condition of the patient exceeds the set alarm limits, an alarm condition is generated. Then an audio alarm is activated and a flashing visual indication is displayed on the CNS. The generated alarm condition is registered in the alarm recall system of the CNS. Thus the dedicated screen enables the user to activate both the audio and visual alarms in the CNS. The activated alarms are alone registered into the alarm recall database.
[0024] According to another embodiment of the present invention, a method is provided to enable the user to set alarm condition with respect to a specific patient. When the mutipara option shown on the menu bar, which is displayed upon the activation of a multibed screen, is selected, an alarm recall option on the displayed menu bar is chosen. Then an alarm recall screen is displayed to contain all the critical alarms that is set with respect to a specific patient so that the alarm alerts are generated and output based on the preset alarm limits in the dedicated screen thereby preventing the loss of more critical alarms which will not be recorded due to the lack of space in the alarm database.
[0025] These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
E) BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0026] The other objects, features and advantages will occur to those skilled in the art from the following description of the preferred embodiment and the accompanying drawings in which

[0027] FIGURE. 1 illustrates a functional block diagram of a central nursing station provided with an alarm display priority setting device according to one embodiment of the present invention.
[0028] FIGURE.2 illustrates a flow chart explaining the operation of an alarm display priority setting device according to one embodiment of the present invention.
[0029] Although specific features of the present invention are shown in some drawings and not in others, this is done for convenience only as each feature may be combined with any or all of the other features in accordance with the present invention.
F) DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0030] In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which the specific embodiments that may be practiced is shown by way of illustration. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the embodiments and it is to be understood that the logical, mechanical and other changes may be made without departing from the scope of the embodiments. The following detailed description is therefore not to be taken in a limiting sense.
[0031] According to various embodiments of the present invention, a system and method is developed to prioritize the alarm levels for monitored physiological
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conditions with respect to a patient under constant monitoring and supervision so that he display and storage of the monitored physiological condition is not lost due to the imitation of storage in database and due to the generation of less significant alarm ilerts.
0032] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a dedicated screen is )rovided to the user to enable the user to set and activate the alarm limits to be set for I particular patient. They will function specific to the patient's condition and will log )n alarm alerts on the Alarm recall screen accordingly.
0033] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a system is developed o assign a priority to each monitored physiological condition of a patient under )bservation and critical care so that only the patient specific critical alarms for which imits have been customized and set, are stored and logged on to the alarm recall latabase of a monitor such as Skyline 55. A specially designed screen is provided in he central nursing station (CNS) to display the alarm levels of the critical condition )f a particular patient under constant monitoring, in addition to the display windows hat are provided to indicate the measured physiological condition of the other )atients under intensive care. The alarms may be deactivated on this screen and alarm imits for other parameters may be duly set so that the system is customized with espect to a specific patient to display the measured levels of the critical physiological ;ondition of the specific patient. The alarm alerts containing both the audio alarm md the visual alarm are generated and activated in the central nursing station (CNS) )ased only on the alarms that are set in this screen. Moreover, only the alarms that are
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set in the specific screen will be logged on the alarm recall database of a patient monitoring device or a physiological condition-monitoring device such as Skyline 55.
[0034] A dedicated screen is provided to the user so that the user may decide the alarm limits to be set for a particular patient and an alarm is activated and output based on the set alarm limits in the dedicated screen with respect to a specific patient. The alarm levels are generated based on specific patient condition and the alarm alerts are logged on the Alarm recall screen of a patient condition-monitoring device accordingly.
[0035] The alarm alerts are stored in the alarm recall data log according to the criticality of the alarm. All the alarms are displayed as and when they occur, but they are not logged on the alarm recall data log unless the generated alarm alert falls under the preset category defined by the doctors. Thus the system will help us to store only important alarm alerts and not unrelated unnecessary data that will only cause a space constraint.
[0036] Thus the alarms being recorded in a monitoring station are optimized. Only the critical alarms of all patients are stored in the database and the unnecessary alarms are ignored thereby utilizing the storage space in the alarm recall database optimally and loss of critical alarm condition of a patient is prevented.
[0037] The system thus restricts the display of alarm alerts only to critical condition and parameter of a specific patient so that the medical personnel monitoring the patient may ignore the unwanted alerts that are displayed on the screen of the
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monitoring station. The information that are required most in an emergency and critical condition of a patient are supplied to the medical professional without fail thereby improving the efficiency of the medical service and care delivered to the patients under critical care.
[0038] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the CNS is provided with a dedicated screen to enable the user to set alarm limits for the measured physiological parameters with respect to a specific patient, based on the estimated general condition of a specific patient. Whenever the measured physiological condition of the patient exceeds the set alarm limits, an alarm condition is generated. Then an audio alarm is activated and a flashing visual indication is displayed on the CNS. The generated alarm condition is registered in the alarm recall system of the CNS. Thus the dedicated screen enables the user to activate both the audio and visual alarms in the CNS. The activated alarms are alone registered into the alarm recall database.
[0039] According to another embodiment of the present invention, a method is provided to enable the user to set alarm condition with respect to a specific patient. When the mutipara option shown on the menu bar, which is displayed upon the activation of a multibed screen, is selected, an alarm recall option on the displayed menu bar is chosen. Then an alarm recall screen is displayed to contain all the critical alarms that is set with respect to a specific patient so that the alarm alerts are generated and output based on the preset alarm limits in the dedicated screen thereby preventing the loss of more critical alarms which will not be recorded due to the lack of space in the alarm database.
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[0040] The FIG.l shows a central nursing station provided with an alarm display priority setting device according one embodiment of the present invention. The CNS is connected to the pluralities of the monitors that are installed at the bed side of each Datient in the intensive care unit to detect and measure the various physiological Darameters like ECG, EEG, artery pressure, cardiac output etc., through a converter ;ard module. The CNS has an acquisition module to collect all the measured shysiological parameters of the patients. The collected physiological parameters are stored in a shared buffer. The stored parameters in the shared buffer are forwarded to i display subsystem through a decoder. The stored parameters are decoded using the iecoder. The decoded parameters are displayed in the display windows such as nultipara screen and multibed screen in a digital format or waveform format. The nutipara screen displays all the measured physiological parameter of a specific Datient, while the multibed screen displays the most vital parameters of all the jatients. An alarm condition is generated when the received parameter level exceeds ;he pre set alarm condition. The generated alarm conditions are stored in an alarm list n the alarm recall database. The alarm recall database has a limited storage capacity 50 that only a preset number of alarm conditions are stored in the database. When a lew alarm is generated and the storage space in the alarm recall data base is filled completely, the alarms stored in the database are deleted using the first in first out FIFO) principle. Thus sometimes the most critical parameter stored in the database nay be deleted due to lack of storage space and less important alarms may be stored.
0041] A dedicated screen such as a display subsystem is provided to enable the nedical personnel to set and prioritize the alarm limits of the parameters with respect 0 a specific patient based on the observed physical and clinical condition of the
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specific patient so that the alarm alerts which satisfies the preset alarm condition alone are displayed and registered in the alarm recall database thereby saving the storage space in the data base. Thus the storage of most critical parameters in the alarm recall database is ensured.
[0042] The FIG. 2 illustrates a flow chart explaining the operation of the alarm display priority-setting device according to one embodiment of the preset invention. The collected physiological parameters of all the patients are received from the pluralities of the monitors installed in the bedside of each patient in the intensive care unit. The received most vital parameter data from all the monitors are displayed in a muhibed screen. When a mutipara option is selected on the menu bar and a bed number is chosen corresponding to a specific patient, all the measured physiological parameters of the specific patient are displayed in the multipara screen. A dedicated screen is provided to enable the doctor to set the alarm conditions for the measured physiological parameters of the specific patient so that the alarm alerts which satisfies the preset alarm condition alone are displayed in the alarm recall screen and stored in the alarm recall database thereby optimizing the storage capacity of the database. Thus the storage of most critical parameters and critical alarms are ensured while preventing the storage of unwanted and less critical alarm alerts.
[0043] Thus the various embodiments of the present invention provide a method system to assign priority to the measured physiological parameters of a patient under critical care so that the alarm alerts are generated and output based on the alarm limits of the prioritized physiological parameters only, thereby preventing the loss of alert of more critical parameters. Thus the alarms that are to be recorded in a monitoring
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station are optimized. Only the critical alarms of all patients are stored in the database and the unnecessary alarms are ignored thereby utilizing the storage space in the alarm recall database optimally. Thus the loss of critical alarm condition of a patient is prevented effectively.
G) ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION
[0044] The various embodiments of the present invention provide a method and system to assign priority to measured physiological parameters of a patient under critical care so that the alarm alerts are generated and output based on the alarm limits of the prioritized physiological parameters only thereby preventing the loss of alert of more critical parameters. Thus the alarms being recorded in a monitoring station are optimized. Only the critical alarms of all patients are stored in the database and the unnecessary alarms are ignored thereby utilizing the storage space in the alarm recall database optimally and loss of critical alarm condition of a patient is prevented.
[0045] The system thus restricts the display of alarm alerts only to critical condition and parameter of a specific patient so that the medical personnel monitoring the patient may ignore the unwanted alerts that are displayed on the screen of the monitoring station. The information that are required most in an emergency and critical condition of a patient are supplied to the medical professional without fail thereby improving the efficiency of the medical service and care delivered to the patients under critical care.
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[0046] Although the invention is described with various specific embodiments, it will be obvious for a person skilled in the art to practice the invention with modifications. However, all such modifications are deemed to be within the scope of the claims.
[0047] It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the present invention described herein and all the statements of the scope of the invention which as a matter of language might be said to fall there between.

CLAIMS
WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:
L An alarm display priority setting device for the physiological parameters for patient monitoring system including multibed screen and multipara screen for displaying the physiological parameters of patient measured with the monitors installed at the bedside of the patient, the system comprising: A graphical user interface to display a menu bar including alarm limit setting option; and
A dedicated screen for enabling a user to set alarm limits for the measured physiological parameters of a specific patient.
2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the dedicated screen is generated and displayed, when the alarm limit setting option is selected.
3. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a database to store only the alarm conditions which satisfies the preset alarm limits.
4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the measured physiological parameters includes heart rate, blood pressure value, artery pressure value, etc.
5. A physiological parameter freezing method for patient monitoring system including multibed screen and multipara screen for displaying the physiological parameters of patient measured with the monitors installed at the bedside of the patient, the method comprising:

Displaying graphical user interface including menu bar comprising plurality of options and multiple selection buttons for choosing said respective options; and
Generating and displaying a dedicated screen to enable user to set alarm limits for the measured physiological parameters of a specific patient.
6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the dedicated screen is generated
and displayed to enable the user to set the alarm limits for the measured
physiological parameters of the specific patient.
7. The method according to claim 5, further comprising of storing the alarm
condition in a database so that the alarm condition which alone satisfies the
alarm limits set in the dedicated screen alone are stored in the database and
displayed.