Abstract: A patient support, such as a bed, a cot, a stretcher, or the like, for supporting an occupant includes sensors adapted to detect a status of the patient support, such as the width of the width-adjustable patient support component or the locked or unlocked state of the patient support component. A control system for the patient support is configured to determine if the patient support is in an unacceptable status, such as an unacceptable width configuration or an unlocked state, based on the sensed status. The control system is adapted to issue an alert or take action or prompt a caregiver to take an action if the patient support status is unacceptable.

Abstract: A thermal control unit for controlling a patient's temperature includes a fluid outlet for delivering temperature-controlled fluid to a patient, a fluid inlet for receiving the fluid back, a pump, a heat exchanger, a controller for controlling the heat exchanger, a patient temperature port for receiving patient temperature readings, a memory, and a user interface that displays various data regarding thermal therapy sessions applied to patients using the thermal control unit. In some embodiments, past statistical data from previous thermal therapy sessions is stored in the memory and the controller displays a comparison of a current parameter of the current thermal therapy session to the past statistical data. The controller may also or alternatively automatically select a particular type of screen to display based on a type of user of the thermal control unit. The controller may also or alternatively generate after-session thermal therapy reports.

Abstract: A thermal control unit supplies temperature controlled fluid to a patient to control the patient's temperature. The thermal control unit includes a fluid outlet, fluid inlet, heat exchanger, pump, patient core temperature probe port, auxiliary sensor port, and controller. The controller receives patient core temperature readings from the patient temperature probe port and auxiliary sensor readings from the auxiliary sensor port. The controller may control a temperature of the circulating fluid in both a feedback manner using patient core temperature readings and a feedforward manner using readings from the auxiliary sensor. The auxiliary sensor may measure a characteristic of the patient's tissue indicative of thermal resistance, and/or the auxiliary sensor may measure a temperature of the patient's tissue at an intermediate depth. The controller may use the intermediate temperature to predict arrival at a target patient temperature.

Abstract: A thermal control system for controlling a patient's temperature includes a thermal control unit and an off-board computing device, such as a server. The thermal control unit includes a fluid inlet, a fluid outlet, a pump, a heat exchanger, a controller, and a transceiver for communicating with the server. The server is adapted to communicate with a device and cause the device to perform one or more of the following: display real-time temperature data on a graph with adjacent horizontal bars whose length correspond to an amount of time an alarm existed; display segments of a graph corresponding to the time around which an alarm occurred: display different sets of data according to the role of a user of the device: display thermal therapy data for only selected thermal therapy sessions that are associated with the particular user of the device; and display thermal therapy data simultaneously with bed data.

Abstract: A thermal control unit for controlling a patient's temperature during a thermal therapy session is provided. The thermal control unit may include a disinfection control and/or a disinfection status indicator. When the disinfection control is activated, the thermal control unit may activate a disinfection wizard adapted display instructions for guiding a technician through a disinfection cycle. The disinfection wizard may au-tomate portions of the disinfection cycle. The thermal control unit may also send disinfection status to a server, which is adapted to forward that disinfection status to one or more electronic devices. The server may also forward reminder messages to technicians indicating when a next disinfection cycle is due. The thermal control unit itself may also indicate when a next disinfection cycle is due.

Abstract: A patient support apparatus for supporting a patient includes first, second, and third transceivers mounted at first, second, and third locations, respectively. A controller is adapted to use radio frequency communication between the first, second, and third transceivers and a first device—such as a patient temperature management device—to determine a position of the first device relative to the patient support apparatus. The controller is further adapted to use data from one or more other devices to determine whether or not to associate the first device with the patient support apparatus. In some aspects, the controller uses the position and/or identity of one or more thermal pads and/or hoses to determine if the first device is to be associated with the patient support apparatus. Such association refers to the conclusion that the patient support apparatus and the first device are both being used with the same patient.

Abstract: A thermal control unit for controlling a patient's temperature includes a fluid outlet for delivering temperature-controlled fluid to a patient, a pump, a heat exchanger, a controller, and a user interface that displays a graph of patient temperature readings over time. The user interface also displays one or more event icons on the graph at locations corresponding to the time at which events associated with the event icons occurred. In some embodiments, the graph is displayed on a touch screen adapted to allow a user set maximum and minimum permissible temperatures for the fluid by touching areas of the graphs and/or by drawing on certain areas of the graph. An image of a human body having different zones may also be displayed on the user interface along with information pertaining to the thermal therapy being applied to the corresponding zones of the patient's body.

Abstract: A patient support, such as a bed, a cot, a stretcher, or the like, for supporting an occupant includes sensors adapted to detect a status of the patient support, such as the width of the width-adjustable patient support component or the locked or unlocked state of the patient support component. A control system for the patient support is configured to determine if the patient support is in an unacceptable status, such as an unacceptable width configuration or an unlocked state, based on the sensed status. The control system is adapted to issue an alert or take action or prompt a caregiver to take an action if the patient support status is unacceptable.

Abstract: A thermal control unit for controlling a patient's temperature includes a fluid outlet for delivering temperature-controlled fluid to a patient, a pump, a heat exchanger, a controller, and a user interface that displays a graph of patient temperature readings over time. The user interface also displays one or more event icons on the graph at locations corresponding to the time at which events associated with the event icons occurred. In some embodiments, the graph is displayed on a touch screen adapted to allow a user set maximum and minimum permissible temperatures for the fluid by touching areas of the graphs and/or by drawing on certain areas of the graph. An image of a human body having different zones may also be displayed on the user interface along with information pertaining to the thermal therapy being applied to the corresponding zones of the patient's body.

Abstract: A patient support apparatus for supporting a patient is adapted to wirelessly communicate with one or more wall units. A controller onboard the patient support apparatus and/or a controller onboard the wall unit is adapted to use RF signals to determine a distance between the wall unit and the patient support apparatus. In some embodiments, the wall unit and/or patient support apparatus include an orientation sensor adapted to determine the geographic orientation of the wall unit and/or patient support apparatus. The patient support apparatus controller may use the geographic orientation information to determine if the wall unit is facing toward the patient support apparatus or not. The patient support apparatus may communicate with multiple wall units concurrently, and/or the wall unit may communicate with multiple patient support apparatuses concurrently.

Abstract: A patient support, such as a bed, a cot, a stretcher, or the like, for supporting an occupant includes sensors adapted to detect a status of the patient support, such as the width of the width-adjustable patient support component or the locked or unlocked state of the patient support component. A control system for the patient support is configured to determine if the patient support is in an unacceptable status, such as an unacceptable width configuration or an unlocked state, based on the sensed status. The control system is adapted to issue an alert or take action or prompt a caregiver to take an action if the patient support status is unacceptable.

Abstract: A thermal control unit for delivering temperature-controlled fluid to one or more patient therapy devices (e.g. pads, blankets, etc.) that are in contact with a patient is disclosed. The thermal control unit allows multiple patient therapy devices to be fluidly coupled thereto and to individually monitor the temperatures, flow rates, and/or connections/disconnections of the patient therapy devices. A user interface enables a user to designate outlet ports to the therapy devices as active or inactive, and the control unit provides notifications to the user if any of the active ports experience an undesired condition, or if a patient therapy device is connected to an inactive port. The user interface further allows the user to designate one of multiple patient temperature probes as a primary probe. The primary probe is used to control the temperature of the fluid circulating through the control unit.

Abstract: A thermal control unit supplies temperature controlled fluid to one or more thermal pads used to control the temperature of a patient. The thermal control unit includes a fluid outlet, fluid inlet, heat exchanger, pump, and a controller. The controller receives first and second data from at least two different sources to determine if the patient is shivering or not. The two different sources may include a temperature sensor adapted to detect a temperature of the fluid, a temperature sensor adapted to detect a temperature of the patient, a tissue oxygenation sensor, a vibration/motion sensor, a thermal image sensor, an electromyograph, and/or other sensors. In some embodiments, the thermal control unit takes one or more automatic actions in response to detection of patient shivering.

Abstract: A patient transport apparatus for transporting a patient over a surface. The patient transport apparatus has support wheels coupled to a base and swivelable about swivel axes. An auxiliary wheel assembly is coupled to the base and includes an auxiliary wheel configured to move between a plurality of wheel positions, and an actuator operably coupled to the auxiliary wheel to move the auxiliary wheel between the plurality of wheel positions. A sensing system with a sensor is provided to detect a motion condition of the patient transport apparatus. A controller is coupled to the sensing system and to the actuator, and is configured to drive the actuator to move the auxiliary wheel between the plurality of wheel positions based on the motion condition of the patient transport apparatus.

Abstract: A thermal control system for controlling a patient's temperature includes a thermal control unit and an off-board computing device. The thermal control unit includes a fluid inlet, a fluid outlet, a pump, a heat exchanger, a display, one or more sensors, a transceiver, and a controller. The thermal control system employs one or more machine learning techniques to perform one or more of the following: automatically implement one or more user-preferred settings, automatically predict the occurrence of one or more events based on analyses of prior events, and/or automatically improve one or more algorithms based on analyses of additional sensor data. The machine learning techniques may be implemented onboard the thermal control unit and/or may be implemented at a remote computing device (e.g. a server) that collates and analyzes data from multiple thermal control units, and then sends the results of the analyses back to the thermal control units.

Abstract: A medical device, such as a patient support apparatus or a thermal control unit, includes a plurality of mechanical components and a plurality of nodes adapted to communicate with each other over a local network onboard the medical device, and a gateway in communication with an off-board network. The gateway translates messages between the onboard and off-board networks, manages subscriptions to content of the local network, controls bidirectional communication, and otherwise oversees communications between the local and remote networks. The gateway utilizes a configuration file for managing the communications between the off-board and onboard networks, and the gateway is configured to switch to using new or modified configuration files without requiring a reboot or power cycle of the gateway. Updates to the communications between the onboard and off-board networks can therefore be implemented without any downtime and/or without requiring updates to software executables.

Abstract: A thermal control unit supplies temperature controlled fluid to a patient to control the patient's temperature. The thermal control unit includes a fluid outlet, fluid inlet, heat exchanger, pump, patient core temperature probe port, auxiliary sensor port, and controller. The controller receives patient core temperature readings from the patient temperature probe port and auxiliary sensor readings from the auxiliary sensor port. The controller may control a temperature of the circulating fluid in both a feedback manner using patient core temperature readings and a feedforward manner using readings from the auxiliary sensor. The auxiliary sensor may measure a characteristic of the patient's tissue indicative of thermal resistance, and/or the auxiliary sensor may measure a temperature of the patient's tissue at an intermediate depth. The controller may use the intermediate temperature to predict arrival at a target patient temperature.

Abstract: A patient support apparatus, such as a bed, stretcher, cot, or the like, includes a frame, a support surface, a control, a controller, and a transceiver. The patient support apparatus employs one or more machine learning techniques to perform one or more of the following: automatically implement one or more user-preferred settings, automatically predict the occurrence of one or more events based on analyses of prior events, and/or automatically improve one or more algorithms based on analyses of additional sensor data. The machine learning techniques may be implemented onboard the patient support apparatus and/or may be implemented at a remote computer device (e.g. a server) that collates and analyzes data from multiple patient support apparatuses, and then sends the results of the analyses back to the patient support apparatuses.

Abstract: A patient transport apparatus for transporting a patient over a surface. The patient transport apparatus has support wheels coupled to a base and swivelable about swivel axes. An auxiliary wheel assembly is coupled to the base and includes an auxiliary wheel configured to move between a plurality of wheel positions, and an actuator operably coupled to the auxiliary wheel to move the auxiliary wheel between the plurality of wheel positions. A sensing system with a sensor is provided to detect a motion condition of the patient transport apparatus. A controller is coupled to the sensing system and to the actuator, and is configured to drive the actuator to move the auxiliary wheel between the plurality of wheel positions based on the motion condition of the patient transport apparatus.

Abstract: A patient support system for providing customized user menus. The system comprises a patient support apparatus, a user interface configured to receive input from a user, and a display configured to display user menus or information. The user menus may comprise indicia representative of the operational functions of the patient support apparatus. A controller determines the customized user menu based on usage characteristics, a position of the user interface in proximity to the patient support apparatus, a location of the user interface within a facility, an identification of the user, and/or a patient condition. A touchscreen and/or a mobile device may comprise the user interface and the display. The mobile device may be removably coupled to the patient support apparatus. Methods for improving patient care by providing the customized user menu are also disclosed.