Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
10. Requirements specification of a patient monitoring system is given below.
Answer the remaining questions based on this:
a. Patients are taken to the hospital and discharged from a hospital. The patients
can be in the regular ward, in the intensive care unit (ICU) or in the monitored
aftercare unit (MACU).
b. A patient can be in several wards during his or hers stay in a hospital and
within the same ward, different beds can be allocated to him or her.
c. When staying in a ward, it may happen that the patient is outside the bed from
time to time (e.g. when an operation is performed). In that case, the moni-
toring function has to be interrupted. It has to be resumed as soon as the
patient returns into the bed.
d. For each patient the system monitors a set of parameters. Depending on the
patient, some patient-specific parameters have to be taken into account as well.
e. New parameters have to be added to the monitoring function when the
equipment of the medical practice is changed.
f. The system has to analyze images recorded by the video camera system in
order to check the patient's emotional condition.
g. All ICU- and MACU-patients are to be monitored. In the case of MACU-
patients, usually the parameters are monitored less when compared to ICU-
patients. In all other aspects they are treated the same way.
h. Patients in normal wards are not monitored.
i. ICU-patients are more important than MACU-patients.
j. Patient parameters are monitored by means of analog or digital devices being
controlled by software. All devices are equipped with a standard hardware
interface providing a digital data output. The data format used in the mes-
sages passed at the device's output depends on the function of the device.
k. The devices are connected to the computer by means of data cables. They are
provided by the connector panel that every bed is equipped with. The devices
are able to identify themselves; this is way the software can determine which
device is connected to which data cable by a simple query.
l. Two limits are assigned to every parameter and every device: standard limits,
device limits and patient limits.
m. An ''Excel'' database application on a PC stores both the parameters of all
patients, as well as the messages that came up (alarms and display journal
look-up requests).
n.
In the nurses room a master display panel is installed. In the ICU room other
display panels are used. The MACU rooms are equipped with portable dis-
play panels.
o.
Three different kinds of messages can be displayed: alarms, status messages
and journal look-ups.
p.
When requested, the status message of a specific patient can be shown on
every display panel.
