JP2018082814A - Nurse call system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a nurse call system capable of confirming a captured image with a nurse call master unit of a relocation destination ward by a simple operation even if a camera is relocated between wards. A LAN connecting devices to each other is divided into groups of virtual segments for each ward, and one controller 5 and at least one nurse for each system A in the ward, which is a divided group. A network setting is made so that the call master unit 3 is installed, the camera 4 only communicates with the controller 5 in the installed group, and does not communicate with the controller 5 in the external group. When the camera is moved to a different group depending on the setting, communication is possible only with the controller 5 in the moved group, and only the nurse call master unit 3 belonging to the same group as the controller 5 can communicate with the camera 4. The captured image can be displayed. [Selection diagram] Fig. 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a nurse call system that includes a camera for displaying an image of a patient on a bed on a nurse call parent device and that can confirm the patient with an image when the nurse call is called.

A nurse who can take a picture of a patient on a bed with a camera installed in a hospital room and send it to a nurse call master unit installed in a nurse station together with a call signal when a call is made. There is a call system (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
On the other hand, there is a VLAN technology as a technology for freely grouping a plurality of LAN-connected devices without physically separating a LAN laid in a building. This is a technology for grouping by virtual segment, so that the broadcast domain can be freely configured. As a result, traffic on the LAN can be reduced to reduce the load on connected devices, and the effect of improving security can also be achieved. It is.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-168264

  The LAN constructed in the hospital is constructed integrally in the hospital (constructed with one broadcast domain) and is not separated for each ward. For this reason, even if a controller for controlling communication is provided for each ward and nurse call master units connected to each other by LAN are installed, by separating the control units for each ward by, for example, IP addresses, It is configured so that the call signal is not recognized by the nurse call master unit of another ward and reports the call. For this reason, even when a camera is installed, it is necessary to perform connection setting by designating it with an IP address or the like so that only the controller in the installed ward can recognize it.

  Thus, when moving the camera to another ward and using it, it is necessary to reset it so that the captured video can be displayed on the nurse call master unit of the ward to be moved, that is, the controller to be moved is recognized. Since this work is performed by a worker who is familiar with the network technology, it is difficult for a person in charge such as a nurse to move the camera across the ward.

  However, it is costly to install the cameras in all beds so that the cameras are not moved, and the patients who need to watch over the cameras are part of the inpatients, so the beds that are needed It is often installed and used only for

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems, the present invention has an object to provide a nurse call system capable of confirming a captured image on a nurse call parent device of a ward to which a transfer is to be performed with a simple operation even when a camera is transferred.

In order to solve the above problems, the invention of claim 1 is directed to imaging a patient by a nurse call slave unit for a patient to call a nurse, a nurse call master unit for responding to a call by the nurse call slave unit, and a patient. And a controller for controlling communication between these devices, and a nurse call system in which the devices are connected via a LAN. The LAN is divided into a plurality of virtual segment groups. Thus, one controller and at least one nurse call master unit are installed for each divided group, and the camera only communicates with the controllers belonging to its own group, When network settings are made so as not to communicate with the controller, and a camera is moved to a different group according to the network settings, the control belonging to the transferred destination group Only it can communicate with, characterized in that it is possible to display the captured image of the camera only in the nurse call master unit belonging to the preceding control unit the same group that relocation of the nurse call base unit.
According to this configuration, since the camera has a predetermined network setting that does not perform communication across the virtual segment group, even if the camera is moved across the virtual segment group obtained by dividing the LAN, troublesome setting is required. The captured video can be confirmed on the nurse call master station at the relocation destination without having to

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the configuration according to the first aspect, the virtual segment generating means is an L2 switch having a VLAN function.
According to this configuration, the virtual segment group can be set with a simple setting operation.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the configuration of the first aspect, the virtual segment generating means is an L3 switch.
According to this configuration, the virtual segment group can be set with a simple setting operation.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the configuration according to any one of the first to third aspects, a plurality of portable terminals for a nurse to respond to a call by the nurse call slave, a portable terminal, and a nurse call slave The private branch exchange has one private branch exchange that manages communication, and the private branch exchange communicates with all the controllers connected via the LAN across the group of virtual segments.
According to this configuration, even if the in-hospital LAN is divided into a plurality of virtual segment groups, the private branch exchange performs communication across the groups. There is no need to install it every time.

  According to the present invention, since the camera has a predetermined network setting that does not perform communication across the virtual segment group, even if the camera is moved across the virtual segment group, the camera is moved without troublesome setting changes. The captured image can be confirmed on the previous nurse call master unit.

It is a block diagram which shows an example of the nurse call system which concerns on this invention. It is a functional block diagram of a controller.

  DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments embodying the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a nurse call system according to the present invention, and shows a system configured by straddling a plurality of wards. A indicates a system (system in the ward) installed for each ward, and the VLAN switch 10, the server 20, and the portable terminal system B are connected to the system A in the ward.

The system A in the ward is installed for each bed and the nurse call cordless device 1 for the patient to call the nurse, and the name of the patient in the sickroom installed in front of the hospital room, and the nurse call cordless device 1 in the sickroom A corridor lamp 2 for informing the call, a nurse call master 3 installed in the nurse station for responding to the call by the nurse call slave 1, a camera 4 for displaying a patient's captured image on the nurse call master 3, A controller 5 or the like that controls communication between devices is provided.
However, although the camera connection unit 4a is provided for each nurse call child device 1 (for each bed), the camera 4 is provided only for some of the beds.

The server 20 is connected to an ordering system (not shown) in which patient information in the hospital such as patient chart information is accumulated. Necessary patient information is obtained from the ordering system and is sent to the requesting ward system A. Send.
The VLAN switch 10 is an L2 switch (layer 2 switch) for setting a virtual segment, which will be described later, and has a plurality of switch ports. The L2 switch is a device that relays a LAN, and has a VLAN function and determines a relay destination by a MAC address as destination information for a packet and performs a relay operation.

  The mobile terminal system B includes a plurality of mobile terminals 6 carried by a nurse to respond to a call from a patient, a base station 7 installed at appropriate intervals in a hospital to communicate with the mobile terminal 6, A private branch exchange 8 that manages communication of the terminal 6 is provided. When the nurse call handset 1 is called, a call signal is transmitted to the portable terminal 6 associated with the caller's nurse call handset 1 to perform calling / calling.

  The nurse call cordless handset 1 has a call grip button 1a, a plate cordless handset 1b installed on a wall surface and having a telephone call function, and is connected to the corridor lamp 2 for each hospital room via a transmission line N1. The corridor lamp 2 has a display lamp 2a for displaying the call occurrence by the nurse call cordless handset 1 and a patient name display section 2b for displaying the name of the patient in the corresponding hospital room, and the LAN wiring N2 laid in the hospital. Is connected to the controller 5 via the LAN.

  The nurse call master unit 3 includes a handset 3a for responding to a call from a patient, a display 3b for displaying captured images of the camera 4 in addition to various information, and a board unit 3c on which a list of patient information display units M is displayed. Etc., and is connected to the controller 5 via the LAN wiring N2. The camera connection unit 4a is also connected to the controller 5 via a LAN, and each device is connected to the LAN wiring N2 via the HUB 9.

  The VLAN switch 10 is LAN-connected to each ward system A via the HUB 9, and the server 20 and the private branch exchange 8 are LAN-connected to each ward system A via the VLAN switch 10. The base station 7 is connected to the private branch exchange 8 via the transmission line N3.

  FIG. 2 shows a functional block diagram of the controller 5. One controller 5 is installed for each ward, and as shown in FIG. 2, a patient bed information storage unit 51 for storing the patient's location information in which the patient's name in the ward is associated with the room / bed number. A nurse information storage unit 52 for storing the association, a mobile terminal information storage unit 53 for storing the relationship between the nurse and the mobile terminal 6, a controller CPU 54 for controlling communication between devices and controlling the entire controller 5; A controller IF 55 and the like for LAN connection are provided. Information such as the patient name is periodically obtained from the server 20, and information such as the bed number and the nurse in charge is input from the nurse call parent device 3.

In the nurse call system configured as described above, virtual segments are grouped as follows. That is, a hospital LAN (hereinafter simply referred to as “network”) is virtually divided by the VLAN switch 10. A virtual segment is set by performing a predetermined setting operation on each switch of the VLAN switch 10, the broadcast domain is divided, and the network is arbitrarily divided.
In the group to be divided, one ward is one segment here, and a virtual segment is set for each ward. As a result, the unit of the ward system A is set as one segment. This setting is set at the initial stage when the LAN wiring N2 of the nurse call system is laid in the hospital.

  The VLAN switch 10 can be configured by an L3 switch (layer 3 switch) in addition to the L2 switch. However, since the L3 switch can be routed using a subnet mask by switching with an IP address, Constructs a virtual segment as an alternative to the VLAN function. However, when the L2 switch is used, it is desirable to incorporate a router function for communication between the controller 5, the server 20, and the private branch exchange 8.

  As a result, inside each divided segment, there is one controller 5, a plurality (for example, 40) nurse call slaves 1, a plurality (for example, 10) of corridor lights 2, one or a plurality (for example, There are three nurse call master units 3.

  In response to the virtual segment set in this way, the connection setting of the camera 4 is performed as follows. When a predetermined initial registration operation is performed on the camera 4 connected to the camera connection unit 4a due to new installation or relocation, a broadcast packet is transmitted from the camera 4 to search for the controller 5 to be connected. go. At this time, the area to which the broadcast packet is transmitted is in the virtual segment, and since there is only one controller 5 in this area, the controller 5 receiving the broadcast packet generates a connection request to itself. And establishes a connection with the camera 4.

  Once the connection with the controller 5 is established, the patient information can be displayed in accordance with the video by associating the camera 4 with the patient next time. This operation is performed by an operator such as a nurse displaying an image captured by the camera 4 on the nurse call master unit 3, specifying the corresponding bed number from the physical port of the network to which the camera 4 is connected, and specifying the specified bed. The patient name associated with the number may be read from the storage unit or the like of the controller and registered in association with the display image, and patient information such as the patient name can be displayed in accordance with the image display of the camera 4.

  The patient information such as the patient name stored in the controller 5 is obtained from the ordering system (not shown) via the server 20 as described above, but one server 20 may be installed in the hospital. Patient information can also be easily obtained because the controller 5 communicates across the divided virtual segments.

The camera 4 whose connection setting is completed in this way performs a nurse call interlocking operation as follows. When the patient calls the nurse call slave unit 1, the operation signal (call signal) is transmitted to the controller 5 with the hospital room number and bed number attached by the corridor lamp 2.
In the controller 5 that has received the calling signal, the controller CPU 54 reads the bed number from the calling signal and searches for the presence of the associated camera 4. If there is an associated camera 4, an image output request is made to the camera 4, and the video signal transmitted from the camera 4 and the call signal from the nurse call slave unit 1 are transmitted to the nurse call master unit 3. Send to.
In response to this signal, the nurse call master unit 3 notifies the occurrence of a call and reports the captured image of the camera 4 on the display 3b.

Thus, since the camera 4 has a predetermined network setting that does not perform communication across the virtual segment group, even if the camera 4 is moved across the virtual segment group, the camera 4 is associated with the patient. It is only necessary to perform this simple operation, and the picked-up video can be confirmed by the nurse call parent device 3 as the transfer destination without making troublesome setting changes as in the prior art.
Also, the virtual segment can be set with the L2 switch or the L3 switch, and if the operator is familiar with the network, the virtual segment group can be set with a simple setting operation, and there is no need to change the setting after the operation is started.

  Further, the controller 5 transmits the calling signal and the video signal of the camera 4 to the nurse call parent device 3 and simultaneously to the portable terminal 6. The controller CPU 54 reads the nurse who is in charge of the calling patient from the nurse information storage unit 52 and transmits a call signal and a video signal to the portable terminal 6 carried by the nurse.

  Communication between the controller 5 and the portable terminal 6 is performed via the private branch exchange 8, which is a device installed outside the group set by the virtual segment from each controller 5. Therefore, when the controller 5 communicates with the private branch exchange 8 outside the group, only one private branch exchange 8 can communicate with all the controllers 5, and the controller 5 has been selected. A call signal and a video signal can be transmitted to the mobile terminal 6, and a call can be performed between the mobile terminal 6 that has responded and the nurse call handset 1.

  Thus, even if the hospital LAN is divided into a plurality of groups, the private branch exchange 8 is installed outside the ward system A, which is a group of virtual segments, and communicates with the controllers 5 belonging to the individual groups. Therefore, only one unit is required regardless of the number of groups, and there is no need to install a private branch exchange 8 for each group of virtual segments.

  In the above embodiment, the virtual segment is set for each ward group. However, the virtual segment may be set according to the size of the ward, and a plurality of adjacent wards may be set as one group. You may group by floor.

  1 ・ Nurse call cordless handset 2 ・ ・ Corridor light 3 ・ ・ Nurse call master unit 4 ・ ・ Camera 5 ・ ・ Control unit 6 ・ ・ Mobile terminal 7 ・ ・ Base station 8 ・ ・ Private branch exchange ..9..HUB, 10 ... VLAN switch, 20..server.

Claims (4)

A nurse call slave for the patient to call the nurse, a nurse call master for responding to the call by the nurse call slave, a camera for imaging the patient, and a controller for controlling communication between these devices A nurse call system in which devices are connected via a LAN,
The LAN is divided into a plurality of virtual segment groups, and each of the divided groups has one controller and at least one nurse call parent,
The camera performs communication only with the controller belonging to the group of itself, and network settings are made so as not to communicate with the controller of an external group,
When the camera is moved to a different group according to the network setting, communication is possible only with the controller belonging to the group to which the camera has been moved, and the control to which the nurse call parent device has been moved is transferred. A nurse call system, wherein only the nurse call parent device belonging to the same group as the device can display the captured image of the camera.   The nurse call system according to claim 1, wherein the virtual segment generation means is an L2 switch having a VLAN function.   The nurse call system according to claim 1, wherein the virtual segment generating means is an L3 switch. A plurality of portable terminals for a nurse to respond to a call by the nurse call slave unit, and a private branch exchange that manages communication between the portable terminal and the nurse call slave unit,
The nurse call system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the private branch exchange communicates with all the controllers connected via the LAN across the virtual segment group. .

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